The Canadian dilemma...

Since my first visit to Canada in 1989 I have held a desire to represent the emotions and feelings of the place and its railways in miniature. In the years that followed I visited a handful more times, different places but back home the same urge to create, to satisfy a yearning for the connection the railway offers to a nation forged on distance…

I have worked on four, possibly five layouts with a Canadian theme. There have been successes, and perhaps some failure - but whilst I’ve enjoyed each and all of them I have struggled to create the wide open prairies of Saskatchewan and Alberta that I so vividly remember.

Drumheller, Alberta. August 1989. James Hilton.

The first, and perhaps closest encounter with success was a joint project with my late Dad, a man whose passion for Canada is, I’m certain, a large part of my fascination and connection with the place and its railways. I was working on a year in industry and spent the week in Macclesfield; I think the first I really remember of the project was coming home to find some benchwork under construction in our garage… through the holidays of my years at university that followed the layout was made operationally complete but scenically languished as Dad’s interest waned and his health deteriorated. 

An interesting parallel project (sadly I can’t find any photography record) was a portable Canadian themed layout I was constructing myself, that connected to the main layout and was set up in the centre of the garage. A sort of ‘shield’ setting with rock outcrops and dense woodland (on the sadly very low back scene). A small yard, station and a grain elevator alongside a jetty on a lake… basically I built a GWR branch station and plonked some Canadian themed structures on it; perhaps the lack of photographs is in fact a positive!

Harris, Saskatchewan. Circa 2000. James Hilton.

More recently we have Beaverbrook, Kinross and Bear Creek… two completed, the third still in progress, stalled somewhat but operational (funnily enough, in a similar state to Harris, all those years ago!) - it is worth pausing and reflecting I think… 

That is already more layouts than many will build in a lifetime yet here I am reflecting on my failure to fully capture those feelings of Canada, of railways (of Dad?). 

Delisle, Saskatchewan. August 1989. Keith Hilton.

In ‘The Art of Railway Modelling’ I shared this photo my Dad took in 1989. This, and several similar slides of the same trip define a memory of the prairies. Whilst Harris (above) got close, I have yet to revisit the theme…

As a modeller I am easily distracted. I find inspiration in photographs or videos - a rabbit hole of research follows sometimes leading to a layout design - other times the collection of some models to enjoy. This has resulted in a regular series of ‘clear outs’ to declutter my mind and rationalise my intent - I can’t build it all. This tangent is relevant, honest; after a recent clear out I ended up looking at an N scale Canadian National F7 and was reminded of my first North American HO scale model, a birthday present in 1989 - a Bachmann F7 in the same livery. It wasn’t the greatest model, it’s weak pancake motor sufficed for a train of Model Power grain cars and a circle of Hornby track under the sofa so I could enjoy the headlight! Looking at the N scale version turned quickly to purchasing, not one but two Intermountain examples and the latest Canadian adventure took to the rails. The sale of that Irish OO stock realising enough funds for a few N scale grain cars and a caboose too…

Childhood F7, detailed and repainted (markings by hand!) in my teens. A lot to answer for!

Intermountain F7, detailed and in the progress of weathering. A promise?

That impulse has its roots in the narrative I’ve shared here and yet I’m sat with intention, perhaps a promise, but a dilemma too - for the urge to create, to build, to experience is tempered by a real world lack of space… attempts to cram a quart into a pint pot fail. Each failure taints the feeling and plants a seed of resentment. 

In the past I have learnt that this resentment, if left unchecked, festers and leads to at best the collection being moved on, at worst with a lingering feeling of failure. So this time I appear to have a way forward. Luck or good judgment has led me to reflect on the success of Lochdubh, a project that despite its small footprint and lack of physical operation acts as a sort of visual promise for the future. A commitment - yet in the meantime a 3D painting to enjoy, to stage models I can create for that ‘one day’ project to follow.

So the answer then, is to build a small cameo without any stage exits at all (not the first time - Pont-y-dulais and Pont Dulas shared this peculiar trait). A cameo in its purest form, a delightful curiosity, to engage and entertain. 

Perhaps a somewhat left field entry to the ‘not a competition’?