And Now For Something Completely Different
OVGRS member Dilip sent me a lovely email thanking me for creating the Season's Greeting blog entry.
He then invited me out to HOTrak to check out their setup in our Canadian Museum of Science & Technology.
And...what a huge modular set up it was!
And...here is Dilip in front of the massive schematic of this incredible modular layout which he designed for the museum exhibit.
The layout's design utilized over 130 modules with an overall track length of 869 feet!
You can enlarge the images by clicking on them and return to their default size by clicking again outside them.
Greg was driving this passenger train with his bullet nosed CN power.
It is seen passing through Coboconk on the Lindsay Freemo module.
Yes, it is fascinating that Ottawa HOTrak can invite modules from other clubs in Ontario to join them in their setup!
If the "guest" modules are designed to a differing standard, a transition module is required, which was provided for this setup.
Video of Greg's train having run through Coboconk to reach Brighton Landing where you will see James who was working his local train with his Conrail diesel unit.
To engage each video simply click on the white arrow in the center of the image once...and then a second time.
Like my Boston & Maine GP9 "Bluebirds", James enjoys the deep blue tones of his Conrail GP38 unit numbered 7832.
And...speaking of bridges, they do abound on the HOTrak setup!
These modules represent the spans found at Valleyfield, Quebec.
The river crossing adds such variety and beauty to the setting of the layout.
I was thrilled to spot this train as its power is none other than a B&M BL2 diesel locomotive.
Tim is running the train and he certainly made this B&M fan's day!
'Old Man Winter' has set in at HOTrak as well.
Steve tells me that the museum asked for a winter scene...so he quickly fabricated this one in advance of the setup which he labelled Keekee!
Kudos to you Steve! 😁😎😁
Mark's work train traverses the seasons in this video effort which also showcases the lovely bridge scene!
If you examine Mark's work train's consist you will note some gold coins in a gondola.
Mark handed these chocolate golden gems to children who showed particular interest in the trains and who asked interesting questions.
Kudos to "Santa Mark"! 👍👍
There's Mark on the right with Josh on the left.
They are studying the digital controller for the turnouts at the wye at Hawthorne.
Robin says it was an old Athearn "Blue Box" special which he doctored up to run well!
The stylized "N over H" of the New Haven railroad came from the inspiration of the president of the railroad's wife.
Patrick McGinnis was the president of the New Haven and his wife Lucille convinced him to hire famed designer Herbert Matter to transform and modernize the look of the railroad and this iconic New Haven livery was the result.
When McGinnis took over the reigns of the Boston & Maine RR, the same formula was applied and the interlaced B&M logo came into being when applied to the GP9 Bluebirds which you saw on my layout in one of my earlier images.
Here is Robin now...busily switching out the Castor River Industrial Park.
Note the audience off to the right.
The museum has ensured that visitors get a very close-up view of the action while keeping a safe distance away for the operators to allow them to move about without disruption.
That being said, the wonderful members of HOTrak were quick to answer any questions the museum visitors had and many children were able to blow the horns on the locomotives or ring the bells.
Indeed, the HOTrak members are great ambassadors for our fine hobby!
Greg was running a 6400 series steam locomotive when he heard some children in the background call out:
"Hey...that engine is just like the big one in the museum!"
My...these youngsters are quite observant!
Indeed...CN 6400 is the sole survivor of its class.
It is a unique streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" locomotive.
It became famous for its regal duties in pulling the historic Royal Tour Train in 1939 which carried King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
It ran the segment through southwestern Ontario and the locomotive featured a distinctive royal blue paint scheme.
The engine also wore the Royal Coat of Arms.
This tour marked a significant moment in Canadian railway history.
We spot Greg's locomotive on video leaning into the curve at Bell's Corner in advance of arrival at Ottawa East.
The GO Transit system came about due to the need for high capacity utilitarian commuter trains to meet the requirements of the rapidly increasing population in the late 1960's.
The bi-level cars replaced the earlier fleet of passenger equipment with their inaugural run occurring on March 13th, 1978.
The design of the bi-level cars was the brainchild of the GO Transit Director of Engineering Norm Kuster.
It is said that he first drew the design on a bar napkin at Toronto's Royal York Hotel earlier in that decade.
The "GO" logo indicates these are "Government of Ontario" trains.
Steve demonstrates the train's "Push-Pull" capability on this run.
Video of the GO Train passing through Maenclochog.
Tim's Pennsy GG1 was a joy to behold!
Between 1934-1943 a total of 139 GG1 locomotives were built by GE and the PRR's Altoona Works.
They remained in service for nearly 50 years for Penn Central, Conrail, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit with the last unit retired in 1983.
The earlier units arrived in Brunswick Green attire in the 1930's and the lovely Tuscan Red appeared in 1952.
The long golden band from front to rear originally appeared as five pinstripes and later evolved into a single solid gold band.
