Prairie Rail Network

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Outback

Outback

Low Budget & Old School
Well, after hanging around a bit and getting a feel for the forums and making almost 40 posts, I suppose it is about time I make my introduction. I guess I should have done this sooner but was so caught up in catching up that I failed in that department. So here goes...

I am yet another middle aged guy just returning to HO model railroading after quite a few years away. Over the Christmas season of 2010 I staked a claim to half the basement rec room and put up some benchwork in an around the walls U pattern to begin working on my Canadian Prairies branchline layout. At the moment I am at the "track is laid now lets start ballasting and scenicking" stage.

I have noted that a lot, and I mean A LOT, has changed since I was last actively railway modelling. Prices for one thing have sky-rocketted and on-hand selection of supplies and equipment has taken a serious dive for the worse IMO. Pre-ordering and speculated not quite available yet supplies are running rampant. What's with that anyway? I am having a bit of trouble adjusting to these new ways of participating in this hobby. Thank the heavens I saved everything I had when I shut down in 94. At least I have most of what I need to get something happening and not be faced with a bill of a couple thousand dollars just to break in again.

All that aside, I have been having fun re-learning things and getting back the thrill and enthusiasm for railway modelling as I pick up where I left off and continue into the future with my freelanced Branch Line Railways Corporation set in the present time in the best part of the country. Big skies and golden fields lay alongside the winding rails of the flatlands in what was once the vast western expansion of the Dominion.

A little wordy? LOL ok, short form:

Branch Line Railways
Canadian Prairies
1980-present
Loco Roster = 14 - no units larger than GP40, mostly switchers and GP9s
We STILL run cabooses!!!
The Station is a museum!
Layout is 8ftx13ftx7.5ftx3ft U shape-ish
Single mainline typical of smaller branchline subdivisions
engine shops and small yard at one end - wye at other.
assorted prairie industries at railside - rural theme amplified


I guess that's more or less it. Any questions? ask away :-)

Dunc
 
An official welcome aboard.

Yes I agree, the prices and availability and preorder issues are a problem. I just returned to the hobby a year ago, from when I was a kid. You can thank the Chinese for this.

Can you post a trackplan? It's looks like an interesting layout.
 
Yes I can. If you don't mind a hand drawn track plan, I can do something up and scan it for posting. I tried a couple of the track plan programs and didn't do real well so I went back to the old fashioned way of doing things with graph paper, lol. Give me a couple days to get something down.

And thanks for the welcome :-)
 


welcome back to the hobby as well. Im not that old but i remember back when i was 14 this hobby was in expensive as well but i say its still one of the best hobbies out there
 
Hey an official welcome from the Esat end of the province!
You mentioned a local hobby shop in an earlier post... would that be Jenzens in Brandoon?
Love to see the track plan... maybe a road trip is in order?
 
Yes Rick, Janzens is the only place around these parts. But they special order, so it's all good. Track plan in the works. Road trip is possible too.
 
Track Plan

Well here it is. It's the best I could do considering I don't have access to my own computer or software to provide anything better at this time. Hopefully it is large enough to make out the details.

NOT TO SCALE
DSC01657.jpg


Legend of Numbers:

1 - Engine Shop/Offices
2 - Storage shed
3 - Fuel tank
4 - Elevator row (flats against backdrop)
5 - Fertiliser shed
6 - Old false front blacksmiths building now a shop/garage
7 - Old buildings in use along Industrial Ave.
8 - Fire Hall
9 - Railway Street shop fronts (flats against backdrop)
10 - Goldfield Class 1 Station Museum
11 - Boars Head Brewery
12 - Feed Mill
13 - Undecided industry
14 - Farm House
15 - Tumbleweed Class 3 Station

The Wye is the current End of Track and will allow trackage to continue in two directions into future expansions.

It's pretty simple in nature and doesnt have a whole heck of a lot of potential, but it does get me some trackage and allows for the "feeling" of open endless prairie with long stretches of un-interupted mainline planned for the future.
 
Nice, I like the track to scenery ratio.
Do you get by without a runaround or passing siding?
Have you been to Carman to check out the track work? I used to work for the CEMR, lot's of switching with the two ex CN & CP tracks running side by side.
 
Funny you should mention the track to scenery ratio. It is a hard thing to maintain at a lower level since it is very compelling to want to include as many rail operations as possible in our limited space, but; since this is the prairie and not an urban area I have to hold back on the urges to fill every inch with industry and operational points of interest. Such is the nature of my chosen beast.

