A New Start for A.C.M.E.

 Well let's try and get things going. It's a new year and now that I am retired, it's time to finally get the ball rolling. I have been acquiring items and designing a track plan for years now. Hopefully this is the year I get my benchwork done and lay the track. Life has found a way to stifle my plans over the past few years but I am feeling in better health now so lets get down to it. I will post a track plan soon and all suggestions for improvement are welcome.

 Wow! has it really been that long since I posted to my Blog?  I can't believe it. Over the last 10 months I have been extremely busy with everything but trains it seems, unless you count finding a copy of Omer Lavallee's Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives on e-bay for $85 (yeah I know,it usually fetches somewhere between $450 - $650) and it is in mint condition with the dust jacket.

Happy New Year

Here we are ready to start a New Year.  2013 will see some big changes around here as I have finally reached the point of starting the  building of my layout. Walls have started to come down, wood has been bought for the start of my benchwork and this past summer saw a new arsenal of tools fill my toolbag. So follow along as the Atlantic Coastal Maritime Eastern railway goes from idea to reality.

Just scooped some DAR documents on Ebay from 1942. A MOW seniority list, some envelopes, a notice to all section foremen on providing totals for ties installed on each section, the forms for the foremen to fill out for ties installed, the forms for the foremen to fill out for the number of shims installed and a Section Foreman's monthly Time Book and Distrbution of Labor book. I also got an open ended wrench that is "S" curved and about 20 inches long.

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so lets get caught up. The Friday Night Group invited me to join them for several operating sessions last winter. I posted photo's from Dave Primeau's session but there were several other sessions I enjoyed which I would also like to share. I'll start with Grant Knowles. Grant operates a HoN3 layout and this was my first taste of running narrow guage. Lots of switching involved and a lot of fun with a great bunch of guys.

Just a few more images from Dave Primeau's.

I have made quite a few new acquaintances in the past three weeks. My time talking to Mike Hamer has turned into invitations to several local layouts. My first operating session was on the Lyon Valley North at Chris Lyon's home in the east end of Ottawa ( Orleans ). This is a modern period layout. 100% diesel and a smooth runner using Digitrax DCC throttles. As Mike uses Digitrax as well this made my initiation into the world of operations quite painless. As engineer on a local freight and teamed up with Mike we had a great time.

The following week I received an invitation to operate on what could be the largest HO layout in the city. Once or twice a year, Mike and the guys and gals from the Friday Night Group, are invited to Tom Hood's Canadian Northern layout that takes up two rooms and is about 60' x 30' in area. I hope to post some video from that session soon. This layout runs on time schedule and an order sheet using Lenz DCC throttles. About 60 steam engines and a few diesel switchers in the yard along with about 400 pieces of rolling stock populate this extravaganza. I managed to run an extra as well as a scheduled train solo and other than requiring a helper up the final climb. There were 13 of us operating that night and the dispatcher was complaining we were short staffed and that it would probably take a couple of hours with several operators the next day to tidy things up by running the rest of the trains.

Last Friday I had the pleasure of operating on Dave Primeau's Boston & Maine themed layout. This layout is closer in size to my own train space and gave me a good idea of what can reasonably be accomplished in a limited space. This week we ran with MRC DCC throttles, most of which were wireless. This layout has narrow aisles but this was not much of a problem as each yard was assigned switching duties. The layout was run under a fast clock and modified car card system which worked quite well. Here are some photos from that session.

Recently I had the opportunity to visit with someone who is not only well known in the local modelling community but has been featured in MODEL RAILROADER magazine as well. Mike Hamer is his name. I met Mike a couple of times at our annual RAILFAIR that is held at ALGONQUIN COLLEGE. Mike was displaying some of his craftsman kits and a diorama that he had built along with attempting some work on another kit. After some time in conversation with Mike, it was obvious that here was a man who not only loved the hobby but also got a great deal of enjoyment out of sharing this with people of all ages. Mike models the BOSTON & MAINE in the 1950's with an interchange with the MAINE CENTRAL on his HO scale layout. About a week after our conversation I called Mike to arrange a date to view his layout and run some trains. As my layout is still in the planning stage, this was my first opportunity to learn about operations on an established layout. Mike patiently walked me through the basics involved in running an operating session on his layout including some simple car cards which we used for switching duties in the ficticious town of North Dover which on on a map of Maine, lies somewhere north of the real town of Dover. I must say that after a couple of hours shunting cars around the yard servicing local industries and pulling cars for the local freight, I felt much more confidant in my ability to run model trains in a prototypical manner. Thanks for the experience Mike and maybe someday I'll have the pleasure of hosting an operating session with you on my own layout.

