The view across my desk ...

... and down the sidewalk.

Loonar Rendezvous

A rare sunny day

Took the Jimmy off the shelf for a beauty shot

An afternoon of reading and taking photographs in the backyard. This past winter has been the darkest in the last 83 years, so I'm taking maximum advantage of every sunny day. And so are the purple flowers that are popping up in the lawn.

Layout stand, version 2

Two birds examine the remains of version 1 of the Loonar Module layout stand

Not all experiments are successful, although most are educational. My first attempt at a lightweight, portable, eye-level stand for the Loonar Module sure wasn't successful, but education did happen.

There were a few problems, but the one that sealed its fate was its smell. I used some ancient leftover black paint I had in the basement to paint it. After months of outgassing and attempts at smell remediation, it continued to have a strong paint smell no matter what was done. The only salvageable parts were the unpainted wheels.

In case you're interested, the other problems were that it needed to be shortened by 2" to 3" to properly accommodate the height of an average woman instead of being specifically designed to my eye-level when standing, and the wheels were too industrial for general domestic use. 

Version 2 minutes after final assembly. EyeChair in background

I didn't have enough leftover wood around the house to build another standing eye-level prototype (I'm trying to use up stuff around here as much as possible), but I did have enough for one at sitting eye-level*. And this time I looked up the standard eye-level for an average woman while seated, 46", to use as the dimension to design this thing around. The components were sized so that rolling stock on the track would be placed 46" above the floor. This is a tad too short for me, but I can  lower my chair or slouch a bit :-)

This height allows me to place the stand with the layout on top kitty-corner to both my desk and drafting table in the studio and be able to get an eye-level view whenever I want. Spoiler alert: this is working out quite well. The layout's calming to look at, and repeated viewing helps me figure out what should be added or removed. 

That's version 2 up there on the right. Like version 1, this one lacks diagonals for proper torsion and shear strength, so it's not up for rough handling. It turns out I have some leftover metal diagonal struts from an old, discarded Ikea shelf that are just the right length that I'll install once I've decided on what, if any, shelves to include. 

This one is going to remain unpainted until the spring, and only be painted if I can find some low or no odour paint. On the other hand, once I settle on a final design, I'd like to build a proper final version from some decent wood and components that are better looking and more generally house friendly.

One last thing. To make the controller easy to find and move around with the stand I screwed a cup hook into bottom of the stand's plywood top and glued a matching one to the bottom of the controller with J-B Weld epoxy.

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*Digressions

You might be wondering why I've got lots of wood sticks lying around? They're the scraps and leftovers from making various types and sizes of backyard squirrel cages. They're not for keeping squirrels in, but keeping them out; out and away from plants and herbs they find irresistibly delicious. These cages get used for lots of things ranging from protecting potted plants while they get some rare fall sun to springtime service in the planting beds keeping young seedlings from being devoured. We're overrun with ravaging squirrels and there's not much that can be done to keep them out of the backyard, but there's plenty that can be done to keep them out of the salad bar. And doing so produces timber for squirrelly model train layouts :-)

Zinnias work too ...

... at attracting Monarch butterflies.  

Save the Monarch butterfly

Sourced from OKthePK, Sept '22 OVAR Interchange, and the Windsor Star

While searching online for information about the Space Hopper and Son of Space Hopper I stumbled across this image of a boxcar emblazoned with a giant  Monarch butterfly. The Kanas City Southern website told me about the important cause behind this great looking boxcar:

In 2022, Kansas City Southern (KCS), Canadian Pacific (CP), GATX, Monterrey Metropolitan Rotary Club (Rotary) and NASCO are hosting the Save the Monarch Butterfly 60,000 Tree Challenge North American Boxcar Tour to raise $100,000 USD. The funds raised will be used to plant 60,000 oyamel trees at El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacán, Mexico to help reestablish the monarch population.

