Car Loads Along the B&M

There are many types of rolling stock that carry loads that can be seen by the railfan trackside. Above we have an elevated view of the Conley Lumber and Coal facility where a loaded hopper has just arrived and will be unloaded using the conveyer system just in view to the right.

During a train operating session, the Conley crew returns an empty hopper to North Dover where the North Dover crew will provide an "assist" as the two crews exchange the empty for a load. I enjoy watching as two crews work cooperatively to move freight along the system.

Here is an interesting load. Trevor Marshall made this flatcar model with its load of tractors which soon will be offloaded via the team track. A team track is such a valuable industry on any model railroad as a great variety of freight cars can be spotted beside the elevated ramp.

Flatcar loads are always fascinating to me. This Northern Timber Company flat was a gift from my good friend, Jacques Thuot. Jacques' layout has been featured in Model Railroader as well as Great Model Railroads!

Railfans along the Boston and Maine are pleasantly surprised when they spot an unusual car carrying an interesting load nestled in the consist of a long manifest freight and this B&M well bottom flatcar is no exception.

School Kids Visit Mr. Hamer's Model Railroad

At the end of every school year, I invite my students and their families to visit the model railroad. I fly the train banner outside the house as a landmark to make it easier for them to locate my house along the street. To say the least, the kids are thrilled to visit their teacher's home with their moms and dads and siblings.

Each student is given the opportunity to run a train around the layout. They learn to bring the train slowly into the station on a slow order and they learn how to blow the horn as a warning of the approaching train and to ring the bell in yard limits as a safety procedure.

I ask each student to bring the train to a stop at specific intervals so that I can instruct them about the different types of rolling stock. The parents take great interest in this as well.

They learn to blow two longs, a short and a long through the road crossings. Moms and dads (and some grandparents as well) are amazed at the level of detail...as many think that when they bring the kids over, they are probably going to see a model railroad on a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

Each child is given the opportunity to board the switcher and perform some rudimentary switching moves at the local industries.

Moms are just as keen as dads and the girls are as thrilled as the boys to run the trains. Each visitor signs the guestbook and I provide a lovely photograph from the layout for each visitor. Here we see two families with the moms. Dads come too, but they aren't as pretty as the moms! (big grin) While each group waits in the crew lounge for their turn in the layout room, I offer many model railroad magazines for them to peruse and there is a railroad DVD on the big television.

Yes, it is as much a thrill for me as it is for my visitors. I strongly encourage anyone with a layout to offer an open house for young people. After all, they are the future of the hobby!

I was thrilled to learn that my layout wound be featured in the 2010 version of the NMRA calendar, Canadian edition. The image shows Maine Central train #391, The "Oil Can" crossing Boundary Road on its approach to North Dover yard limits. The flare on the locomotive headlight is purely accidental. I took the shot with an ordinary point and shoot camera and the Athearn Genesis F-Unit has such a bright headlight! Yup, I am Mr. Month of May (which happens to be my birthday month). Two good friends, Chris Lyon (Mr. August) and Trevor Marshall (Mr. September) also appear in the calendar. To say the least, this was a big thrill for me as I am just a big kid at heart!

Industries as Friends

On my Boston and Maine layout, I have a number of industries which I have named after friends in our Friday Night Group. Bill Meek is a great friend of mine who lives a few streets over from me here in Ottawa. The industry in the background of this image is named after him. Seeing as Bill works in the business machine industry, Meek Ltd. produces business machines and on my layout its head offices are in North Dover. Note the vines growing on the industrial structures in the foreground.



Scodras Grocers is an industry served by rails in my town of North Dover. It is named after a dear friend, Howard Scodras who sadly passed away in 2008. Howard was an instrumental member of the FNG (Friday Night Group) and his modelling inspired us all. His layout appeared in Model Railroad and its trackplan was in the latest Kalmbach Issue entitled 102 Realistic Track plans. My track plan also appeared here. For crew members to switch out Scodras Grocers, they must use one of the two sidings of the Phillips Furniture Factory as a lead. This makes for interesting switching possibilities.

This scene shows the upper section of North Dover where the main street of town is located. The structure to the left is part of the Wingate Wholesalers complex named after my street here in Ottawa, Wingate Drive. I built the town on a hillside to help create a strong vertical dimension to the scene. The red brick building in the distance houses the local offices of the Boston and Maine in North Dover. My good buddy, Chris Lyon, brought this sign back for me from a train show he attended. You can just pick out the peak of Marshall Creamery to the lower right. This industry is served by rail.

Because I play a Martin guitar, I simply had to have the Martin Guitar Company on my layout even though its actual facility is located in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It is a lot of fun naming industries and buildings on your layout!

Visitors to the B&M

Haven't posted here in quite a while as I've been busy keeping the Friday Night Group weblog updated each week after our train sessions. Check that blog out at www.fridaynightgroup.blogspot.com where you'll see many of the other fine layouts I operate on in the Ottawa region!

