Modelrailroader.ca

As the benchwork progresses I’ve had some time to test some 1:1 track planning and I’ve been making small modifications to the plan. I decided that I would stay from the prototype in favour of a slightly more operational yard. Granted ‘ the yard is small ‘ but isolating yards movements from the mainline will be advantageous. One of the benefits is that the track itself ‘looks’ more like the prototype, even though it’s not the same.

Likewise, a suggestion was made by a reader that I consider including the now defunct Nova Scotia Textiles building. While I cannot pinpoint the exact location of the mill, I do know it resided on King St., overlooking the Windsor yard ‘ so for the time being I’ve included it as part of the design. I’ve had difficulty finding any images of the mill, so if anyone can direct me toward any images I’d be thankful!

After having scrapped the initial WGR plan, I decided that I would revisit my collected references on the WHR’s Windsor Yard – the original inspiration for this project. The more I considered the function of Windsor Yard the more I realized that it was this singular location that I was interested in and that I should base my new design on this area. Likewise, I started rethinking my space and my desires. The original WGR plan had utilized all sides of the baseboard and as I started building the risers I started to truly appreciate the space needed to operate the pike from all sides – the space required for a full perimeter layout defeated the purpose of building a small pike as I now required several feet of space on all sided of the layout to run it. Therefore, I considered how the plan might work if I treated it as a deep shelf, and if I eliminated Windsor Junction. The result (seem below) was a more accurate depiction of the yard as well as the surrounding geography. At first I was disappointed at ‘what I had lost’, but I started to realize all that I was gaining. This arrangement allows for deeper scenic treatments, and improves the track/scenery ratio – focusing on the neighbouring fields, highway and the all important ‘nothing’ in between.

I sat on this idea for a day trying to decide if I would be happy with this new approach when I received an encouraging note from a reader, Allen, who in one fell swoop characterized the function of Windsor Yard, and offered an approach that was similar to what I had been considering. This input has wiped out any doubts I had about this more minimal design, so without further ado, I humbly present the new WGR – leaner and meaner! (I’m still considering the track arrangement in the yard – so things might change slightly over the next few days)

Side note: one of the details that has been staring me in the face since I started considering modelling this railway was the fact that I can easily include some passenger operations. The WHR offered a seasonal passenger service along the Evangeline Trail – a perfect excuse to model some unique passenger equipment!

Soon after I submitted the WHR trackplan to the nscale.net forum I received some constructive criticism on the design from a helpful member. His criticisms were as follows:

• staging is too limited / small
• too much rail-fanning ‘ not enough industry
• no passing sidings

(He also noted that the yard needed work to be functional – something I struggle with as I have little understanding of how railroads operate.)

I took note of his ideas and have come up with this slight variation.

Even though I’m in the process of finishing my two other layouts ‘ Pete’s Pumpkins and The Niagara Escarpment System ‘ I’m eager to start my next layout. I’ve learned a lot from these two layouts, but they are not without their drawbacks. One of the things I’ve come to understand that taking the time to develop a suitable track plan is paramount for the overall success of the layout. As such, I decided to approach this layout design by referencing the prototype

I also decided that I would try designing a railroad after the WHR prototype as many of the design decisions have already been made ‘ industries, locomotive rosters, geographical landmarks etc.

As I’ve been fortunate enough to have amassed a good deal of information about the WHR, I was comfortable designing a railroad that closely resembled the prototype, however my limited space and budget make it more difficult to design a pleasing track plan as one must selectively compress industries and landmarks. Likewise, limited space prohibits long trains, vast yards, and large rosters.

In an attempt to simplify the process, I developed the following set of guidelines:

• the layout needs to be portable, so an around-the-wall design is out
• maximum space is about the size of a door (30×80)
• I prefer rail fanning over switching so the layout should allow for continuous running
• Hidden staging is a must
• The design should capture the flavour of the prototype

I developed several ‘concept’ plans but was unhappy with the results as my continuous run criteria complicated the design. Frustrated with progress I returned to Google maps to see if I could find anything of interest. As stated earlier, most of the images of Nova Scotia are of very poor quality so tracking the WHR mainline was impossible. However as I followed the railroad east, the images improved and I discovered Windsor Junction. Windsor Junction connects connect the quarries on the north end of the province with the south, and offers an interchange for the westbound line to Hantsport. While I didn’t like the idea of modelling a wye, I couldn’t deny that it could be a perfect solution to my design dilemma.

Thus, here is the first incarnation of the new Windsor Gypsum Railway track plan. The layout is 34″x76″ with a minimum radius of 9″. I’m not yet happy with the yard configuration, and I haven’t considered where I might add some buildings, however I’m pleased with the overall concept.

One of the challenges I’m facing designing the WHRC is locating a blueprint of the track arrangement. I assumed that Google Maps would have had suitable reference images, but I discovered that the satellite images of Nova Scotia were quite poor ‘ the highways are barely visible, let alone the rail lines. So I reviewed the small compliment of images available on the web and tried to piece together what I could. The challenge was that the vast majority of images have been taken by railfans, therefore they tend to focus on the locomotives, and not the surroundings.

The first suitable image I found was a shot of WHRC shops in Windsor ‘ a perfect subject for a small pike. The track layout is clearly visible, and the engine shed and sidings would fit perfectly on a narrow shelf. As well, the elevated highway could sit against a backdrop and serve as a view block.

Copyright Kim “Grizzz” Little / http://yardlimit.railfan.net

I compared this image with a set of images I found on ns1763.ca, taken from a bridge that crosses over the east/west bound tracks near the WHRC shops, and decided that west of the bridge is the WHRC company office.

Copyright Ivan Smith / http://www.ns1763.ca

Based on this information, I came up with the following track diagram that could easily be used as a blueprint for a small shelf layout. Operationally, I believe this plan has a lot to offer ‘ particularly if the east and west tracks terminated at a transfer table or sector plate. The only drawback to the schematic is that the engine shed and the company office are in the foreground, which would foul the access to the turnouts. One option would be to flip the tracks so that the structures were on the North side of the layout, or to model the layout from North ‘ which would put the highway in the foreground and reverse east and west. Now I need to discover where the two spurs diverging south from the yard travel to.