Weekend Reading: Trackwork Handbook for Model Railroaders by Paul Mallery

This the book I was re-reading this weekend to brush up before starting in on the diamond crossing for Comstock Road. I have had this book for many years and actually did a search of my previous postings because it seemed strange that I had not already done a post on this book.

This classic is THE book for those intending to hand lay model railroad track in the North American tradition. It covers all kinds of details of the prototype and then gets down to practical advice for the modeller. Written long before DCC or the advent of the Fast Tracks CNC made jig empire, the methods described are what you need to build any kind of track using flat bottomed rail, spikes and a few simple tools. I needed to re-read parts of it because I haven’t built a turnout frog from scratch in more years than I care to count but the asymmetrical diamond on Comstock Road is just the sort of situation where these methods shine.

Even if you do everything with commercial jigs or castings, I highly recommend this book as a reference for prototype practice and other practical trackwork matters. Published by Carstens, it is currently out of print and not listed on the White River Productions site although several other Carstens books are. It looks like the book stand at train shows is your best bet if you want a copy although you might turn up a reasonably priced copy online. (unlike the unreasonably priced ones I found when I checked while writing this post.)

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Weekend Reading: Animated Scale Models Handbook

While I was in Kingston, ON on Saturday, I was able to take a bit of time to visit the Kingston Railfair train show. As is my habit, I browsed through the used books because one can never have too many books! I was lucky enough to come across Animated Scale Models Handbook by Adolph F. Frank. It was inexpensively priced so I took it into custody out of curiosity.

I am pleased to say that I am not disappointed in my latest acquisition. I have not finished reading it yet I soon will. Published in 1981, Animated Scale Models describes methods, materials and mechanism for animation predating the advent of inexpensive microcontrollers, stepper motors and servos. While some of what is described has been superceded, much of the wisdom of creating mechanisms from simple materials still looks useful.

Materials and tools described are only the ordinary sort that can be easily obtained. While the tool list certainly does not include a lather, I am also certainly going to find things to do with mine in this book. And save money either way. One can buy pulleys from a hobby robotics supplier, for instance, but the cost can add up in a hurry. Using the techniques in this book, one can readily build inexpensive alternatives that are exactly what is needed.

The book itself is soft bound and printed on non-glossy paper. It is well illustrated with plenty of clear drawings but despite the blurb on the back cover, no photographs other than the one on the cover. No pretty pictures here, just the stuff you actually need. Chapters include basic components, speed reduction mechanisms, mechanical movements,  and various example projects including a ferris wheel, a factory with a bicycle assembly line and more prosaic things like a small house with a man swinging a hammer to repair the roof and grandma rocking her rocking chair on the porch.

I think I can safely assert that any model railroader could find something useful in the Animated Scale Models Handbook. I look forward to employing some of these techniques to liven up Comstock Road. While apparently no longer in print, the online book retailers seem to have multiple used copies available at very attractive prices if you are interested.

Weekend Reading: CN Line Issue 70

Last weekend I attended the Greater Toronto Train Show. In contrast to most of my show outings, I spent relatively little time looking at modelling and much more time chatting with various modellers and vendors. I also found several things available that I have been intending to purchase and did my bit to support the hobby.

One of the thing I have been meaning to do for several years and not got round to was joining the CNR Historical Association. The CNRHA had a table at the show and was offering a “past, present and future” package that included the past issues and data DVD, the current issue of their CN Lines magazine and a subscription to the next four issues. I made up for my lateness to the party by getting the lot.

I am quite pleased with the current issue, number 70. The photographs are excellent and the topics are varied and interesting. There is an account of a derailment in Saanich BC (Vancouver Island), a place I visited when I was in the Navy. There is an article about a private passenger car built on a 1910 Pullman sleeper that was converter to a troop car in WWII and did rules instruction duty thereafter. And it’s owner who DIY’ed its restoration! There is also an article on some 0-8-0 switchers CN acquired from the Buffalo Creek Railroad to provide a temptation for a would be locomotive scratchbuilder.

CN Lines is available in some hobby shops, at least in Toronto but if you are a CN fan you probably already know how to get it. My major recommendation is for everybody to join up for the equivalent organization for their favourite railroad(s). I will admit that I took too long to get to it despite the recurring recommendations in the hobby press but I am glad I finally did it.

Weekend, er, Canoe Trip Reading: Track by Jim Pike

Track by Jim Pike  is one of the book deals I got at the Great British Train Show 2018. It is also the unread book I chose to take on this year’s canoe trip with my teenagers. The apple not falling far from this particular tree, I had to set a limit of one book each since it all has to get carried over portages. The Ziploc freezer bag is inner line of defense. The outer line being the barrel pack it rode in.

