The Dam Busters, 1955

An image from the famous take-off scene in The Dam Busters.
Three of the nine Lancaster bombers on their way to Germany's Ruhr Dams on 16 May 1943.

I jokingly referred to the 1955 movie, The Dam Busters, in a post about busting beaver dams near the Havelock yard. I hadn't watched it in decades, so I rented a copy and sat down one blustery afternoon last week and watched again. I wasn't disappointed.

I can't comment on its historical accuracy, but I will say it's a docudrama. I don't know how it would fare with today's audiences as its dialogue is sometimes politically incorrect, the special effects are crude by today's standards, and the pacing is slow compared to modern films.

A Lancaster bomber at the Canadian Aviation & Space Museum circa 2018
Of the 133 airmen on the dam busters raid, 30 were Canadians, half didn't return.

But, that said, the aircraft scenes, the portrayal of the mission, the acting, and the emotional and psychological veracity are compelling. Also, the portrayal of real-life engineering, its ups and downs, its bureaucratic frustrations, and its sometimes exhilarating successes feel real to me as a lapsed aeronautical engineer. I was glad to see the legendary engineer Barnes Wallis portrayed in the movie, and that his role wasn't minimized.

I'd rate it 8.5 to 9 out of 10. 

Paperback version published by Abacus, 2008.

I said I'd write more about books, so here's one with a little Dam Busters spin. 

I read this one by Harry Pearson, Achtung Schweinehund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat, over the winter. It's an account of Pearson's lifelong involvement in the hobby of war gaming, miniature figures, and military models. It's fact filled, fascinating, sympathetic, and endlessly humorous. He has this to say about the movie:

"The Dam Busters starred Richard Todd [JDL: he plays Wing Commander Guy Gibson], a mainstay of British war films. He had also been a mainstay of the British war. The Dublin-born actor had served in the 7th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, taken part in the Normandy Landings and had been a member of the Allied spearhead that cut through German lines to join the airborne troops, commanded by Major Howard, who had captured the Pegasus Bridge. In the film D-Day the Sixth of June Todd played his own commanding officer, while in Darryl F. Zanuck's epic The Longest Day he played the part of Major Howard, with a younger actor taking the role of Richard Todd. In the 1958 film I Was Monty's Double, meanwhile, M. E. Clifton-James, who had indeed been Monty's double, took the parts of Monty and his double, thus playing himself being himself as well as playing the man he had been playing at being. The war had already gone postmodern. Little wonder that a primary school boy [JDL: the author] could get confused between fact and fiction."

The book is full of these sorts of gems. Get it, and watch the film.

Rolling stock for the Community Garden Layout

A people mover of dubious safety and legality

From time-to-time I've been working on two pieces of rolling stock for the community garden layout: a people mover, and a compost gondola.

I should have taken construction photos, but I wasn't in a documentation frame-of-mind while working on these. The people mover is basically a little flat car built from scraps of styrene, balsa, and wire on a Peco N-guage chassis.

The compost car.

Including a compost car in the 'fleet' was a suggestion from Galen. My instantiation is based on an old Atlas N-scale gondola. Not much has been done to it other than repainting, 'lettering', and installing a custom coupling bar and ring.

Both cars use a ring attached to a long bar for coupling to the locomotive. The long bar is necessary because the curves have such a tight radius: 3-1/2" inches. This prevents the car from jamming or flipping as it is pulled around a curve.

They both need a bit more weathering and colour, but at this stage I wanted to make sure they tracked properly when pulled, and have them around for comparison sizing the other layout elements.

Doodlebug Country and The Case of the Missing RDC-M Prototype

Interurbans Special #77

Back in early April we visited the Prescott model railway show. It was wall-to-wall people, layouts, and vendors. It looked like a good time was being had by all. I bought a few things of course, and one was the book Doodlebug Country: The Rail Motorcar on the Class I Railroads of the United States by Edmund Keilty, published by Interurban Press in 1982. The book is #77 in the Interurbans Special series. It's a thorough compendium of photos and facts about self-propelled rail cars dating from 1900 to 1960.

Lately I've written very little about books I've bought and read as those posts seemed hardly accessed. I've been reconsidering my stance since finding out about how Anthropic shreds books it has bought after scanning them for consumption by their AI products. I'm a Luddite, and am probably the last one to hear of this, but it was still shocking to me. I read further and learned the practice is quite common at libraries and many other places that deal with books. So, I thought, well, when I'm dead my little library will wind up in a dumpster or shredder, so maybe I should write about what I find interesting in my collection so at least in the future there might be a little pointer in the wild to books that others might find interesting, if any books still exist. Sort of a signal from beyond the grave :-)

That lead RDC looks like a very strange hybrid and is maybe something I'd like to build one day.
The caption in the book has this to say,
"Perhaps the acme in the development of the Budd RDC was the ROGER WILLIAMS train, shown here running as the MURRAY HILL from Boston to New York City at Larchmont, NY, on May 30, 1957."
Photo credit: George E. Votava.

