General Update
I haven't been very good at posting lately, and I don't really have any reason not to. I have been fairly active with model rqilroading in the last few weeks, but I haven't felt inclined to post much, and I'm not quite sure why. At any rate, I'll use this post to breifly describe some of the model railroading related things that I've done recently.
I scratchbuilt two structures recently. One was a model of a Canadian Pacific statation closely followinng the station in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. I also scratchbuilt a feedmill that was not based of any particular prototype. I will cover these buildings more extensively in separate posts soon.
I also recently acquired a new locomotive. This locomotive is the Bachmann model of CP Rail alco S2 number 7020. I acquired this locomotive for a planned shelf layout based on CP Rail in the late 1970s, probably set in the maratime provinces.
I built a small ( ten inches by 54 inches) scenery test layout. I liked how this turned out and I will post more about it later.
Lastly, I kitbashed an old athearn model of a Canadian National boxcar into a model of woodchip hopper converted from a boxcar by having its roof cut off.
I am currently trying to figure out what to do next for a layout. I am sure that whatever I decide on for a layout design it will be based on CP Rail in the 1970s, most likely in the maratimes, but I am also considering setting my layout in Quebec or in Maine. If I decide to model CP Rail in Maine, I will most likely model either the branchline to Presque Isle or the line to Houlton rather than the International of Maine, as I am more interested in branchline operations than mainline operations. I don't really have space for a credible mainline based layout anyway, so a branchline is what I will end up modeling if I want any sort of a permanent layout.
This brings me to the other thing that I am thinking about, layout design wise.
I have been trying to decide the style of layout I that I want to build for my next layout. I have narrowed it down, though not really by choice, to either building a free-mo style module or a narrow shelf layout that would have to reside in a bedroom and get around various peices of bedroom furniture.
As I see it, both options have some benefits and some major drawbacks. For a free-mo module, one of the biggest drawbacks is that any module I built would have to have a much more mainline style look than I really want, but that is not a deal breaker in my mind. What really stops me from trying a freemo module is the fact that there standards require minimum number 6 turnouts on the module, meaning that I would have to get all new turnouts for the modules as I currently only have number fours. This would really increase the costs of the module, probably more than I would like. On the other hand, a forced conversion to more prototypical looking turnouts might not be such a bad thing.
I'm probably most hesitant about freemo as I do not have dcc, and really could not afford the type of dcc that freemo requires, which would meean that any module I built could not be connected to other freemo modules. I'm not sure how big of a deal this would be for me, but it's something to consider. On the pther hand, building freemo modules would give me a lot more scenic and operational possibilities than a very narrow shelf layout would.
In my mind, the best part of a the shelf layout option is that it would be permanent and I could work on it and operate it at any time, without having to worry about setting up modules (which I would have to fo each time I worked on freemo module). On the other hand, any shelf layout that I could build would be at most one foot wide, which would seriously limit scenic and operational possibilities. The worst drawback to a shelf layout, however, os that it would have to be built in a bedroom and would be built over a bed and other bedroom furniture, which really limts what can be done for layout design and would make it very awkward to work and operate on.
Writing this, I haven't reall come to any sort of conclusion as to which option would be better. I keep going back and forth between the two. Maybe this means that neither option is right, but they're the only feasible optionss for a decent latout, in my opinion, so eventually I'll have to decode between the two. I have winter break from school coming up quite soon, so I should have some time then to think more about this and come to a decision so that I can start working on a lauout again.
If anyone ahs actually managed to read through all this, I'm sorry about the somewhat rambling and text heavy nature of this post. My next few posts should be less text heavy and have more actual modeling in them.
I scratchbuilt two structures recently. One was a model of a Canadian Pacific statation closely followinng the station in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. I also scratchbuilt a feedmill that was not based of any particular prototype. I will cover these buildings more extensively in separate posts soon.
I also recently acquired a new locomotive. This locomotive is the Bachmann model of CP Rail alco S2 number 7020. I acquired this locomotive for a planned shelf layout based on CP Rail in the late 1970s, probably set in the maratime provinces.
I built a small ( ten inches by 54 inches) scenery test layout. I liked how this turned out and I will post more about it later.
