Travel brochure

Two docks for two airplanes

 A first sketch of the dock scene.
Dock outlines are in brown, track roadbed is black, outer bound of the lake is blue.

I've started to work out some ideas for the scenery now that I think the track plan is more-or-less worked out.

I've started with the dock area as this will be the most prominent feature. Both the standard and narrow gauge tracks run out past the lake's shoreline onto a spit that has been created by dumping rock onto the lakebed and civil engineering it to support railway track. The split is sandwiched by two docks, each dimensioned to accommodate one de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter without interfering with the railway track.

I'm not sure how large the bays on either side of the docks should be. They shouldn't be too big for layout handling reasons, but not so small that they seem vestigial. Also I have an idea for a temporary scene for the right-hand bay that would feature a Canadair CL-215 water bomber floating in the water, but given the size of that aircraft that may be one airplane too far :-)

Next, some vertical mocking up.

Mystery trolley by 'J G Models'

Left: J G MODELS trolley | Right: My kitbashed Jigger

John, Garrett, and I visited the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders swap meet this morning. It was excellent and we all found some treasures. John knows I have an interest in unusual trolleys and bought me that one on the left in the photo above. It reminds me of the 'Jigger' I kitbashed from a Tyco trolley for the Centennial Experimental Farm layout.

It appears to be cast from white metal, is clearly narrow gauge (maybe HOe?), and the trucks are also cast items that are static. You can see 'J G MODELS' is stamped on the bottom. I can't find much of anything on the internet about this other than J G Models was a model train manufacturer in New Zealand, although I can't be sure of that. I need to do some research about this intriguing item. I may motorize this unit with a Kato N-gauge drive for use on the CEF layout. Thanks John!

Yes: Rough sketch in track of the Inglenook Lake track plan.

A second attempt was made with Gemini to see what sort of rendered track plan it could create for Inglenook Lake. I supplied Vince with the above cleaned up track plan along with some reference images and notes for a prompt, which in turn he offered up to Gemini.

No: Gemini's second attempt at a rendered image of Inglenook Lake

From that information the above image was created by Gemini. The only thing better on this attempt is the track plan is much improved. The rest is not close to what I have in mind. I guess I shouldn't be surprised because Gemini can only generate images in accordance with what it has been trained with. Vince told me it took a lot of work to get the image to this point, and I appreciate him sticking with it so we could see what Gemini could do; however, I don't think I'll continue on with this Gemini investigation.

I only post Gemini's images here so they can be compared to what I have in mind for this layout, how I want it to look, and what I want it to say. Gemini can't tap into my mind, experiences, thoughts, or aesthetic preferences, so I shouldn't expect it to approximate a layout I might want to create. I'll leave it at that. Stay tuned.

A model railroader goes to a plastic scale model show, again!

Godzilla assumes his position of honour at the Fantasy Figures table.

Last Sunday, John, Garrett, and I went to the annual scale model showcase held each year at this time at the Holland Armoury. We went last year and had a great time.

Godzilla patiently awaits transportation to the show.

Last year I took a serious entry with me, but this year I couldn't think of a diorama to build so I thought I should just be lighthearted about it and took my build of Polar Light's Godzilla I completed in 2025.

Godzilla towers above the other entrants proving he is indeed King of the Monsters!

These isn't any formal judging at this show. All judging is done by those who enter a model. If you enter, you get a ballot and can cast votes for models in the various categories you think are worthy. Last year John and I found wandering the floor doing our little bit of judging enhanced the viewing experience. It gave us a framework for talking about aspects of models we liked or didn't care for. It made us more engaged with the show. So, for this year I decided to enter Godzilla so we could once again judge and be a bit more engaged with the model work on display. It worked. 

An excellent armour model on an elevated display
(I apologize for not identifying the builders in my photos as all entries were displayed anonymously for judging purposes)

All the model work was outstanding. My only concern is that models are not displayed in a manner that does justice to the excellent work of their makers. 

The display tables are standard commodity, transportable dining tables. They are too low for show purposes, and the models are too crammed together on them to allow for proper viewing. I understand why these tables are chosen as they're readily available, convenient, and no additional costs are incurred by using them. 

Another excellent armour model on an elevated base.

But, I do like how a few builders made use of elevated bases to try and alleviate this problem a little.

1949 Bombardier C18

There was one piece of railway related equipment on the display: a beautiful scratchbuilt 1949 Bombardier C18 Maintenance of Way vehicle in 1/25 scale shown in the above photo.

A good time was had by all. As a bonus I found a Hobbycraft DHC-3 Otter kit I've been looking for and a few old magazines. We'll be sure to be back next year.

Update: 10:10 am

Check out the following video to get an overview of the show and all the models (Godzilla makes an appearance around the 6:42 mark):