The Hudson Bay Railway in HO Scale

 A few years ago I learned that CN used "Line Car Control" to explain the layout of sidings, industries etc. throughout their system.  It was divided into regions and sub regions.  I have been looking for this documentation for the areas north of The Pas Manitoba as that is my modelling focus.  I had been unsuccessful in this search.  Until now. Thanks to a very generous acquaintance I now have the Line Car Control binder for The Pas Manitoba Effective May 1986 and a second one effective December 1986.  As well I received a copy of the October 1973 CN employee timetable as well as some other Hudson Bay Railway related stuff.   A nice surprise was a telegraph pole insulator with HBR initials on it, a remnant of the original line construction from the 1913-1929 timeframe.  I will  have to sort out how to properly display it.      While 1986 is a few years after my modelling timeframe nothing really changed during the early 1...

Previously I have blogged about my CN auto transporter build project.  I have completed 4 cars so far in the CN noodle scheme.  I have a 5th car that I was going to do as a noodle scheme car, but a few things got in the way.   The biggest hurdle to finishing the car previously was that the paint went on rough when I was airbrushing this car.  I elected to try sanding down the paint using 1000 grit sandpaper.  The sandpaper was trimmed to the width of the side panels so I wouldn't affect the rivet details.  I managed to salvage the car without having to strip and repaint it.  The roof and ends are still a bit rough but this will be hidden with weathering.   While going through the Canadian Freight Car Gallery looking for prototype inspiration, I came across this photo < here > that showed one of the auto transporter cars was still in the maple leaf scheme in 1978 - close enough to my early 1980's timeframe to justify having one in t...

 I have posted a video on how I do my chipped paint effects on freight car roofs.  Fast and uses a few basic tools and paints, it gives a good weathered effect for your fleet. Chipped Paint on a Freight Car

Sometimes things appear that you never thought you would see.  I was messaging with my friend Mark  about a variety of things when the conversation turned to the track layout in The Pas. He worked in northern Manitoba during my modelling era so has been a wealth of information, both photos and memories, along with talking to his own contacts about the minutiae of railway operations in the region.    He sent a couple of photos that for me are akin to finding a holy grail: track diagrams for The Pas in 1990!  A bit after my era but I suspect there were not too many changes between 1980 and 1990.  Great news for figuring things out in The Pas.  For whatever reason this diagram was in a book for Winnipeg trackage.  You never know what you might turn up in unexpected places.    I can glean some information from photos and observations of my own and others.  But knowing what each track was used for is invaluable information.  Now I c...