the MRH Forum

Pembroke II - The Plan Journals/Blogs
Reply
Prolific poster 1,069 posts Rene Gourley renegourley Prolific poster 1,069 posts
Rene Gourley renegourley
Pembroke II Plan I should come clean: Pembroke I, the layout I described in Model Railroad Planning back in 1999 never really got off the ground. Oh sure, I built enough to take some photos for the article, but for a number of reasons, Pembroke it was unsatisfying. It languished in my new basement when we finally bought a home for it, and I could always find excuses not to work on it - there were other projects; I was unhappy with the height of the dam and the water; the modules weren't straight. You get the idea. Chief among the excuses was that the room was not comfortable. I have just spent the past year and a half renovating and insulating the basement, and now it is a comfortable room. The renovation isn't quite finished, but the garage is cleared out, and the Proto:87 Posse has been itching to get started on construction, and so, we're making a start. As I say, the room isn't fully ready yet, and in particular, the computer is still packed away. So, planning has taken the old-fashioned method of pencil and paper. This layout is simple, and so, that's not much of a challenge. If I were filling a basement, I would definitely use a CAD program of some sort. But I'm not, and so, I laid it out with turnout templates from Proto:87 Stores (proto87.com) on full-size sheets of paper spread over my living room floor. The rendering above is based on the full size plan. I often get asked about the appeal of Pembroke. While I have found ever more to recommend it as a modeling subject, the reason is somewhat more complicated than that. Pembroke has always been the first step in a Canada Atlantic Railway building program. The idea was to get something running that would serve as a test bed for equipment and ideas, and then ultimately scrap it and move onto the mainline once I had enough equipment. Now I have come to find that my model-building pace is such that I may never model the mainline, but Pembroke is interesting in its own right and will probably keep me occupied for the next decade or more. So what's different in the new Pembroke? Well, the first layout was constructed before I had a single photograph of the town in the 1905 era I am modeling. So, this one will have the dam height and the alignment of the track into the freight house corrected. I have more space this time, and so, it will include the engine house, coal dock and stock pens in the correct locations, as well as Lee Manufacturing moved up the line a little ways. I've also convinced myself that in 1905 the siding into the Pembroke Milliing Company's warehouse was probably still operational. It is a much more ambitious layout than that initial concept. Operationally, there are eight spots for freight cars. Pembroke saw three passenger trains each way per day, one of which was mixed, and would have brought cars in to be switched over the course of the night or subsequent day. It is unlikely that there were ever any freight extras. Two engines stabled in the three stall engine house ( it was actually a three-stall building, but only two tracks were for engines. I believe the third stall may have been for fuel). I only have one engine right now, and that took four years to build, so don't expect an invitation to an op session any time soon. One of the goals of Pembroke has always been to showcase Proto:87, and so, I will describe its construction here as well as on the proto87.org website. Hopefully we actually get somewhere this time.

Rene Gourley
Modelling Pembroke, Ontario in Proto:87

Read my MRH blog
Read my Wordpress blog
Reply 0
rsn48 Frequent poster 565 posts
rsn48

I'm not familiar with your

I'm not familiar with your layout, are you modeling Pembroke Ontario?
Reply 0
alcoted Regular poster 355 posts
alcoted

C.A.R. = Pembroke, Ontario

I would say this sentance:

"Pembroke has always been the first step in a Canada Atlantic Railway building program."

Would make that a definite yes.

 

 

0-550x83.jpg 
Reply 0
Rene Gourley renegourley Prolific poster 1,069 posts
Rene Gourley renegourley

Pembroke Ontario

Yes, Pembroke was the northern end of the 20 mile Pembroke Southern, which was operated as a branch by the Canada Atlantic upon its completion in 1899. The other end was Golden Lake, on the middle division of the CAR.

Rene Gourley
Modelling Pembroke, Ontario in Proto:87

Read my MRH blog
Read my Wordpress blog
Reply 0
Brian Clogg Regular poster 277 posts
Brian Clogg

Progress

It is good to see your project on here Rene. I look forward to viewing more progress.

Brian Clogg

British Columbia Railway

Squamish Subdivision

http://www.CWRailway.ca
Reply 0
rsn48 Frequent poster 565 posts
rsn48

Many decades ago I was in

Many decades ago I was in Pembroke many times, my father was in second command of Petawawa and we lived on the base.  Pembroke was the servicing town of the base where everyone went for groceries, gifts, etc.  The area has some very picturesque parts to it.