Somewhere out in the vastness of cyberspace I somehow came across a kindred spirit of sorts by the name of David Holsinger. He is an accomplished composer, conductor and teacher who shares his musical insites with anyone fortunate to discover his website. This however has nothing to do with my reason for mentioning his name here. David is the designer, builder and operator of what he calls THE " ANY-TIME-ANY-SPRING-RUN-ANY-ENGINE-I-WANT-TO-NO-MATTER-WHAT-ERA-BECAUSE-IT'S-MY-TABLE-AND-I-BUILT-IT-AND-I-CAN-DO-WHATEVER-I-WANT-TO " HO TRAIN LAYOUT. As he chronicles the building of it at www.davidholsinger.com/trains.htm , you discover that the man has a keen sense of humour and is not adverse to the occasional needling about his exploits. I speak here from personal experience. Unlike many model railroaders, David takes neither himself or his hobby too seriously. In his words, " I like to play with trains. ". All this has been made possible by his " wonderfull wife whom I've mentioned before " who gets credit for her unending generosity and patience at appropriate intervals. I too am preparing that area of the house that my wonderfull wife has generously agreed shall be my personal domain for all things train related. In HO scale that is. As much as I initially wanted to build a prototype based railway I have come to the conclusion that geography and space limitations have conspired against me. I have decided to have my railway modeled in Nova Scotia. The major railways in my time period of the mid 1950's are Canadian National and the Dominion Atlantic Railway. My problem is that I want to model scenes from around the province and without an extreme amount of fudging this is not going to work. Enter the fictional but vastly more scenic Atlantic Coastal Maritime Eastern railway or A.C.M.E. for short. Envision the endless possibilities. Who hasn't wanted an excuse or opportunity to provide rail service to such industries as the ACME Anvil Co. or the ACME Birdseed Co. or the ACME Giant Rubber Band Co. for example. Ah! to dream. So, dare to dream I say. Let your imagination run wild and go play with your trains. The hobby needs to be fun. Don't let the " rivet counters " take that away from you. Remember, if you have the desire to do it your way, you're not alone.

These are a few items that were on display at The Colchester Historical Society Museum in Truro. They are part of a larger special exhibit on display this summer about the importance of the railway to Truro as "The Hub" of Nova Scotia.

Canada Day is overcast but it it is a bright day for the Memory Lane Museum staff in Middleton, Nova Scotia. Supported by the Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative, the museum and it's Future View Rehabilitation program received a much needed financial boost with the arrival of 70 mugs designed, paid for and delivered by the DARDPI group. In the photo, from L to R, Brian Lilly representing the DARDPI group, makes the official handoff to Station Master Terry Hyson and Bookkeeper Margaret Wilkins. All proceeds from the sale of these mugs goes to supporting the museum and it's Future View staff.

The just released DAR caboose by Truline Trains.

As the Dominion Atlantic Railway is my major interest, I am going to start posting photographs, schedules and maps that I have acquired, here on my blog. Hope you find this info of value. I also recommend that anyone with similar interests check out http://dardpi.ca which also has a wiki site and is loaded with info on the DAR.

Grandfather was a crane operator at the Halifax rail yards.

The time has come to put my passion for trains into building my first model train layout. As many of my fondest memories are based on trips to Nova Scotia, it is no surprise that I have chosen this region as the background for the layout. The Dominion Atlantic Railway used to pick up passengers as they dissembarked from the ferry in Digby and this will be the starting point of the layout. Running through the Annapolis valley, passing through Deep Brook, Cornwallis, Annapolis Royal and into Kentville which was the headquarters and main service depot for the line, we continue past the gypsum mines and continue as far north as Truro where we intersect with CN lines running between Halifax and Montreal.Truro will anchor the other end of the layout. The plan is almost in the final design stage and will be posted soon.

This 4-6-0 stands at the entrance to the Smith Falls railway museum here in Ontario, Canada.

This Alco S-3 at the Smith Falls Railway Museum still runs. Unit 6591 is painted in the Canadian Pacific colours as it was on delivery and has block lettering .