This an interesting book for those curious about the history of railway track construction. Written from a UK perspective, it covers the evolution of guided ground transport starting from medieval mine carts. Jim Pike, the author freely admits that this is an arbitrary choice. He also wisely brushes off that whole how did 4’8.5″ become standard gauge. Signaling is also not covered since it is well covered elsewhere.

Track focuses on the construction details of the track systems themselves: rails, sleepers(ties), wheels and fasteners. Methods of handling diverging routes and crossings are covered as well as some lineside features such as mile markers. I use the vague term “diverging routes” because the breadth of track systems covered includes those where turnouts and the like are not used. All sorts of interesting oddities get a mention including a steam powered Irish monorail that made it up into the 1920’s and an inclined line of variable gauge! that survived long enough that the owning entity that closed it was British Rail.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of track construction. You, too, can find out interesting things like why UK track workers are called platelayers. (And wonder why they are still called that.) Published in 2010, Track by Jim Pike is available through various online retailers in both physical and e-book form.

Weekend Reading: Layouts to Inspire compiled by Mike Merritt

I spent a long weekend traveling to watch migrating birds so no active modelling happened. On the other hand, the evenings do provide some quiet time to do some reading. One of my finds at the Great British Train Show 2018 was Layouts to Inspire compiled by Mike Merritt for the Gauge O Guild. The Gauge O Guild is the UK based association of 7mm (and the other “O”‘s including 1:48) modellers so naturally the layouts featured are all of some flavour of “O” scale.

An entire book of layout features is just the sort of thing I like. The layouts in the book were selected by the members of the guild and cover everything from indoor/outdoor garden layouts to micro layouts. O Scale Magazine contributor Neville Rossiter’s Bay Ridge Harbor Rail Road makes an appearance but otherwise it was all new to me. The photography is excellent and the articles are generally in the layout creator’s words which gives insights into how they go about the hobby.

The only downside for an inveterate layout planner like myself is that not all the articles include a track plan. This is a foible of British model railway journalism as far as I can tell since I have noted the same lack in some articles in UK periodicals as well.

Inspire was published in 2016 but does not appear to be still available. I acquired mine from a vendor at GBTS 2018 so presumably one has to get lucky at a show.

Weekend Reading: The Ancestral Roof

I have been seeking a suitable subject for my first attempt at applying the stonework modelling techniques described by David Wright in his book, Making Rural Buildings for Model Railways. This led me to a book I acquired a while back and had not actually got round to reading. The Ancestral Roof: Domestic Architecture of Upper Canada by Marion MacRae and Anthony Adamson is a detailed review of the housing styles of Upper Canada aka southern Ontario prior to Confederation in 1867. This is the period when the vast majority of stone construction took place so it is bang on for my purposes.

Published in 1963, the era of the book is evidenced in that the extensive collection of photographs are all black and white. No guide to colouring for modellers here. On the other hand, there is a detail coverage of Gerogeian, Loyalist, Regency, Classical Revival and Picturesque styles as embodied in houses built in southern Ontario.

The description of styles is illustrated with many photos and drawings; overall, floorplan and details. I also enjoyed the tales of how particular styles got to Canada and what the locals did to them to adapt to local conditions. A Georgian workers cottage executed in logs is not something you find in the UK.

The Ancestral Roof is long out of print but a quick E-Bay search turned up a couple of inexpensive copies so it is not unobtainable.

edit: photo…

 

Weekend Reading: Modelling Branchlines by David Wright

One of the things I like to do when I am traveling (and when I am not 🙂 ) is visit public libraries. It gives a glimpse into local literary tastes and sometimes interesting public architecture. The Halifax Central Library is definitely worth the visit. The building is almost new and impressively not just a big glass box. I also enjoyed the book return conveyor/elevator/sorting system which is purposely visible at points.

One of the book sections I am sure to go through is, of course, the model railroading and railroad history. In this case, I discovered a copy of Modelling Branchlines: A Guide for Railway Modellers by David Wright. My host agreed to sign it out for me and I read through it over a couple of days.

My initial impression was that this book was a bit of an odd duck by North American publishing standards. Rather than addressing a specific area of modelling technique, it covers a “vertical” segment of the hobby, the UK branchline. It includes a general history of branchlines in the UK, a basic overview of general layout construction methods, layout plans based on specific prototypes, some freelanced plans, some specific detailing and  modelling projects and some advice on colouring with prototype reference photos.

This unexpected approach is, once one gets used to it, an interesting read. The general technique sections provided some useful ideas that I want to try. I consider the real meat of the book to be the prototype line information and associated layout plans. The section describing the construction of a stone station building from card and modelling clay covers an approach I have not seen described in detail and that I definitely want to try.

Modelling Branchlines is in print and available from the usual online behemoth. If you are interested in the prototype subject matter and some excellent trackplan treatments thereof, this book might be worth picking up.