Mont Blue Ford in Gatineau
By Richard Mercer
On the weekend of February 19th and 20th, 2005 Lawrence Watkins and I took large scale railroading to the Province of Quebec. The show held in the main showroom at the Mont Bleu Ford Dealership in Gatineau amidst vehicles for public display. Setup was done on the Friday night before the show. Within an hour of arrival, the modules were up with trains running.
The layout had two main loops. The outer has 5 foot, 9 inch radius curves and the inner one has 5 foot radius curves. Straight modules are based on Aristo-Craft’s 56 inch and new 53 inch long, sectional brass track. An inner siding, for switching and industries, used Aristo-Craft’s 5 foot radius manual switches. The layout setup for this show used only two straight modules per side because of the limited floor space in the showroom. Corners are made up of three sections for easier unloading, loading and storage in the trailer.
The outer loop had a Bachmann animated crossing gate with lights and bell, as well as, a semaphore block signal.
A great time was had by everybody that came to the dealership, either to car shop or watch the trains. Lawrence ran a new blue U25B and his battery powered, radio controlled Bachmann 4-6-0 hauling a train of Bachmann old time passenger cars. I operated a green and yellow F3A pulling modern USA Trains passenger cars. I also ran an Aristo-Craft RS-3U, painted in the black Galeville, Ottawa and Richburg Railroad scheme; with a modified low short hood and marker boards above the new flat center wind shield.
We are looking forward to the next train show on April 23rd and 24th of this year at the Seaway District High School in Iroquois, Ontario. Plans are on the way for more straight modules, animated scenes, buildings and possibly bridges.