I had an old Lionel 027 train set when I was growing up and thought there was room in the basement to try out model railroading.

It was a simple N Gauge table top layout but I had fun and learned a number of tricks in making scenery. The track work was pretty poor and to this day remains the weakest area of my modeling.

This original version lasted a couple of years until we moved back to the Fraser Valley on the mainland. It revived briefly as an HO layout in the bedroom of Colin, our youngest son. This only lasted a short time until a move to Salmon Arm in the interior of the province saw it dismantled again. A young family, lack of room and a lack of funds saw the railroad reside in cardboard boxes for approximately 18 years.

By this time we had moved back to Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley, and the boys had moved on with their lives. Now I had a whole room to devote to my model railroad.

That version started off with a bookshelf/cupboard corner unit built out of oak with the help of my friend Ken Mead. On the top was room for an N gauge layout that was L shaped, 7 feet long by 4 feet wide with a 2 foot by 4 foot section cut out of the front to form the L. The whole unit is on casters so can easily move out to give access to the tunnels for track cleaning and derailments. (My track work still needs improving.)

The shelf unit looked great and I had a lot of fun with the scenery which looked pretty good if I do say so. Sound was added with a couple of MRC Tech II sound generators and speakers located around the layout. Later an additional layout was built along three walls in a U shape. This new layout was approximately 7 feet by 11 feet and is 2 feet deep. All track work was between 5 feet and 5 1/2 feet above the floor so your view of both layouts is more across than down and the highest peaks on the hills are approximately 7 feet from the floor. All track was looped so trains could run continuously.

I decided to renovate the room so it could be used for a sitting room as well, so torn down the layout and constructed a shelf around the entire room at the level of the door top. A new layout has been started up there. It can only be viewed in its entirety from a stool but while sitting the viewer catches glimpses of the trains as the move around. Track work is completed and I will post new photos as scenry progresses.

A G Scale division was started in the garden a few years back and has taken most of our efforts lately. It consists of approximately 200 feet of track looping around the south end of the yard with a seperate loop and siding of about the same size added on north side of our garden. I find the size easier to work with than N gauge and enjoy combining the gardening with modeling.

All of the motive power for the garden has been purchased but most has been extensively modified and weathered. The rolling stock is about half and half ready to run and kits or in the case of the logging cars, scratch built, but all have been weathered or modified to suit my purposes.

The structures have all been made from scraps of wood and junk found around the house plus a few detail parts I purchased. The population is made up of different available models from the model railroad store or Christmas figurines that I modified with a Dremel tool.

It has been fun and I love to share ideas, so don’t hesitate to e-mail me if you have a question or an idea to share.

Dave