Thanks to Marty McGuirk for reminding me to think about the story I want to tell when putting together this scene. I’ve always maintained that the whole layout should build from right to left, getting more and more lively and optimistic as it goes. Here at the right end of the layout, it should be the gritty industry on the edge of the wilderness that prompted Laurier to declare the 20th Century would be Canada’s.
Space is a hallmark of Canada. There is a lot of it here, and we tend to leave a respectable amount of it between things. So, we can’t have everything lined up cheek-to-jowl along the lead. Well, how bad is the crowding on the engine house lead going to be? There is only one way to find out: mock it up!
In addition to the coal dock, the 1908 B&B book lists a section tool house (Frame, board, sill 20’x12.5’x9′) and two old box cars used for oil houses (two box cars, 119 and 123 were retired in the right timeframe). There was a 20,000 gallon, 13’x12.5′ water tank, and although I don’t know where that was, I am going to put it on the lead too.
A few minutes with a craft knife, hot glue and foam core yielded the tool house, I picked a piece of cardboard tube from the recycling, and I dug up a couple of unfinished box cars that have been kicking around for at least a decade. While I was at it, I made a coal bin and a platform for Lee Manufacturing, across the tracks. These are not meant to represent the actual factory, which was much larger, of course, but merely to signal to crews where they should spot cars of coal and coke rather than regular box cars.
There was not room for two box cars on the lead, and so I tried one to the east side of the lead. As much as I love the look of engines threading their way between the structures, that doesn’t speak to spaciousness, so it will not stay there. Moving the other car and the section tool house to the south of the water tower opened a space for ash handling. Lopping 10′ from the coal dock allows the turntable to breathe too. The small water tower is a godsend because it helps keep the elevation of all these foreground buildings low.
Circling back to the idea of gritty industry at the edge of the wilderness, I can see that the Lee Manufacturing coal shed and platform will be replaced with bush. That spur is mostly about operations anyway. In order to further support the increasing excitement from bush to town across the layout, I will mute the colour of the remaining buildings; their horizontal form is a helpful contrast to the taller buildings to the north.
Pembroke:87 
One thought on “Engine Lead Buildings”