Just last evening I had my good buddy (and original Friday Night Group member) Marty Phillips in town for a visit. Fifteen lads descended the basement stairs to run trains and what a fun session we enjoyed. I brought out the Bluebirds from the display case for "old time's sake" and Marty really enjoyed seeing them run!

Here we catch a glimpse of the Bluebirds in care of train N2, "The Newsboy" as it traverses the New England River bridge. The train will enter Marshall Cut and will soon be in range of North Dover.

Bluebirds 1746 and 1701 are spotted exiting the inbound end of Marshall Cut at milepost 39. "The Newsboy" is a train laden with newsprint for Boston. Judging by the murky nature of the water, there'll be no swimming today!

A railfan trackside has spotted the train piercing the rock cut out by the Conley Lumber and Coal spur. The crew will duck under the Howard Street overpass and will meet a Maine Central Train at the interlocking tower.

The Boston and Maine train has superiority here as it crosses the diamond with the Maine Central. The crew aboard MEC train #390 has been holding the interlocking for some time now. The B&M will have siding priviliges in North Dover.

Another aerial shot shows the train crossing the Salmon River on the outskirts of town. Making the crossing, the crew leaves the state of Maine and enters into New Hampshire where they will shortly traverse Boundary Road.

This photograph was taken from the Main Street on the upper level of town in North Dover looking down on the station tracks. Train N2 will drop off a cut of cars to the north siding (at the right) and will lift an assigned block as well. Those tankcars resting on the south siding (to the left) will be exchanged with the Maine Central.

After the Boston and Maine crew depart town, the Maine Central train is granted traffic rights into the station. Here they will exchange some tankcars already in view along the south siding.


Wow! What's wrong with this picture!? Why...it's "Back to the Future" time! Look closely and you'll see what I mean!

Here's an interesting perspective of the train as it slows to a crawl near the station. The cars on the south siding to the left will be lifted by the crew and some others will be dropped.

Looking down the length of the track in North Dover we see the large Phillips Furniture Factory in the distance. I hope you have enjoyed the pics of these two trains...showing but a fraction of all trains run during the session last night.

I'll close with these two pictures taken of a bunch of the lads in the crew lounge. That's Chris looking up at the camera with Joel and Bob sharing the sofa. Fred, Peter and Rick are off in the distance on the other sofa. That's the back of Jim's head sitting on the church pew!

Peter and Fred seem to be enjoying themselves as well. Peter is another B&M modeller in the group and he models the Peterboro Branch of the B&M in steam days with those beautiful 2-6-0 Moguls!

New Season of Train Operations

Hello all. As always, our Friday Night Group commences its new season of train operations with a visit to my Boston and Maine Railroad. It's always good to get back and see all the "boys" and share our summer stories and modelling projects.

Here I am in the red T-shirt I am wearing to support our Canadian troops overseas. That's my friend, Don, beside me and we're standing at the duckunder entrance to the train room.

Initially the staging tracks at the duckunder were just that...staging. Then a lightbulb came on in my head...why not make them an active yard where one more crew can make up trains?

And, that's what I did. So, Don's task was to make up the consist for train MP3 in the yard located at the main entrance to the train room.

For the job, he used a local B&M switcher assigned to this area known as Lowell Jct. Once the train was assembled, as hostler, he set out the mainline power for the train, an AB pairing of FT's.

While Don was busy at Lowell Jct. two other crews were occupied in the train room, one crew assigned to the North Dover switcher and another assigned to the "Mill Run" from Conley Lumber & Coal into North Dover.

Yes, I can easily keep three train crews occupied simultaneously on my 11x13 layout! Typically two crews of two are busy at any given time though.

That's Stan (supporting the troops as well) and Jim. They are on their way from Conley with an empty hopper car to be exchanged in North Dover for one fully loaded.

I see that they have returned to Conley with a new and loaded hopper car. An idler car is required to work Conley Lumber & Coal as sparks from the diesel locomotive could easily set the wooden industry ablaze in no time at all.

The Conley crew must seek clearance from the dispatcher before they head out onto the mainline in order to conduct their switcher here at the mill.

It's later in the evening and I see that Don has taken another job this time as one of the crewmen aboard S2 #1170 which works the town of North Dover.

With him is regular operator John Mitchell and judging by the smiles on their faces, they are having a fabulous time. Who wouldn't when you're running trains!


Before they spot any traffic to North Dover's industries, their first order of instructions is to lift a milk car from Marshall Creamery. The milk track is an extension of the team track and we spot the crew crossing Station Road.

The North Dover crew is always vigilant when heading down the team and milk track as the rails traverse the paved station parking lot before they enter the road crossing.

We spot the corner of an 18-wheeler in the photograph as it turns into the station lot.

Don and John flow forward at a snail's pace to make the coupling at Marshall Creamery. There is a slow order restriction on the trestle which bridges the loading area of the creamery to the team track.

