Last train on the Columbia and Western

I had the great privilege to be invited to Mark Dance’s Columbia and Western for one last run before he tears it out and crates it up for its new life in Edmonton. We ran some trains (including, at 47 cars, the longest ever on the railroad), had some snacks and Mark gave each of […]

Only the tour’s off

Last week we announced that the Railway Modellers’ Meet will take a different format this year. Encouraged to keep our distance and “be kind, be calm and be safe” by that delightful fascist, Dr Bonnie Henry, we won’t be meeting in person at SFU this year. Instead, we’ll be hosting a reduced program via Zoom. […]

I’m modelling for Matthieu

In these days of social and physical isolation, of lock-down, of panic buying and worrying at the news, there’s a theme going around modelling communities. To the outside world, modelling already looks a lot like self-isolation. “I’ve been training for this my whole life” reads one photo of a crowded modelling space. These memes seem […]

And now we are three!

One of the great joys of blogging is that occasionally a kindred spirit stumbles across your site and reaches out. In my case, these take the form of other modellers working on the Canada Atlantic Railway, or those working in Proto:87. Richard Guitar was the first to share some photos of his O-Gauge CAR layout […]

Happy Holidays from Richard Guitar

Richard Guitar sent through a few more photos of his O Gauge Canada Atlantic layout. As I’ve mentioned before, the entire Canada Atlantic modelling fraternity could have a convention in a broom closet. So, it’s always thrilling to see models of Canada Atlantic equipment and locations.

More O Gauge Canada Atlantic

Richard Guitar sent some more photos of his O Gauge Canada Atlantic equipment on the weekend of the the Vancouver Train Expo. My apologies to Richard for not getting this up sooner! It’s amazing to me how recognizable these scenes are. Richard seems to have a knack for distilling the elements of a scene

And now we are two!

For many years, I was the only Canada Atlantic Railway modeller I had ever met. Then for a short while, Ron Newby was hoeing this very long row with me. Then, he found other, more accessible subjects, and then as far as I know, I was the only one again. A couple of weeks ago, Richard […]

Seattle Roadtrip!

It seems like ages since I went for an operating weekend anywhere. However, there are some trips that you simply can’t pass up, and the last opportunity to operate on Al Frasch’s Pilchuck Division was one of those. So this Saturday, seven of us stole across the border at 7:30 AM, counting our blessings that […]

So Long Ed

Last week, I heard that Ed McCamey passed away, and I confess that it rather took the wind out of my sails. Ed was one of the first Proto:87 contacts I made, way back in 1994. He sat behind me at Jim Harper’s clinic on detailing track; when the discussion turned from 1:48 scale to […]

The madness of Chester Machniewski

What an enormous pleasure it was to meet Chester Machniewski today! Here is a man whose welcome and smile were eclipsed only by his fanaticism for model trains. Lots of people have passions, but few take them to Chester’s affectation. As far as I could tell, he does nothing on a small scale. Need a […]