I think I also read somewhere that Anthropic shredded the books because they felt that they no longer had any value once AI had captured the content. I have to admit though that when I read books in the Interurbans Specials series, and other railway books that are photo and illustration heavy, it's not for specific extraction of specific content. I don't have pre-formulated questions to ask that I expect specific answers to, which seems how today's AI seems to work.

Here's how I actually read them, in case any AI is reading this and would like to know :-) 

In the good weather the back porch is where the reading happens. I usually have a small stack of books that for some reason or another I've been thinking about. I gather them up, along with something to drink, coffee, tea, or something stronger depending on mood and time-of-day :-) , pull up a lawn chair, put the books and things on a little table, and settle in.

Me being me, with my model building interests and all, I'm usually drawn first to the photos and illustrations in whatever books are in my stack. I'm just looking for interesting things. When something catches my eye, then the back-and-forth with the text begins as I read and search and think. Sometimes I start with text, but it's usually with images on these expeditions.

On the surface it may sound like something that can easily be replaced with internet browsing and AI questioning. For me though I think the total experience of being outside in good weather, enjoying something to drink, the physicality of the printed pages, and appreciating how easy it is to jump from one page to another, to other books, and back as the search goes on. Maybe a tablet could replace the experience and make it more 'efficient', but I think my efficient is a better efficient as it's a more complete body, mind, and soul experience, and I never know what interesting things I might find.

Oh, and I don't take the books to the shredder when I'm done. No, as time goes on, I'll likely repeat the process with the same books in a different mix when I'm in some other frame-of-mind, thinking of other things. This is where Marie Kondo's work left me horrified. When her work was fairly new I started to read it, but when I got to the part where she recommended cutting out the pieces from books and magazines that 'brought joy' or some such thing, and tossing the rest I nearly passed out. Just because something doesn't 'bring joy' today doesn't mean it won't down the road. I gave up on her writings there and then; they brought me no joy and got tossed.

Ok, well, in good weather, the back porch is where all the reading happens, not just the open ended railway book adventures. There're novels, comics, graphic novels, and so on, last year it was the Inferno while I basked in the sun :-) and this year Purgatorio, and maybe Paradiso if I can survive the trek; there's also sketching ideas in notebooks and so on. Yes, the phone gets out there too, but it hasn't so far replaced my little analog world.

The first railbus, #10, for New Haven by Mack.
The caption reads:
"Prototype Mack railbus 10 initially excited New Haven officials, who ordered nine more. They were delivered, but a new management made scant use of them."
Photo credit: M. D. McCarter Collection.

Before I wrap things up I should mention a little 'discovery' in Doodlebug Country that teased me, lead me astray a bit, but in the end left me with some interesting information I didn't expect to find. Here's the passage that got me thinking for awhile that there really was something similar to an RDC-M way back when, shrouded in the mists of time :-) :

"After World War II, the New Haven was hit hard by rising costs and declining patronage, particularly on its commuter runs out of Boston. In 1952 President Frederick C. Dumaine, hoping that new equipment would rejuvenate the business, purchased no less than 40 Budd RDC cars and used them to increase the number of trains on most routes.

Dumaine also consulted Mack about a smaller, lighter version of the RDC for branch lines and off-peak commuter service. He wanted a vehicle capable of competing with the motor bus with its rider appeal.

The result was in fact a railbus based on the Mack Type C-50 city bus, dubbed Type FCD in honor of Dumaine. The prototype, car 10 [JDL: shown in the above photo], went into service in 1952. The bus body was a single-end design, but in fact the 40-foot long car could operate in either direction, and often did."

When I first encountered that passage I anxiously read more as I thought Mack might be modifying standard RDCs, but no, they stuck to what they knew; however, it turned out these buses-on-rails didn't turn around the flagging commuter business. 

I highly recommend Doodlebug Country. It shows the wide variety of railcar equipment in use in the first half of the 20th century through an extensive collection of photos and detailed tables of equipment.

Making a whole layout from 2 pieces

I joined together the launch pad and excavation pit portions of the layout. It was a little tricky getting the measurements right, but I'm happy that the result was a nice, smooth grade down from the left area to the right.

There's still lots to go, but I'm happy that this part is complete and not too bad.

Scenery begins

Track ballasting is not a job I like. However, I figured I had put it off long enough, and once it was done I could get on with other scenic tasks I find more enjoyable. 

Since the pedestrian pathway is also gravel I added it too as I worked on track ballasting. Ballast is a mixture of fine and medium grade grey, brown, and black ballast gravels from Woodland Scenics. 

