Trains @ Station Studios

At long last, I’ve decided to move the train pages from an old Frontpage-based system to WordPress.  Please update your bookmarks if you are arriving from www.stationstudios.ca/pmtco or www.stationstudios.ca/gardenrwy.

I’ve taken the opportunity to update many of the research pages on the prototype Key Valley Railway. You can find all the posts on the KVR here.

If you are looking for posts on my moth-balled On3/On30 Pakesley Mill and Timber Company, please use this link.

If you are looking for posts on our first (and also moth-balled) garden railway, the Lost Hollow Railway, please use this link.

I was fortunate this weekend to surf over to the SE Lounge website and caught sight of a “for sale” announcement for a 7/8″ scale live steam locomotive and some rolling stock. The seller was Canadian and so I made contact and made arrangements to purchase it all. The photo above shows the engine, a 7/8″ scale kit on a Accucraft Eldrig chassis.

I also got three slate wagons as part of the deal:

So, the Pen y Fan Quarry Railway is now officially begun!

Here’s another great video of Welsh slate railways, this time the Ffestiniog. This video focuses on the equipment used for hauling slate.

Here’s a very well-done video of the Talyllyn Railway in Wales:

Certainly makes the desire to build a slate railway for my next garden railway even stronger.

So I didn’t jump on buying the Roundhouse Katie back a year ago. Rather today I made a purchase of the 7/8″ scale Davenport made by Back to Bay 6 in the UK. I follow the SE Lounge Forum rather religiously and have always been impressed by the size and quality of the 7/8″ scale model presented there. I don’t have too much invested in 1:20.3 rolling stock at the moment and several people have kitbashed Regner Konrads into 7/8″ scale. Here’s one example done by Rob Bennett:

I’m thinking of adding to my live steam collection in the new year. Keeping with the small size of the rolling stock I already have for the Lost Hollow Railway, I was thinking that the Roundhouse Katie would be a good addition. I’m definitely considering the radio control option this time around. Black or green? That is the question.

My original concept for the Lost Hollow Railway was to base it on a logging theme. However, the more I learn about the narrow gauge slate railways of Wales like the Talyllyn and Ffestiniog Railways, the more I’d like to model them. I rode the Ffestiniog back about 20 years ago but would certainly like to get back to the area again and ride more of them.

I’ve found some slate wagon drawings on the Internet and they look easy enough to scratchbuild in 1:20.3 scale.

While surfing around the blog entries on the Model Railroad Hobbyist website, I came across a link to the Upper Canada and Algonquin Railway group, who are building an On30 modular layout based on the Free-Mo standard. Unlike other modular systems like Ntrak, Free-Mo sets some basic requirements, particularly around the module height and the module-to-module interface, and then lets the module designer a great deal of latitude on all other aspects. Prototype modelers have taken to the standard very quickly as it allows them to reproduce real track patterns very accurately. It also allows a lot more creativity removing the “slot-car” look of other older module systems.

I’ve always liked the Free-Mo concept especially now that I don’t have room for a full layout. I could build a couple of modules and participate when I’m around and store the modules away when I’m in the Netherlands. In addition, with Bachmann’s recent releases of On30 locomotives including Shays, Climaxes, 2-6-0′s, 2-8-0′s and 4-4-0′s, there are a lot of possibilities to mimic the Key Valley’s locomotive roster in On30.

I’ve been in touch with the UC&A group and am looking to add the Pakesley Mill and Timber Company to the consortium of companies making up the UC&A.

