Mount Lowe Micro-Layout in Voie Libre #126!

The Mount Lowe Railway is featured in the latest issue of Voie Libre, #126, July / August / September 2026. I've only seen what you see over there on the left, which I saw in an ad that popped into my Inbox today. I submitted 46 photos - photos not seen here ! - so I'm curious as to which ones appear. I anxiously await its arrival in my mailbox! 

As they say on tv: Don't delay, get yours today! Quantities are limited! French and English editions are available!

Ok, so much for shameless self promotion. For penance it looks like the ! key on my keyboard may need repair :-(

My chat with François

If you've had a chance to crack open the latest issue of Voie Libre - #121, April / May / June 2025, that is - you may have come across an article called The Spumoni Flyer where the editor and I discuss the ins-and-outs of building a small self-propelled coach (in styrene!) that's an homage to E. L. Moore. As they used say on tv, "Don't delay, get yours today!" :-)

Experimental Farm layout in January 2025 issue of Continental Modeller magazine

News Flash from the 30Squares Shameless Self-Promotion Department: The Experimental Farm layout appears in the January 2025 issue of Continental Modeller magazine! Six scintillating pages illustrated with 18 glorious, never seen before colour photographs! Just in time for Christmas: makes an excellent stocking stuffer for mom, dad, hubby, wifey, the kids, and that hard to buy for uncle! On sale now wherever fine model railway magazines are sold! Don't delay, get yours today!

Oh, no, I've worn out the ! key!

But seriously, I'm very happy that the editor at Continental Modeller published the story. Back in the 1970s when I was model railway obsessed I would often make the long hike from our house to the W H Smith in Scarborough Town Centre to peruse, and sometimes buy, English model railway magazines. That's how on one such mission I became familiar with Vivien Thompson's work in an issue of Model Railway Constructor.

To the best of my knowledge W H Smith hasn't had any stores in Canada, well, at least here in Ontario, for a very long time. But, my English cousin who lives in Solihull tells me there's one near his house and they stock Continental Modeller. It's quite satisfying to me that my first full length article has been published in an English model railway magazine and is for sale at Smith's. It's one of those 'circle of life' things :-)

Loonar Module story in OVAR's Nov '23 newsletter

An article I wrote that goes into many of the details about constructing the Loonar Module appears in this month's newsletter of the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders. It summarizes a lot of the story that appeared here last year as well as presents photos and anecdotes that didn't appear in the Voie Libre article.

Loonar Module story in Voie Libre #113

Issue #113 of Voie Libre International showed up in my mailbox today, and I was quite pleased to see the Loonar Module story on pages 48 to 50. Don't delay, get yours today :-)

P.S.: There's an E. L. Moore Easter Egg in one of the article's photos. No prize other than glory to those who identify it.

E. L. Moore book notice in April '23 Interchange

A notice for the E. L. Moore eBook appears on page 14 of the April 2023 issue of the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders' newsletter, The Interchange. Today the OVAR newsletter, tomorrow the New York Times bestseller list :-) Oh, wait, it's not for sale, it's free :-)

The E. L. Moore eBook is done….and it’s free!

First things first. The book is available in two formats: pdf and ePub. Download whichever one you like, or both, they’re free:

The Model Buildings of E. L. Moore (pdf)

The Model Buildings of E. L. Moore (ePub)

The eBook is 225 pages long and contains 617 high resolution images. The pdf version weighs in at a hefty 278.8 MB, while the ePub is a slightly slimmer 249.3 MB. It also has chapters discussing E. L. Moore’s life as a model maker, raconteur, accidental kit designer, and folk artist, as well as a bit of his personal history. An extensive bibliography finishes things up. 

I’ve chosen to produce an eBook at this time and wrap up what’s been found about E. L. Moore as I’m concerned that one day soon Google, or Alphabet, or whatever they’re called these days, will pull the plug on Blogger, and the E. L. Moore content I’ve posted here for the past 10 years will suddenly disappear. An eBook will help it live a bit longer.

Also, the eBook format allows the information that has been presented as a sequence of posts in time to be structured into a more logical narrative. Now, the book isn’t just posts that have had covers slapped on them; no, the posts formed the source material, and all the information has been rewritten, cleaned up as best I could, and reorganized.   

