In a recent post on building more benchwork for my S scale version of the Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto Railway, I mentioned that I was forced to juggle the relationship between signature scenes in order to make the real railway fit into my space. I thought I’d share some of my design decisions through a series of posts.
I’ve already described the Port Dalhousie Subdivision and the Geneva St. Terminal. Now, let’s head to the interchange with the CNR.
Beyond Geneva
As the NS&T continues beyond Geneva, the first order of business is to bring together the main track from the terminal and the spur line that serves Ontario Street. I did this with a simple junction to the left of the terminal.
From here, the line heads south to towards the Niagara Escarpment – and an interchange with the CNR.
Which yard?
I wanted to include a staging yard on this layout – a source for all the freight traffic. I also wanted the layout to convey that there’s a relationship between the NS&T and its parent company, the Canadian National Railways. Here, I had to make a decision in favour of engaging operations.
In an ideal world, I’d model the interchange yard at Merritton (south St. Catharines). But it was a pretty big place and I just don’t have space in my layout room to devote to a yard that size. I could cut it down, but the curve of the yard and the physical relationship of the NS&T and the CNR just didn’t fit the shape of my space.
Fortunately, Merritton was not the only place the NS&T exchanged freight. One alternative is in Thorold, where the NS&T met the CNR after both had climbed the Niagara Escarpment. This was a simple affair – basically a couple of tracks fed by the NS&T on one end and the CNR on the other.
This is much more reasonable for my space so I decided to combine some elements from Merritton and Thorold in my yard.
NS&T High Line
At Merritton, the NS&T ran north-south, while the CNR ran east-west. The NS&T crossed the CNR on a bridge that is a signature scene:
I decided this scene is a modelling opportunity too good to pass up and – just as on the prototype – the bridge would allow my NS&T to get across the CNR. So I have included a representation of this scene on the layout.
It’s far from exact, but it solves the problem and will make for some interesting views on the layout.
I wanted to suggest that despite the elevation difference, the two lines actually meet. So the CNR climbs rather sharply once clear of the NS&T bridge.
Since the CNR track is purely cosmetic, I’m not worried about the grade posing operating challenges. In my mind, it suggests the climb up the Niagara Escarpment – believed to be the CNR’s steepest mainline grade. At the same time, a spur swings off the NS&T’s main track and descends a gentler grade to end in a yard.
A source for traffic
I opted for a yard with three tracks – two, as at Thorold, plus a third on which I’ll locate a track scale. Merritton had a scale (as did Thorold at one time), and it’ll add an extra step for certain loads headed outbound.
I realized if I design the yard to be active (eg: could be restaged during the session) then it could generate more traffic in less space. This works well since I have two six-drawer cabinets for rolling stock storage directly across the aisle from this yard, so I can easily move equipment on and off the layout.
This covers all of the layout I’ve designed and built to date. Time to start building turnouts and laying track!
The Model Railway Show 