Books

• Brown, Ron, “Ghost Towns of Ontario, Volume 2: Northern Ontario and Cottage Country”, Cannonbooks, Toronto, Ontario, 1983. ISBN 0-9691210-1-6 (v.2)
• Bytown Railway Society Inc., “Canadian Trackside Guide 1995″, Bytown Railway Society Inc., Ottawa, Ontario, 1995.
• Dunn, Craig, “Key Valley Railway: The Railway that Ran to a River and Stopped…”, White Mountain Publications, New Liskeard, Ontario, 2008 ISBN 1-894747-33-X [9781894747332].
• Macfie, John, “Parry Sound Logging Days”, The Boston Mills Press, Erin, Ontario, 1987. ISBN 0-919783-76-7
• Macfie, John, “Parry Sound Old Times”, The Hay Press, Parry Sound, Ontario, 1996. ISBN 0-9694962-1-4
• Mackey, Doug and Paul, “The Fossmill Story: Life in a Railway Lumbering Village on the Edge of Algonquin Park”, Past Forward Heritage, Toronto, Ontario, 1999. ISBN 1-896974-10-4
• Tatley, Richard, “The Steamboat Era in the Muskokas, Volume II – The Golden Years to Present:, The Boston Mills Press, Erin Ontario, 1984. ISBN 0-919783-10-4

Links

• The National Air Photo Library: http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/
• Ontario Ghost Towns: http://www.ghosttownpix.com
• Parry Sound Public Library: http://www.pspl.on.ca
• Colin Churcher’s Railway Pages: http://www.railways.incanada.net/
• A Complete Listing of Shay Locomotives: http://www.shaylocomotives.com

The best source of information concerning the KVR locomotives is the Industrial Locomotive roster in Colin Churcher’s Railway Pages. I’ve cross-referenced the locomotives listed in Churcher’s roster against photographs I’ve collected.

Engine #1 – Two Truck Shay

Engine #1 was a 30 ton Shay locomotive (Lima serial # 2679). The history of Engine #1 is summarized in the 1995 Canadian Trackside Guide. It was built in 1913 by Lima as the Dennis Canadian Lumber Co. #1 and apparently worked out of Whitney, Ontario. The Hope Lumber Co. purchased it next and used it until 1928 when it was purchased by the Key Valley Railway, probably to replace the locomotives the KVR lost in a roundhouse fire in 1928. The following photo shows #1 near Lost Channel.

Here’s another photo of #1 at Lost Channel:

The Key Valley used #1 until 1935 when it was sold to the Standard Chemical Co. of South River. The engine made several other stops until it arrived at the Komoko Railway Museum near London, Ontario. The Railway Museum website has a large set of photographs of the engine in service and during their rebuilding efforts.

Engine #2 – Two Truck Shay

Built in 1910 as Lima serial #2386, this Shay was used by the KVR until it burnt in the roundhouse fire in 1928:

Another photo of #2:

Engine #4 – Two Truck Shay

Churcher’s database indicates that the KVR had three Shays in total. He lists this third Shay as having serial #1518 but this has not been confirmed. The following photograph from John Macfie’s collection shows two Shays and a rod engine in the background. Given that the only time the KVR had two Shays on the roster was before 1928, it is likely the photograph was taken then and that the Shays are engines #2 and #4. The rod engine is likely engine #50.

I finally found a picture of #4. Not a great one, especially because it’s on the left side of the engine (the non-interesting side):

Engine #6 – 2-8-0 Baldwin

Engine #6 is a conventional rod locomotive using the 2-8-0 (Consolidated) wheel pattern. Churcher lists #6 as being built by Baldwin in 1904 as serial #24841. A photograph I have possession of dates the engine as in use in 1922; Churcher listed #6 as starting service on the KVR in 1922. It too was scrapped in 1928 after the same roundhouse fire that claimed #2. Here’s a photo of #6 from John Macfie’s collection:

Another photograph of #6 near Lost Channel:

Engine #39 – 4-4-0 Rogers

Engine #39 is a conventional rod locomotive, though it is difficult to make out what type of pattern from the photograph. The photograph dates the engine as in use in 1922. Churcher lists #39 as 4-4-0 wheel pattern built by Rogers in 1883 as serial #3137. It arrived at the KVR in 1917 and like #2 and #6 burned in the roundhouse fire of 1928.

Engine #50 – 4-4-0 Manchester

Engine #50 is a conventional rod locomotive originally from the Grand Truck Railway. It appears on the roster in 1917 and was later scrapped. Here’s a photograph of #50, probably at Lost Channel:

And another photo: