Northern Ontario CN main line

[Scottl]

Hi all,

Well, I've been around a while and have not been given the polite request to leave, so I'll take that as a good sign.  There seems to be a flush of new layout engineering threads in the past month, and I realized I had yet to introduce my current layout.

I grew up in western Canada and had always had mountain-themed layouts.  After travelling a bit in northern Ontario and having a chance to railfan the remote CN and CP mainlines, I thought it would be a good theme for a layout.  One nice thing about these prototypes is that they have a lot of traffic, varied trains and some local industries like pulp and lumber mills, and mines.  I also wanted to try modelling different scenery, including some of the muskeg (swamp) and rocky lakes that cover the region.

I settled on the CN mainline and decided the focus of the layout would be Hornepayne, a small, isolated town which remains a division point about halfway between Sudbury and Armstrong.  A kilometer out of town in both ways, it is wilderness, with only occasional logging roads for access.  Here is a map- note Toronto in the bottom right corner, where the line originates, and Sioux Lookout on the middle-left side, another division point on the line going to Winnipeg.



My goal was to model the yard, generate some industry and operations, and model a few signature landscape scenes.  I settled into a glorified loop that fit my space.  Although I am fortunate to have a nice, bright room, I share it with the furnace and the space is a bit door-challenged.  The latter means that there are a lot of doors and they get in the way of any layout.



Here is the version showing the hidden trackage along the front.



One of my goals has been to avoid the roundy-round look and attendant visual compromises.   This has worked out for the most part, but in the end, I needed to use some tunnel portals.  There are a few tunnels on the line, but not especially close to where I am modelling.  Also, the paper mill in my Hornepayne is not protypical but I am including it as a representation of similar mills found elsewhere along the line (and on the CP line as well).

Construction started in October 2010 and I had the benchwork and mainline down by November.  Here are some early shots.







I worked on the landscape scenes first.  This forested landscape needs a lot of trees (500 and counting) and there is a lot of exposed bedrock in the area.  But these little rocky lakes occur in the tens of thousands and are wonderful fishing spots.  Notably, the little bridge was my first attempt at the salt weathering technique and was how I found my way to The Railwire!





I then turned my attention to the muskeg scene on the other side.  I wanted to try everything differently here:  I cast rocks onto the foam base, used a variety of grass and other scenic products (trying to avoid the sameness of ground foam), and generally tried to give it a sense of a lonesome isolated stretch of line far from anywhere.  I even tried my hand at a sunset backdrop, which kind of worked.  I'll find a moose figure for that swamp at some stage...





Last winter, progress on the layout stalled as I tried to build up a fleet of CN diesels.  Of course, almost none of their units can be bought off the shelf, so they all had to be kitbashed with Kaslo Shops cabs or shells.  I did up a quick swoosh-noodle as a place holder, but it has grown on me  .



Before this summer began, I had one last running session before I put everything away for a few months.



So, now I'm moving into the next major phase.  I'm going to finish the Hornepayne yard, which has continued to evolve (and grow) since I first built it.  I'm also going to build my first major structure, the paper mill.  I'm looking to scratchbuild it as I want a massive, modern complex and the Walthers kit is just too small (and old looking).  My first ideas look something like this, and of course, they will cover the track at the front when it is finished.



So, that's where I'm at.  There is nothing like train watching in northern Ontario- just don't forget the bug spray!  Thanks for looking.



Cheers,
Scott 

[elnscale]

I worked on the landscape scenes first.  This forested landscape needs a lot of trees (500 and counting) and there is a lot of exposed bedrock in the area.  But these little rocky lakes occur in the tens of thousands and are wonderful fishing spots.  Notably, the little bridge was my first attempt at the salt weathering technique and was how I found my way to The Railwire!

Scott,

Great progress. Those scenes could just as easily be the other side of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Very realistic. I especially love the low bridge in the top photo above. There are so many of them. The line down to Munising along the Seney Stretch has dozens of them. These scenes remind me of the area west and south of Marquette and Ishpeming where lines wind their way through the scenery where the old mines are/were.

Steve

[Coxy]

Great work all round. Tunnel and forest scenes really good. Spiffy looking fleet of custom units too. Looking forward to future posts.

BTW, are those Yop bottles in the paper mill complex?! Neat idea!! 

