More Images From Normand Levert's Layout
I while ago in January I visited an NMRA friend, Norman Levert, to check out his wonderful layout.
We ran trains for the better part of the AM hours.
Afterwards Norm sent me some more images of sites around the model railroad.
Norm is interested in heavy equipment and so I couldn't resist snapping this shot of a wonderful center depressed flatcar with heavy load.
It is residing on a ready track in Norm's town of Montawa.
Even though this is one heckuva heavy load, it is not too much of a challenge for this endcab switcher currently on loan from the Erie Lackawanna!
The load had been residing on a track at the Algonquin Paper Mill.
Norm currently has the mill mocked up with pressed cardboard sections.
He has labelled all aspects of the mill to assist operators with their switching.
Various times throughout the morning, the mill tracks take on different appearances due to the heavy action taking place there.
I'll drink to that! 😎😀😄😀😎
Cars of all sorts will be found here throughout a session.
Busy times for sure!
I particularly enjoy when freight traffic has to enter a facility as witnessed here.
Here we see the entry tracks to the huge mill facility.
Just taking on this job can keep a crew busy for a great deal of an operating session.
Norm has painted his backdrops beautifully and his turnout and track diagrams are easy to follow.
His NORD Railway logo is borrowed from a favourite CP Newsprint logo in this image shared in an earlier posting.
Yes, vans, hacks, buggies, cabeese...whatever you wish to call them - still appear on the tail end of Norm's trains.
This being a transfer caboose may mean this departing train may be a short hop only!
Some built up pulp cars appear on the layout.
As do ore cars.
This ore train was showcased in my earlier blog entry...seen rounding the bend out from Cabonga Junction heading for Anse aux Grues.
Norm's track diagram shows the active staging area in the outer room as pictured in red.
Norm followed some techniques I used on my B&M/MEC layout where you see some "surround staging" in back at the locations of Murphy Junction and Questrie.
He has created special viewing areas where operators can see the progress of their trains in behind the scenery.
As you reach Questrie, you can see the rooftops of the train's consist moving along above the background scenery.
Once again, here is a map of the rail line.
The NORD Rly is an imagineered Canadian resources railway, running North – South from JAMES BAY and CHIBOGAMEAU, QC to OTTAWA, ON and MONTRÉAL, QC.
The four end points result in main lines forming a pair of "Y"'s; one inverted from the other, joined in the middle by their stem through the La VÉRANDRY Park QC (About 200 Km north of Ottawa).
The alignment of the NORD Railway is a combination of lines that were actually built and in use until the mid 1970s including sections purely 'imagineered'.
Norm created this lovely trackside shed as part of a local NMRA group build.
It is found trackside between the pulp & paper mill and the major junction along the line.
A train led by a diesel unit from the Canadian Pacific family makes its appearance known at Montawa.
The train will bypass the large yard facility here.
The tail end of the train enters the scene.
Hidden trackage behind the scenery (similar to my layout) allows trains to traverse the countryside without being seen for various moments in time.
This operational 'trick' serves to make the train runs last longer and to enlarge the layout in the mind's eye.
With trains also staged in behind the scenery for a portion of the layout, I would call this 'partial' "surround staging".
Let's watch a train in staging do its thing in this video above.
We spot the train finding air once more in the open part of the layout.
The crew crosses the duckunder bridge which Norm has painted green for greater visibility.
Long trains can be staged in behind the scenes!
The train passes over top AWA Canyon heading for Cabonga Jct.
The train will then pass by the Algonquin P&P Mill on the upper line before descending into the junction.
More video work of this lovely looking train!
Normand cleverly painted the scenery with the lake noticeable at the upper left on the backdrop wall.
This previously shared video from an earlier post shows the train continuing on its journey on Normand's NORD Rwy.
We spot the crew having reached Cabonga Jct.
The switcher in the foreground returned to the junction after working the Algonquin Pulp & Paper mill.
Certain trains have certain rights on certain tracks!
(That's a lot of 'certains'!) 😎😁😎
This image taken in the crew lounge area shows Montawa to the right with the extension happening along the far wall.
Norm tells me that there may be plans of a future extension around the walls of the crew lounge beginning at the far left of the image.