I spot the train passing the interlocking tower at Glen Tay.
Tim's Pennsy passenger run glides through Glen Tay under the arm of Robin as captured in this video!
So far we have seen power from CN, Conrail, B&M, New Haven, GO Transit...but I was wondering if I'd get to railfan a CP train.
And...thanks to Jim, my patience paid off and I was able to!
Jim's pig train is piercing the spans crossing the St. Lawrence at Valleyfield, Quebec.
Those red units stand out beautifully against the verdant scenery in these parts of the country.
Much later in the day I catch his train on its return journey.
He takes the leg of the wye at Hawthorne that offers a heading across the Rideau River, through Mason Creek and into the wilds of Algonquin Park.
Dilip's clever design combined with the efforts of the museum staff have ensured that the viewing public can get into select "indents" that take them "inside" the rectangular configuration of the room for closer viewing of areas that would otherwise be too far away to appreciate.
The gentleman on the left drove up to Ottawa from Montreal where he is a member of the "Live Steamers" club where they actually ride on the trains.
Ignore the blur in this image as I 'snipped' it from a video of the passing train!
Video of Jim's return effort as he exits the Jackfish Bay tunnel.
Bridge video of Jim's train.
Rob & his son were running this Ontario Northland duo of locomotives taking to the curve leading into Finch from City Bakery.
ON #1605 is a GP9 built for Ontario Northland in January of 1957 but is no longer active in commercial service.
The GMD GP7A diesel leading the tandem has been pulling "The Northlander" for generations of railfans to enjoy.
These "covered wagons" were built between 1950 and 1953 at GMD in London, Ontario and ran up into the 1990's.
We spot "The Northlander" meeting GO Transit at Coboconk.
Jim was running this train led by road switcher #1301.
This particular locomotive has an interesting history.
It was Alco American built as an RS2 unit and later reconfigured into an RS3!
Seeing as the HOTrak set-up was taking place in the month of December and leading into January, Robert looked at the stash of structures, vehicles and 'little people' in the backroom of Lark Spur Lines to come up with this amazing Santa Claus parade scene.
Robert, you've really got us into the spirit of the season!
Here is our good friend, George, who is the current president of HOTrak observing the passage of his steam locomotive as his train traverses the landscape at Finch.
He is monitoring its progress around the big bend leading into City Bakery.
Yes, I recognize this gorgeous steam locomotive as once belonging to our dear friend Tommy Hood.
George tells me that pretty much the entire train is made up of Tommy's rolling stock!
I was blessed to pick up a car from Tom's layout as well!
Garry and Paul smile for the camera man!
Paul is the electronics genius in the group and he spent most of his time monitoring the layout from his computer terminal area.
He could tell me which locomotives and trains were on the layout at any given time.
This image is a bit 'hazy' as my camera was in my jacket pocket and I walked over to the museum which is a 15 minute walk from my home here in Alta Vista and it hadn't 'defrosted' yet.
We spot Dilip encouraging the youngsters to blow the horn and ring the bell!
Dilip may very well have started these two young ones into this great hobby of ours by this simple gesture of kindness and welcoming!
As I mentioned earlier, I encountered many HOTrak operators encouraging the children in like-manner throughout the four hours I visited!
I will re-share with you this video I took of Greg's train plying the rails through Brighton Landing.
You will recall that James had to get out of the way of Greg's train as he was working the 'local' while switching out the ferry terminal and surrounding sidings at this scenic location.
Here is video evidence of his movements in Brighton.
We spot Greg's train returning after taking to the 'East Loop'.
Here is video proof of the passage of Greg's train in both directions at Brighton!
When I returned home I put the "finishing touches" on this gorgeous interlocking tower which I had been building over the past few days.
It was a challenging build as the walls and roof were plaster but the bay window complex had to be built up out of various white metal parts.
The interior floor was wooden.
I purchased this ancient kit from the estate of my good friend, Mike Rozeboom, who recently passed away at far too early of an age from cancer.
I had built a number of structures for Mike over the past year or so as he was in the process of building his dream layout.
I take no money for my work as I find building structures for friends as my way of "giving back" to the hobby.
If there are any structures needed building for HOTrak I would love to take on more projects like these...or even donate some I already have completed for friends who need a structure for their HOTrak modules!
And...here is video footage of the remainder of that lengthy train!
Here I am hanging out with James at Brighton as Steve arrives Coboconk off in the distance.
I would like to thank my good friend Dilip for encouraging me to come on out to enjoy a great day trackside with the amazing group at HOTrak!
Hey Dilip, if ever you choose to create a module, I wouldn't mind donating some structures to the cause!
You can visit the HOTrak website at the following link:
https://www.hotrak.ca/
I have tons more images and videos from this day which I can share with you in future postings to our OVGRS blog.
It was fun for me as an OVGRS member to visit this amazing HOTrak layout here in Ottawa, Canada's national capital!
No comments:
Post a Comment