Lastly, I kitbashed an old athearn model of a Canadian National boxcar into a model of woodchip hopper converted from a boxcar by having its roof cut off.
I am currently trying to figure out what to do next for a layout. I am sure that whatever I decide on for a layout design it will be based on CP Rail in the 1970s, most likely in the maratimes, but I am also considering setting my layout in Quebec or in Maine. If I decide to model CP Rail in Maine, I will most likely model either the branchline to Presque Isle or the line to Houlton rather than the International of Maine, as I am more interested in branchline operations than mainline operations. I don't really have space for a credible mainline based layout anyway, so a branchline is what I will end up modeling if I want any sort of a permanent layout.
This brings me to the other thing that I am thinking about, layout design wise.
I have been trying to decide the style of layout I that I want to build for my next layout. I have narrowed it down, though not really by choice, to either building a free-mo style module or a narrow shelf layout that would have to reside in a bedroom and get around various peices of bedroom furniture.
As I see it, both options have some benefits and some major drawbacks. For a free-mo module, one of the biggest drawbacks is that any module I built would have to have a much more mainline style look than I really want, but that is not a deal breaker in my mind. What really stops me from trying a freemo module is the fact that there standards require minimum number 6 turnouts on the module, meaning that I would have to get all new turnouts for the modules as I currently only have number fours. This would really increase the costs of the module, probably more than I would like. On the other hand, a forced conversion to more prototypical looking turnouts might not be such a bad thing.
I'm probably most hesitant about freemo as I do not have dcc, and really could not afford the type of dcc that freemo requires, which would meean that any module I built could not be connected to other freemo modules. I'm not sure how big of a deal this would be for me, but it's something to consider. On the pther hand, building freemo modules would give me a lot more scenic and operational possibilities than a very narrow shelf layout would.
In my mind, the best part of a the shelf layout option is that it would be permanent and I could work on it and operate it at any time, without having to worry about setting up modules (which I would have to fo each time I worked on freemo module). On the other hand, any shelf layout that I could build would be at most one foot wide, which would seriously limit scenic and operational possibilities. The worst drawback to a shelf layout, however, os that it would have to be built in a bedroom and would be built over a bed and other bedroom furniture, which really limts what can be done for layout design and would make it very awkward to work and operate on.
Writing this, I haven't reall come to any sort of conclusion as to which option would be better. I keep going back and forth between the two. Maybe this means that neither option is right, but they're the only feasible optionss for a decent latout, in my opinion, so eventually I'll have to decode between the two. I have winter break from school coming up quite soon, so I should have some time then to think more about this and come to a decision so that I can start working on a lauout again.
If anyone ahs actually managed to read through all this, I'm sorry about the somewhat rambling and text heavy nature of this post. My next few posts should be less text heavy and have more actual modeling in them.
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteRailroad modeling is just a series of puzzles, isn't it?
Why do you need to follow Free-mo? Why not build something portable to your own standards? Even though it is portable, it could go up against a wall or as an island - whatever your current living conditions demand. And, you can add on to it as you go. You could use Free-mo methods, of course, but unless you are going to join other Free-mo'rs, maybe something custom to suit yourself is the ticket.
You know, we're more mobile than we realize. We never know where life takes us. I think it would be cool to take your work with you, even if you might end up cleaning everything off and starting again, and again, and...
Still like your blog; never miss it!
Rick
Rick,
ReplyDeleteYour idea of modules to my own standards is a very interesting idea, and one that I haven't really thought of before. While it should have been an obvious option, I somehow haven't thought of it before. It is certainly an option I will think about more closely in the next few days.
I'm glad that you find my blog interesting.
-Sam
Sounds like and interesting project. If you ever need any pictures of the real 7920, let me know. She's preserved here in Toronto at the Toronto Railway Museum. We've even successfully fired her up in the past couple of years.
ReplyDeleteStephen
Thanks for the offers of photos of 7020. I will proably rake you up on the offer when it comes time to weather the locomotive (though at the moment, I don't have the courage to do so). It's neat that 7020 can still be used, since it often seems that preserved diesels of that vintae are no longer operable.
Delete-Sam