Indeed, I spot a Roberval & Saguenay diesel in the lemon yellow attire with green lettering.
If you don't see this locomotive approaching at a road crossing you must be colour blind!
I am peering down the length of Montawa from the entrance to the crew lounge area.
Yes, Norm runs some passenger equipment along the line.
Pickles anyone!
And, you may have noticed that it is a track cleaning car as well.
Normand still has some scenes currently under development such as this river bed where the train traverses the landscape on a bluff up top.
The lovely hotel Lorne Munro scratchbuilt for Norm overlooks the entry into Cabonga Jct.
I simply have to share an image of the magnificent hotel Lorne produced from scratch!
Or...perhaps...two images of the hotel!
Lovely work Lorne! 👍👍
We spot their arrival in town with a meet with the freight train.
Norm has cleverly mocked up the station and outer building with cardboard to offer us a glimpse into the future of how this scene will materialize.
Passenger train video effort.
I began this entry with a shot of this wonderful depressed center flatcar that can carry very heavy loads.
Let's check out another of Norm's heavy load flatcars!
Sorry about the 'out of focus' image, but it gives the reader an idea of the trucks that support the load.
Impressive!
Indeed, Norm's yard at Mattawa can keep visitors in the crew lounge well entertained for quite some time!
Norm...I still have more pics and videos from the trip which I will share with the group in a future blog entry!
In other news, OVGRS member, Moe Cote, snapped some wonderful pictures of majestic looking birds while on a recent trip to Manitoba.
I'm presuming Moe used a zoom lens to capture these images.
Lovely Moe!
Thanks for sharing these with us!
Copy and paste this link into your computer's browser to view a short video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=qtc8TftZYFM
As for me, I recently played at a pub in Barrhaven to celebrate a colleague's 70th birthday.
This was then followed up with a gig on St. Paddy's Day where I spent over 12 hours at a pub in the Glebe area of Ottawa.
Here is a very short video clip a friend sent my way of us playing a traditional Irish tune titled Mairi's Wedding.
And...here is another short video clip of us playing a more modern selection by Van Morrison called Moondance.
Finally...on the modeling front, Angus Palmer from OVAR asked me to build an interlocking tower for his developing TH&B layout.
Before I was able to start the project, Angus had to research the colours the TH&B used on their lineside structures.
He found out that they adopted the same colour tones as the New York Central...and he sent me the image above of a model of the NYC station.
I was able to colour match with my acrylic paints using his image and you can see to the lower right of the picture my colour 'test' which matches closely to the colours in the depot.
So-o-o...with the colours determined, off I went on the project.
Funnily enough, I had already built this same kit for my Boston & Maine railroad some fifteen or so years ago!
I am making progess and have added some blinds in the windows and I have had some windows remain open to varying degrees while others are shut.
I am not adding any interior detail so I simply painted the interior walls a tan colour and did not worry about the look of the glue here.
The tab & slot construction makes for a rather easy build.
This is the support for the roof sections.
Here I am in the process of applying the roofing strips which have an adhesive backing.
I don't worry about the angled end of that one strip that heads slightly over the angled gap as I will trim it with scissors and then apply the trim piece over top.
With the laser cut sections and the 'peel and stick' stair treads, it goes together in short order!
Note that the Boston & Maine painted the first few courses of clapboard from the ground up the same colour as the trim...the New York Central did not.
As seen from another angle.
I completed yet another buggy for our Wainwright/Blacksmith Shop diorama currently getting started.
I also built two more farmer's wagons for the project.
Doug's favourite colour is Prussian Blue so he asked for one of the wagons to be painted in that colour.
We settled on green for the second wagon.
I also painted a handful more horses.
I wonder why this fellow has one leg up in the air?
Aha!
He is a ferrier (or farrier)!
The term "farrier" is an adaptation of the French word "ferrier" which came from the Latin root word "ferrum" which means "iron".
Indeed, a ferrier (or farrier) is a blacksmith with a 'sole' interest in dealing with horseshoes!
Pardon the 'sole' of the feet pun there! 😎😁😎
I have yet to add further necessary details to the 'tongues' of the blue and the green wagons.
This is best done whenever I go to plant the wagons on the diorama with their respective horses.
