Copetown 2016 in the Rear View Mirror

(Workshop member Jim Martin reports on our exhibit at Copetown, March 5-6, 2016...)

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(Click on any image to view a larger version)

The 2016 Copetown Train Show get-together is a diminishing dot in the rear view mirror. But Copetown, Ontario (population 130) is an important dot on our calendar. It’s a high-end show, in a bright and cheerful hall, in a pleasant place.

(The S Scale Workshop modular layout at the 2016 Copetown Train Show)

I think I can speak for the rest of the guys when I say this was our most enjoyable show ever!

I won’t repeat what makes this show important to so many of the more experienced model railroaders. You can reference our Feb. 25^th blog post for that. But the feedback from Copetown attendees is always encouraging, given that so many accomplished hobbyists attend the show. (Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello.)

Simon and Brian got up very early Saturday and drove straight through from Montreal. They then had to drive straight back after takedown on Sunday. Talk about a gruelling weekend! By the way, kudos to Brian for his photography in this report.

Also, our French-Canadian buddy, Claude Demers flew up from his U.S. home just to help out this weekend. He and the Montreal guys stayed at Andy’s Saturday night.

(Andy, Simon, Frerick and Claude)

To celebrate the group’s anniversary David brought along his late father Oliver’s Grandview Co-op module. Oliver continues to be missed.

It was great having David back with us. His race car profession leaves him very little time for us through most of the calendar year, but Copetown is an event he always aims for.

S-scaler-in-waiting, Fredrick was again out to help, and to wow us with his N-scale 3D printing projects. It’s about time he showed off his talents on this blog, especially since he has offered his services for any printed S scale bits we may need. (That's a hint, Fredrick!) Fredrick did an impromptu clinic on 3D printing and attracted a lot of attention from fellow exhibitors.

Andy of course is our group stalwart, who to my knowledge has made it to every show since joining us.

And yours truly was there. My thanks to David for offering me a bed at his house. It’s safe to say we did less damage to ourselves Saturday night than all those wacky guys at Andy’s.

Rounding out the weekend, Trevor swooped in on Sunday - and brought along a miniature movie camera mounted to a flatcar. You can view the videos here:

CNR 4205 at Copetown 2016

Cab Ride at Copetown 2016

Check Trevor's blog for more about this camera car.

It’s really mesmerizing to see one’s work from a track level perspective - and so much better than crawling along on one’s belly: Belt buckles wreak havoc with switch points.

Other S Scale enthusiasts who came out to visit include Chris Abbott, Andrew Baird, William Flatt, Neil Froese and Clayt Peter. (My apologies to anyone else I may have missed.)

I’ve already mentioned how well things worked on the weekend. After ten years we appear to be getting the hang of things. A large part of the credit may be due to Simon’s huge presence. The power supply he brought is bullet proof, his laser level was a huge help in setup, and his modules - which comprise at least half the setup - are flawless in their operation. So, no electrical glitches, almost zero derailments and yours truly managed not to run a single train (and thereby not run any switches) for the whole weekend.

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As for the rest of the show there were some interesting changes this year.

- Show participants were offered a tour of area layouts Saturday morning.

- We were the only large layout at this year’s show so the rest of the hall was set up for movies, slides and clinics during the afternoon.

- Most of the vendors and manufacturers were allowed sufficient set up time on Sunday morning ahead of the public show.

Too many train show organizers allow their exhibitions to go stale: the same old thing every year. On the other hand, one has to be careful when tinkering with a still-successful formula. I think Steve Tuff and the rest of his crew did an admirable job of walking that tightrope this year.

If you have never made it to Copetown put it on your list. Will we be back next year? Maybe, but as noted above we think change is good, so we won’t be upset if another layout is invited.

- Jim

(Want to see the S Scale Workshop? Check out our events page to find out where we're exhibiting!)

Cab Ride at Copetown 2016

Continuing our coverage of the 2016 Copetown Train Show, here's a second video shot from the S Scale Workshop's new Camera Car. This time, we offer up a cab ride over the line:

(You can also watch this directly on YouTube, where you may be able to enjoy it in larger formats.)

You can compare the journey to the plan published in a previous posting. Again, we start by leaving the staging loops.

The camera - a Replay XD - is mounted on a flat car that's being pushed by a locomotive.

(If you missed our first video from this show of CNR 4205, you can find it here.)

- Trevor

CNR 4205 at Copetown 2016

Several members of the S Scale Workshop exhibited their free-mo style modular layout at the 2016 Copetown Train Show - March 6 in southern Ontario.

For the first time, we had a Camera Car at a Workshop event. This video captures CNR 4205 (a T-3-a class 2-10-2 built by Workshop member Simon Parent) hauling a train around the layout.

You can compare the journey to the plan published in a previous posting: The video starts as the T-3-a leaves the staging loops.

(You can also watch this directly on YouTube, where you may be able to enjoy it in larger formats.)

The camera - a Replay XD - is mounted on a flat car that's being pulled in front of the T-3-a.

We'll share more videos as time permits.

- Trevor

See you there - or there! (March 5-6, 2016)

(Workshop member Jim Martin updates us on two upcoming exhibitions...)

The March 5th weekend will mark a first for the S Scale Workshop. For the first time in our 20-year history we will be have operating S scale layouts in two far flung venues.

Our principal display will be at our annual favourite, the Copetown Train Show.
This is a small show held in Copetown, Ontario - just west of Hamilton. The show may be small, but it attracts high profile modellers and manufacturers from across the country. It’s more often thought of as a think tank rather than a train show.

Saturday is a low pressure setup day with lots of conversation, networking, and catching up with far flung friends. Sunday, when we open the doors to the public, we all pretty much behave ourselves.

(The set-up for Copetown 2016: Click on the layout plan to view a larger version)

Simon Parent, Andy Malette, David Clubine and Jim Martin will host a large modular layout showcasing our 1:64, Canadian National Railways theme. They'll be helped by Brian Nicholson, Trevor Marshall and Fredrick Adlhock. There is also a chance that our old friend Claude Demers will travel from New Jersey to join us.

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200 kilometres to the east, Workshop members John Johnston and Paul Raham will have their S scale modules set up at the Cobourg Train Show. (Check the CARM Events page for details.) John’s excellent Burnt River module will be flanked by Paul’s Marshall Station (Featured in the May/June 2015 issue of The Dispatch - the magazine of the NASG). The layout will also include of of our two four-foot long train turntables.

Paul’s module is an engine terminal with a turntable. The point-to-point running does a fine job of engaging the viewers’ interest, as proven at last year’s show. The Cobourg show is Saturday only so we are hoping Paul and John will have enough energy to join us for the Sunday show at Copetown.

We didn’t plan to do two shows the same weekend, but John organizes the Cobourg show and was obviously locked in when the Copetown show moved from February to March. Nevertheless it demonstrates the versatility of our Free-mo format.

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This is also a special weekend for the group: our 10th and 20th anniversaries.

In March 1996 we first displayed as the Southern Ontario S Scale Workshop in Brantford, Ontario. We shuffled trains back and forth on the four unfinished front sections of our first layout, the Ridgehill Central.

In March 2006 at Copetown, we first displayed our new Free-mo modules as the S Scale Workshop. We made enough of an impression on Trevor that he wrote nice things about us in the June, 2006 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman magazine*.

(Jim Martin's Port Dover in its first public appearance - Copetown 2006)

(Oliver Clubine's Grandview Co-op returns to Copetown 10 years after it made this "in-progress" appearance)

We expect other S scalers from southern Ontario to drop by and we will be raising our glasses later to our late founder Oliver Clubine and another fine S scale modeller who passed only days ago, Tom Spaulding.

We hope to see you there. Or there.

- Jim

(*Yeah, and look at where that got me! - Trevor)

Back at it! (or "Onward from Port Dover!")

Workshop member Jim Martin sends this report on how he's starting 2016 back tackling the other end of the line...

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I won’t bore you with the details, but health issues the past year took precedent over the basement, so little had happened since my last entry on making grass from wig hair. Now that my mojo’s back, I took advantage of an unusually quiet Christmas holiday period to get back at it.

There is still much scenery work left to do on the Port Dover side of the layout, but in the meantime I have grown tired of looking at the flat, trackless sections across the aisle.

The photos represent work from the beginning to end of January (click on the images for larger versions):

An overview of the "other end of the line", taken January 1, 2016

A closeup of the turntable area at the start of the year.

The same area, one month later.

There is nothing ground breaking here. Everything you see here is a technique that someone else has done first, including the mirror trick by the late John Allen.