In support of the 60,000 Tree Challenge, a crowd-funding QR code is featured on the side of the boxcar. Starting this fall, the boxcar will stop at events in Windsor, Ont.; Chicago; Kansas City, Mo.; Laredo, Texas; Nuevo Laredo, Tamps.; Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; San Luis Potosi, S.L.P.; Morelia, Michoacán; and end at the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. In coordination with Rotary, these events will generate awareness and raise funds to help save the butterfly. This innovative environmental project is an example of the commitment of the sponsoring organizations to sustainability.

Windsor is around a 750km drive from Ottawa, so I didn't see the start of the boxcar's journey, but we were visited by some Monarchs in the backyard this summer.

Debra planted some echinacea for them and the bees. Monarch butterflies and bees are having a hard time, so anything you can do to help them out is good.

Prototype loons

We went out on the weekend to see if we could see some loonar prototypes. We were lucky and did. Although, we didn't see the Space Hopper :-(

Loons

What's a Loonar Module without loons? I searched high and low all over Googledom for a pair, and low and behold I finally found some 3D printed ones at Miniprints. They're quite decent, although I wonder if their beaks are a little too short. With some high power magnifying lenses I was able to paint them without problems, and they look convincing regardless of my beak fixation.

This time of year a successful breeding pair has an offspring or two nearby. You can see a juvenile loon over on the right near one of the adults. I may need to find a small HO-scale duck to stand-in for junior.

I'm feeling that the Loonar Module is just about done, and I think it has taught me all the lessons it has to teach, which was its purpose. There're just a few more details I want to add, and that'll be that.

Start with Geography

 Start with Geography: A layout design approach that begins with developing a realistic geographical plan, and then proceeds to the creation of a track plan to fit the geography, not vice versa.

Usage: Mary was in the first stage of designing her layout using the Start with Geography technique.

Source: Paul Garrison outlines the basic principles in his February 1975 Railroad Modeler article, Start with a River:

The fact is that many a layout, though beautifully constructed and landscaped, suffers from the lack of logic that results when the builder starts by designing the desired routing of his track and then superimposes the landscaping as little more than an afterthought. While it is admittedly impractical to start with the landscaping, a procedure that would make track laying difficult if not impossible, one might consider designing a piece of countryside with paper and pencil, and then find ways to adjust the routing of track to its topography.  

In the article Mr. Garrison walks the reader through the process using the design of his 2.5' x 15' N-scale layout based on the terrain near a portion of the upper Rio Grande river as an example.

Model Trains ran a series in the Dec '57, Jan '58, and Mar '58 issues where the authors, Andy Anderson and Katie McMullen, came close to doing just what Mr. Garrison advised against: they built the scenery first on their project layout the Hither, Thither & Yonder. More accurately, they did have a track plan from the outset of construction, so the scenery was built with placing the track in mind. They didn't hack out a right-of-way from the completed landscape, they just didn't install the track until the scenery was complete. However, it does appear from the track plan that it was designed first, and then the geography was designed to accommodate the route.

See also, Three Ws, Full Observation.

from The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, 2nd ed., 1999.

Blue skies

A couple of weeks ago I submitted some photos of the Loonar Module's de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver to Max's Models for his Canadian Group Build video. I was pleased to see my photos were included, and that one up there was one of them. I shot it the same day I was outside taking the ones of lake water. This is the blurb I wrote to accompany the photos:

This is my build up of Osborn Model Kits’ 1/87 scale DHC-2 Beaver. It’s a laser cut wood kit that I built last winter. The prototype was manufactured by de Havilland Canada, and many were used by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. My paint scheme and markings are reminiscent of those flown by Lands and Forests, but aren’t 100% accurate. This little plane now resides on my model railroad.

I like that picture, but the sky's colour isn't right. It's the wrong shade of blue for a sunny day in southern Ontario. Now, over on the right, that's a classic sunny, summer Ontario sky blue - at least as far as my camera can capture it.

These days I'm starting to gain an appreciation for layout lighting. In most photos I see, and have taken, the lighting is poor, and doesn't properly convey the essence of the scenes being recorded.

For my outside photos I can make improvements by changing my backdrop, trying different orientations with respect to the sun, and taking pictures in various natural light conditions, but I'm not sure what I'll do when the weather forces me back inside. Well, today's the first day of summer, so I'm not going to worry about that problem until the snow flies again.