I'm going to have to work on the colour a little with thin acrylics to bring it in line with actual gravel in the community garden shown in the above photo. Anyone watching me take photos like this one must wonder about the old lunatic seemingly taking pictures of his shoes, but, hey, one must do seemingly crazy things at times for one's art :-)

On a recent walk I noticed a solar panel had been installed on the roof of the shed. It was added sometime after I made this post about the shed through the seasons. I added one to my little shed using a piece of black construction paper. There's also a wire that runs from the panel, inside through a hole at the top of the other end wall, but I left that off as it would complicate the removable roof I have on the model.

I like to keep assessing the overall look of the layout as I progress. In the above photo I think the shed is a little too close to the path. I plan to move it back, as close to the track as I can so that there's more breathing room between the red flower pots and the path. I'll have to re-drill the hole for the shed's light to make the move, but that's no big deal.

The origins of Hollinger Bus Lines

I continue to look for my father's copy of Bleak House, but it's starting to look bleak as to whether I still have it. During my search I found this copy of The Golden Years of East York, published in 1976 by Centennial College Press. The editorial pages tell me who did the design, production, photographic reproduction, and typesetting, but not who wrote it. I guess it was a group effort?

As I was thumbing through it I was quite pleased to find a little discussion on the origin of the Hollinger Bus Lines, a ticket issued by the company I found earlier in the search.

Left: "Hollinger Bus Lines" | Right: "The Hollinger Bus Drivers"

The unknown author has this to say on the origins of Hollinger Bus Lines:

"Public transportation in East York at the time of incorporation was almost nonexistent. The old Belt Line Railway along the rear of what is now the Don Valley Brick Works had long since fallen into disuse. The Marginal Boulevard proposed in 1921 by the Toronto Harbour Commissioners, which would have provided ready and uninterrupted access to the downtown core, had never been completed. A Mr. Featherly had operated a horse-drawn bus up and down Don Mills Road (now Broadview) when it was still unpaved and lined on both sides with deep ditches, but this was also soon discontinued. Later, Mr. Pedlar operated a bus in the same area.

In 1920, John Hollinger started a service up and down Woodbine as far as Plains Road, where Woodbine came to a dead end. Mr. Hollinger endured his share of hardships as he ploughed through snow drifts in winter and a quagmire of mud every spring. When passengers were scarce, John used his bus to deliver butter and eggs to neighbourhood housewives. Apparently, he never took time off for meals but had them carried to him by his young daughter May and son Barclay through the fields from his home, which was on the site of the present Trillium Apartments"

This would make quite an interesting model.
I need to find out more about this building.

Only in Ontario you say? Pity

Gosh darn those cursed beavers!

Looks like it could make for an interesting addition to an Ontario yard on a model railway: tracks, helicopter, and nearby beaver dam. 

Who ya gonna call? Beaver Busters? Dam Busters? Wait, that one's been done.

Well, it's gosh darn early to be writing on a Saturday morning. I could use a coffee, and maybe a couple of biscuits!

Rising out of the pit

Track risers are mainly cut from 1" thick pink foam sheets

I've continued to work on installing the track risers that lead from the launch pad area down into the monolith pit. They're all in now except for some supports I need to add to the corner pieces to bank the track a little.

Shot during a mid-construction break

My reporting on how this square spiral is constructed has been a little skimpy as forming the pieces requires a little bit of junior high level geometry, and whenever I write about the math aspects of layout construction I see a lot of sad faces :-) I find that concerning; however, I figured I'd just present some in-progress photos so at least I have a record for myself on how the layout looked before scenery. And I suspect anyone who is serious about building something similar can figure out the geometry for themselves, and no doubt make improvements, from pictures of the components.

Laying track and joining the two little layouts into one big one are next. Stay tuned!

Use of tickets saves you time and money

I was rummaging through some of my father's things looking for his copy of Bleak House and stumbled across these two old bus tickets.

Hollinger Bus Lines ran in East York from 1921 until 1954 when it became part of the TTC, so that ticket is definitely a survivor.

I don't know when one could ride a TTC bus for just 7-1/2 cents. The internet suggests sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, but I'd have to do some more digging to narrow down the date.

Laying track in the monolith excavation

Initial stages of installing the risers out of the pit up to launch pad level.

After completing the installation of track around the launch pad I decided to get going on laying track at the other end of the layout: the pit where the monolith is located.

A bird's eye view of the overall track plan before the hard work began.

It's a bit tricky installing this track as it needs to spiral out of the excavation, so it has to go around as it goes up. Design-wise, I've limited the grade to 5%, as I don't think the lunar loco will be able to pull more than one, maybe two, cars, and 5% will be quite enough grade for it to handle.

Stay tuned! More to come.