[packers#1]

I'm digging the plan, it looks like something I'd like doing; nice big yard, big industry to switch, and then landscape scenes...glad to see it can be a fulfilling layout! Your diesel fleet and scenery are pretty dang good as well, looking forward to more 

[GaryHinshaw]

Umm -- this is awkward -- but we were just about to ask you to leave...

not.

I've always admired your scenery and diesel work.  Nice to see the full context here. The mill has a lot of potential.

-gfh

[Scottl]

Thanks everyone, I've been really pleased with most of the scenery.  I've never driven the Michigan side of Lake Superior but it sounds like I need to.  The bugs in this region are legendary but it is a beautiful place.

At some point in my modelling activities, probably when I actually built a layout for the first time, I realized I needed some operations and a yard to keep it interesting for me.  The yard has expanded quite a bit since I originally drafted the plan there.

Coxy, you are right, those are Yop containers!  I think with a little work, I can make them look like pulp storage tanks.  I'm always on the lookout for shapes that will be useful and those came to be emptying the dishwasher.

[MichaelWinicki]

Great plan Scott!

Luv the back drop.

Terrific use of scenic dividers.

[mcjaco]

Man all those trees just set the scene off.  Great work!

[w neal]

I can't see the pictures, it must be this computer, but the concept sounds wonderful. I've been to Hornepayne and was given permission to look around the "roundhouse". You will, of course, be modeling the indoor turntable won't you? I recall some cabeese sitting around too. I was there in winter, so the snow blocked a  proper view of the grounds.

I have spent some time around White River as well. I hope to model the depot there somehow. The area is very inspirational. It must be the remoteness that makes those trains so appealing to me. The countryside is beautiful, despite the clouds of black flies. But then, one just needs to know when to visit to avoid a lot of them.

Hope to see more of your work, despite this computer. You have chosen a great prototype & region!

[Scottl]

Indoor turntable....  this sounds interesting.  I had never heard of it until you mentioned it.  I'll need do some digging and see if I can fit it in my plan.

Scott

[w neal]

Its resembles the one the Algoma has at the Soo. The idea (I think) was to keep snow off the turntable. When I visited, the CN was not using the square "roundhouse" much, but everything was intact inside. It is a unique (to me) feature of that area. I'm sure there are many references on the internets.

[davefoxx]

Scott,

Your scenery skills are impressive, but if I may add one suggestion: would you consider replacing the foreground trees with taller ones?  Your trees look nice but are too short.  To me, it's like an HO train in an N scale scene.  Otherwise, the layout looks great.  Thanks for posting.

Hope this helps,
DFF

[Scottl]

Thanks Dave.  You nailed it with something I want to redo and has been bothering me for some time.  When I did those "little" trees, I was limited in my mind, anyways, to what I had done before.  When I did the muskeg scene, I used Supertrees and found what a great difference the extra height made.  I will revisit it, but the trees are shorter in that region, especially the black spruce.

Cheers
Scott

[Dave Schneider]

I'm not sure if this is applicable in this case but the trees get smaller as you head north. Here in Alaska we have mature black spruce that are only 5-10 feet tall. These are usually found in the boggy areas with poor drainage. Just a thought.

The geologist in me wonders about the color of the rocks. The Canadian Sheild has some of the oldest rocks on  earth and they tend to be darker gray, sometimes red, almost always with various shades of lichen on them. I love what you have done with the scenary. Just tossing that out for consideration.

Best wishes, Dave

[Scottl]

I agree Dave, that is the pattern all through the boreal forest.  My spruce are a bit full compared to the real thing, but the overall look is OK, I think.  Black spruce (we call them swamp spruce where I am from) are about 15-25' in the region I am modelling and the white spruce in drier spots are taller, maybe up to 35-40', but there are also lots of birch, aspen and some white and jack pine.  Strangely, I have few photos of the area (but a lot from fieldwork in central Alaska and the Yukon!) but there are quite a few on Railpictures.net and other sources.

The rock...  you are definitely right on all fronts, and I can only plead that it is a work in progress.  There is a lot more gray and red in the rock there, and definitely a black lichen and algal cover on many exposed surfaces.  Most of the shield in that area is meta-volcanics and intrusives, so I want to represent some of that as well.  What I have done there is just cast the plaster for the rocks with a mixture of black, crimson and raw umber paint and I have yet to stain or weather the castings much.  I must admit though, this is something that stands out for me as well.  There needs to be much more dead fall and low vegetation as well.

I'm surprised no one picked out my foob tunnel portal (the squared one).  That is a place holder