Miracle Chair Company

Posted on December 31, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

“If it’s a good chair, it’s a Miracle”!

That’s what sign overhead proclaims at Miracle Chair Company. Judging by the rejects sitting out front I can see why! They seem to have a problem getting all the legs the same length.

This is a Bar Mills kit that I picked up at Hobby Junction in Montreal. It’s a small building, but has lots of details and should blend into the small town quite well. I had to make the foundation of the building fairly high for the loading dock to work so I used 3 layers of craft foam. I added another layer cut to the inside dimensions of the building to help hold it in place. A little bit of plaster will blend it into the surroundings.

Some grass, bushes and other details should finish this off quite nicely.

Later,

Scott

Developments in Kenville

Posted on December 31, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

What’s a town without a Public Library. Everyone needs to read, and the books are free!

Here’s the Kenville public library, above the Continental Insurance building in Kenville as of Dec. 23.

Signage needs to be added and he doors are below street level so there’s lots of work to be done.

Here is the library as of yesterday, Dec. 30…

As you can see the signs are there and I put a layer of craft foam under it to bring it up to street level. You can also see another new building to the left – Miracle Chairs – which will be the subject of another post later.

After adding the craft foam base I used some colored plaster to bring the grade up to the base and blend in the surroundings.

I did both buildings at the same time. I also started smoothing out the pond area – at the left. The area behind will be parking for Union Ice.

So, here is how it looks as of today…

Unfortunately I am giving away some of my future posts on the Miracle Chair bulding, but it can’t be helped. My Photoshop had decided to not allow me to crop.

Until next time!

Scott

Sitting on My Laurels

Posted on December 31, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

Well, although it is a busy time of year with lots of family and friend activities, I have not been sitting on my laurels regarding the Bayside and Tidewater. We have been in this house about 20 years, and have had a laundry room and storage room almost as long. The laundry room has never had a door and the store room has had a large curtain covering the doorway for many, many years. One of Kim’s Christmas requests was to get doors on those ugly openings. So….

Store room:

Laundry room:

The next project will be to get some trim to finish them up. Oh, and paint of course!

One thing I’ve learned that’s important for any hobby – if you have a significant other and they are happy, your life (and hobby) can be much improved!

Words of wisdom from,

Scott

Holiday Operations

Posted on December 27, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

Well, as you might expect, the holiday season brought some extra car movements to the BS&T. Fortunately, we were able to call in some extra help to handle the added work. Unfortunately, one employee decided he needed a vacation and high tailed it for a warmer climate. I hope Christmas in Orlando was worth it Derwin!!!

Anyway, we did have two guest operators for the pre-Christmas run. Steve Dickie and Ryan Nelson were on the Island for the holiday and made the trip to Summerside. I think (hope) they enjoyed their time here.

Here are a few pictures from the session…

Ryan is running the Kenville switch job.

Brian, Mark, Ryan, and Ken (hidden). Ryan has finished his
work in Kenville, for now, so helps Ken out as Brakeman in
Chappellton. Brian runs the Wholeinthall Turn as Mark
builds the East Bound Wayfreight.

Greg runs the Stevenville switch job as Steve builds the
West Bound Wayfreight.

Steve runs the wayfreight through Stevenville. There’s only
a few cars to drop off here, but a few more to pick up heading west.

The Wholinthall Turn makes it’s way through Chappellton

on its way to Tidewater.

The Tidewater Transfer makes it’s way out of Bayside.

A moment of confusion as the opposing wayfreights meet

in Derwin’s Drop.

That’s about it for this session. With the extra operator I was able to take a few more pictures than usual.

Until next time!

Scott

What do they do?

Posted on December 18, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

What do retailers do when they have stock bought when the Canadian dollar was low and now their shelf price is too high?

I found a general hobby store in Quebec City last week that had a fair amount of model railway”stuff”. I was looking at their display of locomotives when I spotted an EMD switcher in CP’s tuscan and grey scheme. I got the itch to buy so I asked a sales person about it. “It’s a Proto with sound.”, he said. I nearly flipped! I’ve been looking for one for a while. “How much?”, I asked. “Only $399” was his response.

ONLY $399!!!! Holy crap! Brian bought a Proto switcher with sound not long ago for about $170. I paid less than $300 at the Truro show in 2006 for two Proto RS18’s with sound. $399 for one loco!!