Sample pages

As a child in the late 1960s, and on throughout the 1970s, I loved to read and write. I’d read just about anything I could get my hands on. When I first ‘discovered’ Mr. Moore’s work in the summer of 1973, it was in the pages of a magazine, and for years I continued to read all the model railroading magazines I could find. My introduction to model railroading was via the written word and photographs, and later the hobby shop - there weren't any near my house. Those old articles also introduced me to the idea of exchanging technical information and discoveries via articles and papers, which helped to set up the beginnings of my career in science and engineering. 

While on the E. L. Moore trail for the last 10 years one thing I found quite interesting that was new to me was that Mr. Moore was also a voracious reader, not to mention a regular writer who seemed to have his fingers glued to his typewriter. At one point in the 1950s he claimed to have a library of nearly 1,000 volumes, and I later learned he was a regular patron of his local library, didn't watch or own a tv, and read a newspaper or two every day. And we know he was a dyed-in-the-wool lifetime letter writer with an extensive correspondence. I kind of feel a Fellowship of the Word with him :-) So, look, if you want to compensate me for this book, why not send some money over to a literacy charity in your part of the world. The ability to read and write is just as important today as it has ever been, and still has the power to unlock imaginations.

Well, that’s it for me for awhile. I hope you enjoy the book, and happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Cover story in Feb '23 issue of The Interchange

I collected up the posts I made about my uncle's investigation into an explosion at a Calgary Flour Mill in 1944 and submitted it as a story for the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders' newsletter. They published it as the lead story in the February 2023 issue.

It was a good exercise as it gave me the opportunity to stitch together all the loose ends in those posts into a complete story. I also hope it will encourage people to write up any old stories they have before they're lost to time.

Space hopper dreams

Extra! Extra! Read all about Space Hopper sightings!

In the December 2022 issue of the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders’ newsletter, The Interchange, I have an article about last year’s space hopper sightings. It’s the first article I’ve had published there (and might be the last depending on its reception :-) )

I was reading the Oct ’22 OVAR newsletter and saw a request from the editor for articles. I got to wondering if I should submit something. I waffled a lot, but it was a dream that made the decision.

One night a few days after reading the newsletter's request I dreamt I was working in an office tower in an older downtown section of a city like Toronto or New York - it seemed like a downtown from the ‘40s or ‘50s, and my tower had an Art Deco feel. I had just moved to the city and hadn’t worked at that office long. On my first day I was surprised to learn that at precisely 5pm the entire tower knocked off work and headed home. When I got down to the sidewalk I decided that since it was a fine afternoon, and since I lived only 5km away, I’d walk home. 

Next day, same thing. Work ended at 5, and I again decided to walk home. This time though I made a wrong turn somewhere and got lost. I stopped and looked around, but the buildings didn’t look familiar. Across the street I saw a ’50’s-60s style, single storey, glass, stone, and metal building - it was some sort of cross between a Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style house, Philip Johnson’s Glass House, and the original McGregor Park Public Library. I decided to walk over, go in, and ask where I was. I thought once I knew that, I could figure out how to get home. 

I couldn’t tell what sort of business this building housed - there weren’t any signs. It was outfitted with Danish modern furniture, and there were lots of shelves lined with books as well as desks and tables and offices. I saw what looked like a reception desk with two women standing behind it. I approached and asked one woman where I was and how I might get home. She said she’d go get a fellow from down the hall and he’d help me. 

She walked down the hall. I then turned to look at the second woman, who as soon as I made eye contact said, “Mr. Lowe, you are a b.s. artist.”

I was a little hurt by that, but thought about it a bit and chuckled. I replied, “Well, maybe I am, sort of.”

She didn’t let that go, looked me straight in the eyes, and followed up with, “You are and you know you are.”

At this point the first woman returned accompanied by a man in a tweed jacket carrying maps and documents.

Then I woke up. 

I couldn’t let this message from my addled psyche pass, so I collected up some of my choicest b.s.-y posts, the space hopper ones, and made a story out of them. As you know, the space hopper facts are factual, but their presentation is fanciful. Although, it turns out somewhere in my brain fanciful is wedged tightly beside b.s..