Level 2

The second level is now firmly in place, and is attached to the first level with strips of transfer tape. 

You see the blue line of the 'stone' retaining wall? It outlines what is more-or-less the inner edge of the track loop. Measurements suggest there should be plenty of clearance, and there shouldn't be retaining wall collisions - fingers crossed :-)

Next I plan to try out Celluclay for filling the various gaps and sculpting ground detail. Over at Boomer Dioramas Boomer is doing a series called Modeling Realistic Scenery that I highly recommend. He shows how to use Celluclay for this sort of thing, and I thought I'd give it a try. I'm finding his series quite inspiring.

Speaking of inspiring, I found this video a great introduction to the Common Loon: 

Roughing in the shoreline

The plan is to rough in the levels just below and above the track roadbed so that the nearby messy scenery work is more-or-less done before the track is installed. Today I roughed in the level below the track. All those edge pieces are held in place with transfer tape so that I didn't have to wait for glue to dry. 

That white paper sheet is the track plan - if a loop can be called a plan :-) The dashed line is the perimeter of the next level up. I need another piece of foam board for that one. 

Once the upper level is in place I plan to fill the gaps and do a little sculpting with Celluclay to pull both levels together. 

You might be asking, why's it called the Loonar Module? Last post I mentioned this layout was inspired by Falcon Rock, so I got to thinking about birds. The iconic bird of southern Ontario is the Common Loon. This is a module of sorts, so Loonar Module. I'll leave you with the equally iconic Hinterland Who's Who:

An exercise in teeth sharpening?

A beaver had a go at gnawing down this tree and then for some reason gave up. No doubt this is a little modelled pond-side detail :-) 

Gang o' Trees

With this talk of trees I thought I'd post a picture of a scene that got me thinking about how trees and forests appear on model railroads, or maybe don't appear on model railroads.

It's this kind of dense, unruly forest that I'm used to. I realize that if a railroad were making its way through this, it would all be cut back quite extensively from the right-of-way. However, it's this kind of scene that I think of when I think of a forest: lots of trees packed tightly together, many scraggly, thin, misshapen, or broken, surrounded by dense undergrowth. Stately centrepiece trees are few and far between. 

That tree in the centre looked like it was about ready to reach down and grab me - I skedaddled before it had a chance :-)

Roots

I have thought a good deal about trees; I like them. They speak eloquently of the balanced dubiety which I told you was the sceptical attitude. No splendid crown without the strong root that works in the dark, drawing its nourishment among the rocks, the soil, hidden waters, and all the little, burrowing things. A man is like that; his splendours and his fruits are to be seen, to win him love and admiration. But what about the root?

Those are Parlabane’s words from a longer chat he had with Maria about scepticism in The Rebel Angels. Maybe 2021 will be a year of roots? Who knows. I’m well into the second book in the trilogy, What’s Bred in the Bone, and so far so good. Although this one seems to really put the gothic into Southern Ontario Gothic :-)

Happy New Year! 

Snow gone; squirrels back

Snow on the composters

We awoke to snow. Just a dusting. Shouldn't last.

There's no business like snow business

Yesterday morning we had a snow flurry. Until then the only remaining snow was that little pile just to the left of the leftmost composter. I shot this photo from the back porch, and as you can see the flakes are quite large, but luckily they melted as soon as they landed.

No such luck with the snow that fell last night. It stuck to the ground that was still rather could. Luckily it's just a dusting and should all be melted as the day goes on.

A beautiful spring day

Regardless of viruses and lockdowns and isolation, the natural world goes on. It was a beautiful spring day. +12C on the back porch, so no model building, just soaking up the sun.

Green

The rain, sun and heat mix we've been getting so far here in very late spring has been in just the right proportions to make the landscape intensely green. That small stretch of track near the Pleasant Park level crossing is part of the same line Debra and I travelled back in January on our trip to Toronto. It's nowhere near as bleak as it was 6 months ago. The wild flowers in our backyard are reaping the benefits too.