So, I told him as much. Fortunately the language barrier helped tone down his response – I have no idea what he said.

I did notice that most things in their store seemed to be priced higher than I’ve seen other places. Perhaps they just have a high markup?

So, the hunt for a sound equipped switcher in CP colours continues. But, since I don’t really need another engine, I’m in no rush – the price will have to be right.

Scott

Hello from Quebec City!

Posted on December 13, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

If you were wondering why I haven’t posted in a few days it’s because I am in “La Belle Province”. I drove to Montreal on Monday and spent all day Tuesday and most of today (Wednesday) visiting Metro grocery stores for work. However, I did mange to work in a visit to Hobby Junction, on Derwin’s recommendation.

I was surprised how easy it was to find the store. Once I got heading in the right direction on the right road that is. I was driving down Cardinal Ave. looking for the store and saw a convenience store that I was also looking for. As I was looking for a parking spot I saw Hobby Junction in the same strip mall. How lucky was that!

I had intended to take some pictures to include in this post, but I was so caught up in finding the store and browsing I completely forgot!

Anyway, I spent about an hour there looking at all the stuff. Sure, it’s convenient to buy on-line, but there’s nothing like browsing through a train store and seeing the products in person. They didn’t have what I was looking for in stock, but I did manage to drop a few coins in their counter.

I’ll fill you in in more detail later in future postings, but I bought a few automobiles, a couple CP piggy-back trailers (so I can make up a flat car like Don Parnell’s that I’ve envied for so long), a Bar-Mills small structure, a few Athearn freight car kits (old ones of course), and a few other odds and ends.

Now, I should go look in the yellow pages to see if there’s a train store in Quebec City!

Later!

Scott

Finally, some scenery appears in Kenville!

Posted on December 7, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

The layout is almost 2 years old and I’m finally getting some scenery in Kenville. It’s not much, but I’ve started at least.

Here is yet another close-up of the station.

There are some trees here and there. These are the last of the ones I made to take to the Truro show. I have to start making more!

A little farther back you can see the dirt road to the station. A little grass along here will be a big improvement. I actually bought the trees at the left of this picture. They look pretty good – like well manicured trees.

A different view of the station – looking from Union Ice. The reefers are parked at Union Ice, the empty track is a switching lead, and the loco is parked on a service track (it is sometimesused as a helper engine).

More Scenes in Stevenville

Posted on December 5, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

I did a little more scenery work in Stevenville last week. Here are a few pictures…

Shelly’s wondering why Derwin is taking so long to change the tire. He’s waiting for a train to watch!

The excursion train is sitting on the passenger siding.
A crew shortage has resulted in reduced operation of this train.

The view across the tracks.

Scott

Operating Report – Dec. 2, 2007

Posted on December 3, 2007April 6, 2022 by Scott

I had lots of time to prepare for this session, so all locos had clean wheels and bad order reports from the last session were cleared up. The extra preparation resulted in a relatively smooth-running session. So much so we were done in record time!

Bruce Bell and his son popped in during the session so we spent some time talking with him. His son even got to run the return train from Tidewater to Wholeinthall. Bruce better get his layout running soon or he’ll have a revolt on his hands.

Between Bruce’s visit, doing the local switching in Kenville, and providing helper service up and down “The Ridge”, I didn’t get much time to take pictures, but here are a few I managed to take toward the end of the evening.

Greg running the local job in Derwin’s Drop.

Derwin gets the helper ready for the Transfer to Bayside.
The Transfer is almost at the top of “The Ridge”.

The transfer heads through Stevenville.
Brian eases the Transfer into Bayside.

Mark decided he’d give the Stevenville Local Job a try for this session. He picked a good time to try it since it turned out to be the busiest job on the layout. Ha!

Ken took up his usual position in Chappellton. As luck would have it Chappellton turned out to be fairly calm with only half the usual car movements in and out.

Greg ran the West Bound Wayfreight, and the Local Job in Derwin’s Drop. Derwin also did double duty in Tidewater and the East Bound Wayfreight, with a helper job mixed in. He as fairly well behaved during the evening, gaining very few demerit points, for a change.

That’s pretty much it for this session. It was a fun evening. Thanks guys!

Scott