I was delighted to receive an invitation last week for the inaugural operating session on Brian Rudko’s latest layout, Donald. This is his first return to HO scale in decades, and the first layout he’s built for operations. It is inspired by Ian Wilson’s many books about the CN in southern Ontario, and Brian, with his artist’s eye has, of course, rendered a beautiful scene. At only six feet long, with two staging areas cantilevered out the sides, it is just big enough to allow for some interesting operations.
The layout is built with change in mind. Brian has eclectic tastes, and an equipment collection to match. So, he intends to swap out the structures to change the layout from time to time. He took that to a new level, when part-way through the evening, he clamped a whole new building to the side of one of the staging areas to represent a factory that is a mile or so outside town. If Frank Ellison was right and the layout is like a stage, what is wrong with changing the sets in the middle of the play? It is kind of brilliant!
Overall, it was a fun evening. The operation itself entertained us for about an hour, and catching up with good friends buoyed my mood for days.
Pembroke:87 