In order to satisfy this inherent need to 'fill' every inch, I have chosen instead to focus on smaller scenic points of interest to draw visual attention and awe. Things typically seen in rural areas and along rights of way. Like a group of cattle watering at the creek (planned for Fort Creek), an oil well pumping steadiliy away in a field, or an abandoned farmyard complete with old house and equipment long left standing and un-used. And even historical situations like an old NWMP Blockhouse rotting away in the distance (also at Fort Creek hence the name and based on a real blockhouse found near Wetaskiwin AB)

For me crowded industrial areas are great switching opportunities, but not realistic out here on the prairies. So I must keep things like that to a minimum relegated to larger townsite areas and focus more on what lay between. I guess that's just "my thing" this go around. Future expansion will allow for more areas to be developed down the track so-to-speak.

The thought of a run-around or passing siding had crossed my mind but didn't really fit into my alowable space or scheme of things. I did try to work one in, but nowhere did it fit w/o disrupting some other planned detail. So I guess I will have to get by w/o one. Operationally the subdivision will see two trains a week, one will deal with tracks facing one direction, and the other - the other respectivley. We also run cabooses not for sentimental reasons but due to the fact that we require a man at the head end while running in reverse the length of the subdivision since there is no present way to turn a train or engine. One the peninsula is built the wye will be fully functional and then trains will run forward each way. Such is the way of a small prairie branchline.

I have been to Carman but always on business picking up fertiliser at Yara (ne Saskferco) so have not had time to explore the rail activity there. Nor did it cross my mind until recenlty getting back the rail bug. I have seen the station and that's about it.

Incedently, I used to work for Central Western back in its early years and some of my scenic ideas and operational techniques stem from there. One being that Tom Payne used to say when asked about his unpainted locomotives "paint doesent make money, operations do" (there's a bit of trivia for everyone), hence my locomotives are in an assortment of painted yet sometimes unmarked conditions. There is even one that is named on one side but not the other lol.
 
I really like the trackplan. And I also agree, with a prairie/rural type layout, keep the industries and trackage to a minimum. You can make some interesting scenery to keep you busy for years.

When you are ready for scenery, I would suggest using good ole real dirt in your area, it looks great, and the best part is it's FREE!. I use a lot of real dirt on my layout. Since my area has a lot of open fields with lots of brush and dirt. In fact there is a big prairie just down the street from my house.
 


That's a great suggestion and not lost on me. I have been using real materials ever since my earlier days in the hobby. Unfortunately, I have started this layout in winter and can not access real local materials now until late spring when things are dry enough to collect. So, I have been making due with some substitutes - coffee grinds for dirt, sifted absorbant tallus (sp?) for rocks and gravel, sifted clean cat litter also for ballast, soft & dried lichen for scrub and smaller bushes as well as dried moss for scrub and small bushes/trees. And of course the usual suspects like some ground foams, manilla rope, grass matt to get me by until summer. So far everything has been working out well. Although there was mention of attracting bugs by using food stuff, I don't think coffee grinds would be attractive to bugs. I already have a list of plants and ground materials to collect once the weather changes so I can begin with the lower low budget scenicking program.
 
LOL no turtle, but you did just give me an idea. Now I'm out to build a town mascot statue near the station grounds. Whatever it ends up being, it's all your fault!!!!


How about a 30 foot Rico the Railfan? LOLOL
 
Ah, I can see it now...
Just pick one of the greek gods, any one should be close!
What did they have on Corner Gas, a gopher?
 
I don't recal a mascot on CG, but I do remember the elevator as I have driven by it many times. In fact it confused me on one trip as prior to the show existing I was used to seeing it and the name Rouleau on the side. Then on one trip I see Dog River and I am thinking " Dog River? WTF? I don't remember a Dog River on this road!!" Yeah, was a weird realisation when I discovered the show later and realising I was there. I almost stopped at the gas bar on a previous trip too. It was while they were building it and me not being aware that it was fake. Imagine my surprise to roll up there with the semi and see fake gas pumps and what not.

Like an episode of the twilight zone.... <insert theme music here>
 
We actually stopped in Dog River with the Loram crew some time ago.
They weren't shooting at the time but laughed when the guys tried to buy some goodies off the shelf.
There was an episode where they wanted to build a town mascot, I thought it was a gopher or something.
 


Just signed up for this site yesterday and noticed where you are modeling.
I am modeling the northern part of North Dakota And Saskatchewan.
Hauling mostly grain with BNSF AND CP Rail While having a short line helping with the grain service needs, based in Saskatchewan(southern part).
Glad to see another prairie, flat landscape minded person.
Mark.......
 
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