I am trying out some new (for me) scenery techniques from the Gordon Gravett books (see Trevor's blog entries on Gordon's work for details), including the use of fireplace ash sprinkled on to gloss gray enamel for road surfaces. I’m pleased with the initial result but will be weathering it with something. I will also be filching some static grass techniques from his book, but before that, I’ll be reaching across the layout to paint the backdrop.

There is also track work to complete. I have yet to draw a finished plan of what the entire layout will look like. It’s certainly easier to know the context of what someone is doing if you know where it’s being done. That said, I have a friend in New Jersey who has offered to do up a proper job for me so once he gets back from Florida we’ll get going on it. I can tell you that what you see here is a loose representation of the south end of Simcoe, where the tracks split for Port Rowan and Port Dover.

Work has stopped for a while so I can get some other stuff done for the upcoming Copetown Train Show*, but as Arnie would say, “I’ll be Bach”...

Cheers!

- Jim

(* As of this writing, the Copetown website is still showing the details for the 2015 show. The 2016 event is being held March 6th at the same location.)

The Workshop at the 2015 Quinte Model Railroad Show

The S Scale Workshop was on the move in early December, attending the Quinte Model Railroad Show in eastern Ontario on December 5-6.  Five of our members attended - including Jim Martin, who writes...

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Paul, John, Jim, Andy and Brian: Smiles all around!

Paul Raham and John Johnston had their Marshall Station and Burnt River Siding modules set up along Andy Malette’s Brewery module and my Culverhouse Cannery module. These, along with a train-length staging turntable, gave us a linear exhibit some 41 feet long.

Paul Raham prepares to turn trains on the train-length staging turntable. Some of the other workshop members can be seen in the distance. The hallway location was perfect for a long, narrow configuration and the layout received a lot of attention from show-goers.

Vistors photograph the layout as Workshop member John Johnston rolls a freight extra through the Culverhouse Cannery module.

The show was held in the Quinte High School in three different auditoria.  However we were located in one of the hallways, a good thing because we were seen by everyone walking to and from the different halls.

One of the Workshop's newest members, Brain Nicholson of Montreal, had a table beside us where he was selling off much of his HO equipment to finance his new S scale bug. It was good to see him again along with his partner Louise who was a cheerful addition to our group.

It was also great to see Daniel McConnachie - a fellow S scaler from Kingston who helped us keep the crowd entertained on Saturday. And our friend Dennis Rowe, who works in HO, enhanced our modules with some of his superlative hand-made trees. (Thanks for the gifts, Dennis!)

Because this is a Christmas show we relaxed our fine scale standards a wee bit. Andy had his Christmas train with Santa and Rudolf and hoppers loaded with candy canes, along with a miniature Christmas tree lot.

Of course Santa travels by Maine Central: "The Pine Tree Route". The annual appearance of Andy's Santa Special is always a crowd pleaser!

Rudolph hitches a ride in a covered hopper

The Jolly Old Elf is the conductor - but who is the engineer?

A flatcar load is delivered to the seasonal tree lot across the tracks from the Great White North Brewery. The brewery is decorated for the holidays, too.

Meanwhile - to see if the kids were paying attention - Paul had an elephant* among the cows:

A carload o' candy canes rolls past as Jumbo trumpets in the pasture.

(*No pachyderms were harmed in the making of our production.)

Coal in your stocking? Great - run a steam locomotive with it!

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Our next outings will be Copetown and Cobourg on the same March 5^th weekend. This will be a first for the Workshop, appearing at two different venues at the same time. Such is the flexibility of Free-mo.

John, who organizes the Cobourg show was unavailable for Copetown when its date was moved from February to March. So John and Paul will hold the fort at Cobourg while Simon Parent, David Clubine, Andy and I have committed our modules for the Copetown show.

Copetown will be special for us this year as it will be the 20^th anniversary of our formation and the tenth anniversary of our switch to Free-mo. In fact, our Free-mo layout made its debut at Copetown in 1996.

- Jim

Video from Exporail 2015

Five members of the S Scale Workshop - Simon, Andy, John, Jim and Brian - put on a killer show this past weekend at "A great passion for model trains", the annual train show at Exporail - Canada's railway museum in Saint-Constant Quebec.

Follow this link to read about the weekend's events.

When he wasn't busy running trains, Simon found time to grab some video of the Workshop's layout:

Enjoy if you watch and maybe we'll see you at a model railway show sometime! Check our upcoming events page to find out where we're exhibiting.