By the way, the reason I ask if Pembroke was the one in Ontario is that I don't actually associate that area, or really any area in Ontario with "Atlantic."
Reply 0
alcoted Regular poster 355 posts
alcoted

Short history of the Booth Line

"I don't actually associate that area, or really any area in Ontario with "Atlantic.""

Yes, I suppose one would get the connection quicker if this section of John Booth's Canada Atlantic Rly is referred to under its charter name; the Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound.

Though originally built as a means for Booth to access his vast timber interests, the OA&PS/CAR eventually became a major grain hauler.

The CAR's western terminus was the Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) port town of Depot Harbour (Ontario's largest population centre to become a complete ghost town). From there, grain from the prairies was trans-loaded by rail (the Welland Canal / St Lawrence Seaway had not been built yet) across the OA&PS to Ottawa, then on the CAR main to Coteau Jct (just west of Montreal), Sherbrooke QC, Lennoxville VT, Island Pond VT, to the port at Portland ME (what became the Grand Trunk Rly in New England, now the shortlined St Lawrence & Atlantic RR). At its high point, 40% of all western Canada grain bound for Europe travelled via the CAR.

Booth eventually sold the CAR to the Grand Trunk Railway in 1904 (he was 77 by this time), which of course eventually went bankrupt and was taken over by Canadian National. The double-whammy of the Great Depression and the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway had severe detrimental effects on the OA&PS line, which CN severed in the middle of Algonquin Park in 1933; ending the direct link between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and dooming the town of Depot Harbour, Ont. The line was ripped up in sections over the years, and is now completely abandoned. The final segment of the OA&PS between Arnprior, Ont and Ottawa was ripped up in the mid 1990's.

Because it ran from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic (albeit via New England) the name Canada Atlantic wasn't a bold exaggeration like so many other railroad names (eg. the SL-SF never got anywhere close to San Francisco). But it is still weird to think of any Ontario city to be linked to the Atlantic, isn't it?

- - -

From all this renegourley, I guess you can tell I've got a bit of an interest in the old OA&PS line too. Looking forward to seeing how your project develops.

 

 

0-550x83.jpg 
Reply 0
rsn48 Frequent poster 565 posts
rsn48

Glad I asked, thank you.

Glad I asked, thank you.
Reply 0
joef MRH Founder 17,423 posts
joef

We can use more fine/proto scale examples

We can use more fine scale/proto scale modeling examples, so welcome, René!

I'd also be interested in examples of fine/proto scale standards applied to freelance layouts, if anyone is doing such a thing.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

[siskiyouBtn]

Read my blog
Reply 0
Rene Gourley renegourley Prolific poster 1,069 posts
Rene Gourley renegourley

Proto:87 freelance

Immediately, I thought, "what a strange idea." And then Ed McCamey and his COSLAR railroad popped into my head with a mischievous grin, followed quickly by Brian Harrap of ZOB fame. Now I'm beginning to wonder if I might be in the minority, being a prototype modeler in Proto:87. Oh well, I can't help that I have no imagination for inventing railroads.

Rene Gourley
Modelling Pembroke, Ontario in Proto:87

Read my MRH blog
Read my Wordpress blog
Reply 0
dreesthomas Regular poster 495 posts
dreesthomas

Thanks for the OA&PS history

Back around 1970 one of our spring whitewater trips was on the upper Madawaska below Whitney.  We had a portage along a portion of the OA&PS ROW.  Rail and ties were still down, if I recall, but very obviously unused.  The other memory is of finding the remains of the stone roundhouse in what was left of the town of Madawaska.

Looking forward to more, Rene !

David
David Rees-Thomas
Reply 0
alcoted Regular poster 355 posts
alcoted

Ruins along the OA&PS

Does this look familiar David?   Madawaska roundhouse in 1971

More about it here:

http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/upload/wiki.asp?entry=5263

In case anyone is interested in finding out more about the OA&PS, there was a book published in 1981, authored by Niall Mackay titled "Over the Hills to Georgian Bay". It is an invaluable reference for modelling purposes.

 

 

0-550x83.jpg 
Reply 0
Reply