Gotta get moving!

Hi again. I don't know what it is...I think I am at a bit of a 'wall', where I need to do some electrical and lighting planning for the new layout. Oh yeah, I have to pick up more supplies like lumber and drywall to continue. Something about working the 12 inch to the foot trains and spending something like 60 hours away from home since last Friday...I'd better call the electrician (and find the time to get the supplies from the lumberyard).

I met Trevor Sokolan today...nice fellow who is going to paint my Overland SD38-2. This will be painted as the CN 1653.

I have a concept for the layout. The primary focus will be local switching, which I may have mentioned before. I have also decided to add a 'high line' with staging and passing sidings. This will enable continuous-run for display viewing (kids and visitors), engine break-in and that sort of thing. The high line will have (probably) 2 junctions with the switching 'low line'. I plan on doing this on a shelf along the walls, in order to have the room perform multiple tasks, such as an extra TV lounge and extra sleeping quarters for company.

The wall adjacent to the new spare room will have the car barge and another industry. This will emulate the design from Plan 8 (Port Ogden and Northern) from Kalmbach's '101 track plans'. Also looking at a small marshalling yard, which I may use Chris's old yard from Cardiff.

It's almost a dead ringer for the yard that Kelowna Pacific used on Wedell Place in Kelowna. Other industries include a cement batch plant, bulk oil dealer, team/bulk terminal, freight forwarder, and a piggyback ramp just to name a few.

Upon Chris's advice, I will tape off the benchwork on the floor. I should be able to map out the track plan on the floor, given I have a large roll of vellum.

Wished I had more to report, but it was nice just to relax today and reset the gyros, so to speak!

Regards,

Ken. (sorry Trevor...still looking for the shot of the Mackenzie Northern BL20-2!)

Happy Easter!

Hi again...kind of a 'lazy' day. Raining or snowing, actually would be a good day to clean out the mess in the basement ;-)

Posting some more of my prototype photos for your perusal and enjoyment. Guess I have an unfair advantage from a railfan's point of view...the CN Police don't razz me about being on the right of way with a camera!! (Right, Chris ?? ;-))
I worked on the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) in 1979 in McLennan and Grande Prairie. I wish I had taken more photos back then. 3 GMDD SD38-2's on the McLennan ready track for the 'GSL Turn' to Roma Junction (just west of Peace River) and back... On the Dawson Creek wayfreight, westbound between Wembley and Beaverlodge... In the early 80's, we acquired system GP38-2w's (to replace the 9100-series F7's) and cabooses...or is that 'cabeese'? This shows a 'meet' at Peace River...I think this is a pair of GSL Turns. Note the 3 SD38-2's behind the 5591...8000 horsepower for 4800 tons maxiumum up the 2.8 percent grade, at 7-8 mph!!
All 4 ex-NAR SD38-2's at Peace River...this was rare, since they only used 3 SD38-2's on the 'big hill' due to problems with train separations...5703 (ex-NAR 404) was repainted after a spectacular accident at Chisholm AB in August 1981. This loco hit a washout with 2 F7B's on train 418. Big derailment with lead/zinc concentrate from Pine Point NWT and 3 leaking propane cars. (No, Chris... I was NOT on that train...:-)) The Canadian Army had to come in and detonate the 3 leakers. The resultant explosion caused a nuclear style fireball and mushroom cloud . This flattened the forest in about a 3/4 mile radius...

That's all for today, folks...

Ken.

More work in the layout room...

Hi everyone. Give you some of the planning criteria for the layout. This overall room plan is drawn to 28" squares. I was originally looking at 24" mininum radius, but with 6-axle units for the thru freight power, I will go with 26" mininum radius... The overall dimensions are 25-4 by 12-4. I may place a wall beside the staircase to give us some badly needed storage space. I haven't had much time for figuring out a track plan, since I have been devoting quite a bit of time to getting the room ship-shape first.
This was done about four days ago. I keep plugging away and i have made it around the bay. Now to get rid of more of this clutter! Next photos show my current progress...
I thought I would take some time and do a mock-up of what a 16" shelf at 52" elevation would look like...

Heading off to bed...probably working (on the real trains) tomorrow. Happy easter to all!

Ken.

Kelsey's birthday ...20 trips around the Sun!

Hi again. Whew! I looked at my last post and I should do some explaining. The 'Rockin' R' is the Rosslyn Hotel in north Edmonton. I have had a few scrapes on the railroad, as Chris alluded to. I think the wierdest one is where a traction motor cable snagged a derail, flipped the derail back on between the units and derailed the trailing unit. O f course, I lined a switch under a slow-moving lumber train and derailed 2 loaded centerbeam cars. I crushed a bungalow (a 'small building') that housed a fax machine...therefore the reference to 'teletype'.

Anyhow, Kelsey (daughter # 2 of 3) turned 20 today .Hard to believe...

Some layout stuff...still busy drywalling the room. I will be looking at building several domino-style layout design elements (LDEs). One of the first ones I will build is a 2 by 10 foot section I call ' Kelsey Bay'. This will have a car barge, lumbermill, team track and steel fabricator. On the sketch (done with CadRail V.8), I have included carlengths. Each square is 1 foot.

Hope to have some more layout planning stuff on the next post.

Ken.

Blue Jays win their opener

Here I am at the "Rockin R" and I am showing Chris all the exploits that I took part in. As you know if Kenny is near a derailer or a traction motor cable the result is quite exciting. Either bounces under a passing train and causes a derailment or a little building gets crushed into smitherines by a prototypically correct piece of rolling stock. Like modelers, it is really easy to throw a switch between the trucks of an unsuspecting car. Teletype was lost forever. I am sure there are some keys still to be found under the ballast...or are those your car Keys Kenny? I will leave it to Ken to tell you all about Wabamun. As I was in Ottawa and heard this on the news,,,,the first thing I said to my good wife Lela...I bet you anything Ken was on that train. And yup He was there. I also like his story about how CN likes to run locomotives over drawbars or the one I like best is when he fell of his cab chair and nearly killed himself on those bumpy trips at night. It has to be a great distance between signals for that to happen...in OCS.. I hope.... Any way here are some pictures to ponder.

Kenny is this the truck wheel that was missing off that tank car when they did the standing inspection? Finally found it aye:)
West of town as you had thought though I guess that makes sense since you were coming from Edson

SD38-2 1650 at Edmonton Intermodal on Train 516 (former NAR 401)

Hello to you all. I have begun room preparation for my HO layout, based on CN/CP operations in Kelowna BC. I have been drywalling the room (approx. 12 by 25 feet). I wiil keep you updated on progress with this project.

I will also include some prototype photos I have taken through the course of a day's work as a locomotive engineer and conductor with CN in Edmonton AB. As you can see by the photo below, this can be a taxing job...

Ken King...St.Albert AB.