Looks great

Thanks for posting. It looks like you're going to have a great railroad, well thought out, lots of prototype switching and passenger to boot. I will definitely be looking forward to your progress.

well I'm just going to have to come over...

...and see this in person Marc!

Nice tour...looks like it will be fun to operate!

md

Columbia+Western has mountains covered

Mark, you, Scott, John and Coquihalla Man have the mountain scenery covered on your layouts, I'll be covering the swamps, muskeg and black spruce bogs.  I hope to make up for lack of scenery with lots of operational opportunities.  You have dibs on the smelter job when things get up and running.  Hopefully soon enough that Rene' has to supply "beverages".

Marc

Link...

Is there a reason the link is not highlighted on my iPad?     John

Burnt out link bulb? Sorry.

Burnt out link bulb?

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Embedded...

Thanks for the tour Marc!

Thanks for the tour Marc! You've got a very busy operation in the works there.

Too bad you're not closer, we could organize real interchanges

Bill...

Thanks.    John

Someone spammed this thread....

To all... 

Please be careful when clicking... thank you...

Thanks for the embedding Bill

I'm not sure why it didn't embed the Youtube video, I used the "Embed Media" tab to add the link.  

Bill, you are welcome anytime you feel like escaping the lovely January weather of southern Manitoba for the weather of the lower BC mainland.  As we former prairie dwellers say here on the coast, "you don't have to shovel rain"...

As for interchanging, I have actually discussed this possibility with Tim S.  We were thinking of having a few of the same cars on both layouts.  Tim would email that 'cars X,Y,Z" have arrived for interchange with destination being Flin Flon, Thompson, etc.  On my layout the cars would be added to an inbound train in staging for the next session.  When they had been unloaded/loaded on my layout they go back to staging and an email was sent to Tim that they are back for interchange to his layout.   I have heard of people actually mailing cars to each other for interchange but that seems a bit over the top to me.  So long as both layouts have a few of the same cars you can accomplish the same thing.  

After viewing the video again I think a clean up of the benchwork and room in general is in order.  That will be after the current project of relocating the power supply and DCC components to a dedicated shelf under the layout with the attendant reworking of the wiring gets completed.  

Marc Simpson

How to Embed...

You need to use the embed code from YouTube:

The code on youtube for embedding is located here:

Then you use the filmstrip button in the MRH editor to insert this code in your post.

Video

Your layout looks great Marc!  I'm very impressed with all the research that's obviously gone into it, and looking forward to seeing your progress.  Nice job!

Great Job

Marc, this is a wonderful prototypical layout you are doing. Great job !

Excellent video narration as well.  I greatly enjoyed it. Another great Canadian Prototypical Model RR. Nice prototype research. I did exactly the same thing with my prototype pictures: Pin on the wall for references and measuring. Again great Job Marc. Cannot wait to see your progress.

I've noticed you have a good fleet of Rapido equipment. How does the FP9 runs? Coaches?. Also noticed a few MLW: Your M420 (or HR412) is it Kaslo or Brass? Lots of GP-38 and GP-40 (Athearn/Atlas) and those runs nicely I have no doubt. Also noticed the brass PSC caboose. Is it an Athabsaca kit?

Couple of Mark and Marc from BC here. So you and .Mark Dance (Congrats Mark on MR Magazine and such BTW) next time you are in cowtown, let me know. 

Cheers

Syl

Current locomotive fleet

Thanks for the feedback Syl.  The current fleet is a mix of Rapido, Athearn, Atlas and a few Bowser and Kaslo as well.  I currently have in service the following CN units: 5 Atlas GP40-2W, 2 Athearn GP40-2L, 2 Athearn GP38-2W (2 more to be renumbered), 3 GMD-1 (only the 4 axle 1100 series is appropriate for my era but I like them) and one C630M (that needs to be remotored) as well as my sole Overland M420 brass locomotive.  I plan on modeling the M420 era on the HBR after Omnitrax bought around 17 M420 when CN retired them, I also have 5 or so Kaslo M420 and M420B units in various states of destruction.  The caboose is Athabasca, ready for paint.  I have another one to build, and a couple of Sylvan resin kits as well.  

The VIA fleet consists of 4 FP9A (3 Rapido and one Intermountain) and two F40PH-2 (Rapido).  I have been having issues with the Rapido units and their non sound decoders, I suspect the issue is the decoders so will be swapping them out.  Thus far the F40PH-2 have been working well with their aftermarket decoders.  The Rapido FP9A units don't seem to like non-Rapido decoders.  I also have about 15 Rapido passenger cars which are often the bane of my existence.   They take a LOT of work (new couplers, truck adjustments, adding weight) to get them to track properly.  I have one set of 5 cars that will track properly, the rest need more work.  A big issue is wobbly wheelsets. Finding replacements is challenging as the axle length is different than most wheelsets I have looked at.

For the Hudson Bay Railway fleet I have 3 Athearn SD50 (HBR paint), 1 Atlas SD35 (ex-Utah Railway, used on the HBR), 1 Atlas C424 (Belt Railway of Chicago unit that ended up on the HBR) and a Kato GP35.  

Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting has a kitbashed Kaslo GE 70 Tonner shell on a Bachmann drive as well as a Bachmann 45 tonner.  The 70T will be the main switcher, the 45T is slated for slag haulage.  I'll need a couple more 70T and an SW1200RS eventually to round out my HBM&S roster.  Future plans call for a GE 600V electric and a rebuilt steeple cab electric in slag service. 

There are a quite a number of additional units (GP35, GP20, GP9 etc) still in boxes that will eventually see the light of day as well as a number of resin kit locomotives under construction (S13, SD50F, SD60F, 8-40CM, GP9u).  Standard procedure on the HBR was to run at least 3 units in a consist due to the remote nature of the railway and unreliability of the locomotives in the Omnitrax era.  That eats up a lot of units for road trains.

Marc Simpson  

Comprehenisve

No problem at all Marc. Thanks for sharing your layout.

You have quite the comprehensive fleet no doubt!. Wow!. Overland Brass 420? That is a nice model. How does it compare to Kaslo? In the future I have plans to have them (Kaslo MLW M420) in my fleet as well. That is long term plan for me. You have some serious skills with the Sylvan, Athabasca and Kaslo kit. 

Rapido non-sound problems? Hmmmmmm!  Not sure what this means, however I've noticed some issues with my Rapido loco (DCC and sound) and turns out it wasn't the decoders but the gears in the truck: Too much/ not enough lube, gear not "broken in" yet properly etc.. So maybe...?

For the Rapido cars I feel your pain. I have 3 CN (grey/black) 4 VIA, 3 Stainless, 4 LRC and they all have given me problems. like you, what help a lot: cange the darn clone couplers. Added weight. Remove some tiny details that impede trucks movements. Wobbly wheel sets - which I replace with a spare, all this helps a lot.

How's the Atlas C424? Mine has a tendency to derail, front truck. however the wheels are in gauge and nothing is rubbing, so don't know what is causing it.

I do have a Kalso kit  built SD60F. Very nice details.

So you will have long consist. That is quite nice.

Thanks again

Regards

Syl

Rapido locomotives

Syl, I bought all my Rapido locomotives as the straight DC version to which I add an aftermarket DCC decoder.  I didn't feel like paying an extra $100 for a decoder with sound.  That said, I will be buying more sound equipped units in the future as the current generation of sound decoders is actually not bad.  They don't sound like an electric razor running around the layout.  The C424 runs very well, quite happy with it's performance thus far.  I have my Kaslo SD60F on an Athearn SD50 frame, need to get fans for it so it can get painted and lettered.

Marc Simpson

Thanks and wow!

You have the start of something great there. It looks like you planned very well and it's great you can get one level operating as you work on the second deck. I'm a big believer that if you can run and operate, you will keep the momentum going forward. The operations on the Hudson Bay line are very interesting in any era, especially the mixed type passenger trains. 

Looking forward to seeing more progress. Did the mines use any special cars to carry ore and concentrate? Was it the usual gondolas and 100 ton ore cars? Looking forward to seeing that operation, and what transpires in a copper/nickel mine vs. an iron ore mine. 

Thomas Gasior

HBM&S ore and concentrate cars

Thanks for the comments Thomas, I have found your videos and blog has some useful information for the HBM&S operations. 

As for the various cars, concentrate comes to the smelter in standard 50' gondolas, often with fiberglass covers on them to keep the concentrate from being blown out. 

Ore haulage was done with a variety of car types: Austin Western 20 yard and 30 yard side dumps, well covered in Tim Schwartz' blog: https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/side-dump-cars-12193329 and https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/working-on-the-30-yard-as-parts-are-delayed-12193409 .  Tim has a Shapeways store with 3D prints of both car types as well as other goodies like slag cars: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/schistlakemodels - I need piles of most of what he has made so owe Tim a debt of gratitude.  HBM&S also used ex CN iron ore cars like those that run on the iron ore range.  The trains tended to operate as cuts of the same car type, you would generally see 3-5 cars in an ore train. 

Marc Simpson

Mark's layout in progress

Looks to be a nicely done layout! The pictures are helpful, but for the progress update, please get rid of the clutter! John Colley, Sonoma, CA

Like the Photos and Mockups

I like the way you've mounted photos and track plans at locations to give you a sense of what you're shooting for. Really helps the imagination and may provide a sense of urgency. I also like the cardboard mockups of structures. I do the same thing using cardstock (well, Manila folders) for bridges and the like to get a sense of how the structure will look and get an idea of the construction process. Good stuff. 

I enjoyed the tour!

Thank you for providing a tour of your layout, good job on explaining the purpose of the layout and the various areas served by the railroad. I think my favorite part was the various bits and pieces contributed by your kids, glad to see they are enjoying the space as much as you are. as a father of two small children I hope they are interested in spending time in the hobby, or at least spending time with me while I work on the layout. You may have to allow them to decorate some part of the layout or at least hide a few creatures in the swamps or forests.

Thanks again for sharing!!

Mark my words, too many