Wow! That water sure looks real The Port Caribou RR ...tbmod.com/rm/Port Caribou MR 1977 Sept.pdfThe...
Transcript of Wow! That water sure looks real The Port Caribou RR ...tbmod.com/rm/Port Caribou MR 1977 Sept.pdfThe...
Wow! That water sure looks real
The Port Caribou RR. & Western Navigation Co. A dandy HOn3 layout with lots of animation
BY BOB HEGGE AND THE MA STAFF
Generally speaking, our layout photo stories include a track plan, usually a very detailed p lan. Th is story was passed over a number of times because it lacked one. The layout was photographed by Bob H egge in 1970.
In 1974 the article was scheduled for publication and I wrote to the layout builder for an update. The letter was returned marked "Moved; not forwardable ." S o, the article's publication was scrubbed and it was returned to the file.
When I reviewed the article recently, I saw it from a di ffe rent perspective . Patterson had modeled a beautiful waterfront scene and he had included a lot of animation on his layout- a subject I think de-en •es more attention. This time I realized
chCJt there is information here that is worth sharing u·ith you reade rs and I should stop
o _ ing about the track configuration . S o, l;e r ar ome highlights of a fine HOn3
1/ oad u·hich has (or had) some very un- <:.;o] { ru e . In hopes that the layout still er.•;.; Tt le the article in the present
La on.
Y OC expec to see movement on a model railroad. usually tra in movement.
You don't expect to see a riverboat paddling along through real water, a rolling lift. bridge that opens automatically as the boat approaches, a pile driver driving, a sawmill sawing, a steam shovel shoveling, nor HO people mi!lifig around in front of the station . And you don't expect all this movement to be accompan ied by appropriate sounds from a stereo system. All this unexpected action, and more, makes a visit to Richard Patterson's Port Caribou RR. & Western Naviga tion Co. truly memorable.
The PC& WN is an 8 x 13-foot HOn3 layout operating somewhere in the Northwest around the turn of the century. Revenue is supplied by a silver mine, a quarry, and logging and its· associated sawmill operations.
When you first look at the layout your attention is immedia tely drawn to the Aleck Scott, a combination riverboat and car ferry which is operated by Western Navigation Co. Patterson got the idea on how to include an operating riverboat on his layout after visiting Disneyland. He
learned during that visit to Disneyland that the fu ll-size r iverboat there runs on underwater r ails, so he decided to apply the idea to an HO scale riverboat . That's the reason he used real water.
The biggest disadvantage in using real water is its weight. Water weighs approximately 63 pounds per cubic foot . To support that weight. Patterson used 2 x 4 framing with :._.• plywood under the waterfront area. A sheet metal fo rm was made for the waterfront and river area . The sheet metal form was covered with tar; then cement and t{)ne were used to contour t he bottom. The cement was coa ted with fibe rglass resin and fiberglass cloth. Before the area dried. it wa sprinkled with Sakret to gi\'e i tex ure.
If he were to do i again. Patterson would eliminate the cement. which added about 400 pounds to e layout weight. His lightweight approach would be to make t he basic frame for e area ou of wood. cover it with t~· wire mesh. and then put on several layers of fiberg -, clo .
Another p blem v.-i '- ing real wate r is that it doe" · loo real: 1 ·s too clear. To overcome tha p ble Parte n added green and b v.-n dyes e water to give it a prototypic dirty loo and to hide the running rails for e ferry :\ all cir-culat ing pump embed ed e scenery a long the shoreline eeps ater in mo-tion .
After you've admired · e realis: ·c wa e rfront and river. vo a-r.en ·an rums to the beautiful scene.rv. strUctures. and bac -drop. All of the -see ery was buil before any of the sera chb srrucnu-es were begun. Therefore. e strUCtureS were designed to follow e lay of the land: consequently. the layou doesn· ha\'e that fla t appearance. In - me cases. such as fo r the passenger sta ion a Port Caribou. a section of the hillside had to be ""blasted~ away fo r the sta tion si e and a retaining wall had to be built.
There are many things which make this an outstanding mode l railroad: the real is tic waterfront. the animation. the weathered scratchbuilt structures. the litter scattered here and there. the beautiful scenery and backdrop, and, of course, the model ra ilroad equipment which fits the time period modeled.
MORE PHOTOS ON FOLLOWING PAGES
~This overall view of Port Caribou shows the realism that Richard Patterson achieved. The scene has a lot of depth . This illusion was obtained by placing large trees in the foreground and then progressively smaller trees toward the backdrop. The riverboat Aleck Scott is docked at Buffalo landing , left . It runs under the li ft bridge, center, to South Shore landing, just barely visible at the extreme right . :II When Port Caribou is viewed from this angle you can see that the river flows off to the right and then behind the town . One of the animations features the motorized windmill , center, which was built from drawings published in MR.
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A closer look at Port Caribou reveals where a yard and engme sel'VICing facility are located. All of the structures and some of the locomot1ves and cars
All photos: Bob Hegge.
were scratchbuilt by Patterson. The coaling tower chute and water tank spout can be raised and lowered by a 1-r.p.m. motor mounted under the layout.
This pile driver is operated by a frictiontype clutch designed by Patterson. The clutch engages and disengages to raise and drop the pile driver's heavy hammer.
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The Aleck Scott is at her berth at Buffalo Landing. The boat has two sets of 0 scale diesel wheelsets under it which ride on 5" gauge track. The boat's hull was hollowed out for a motor and mechanism that run the paddle wheels . The turning paddle wheels are for show. The Aleck Scott's drive is provided by a Pittman motor coupled through shafts and gears to the wheels. There are smoke units hidden in the stack and the cabins are lighted.
MODEL RAILROADER
The car ferry/riverboat Aleck Scott has cast off from Buffalo Landing. The railroad's main line crosses the river on a rolling lift bridge, pride of Port Caribou. The bridge was scratchbuilt, using Northeastern wood shapes and Strathmore board. "'The riverboat passes under the raised bridge. A motor mounted between the bridge's counterweights drives a pinion gear in a rack at each end. A safety interlocking system wi ll prevent a train from plunging into the water when the bridge is up.
Here is a close look at South Shore Landing during a lull in the activity. The sawmill, left, is operational. The logs are dragged from the water on an endless chain and the carriage takes the logs through the saw. The buzz saw was once a large clock gear which is now powered by a slot car motor. The gantry crane to the right of the sawmill is operational. The crane is driven by three motors: one moves the bridge, another moves the carriage, and the third motor raises and lowers the bucket.
These low-tide shots show the track the riverboat runs on and also some of the underwater detail. Near South Shore Landing, lower right, are the remains of a cattle car which was on the old trestle when it was struck by a river barge years ago.
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