System Map

When I began to develop the idea of modeling in southern to central Ontario, one of the key questions was what would a system map look like and how much area would I be able to realistically be able to cover in the space allotted me and keeping within my modular system.  My largest worry was that I would have no problems filling the layout with too many industries and not enough scenery, and that the layout would appear to have a very cramped feeling.

While my first ideas for a system map were actually drawn out on a Ontario Provincial road map, as Google has offered more services, I opted to convert my system map to an electronic version.  The system map has information embedded into each location, which supplements my KLR history, and allows a quick glance at prominent industries along the line.  I have also added the general ONR, CN and CP tracks as reference, and ultimately, more information about these lines will also be added.

Kawartha Lakes Railway System Map

Kawartha Lakes Railway History

The Kawartha Lakes Railway is my HO scale freelance railway which incorporates certain elements of Ontario based industries and scenery into a fictional road.  The layout was designed to incorporate aspects of two of my favorite roads, the Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) as well as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail).  In essence, I have stretched the operating area of the ONR over into part of an area covered by the CP, as well as running track south to link with another area which the CP actually covers.  The railway is based on prototypical businesses found in the Peterborough/Lakefield region and well as several present in the Ottawa Valley. 

The setting is September 1985, as the summer comes to an end and the ever-changing weather of autumn descends upon the near north regions of Ontario. 

  

Throughout the KLR, I have tried to incorporate the history of the area into the areas that I model.  While certain key features or aspects couldn’t be modeled due to size constraints, I have tried to include enough key industries for realistic operations, without making the layout too busy. My goal was to mimic the remoteness of the area, having long runs between the yard and the various industries served.  Certain industries that are unique to the area have been included, as well as a few industries which are found in other portions of southern Ontario, but for the convenience of proto-freelance modeling, have been moved to fit onto the KLR. 

The primary purpose is to have the railway serve several small to medium sized industries located in the rural locales of Ontario.  The KLR's traffic base includes forestry products (such as paper, pulpboard, dimensional lumber and pulpwood) along with mining and several other industries.  The rail line serves a number of growing customers including Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper Company, Sherwin Williams Canada, Ontario Natural Products, Indusmin Canada, Ontario Hydro, Beaver Lumber .

The two largest industries on the layout include the Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper mill, which was modeled after the Tembec mills in Temiscaming, Quebec and Kapuskasing, Ontario.  The Unimin mine in Nephton, Ontario, which produces syenite (a mineral in the feldspar family used in glass making and ceramics), and the Muskoka Timber Ltd. operation serve as the other focal industries. The primary interchange is with the CP at Pembroke and Toronto (off the modeled layout), with a secondary interchange with the ONR at North Bay.  While CP discontinued trains east of Havelock and CN terminated its running line to Lakefield, the Kawartha Lakes Railway was able to purchase the trackage and become a profitable shortline, serving the small industries scattered throughout Ontario. 

The KLR was started in 2004, after the dismantling of a predecessor 9x12-ft oval layout. The layout is built using a series of modules, which generally follow the Freemo format.

Kawartha Lakes Railway Introduction

While attending the 2015 RPM-East meet in Greensburg, PA last week, I had the chance to hear Eric Hansmann discuss the idea and merits of web blogging.  Eric made me realize that creating and maintaining a blog wasn't as arduous as I first imagined, and that it was a great way to share ideas.  Therefore in effort to document my Kawartha Lakes Railway, as well as start a discussion of some of my favorite modeling topics (paper mills, saw mills, forest products industries), I decided to develop this blog to document the progress of my HO scale model railroad, railfanning trips and modeling the above industries.   

It's been just short of a year since I started in on the re-design and construction efforts on the KLR.  The original KLR was started just before 2005, and coincided with our local NMRA division hosting a regional convention. In 2011, we once again hosted the MCR convention, which prompted a large amount of work on the layout.  The 2014 NMRA National Convention followed this, where the KLR hosted both a bus tour and a visit from members of the Layout Design SIG.  During the convention, the Layout Design SIG posed the question "what would you have done differently with your layout".  After several operating sessions prior to the convention, this topic had been burning a hole in my brain, as I realized that switching at my paper mill wasn't as fluid as I would have liked, nor was switching several other industries.  The question prompted me to take action, initially with a re-design of several spurs to allow for better storage of cars and then with construction of several new modules, which allowed me to re-design my paper mill.  

I hope to post some pictures next time showing the progress after some of the new track has been laid and I can once again run trains and begin switching operations.