Of course, a single horse will pull the fancier brown wagon and the fancier black buggy.
Two horses will be required to pull the farm wagons...although one may simple remain outside the wainwright shop with no horses pulling it...as it may have just come out of the shop freshly fabricated!
I simply gave a wash of black acrylic paint over top the Prussian Blue wagon.
For the green one, I mixed olive green with black acrylic paint to offer this more realistic colour match.
Indeed, there are still many more projects to tackle at my workbench.
It's interesting to note that the interlocking tower could have been built in a single day.
I started with the painting of all the walls, windows, doors and trim in the evening earlier in the week.
Then, the following morning it was simply the task of assembling all the wall sections.
Later that evening I completed the staircase and all was said and done...actually completed within a 24 hour span!
Time to clean off a space to begin the next build!
But, before I let you go, here is a short review from yesterday's St. Lawrence Division meeting of the NMRA.
The theme of the day was "Your Modeling Based on Research".
I was able to talk to the group about the tremendous amount of research Doug, Rob & I undertake in order to represent our O-scale projects in their best light.
Our OVGRS friend, Doug Matheson, is a living, breathing encyclopedia of knowledge that 'blows me away' every time we meet! 👍👍
I brought out one of my marine dioramas and indicated to the group that my research in this department came from natural experience.
I taught for the first eight years of my career in a remote fishing village along Quebec's Lower North Shore, not far from the Labrador border.
This mini-diorama I made many years ago showcases how 'Range Lights" work.
In my remote village, freighters had to navigate a broad passage into the harbour where only a narrow band along the centerline of the passage had been dredged.
The ship's captain lined up the two white lines on the range lights in order to ensure safe passage into the harbour.
At night they were illuminated for safety, of course!
This is a positive program that offers modelers the opportunity to have their modeling work judged in order to meet certain criteria.
It is not a competition amongst modelers...rather it affords modelers the opportunity to continually improve in their modeling efforts.
Grant brought out this caboose he had built a number of years ago.
Grant added an interior and documented the various aspects of the build in a clear and succinct manner to make it easier for the judges to know what they are looking for.
(Sorry about the slightly out of focus image Grant!)
Here is yet another of Grant's masterful work!
Outstanding!
Grant went on to reiterate what I have said to many model railroad friends who ask me how I achieve the results I do.
I simply tell my friends that; "I take my time. I follow the instructions carefully (except when scratchbuilding). I do my research and I don't rush things."
Finally, when referring to gluing I tell others; "With gluing...less is best!"
Here we see Normand with our guest presenter for the morning, Mathieu Lachance.
Mathieu models the era around 1900 where there are very few kits available.
Most modelers who chose this time period have to either kitbash already offered train items or simply build their rolling stock from scratch with the aid of factory produced detail parts.
Mathieu went on to explain how he uses a 3D printer and how he makes his own decal sets.
His narrow gauge models were exceptional!
I loved each and every one of his rail cars.
A favourite of his was this Grand Trunk reefer.
I favourite of mine was this Canadian Northern reefer!
Mathieu explained the depth of his research simply to find both sides of a freight car in order to get the decaling process underway.
Sometimes he would find one end of a specific freight car for a specific company in one photo...and then...many months later he would be thrilled to locate a historical image of the other end of the same (or similar) car!
Lloyd brought out this flatcar he made in order to be judged.
Grant is a qualified judge and he took us through the entire process...a most interesting clinic!
Lloyd offered supporting images.
He offered a photograph of the model as placed on his layout.
He had additional schematic diagrams of the load he was modeling.
I must say, attending the SLD meetings each month offers us so much information.
It is with pure joy that I attend each session!
Norm brought out this trio of cars, two still in their various degrees of construction and a third gondola off in the distance.
I could share with you so many more images from the session, but I'll leave them to be shown by others in the SLD's on-line newsletter, "The Mail Car" which our OVGRS member, Chris, is editor with Lorne.
This final image is a close-up of one of the models brought out by Norm to the display.
Thank you Norm for hosting me to your amazing NORD Rwy!
I can't wait to share more pictures and videos in a subsequent posting!
That's all from 'little ole me' for today.
We are the OVGRS and the SLD of the NMRA here in Ottawa, Canada's National Capital!