A year in the life of a community garden tree

26 May 2025

15 July 2025

17 August 2025

18 August 2025

21 September 2025

14 December 2025

14 February 2026

16 February 2026

4 April 2026

23 April 2026

15 May 2026

18 May 2026

The community garden has a few trees scattered here and there. One is going to be represented on the layout; likely this one. It'll be planted by the re-charging spur for the electric loco, providing shade for the loco while it recharges.

Test run of the launch pad loop

I installed the track for the loop around the launch pad and had to give it a test. Next up, installing the track down into the pit.

This and that at 30Squares Labs

I've been working on working out the details of positioning the track for the Tintin 2001 layout. It's very technical and mathematical and geometrical and doesn't make for fantastical posts, even though my arithmetical flubs can be comical :-)

I'm going to install the track in two stages: first in the landing / launch level, and then in the monolith pit, which will be much more challenging. The circular hole and rectangular cutout in the above photo are the excavations for the blast trench. It will be spanned by a bridge for the train, not to be used during launch or landing!

Testing, testing, testing

I'm also doing some tests to figure out the minimum turning radius of the RDC-M. It can handle the 9" radius curves on the Way Out Layout no problem, but it jams in the 3-1/4" radius curves on the E. L. Moore micro-layout. Some impromptu tests with flex track bent freehand suggest some radius between 9" and 6" is the limit. I'm hoping it's closer to 6 than 9, but I'll have to abide by whatever more rigorous testing shows.

Well, I'm off for coffee, and maybe a movie. I'm watching a lot of sci-fi films these days, what with being submerged in the Tintin 2001 layout and all. I hadn't seen Dune, so I gave it a try. There was one scene that seemed like a cross between something I had seen ages ago in Enter the Dragon accompanied by the old Blue Swede song, Hooked on a Feeling. I assure you I was only drinking coffee, but I nearly fell out of the Lazy-Boy laughing. Test it for yourself. Here's the song. Don't spill your coffee :-)

Shell for the Rail + Launch Control Building

For some time I've had an idea for a kitbashed building based on the Moebius Moon Bus kit to serve as a combined lunar launch control and rail control centre for the Tintin 2001 layout.

I've had this kit on my shelf for longer than I care to admit. I think I bought it when it was first released. At the time my intent was to build it up as shown on the box into a replica of the 2001 movie moon bus. At one time I did make a start on that, but lost interest and returned the partially started kit to its box.

That was a long time ago now, and it was dawning on me that I was never going to build a box-stock moon bus, and I should just overcome my reticence, get out the razor saw and grinding tool, and dive into the kitbash no matter how sacrilegious that seemed.

 As well, I wanted to check the size and shape of this fantasy lunar building in the layout mockup. The building has a row of windows along each long side so that one row looks towards the launch pad and the other towards the pit. That seems ideal for this setup. I should note the building will be slightly elevated, maybe around 25mm to 50mm above the surface of the launch pad, so it will look down into the pit. Overall, it's size, shape, and location looks just right to me.

I studied the instructions and parts until I had figured out how to make a start. I separated out the components I planned to use into a tray.

I started by assembling the passenger compartment according to the instructions.

I left off the flight deck and used the interior bulkhead that separates the flight deck from the passenger compartment as an exterior wall. It's an interesting piece because the molded on doors used to secure the flight deck are now exterior doors, which I intend to use as doors to a moon buggy garage.

After initial assembly I got out my Dremel motor tool, with a sanding drum attached, and ground off all the detail suggestive of this being a spacecraft fuselage that appeared below the belt line.

I then glued 0.040" thick styrene panels over top of the areas that had been ground down. More appropriate building-like detail will be added to these areas later.

The new, smooth panels were used as a guide to trim the bottom level. I should mention there was a lot of careful sanding and filing at this point to get the bottom even. The photo shows the side door units glued on. That step was done after the building's main walls were finished, as getting the door units shortened and levelled was a job unto itself.

And that is that for the shell. The next part will be to detail it and add an interior for the garage. You can see the opening for the garage in the photo above. Those doors would never withstand the pressure gradient between the inside and outside, but hopefully most viewers won't realize that, or will at least allow me artistic license on this detail :-)

RDC-M inspection tour of The Kanada Railway

John invited me over to run the RDC-M on his Kanada Railway. It ran a few laps and one of them is shown in the video. I was quite pleased at how well the old Bachmann drive unit ran being some 50 or 60 years old. The layout's track is quite smooth, level, and clean, and that makes a big difference too.

To round out the RDC size comparisons, here's the RDC-M parked behind a lovely Rapido RDC of John's. A big difference.

After a number of successful laps we decided to go get some hotdogs for lunch, but the presence of a hazmat team made us reconsider.

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in RDC-M land :-)