Track for Ontario and Geneva

Posted byTrevorPosted inLayouts I have designed or built, Niagara St Catharines & Toronto Railway in 1:64, Track and Turnouts

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks head-down, with magnifiers on, and spiking tools in hand. And it shows, with great progress on track laying for Phase 2 of my Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto Railway layout.

I started this expansion just over a month ago and I’ve been trying to work on it every day since then. I now have all the track laid along Ontario Street, and most of the track done for the Geneva Street terminal scene. This includes several turnouts that are either partially or entirely in the street, which requires extra guard rails to keep the (eventual) road surface out of the flangeways.

Here’s a quick photo tour:

Looking south along Ontario Street in St. Catharines. All the track in the street is fully guarded.
Looking the other direction – north – along Ontario Street.
Two fully-guarded, single-point, in-street turnouts. That’s a lot of rail.
Work on the Geneva Street scene. A mock-up of the terminal building helps compose the scene and check critical clearances.
The Geneva Street terminal from the opposite direction. Prototype photos taped to the walls help visitors understand what they’re looking at.
The station throat at Geneva Street. Welland Avenue cuts through three of the turnouts here.

As I write this, I’m waiting for more track-building supplies – but I’ll continue to work on the layout each day until they arrive. There’s plenty to do.

Published by Trevor

Lifelong model railway enthusiast and retired amateur shepherd who trained a border collie to work sheep. Professional writer and editor, with some podcasting and Internet TV presenting work thrown in for good measure.