That's a Hoods car with an interesting picture of a cow on the side. Milk cars had to get to market quickly and many of the milk producers took pride in the appearance of their rolling stock.

For those interested in milk cars, Intermountain, Walthers and Roundhouse have come out with wonderful offerings for the modeller. The car in this picture is a Roundhouse product.

While Don and John are in the process of setting out the milk car, Chris is at Lowell Jct. where he is making up the consist for train #11 "The East Wind" which will have some milk traffic on the headend this day.

Again, this photograph is taken at the duckunder entrance to the layout room. If you look carefully, you will see the valence that protects the viewer from the lighting when they are standing inside the room. I utilize a combination of flourescent and incandescent lighting to get optimum results in the train room.

Chris's smile tells me that his train is made up and ready to go. He'll come into North Dover and the the boys in town aboard the 1170 will give him an assist with the milk traffic. Chris, of course, will conduct a station stop for the passengers before the milk cars are handled.

Here we see "The East Wind" slowing down as it makes its station stop. The buildings of North Dover loom in the background and the reflection off the Salmon River add a touch of interest to the scene. I wonder how the fishing is this day as all I see are a few seagulls at the water's edge!

I could show many more images from our first train operating session, but I would be here all night. Instead, I'll leave you with a photograph of my summer modelling project...the Alder Model station kit made out of resin. Chris had asked me to build and paint it for him, and it was a pleasure to do so for a dear friend. The station will reside on his model railroad, but I couldn't resist creating a diorama for it first. I didn't have to worry about the track because the diorama will settle just as it is on his layout in front of his existing track.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures and stories from my first operating session of the new season in the Friday Night Group!

Check out my railfan pictures at www.railfanning.blogspot.com and our Friday Night Group at www.fridaynightgroup.blogspot.com

Cheers, Mike

First Video of B&M trains by Mike

Chris came over this afternoon and we had fun running trains in the layout room. He showed me how to create a video with my Canon digital camera and put it on the web. Here are the results.

Conley Lumber and Coal

In my last posting I received a message from Laurent in Switzerland offering his appreciation for my modelling work...and I would like to thank Laurent for his many comments. Laurent then asked me to post some images of the area of my layout between the Howard Street Overpass and Marshall Cut at milepost 39...as he had not seen any pictures of this area in his search through the magazine articles and on the internet.

I hadn't realized that this area had been neglected so this posting will deal with the area known as Conley Lumber & Coal named after my good friend and fellow modeller, Stan Conley.

The image above is an "overall" view of the layout as it appears in the corner of the room. Note how the valence, fascia and curtains are all black with the layout being lit from the lighting source behind the valence. I purposely utilized this method to help create that museum diorama look...where the only thing highlighted is the layout itself!

The second and third images showcase the single track entrance to Conley Lumber & Coal. The flatcar acts as an idler car or "reach" as railroad regulations forbid the switcher to travel below the wooden structure due to potential fire hazards of any sparks flying from the engine's exhaust.

That's Mitchell Creek in the background. There is a fork in the creek where a narrower section travels below Conley trackage in the foreground. Can you spot the pileated woodpecker wrestling with a tree on Conley's property?

This aerial shot shows the lumber racks to the left of the facility with the main office located in the white building to the right. I scratchbuilt the small coal bin after plans I found in Model Railroader from an issue way back in the sixties, I believe.

The portable conveyer was built and painted by Stan Conley and he surprised me by "planting it" on the Conley property without telling me during an operations evening. Boy, was I surprised to find his beautiful model on the layout! Thanks Stan!

Here is a view from a slightly different angle. Usually there is a boxcar spotted in front of the lumber storage area, but I removed one to show you the interior.

This facility was built from a John Rendall craftsman kit. It was the first craftsman kit I had attempted and the experience taught me that I could also scratchbuild structures, which I have later done and placed on the layout elsewhere. The inclusion of smaller details in and around the structure and facility help to create the sense that this industry is alive and well!

This final view is a "helicopter shot" looking down on the Boston and Maine mainline where a short local is passing by in care of S2 #1170. The diesel servicing Conley Lumber & Coal is SW9 #1231.

The mainline train will soon pass through a "viewblock" where it will enter a new scene and travel below the Howard Street Overpass and reach the interlocking with the Maine Central.

For the Conley crew, having to use the flatcar as a car reach creates operational challenges as the flatcar cannot travel on the mainline. It can only be used momentarily to spot cars there if needbe...provided dispatch has given clearance to use the main for a short time to conduct the moves at Conley Lumber & Coal.

Thank you, Laurent, for your kind words and hopefully I've answered all of your questions. The only other place you will find photos of my layout that you have not seen would be at the railroad forum I belong to at www.railroad-line.com where you can look under the threads I started called "An Overall View of Your Layout Room" in the Model Railroad Forums - Model Railroad Construction section and "Diesels in Action on Your Layout" in the Shop Talk - The Diesel Shop section.

Check out www.fridaynightgroup.blogspot.com to see the great group of modellers I hang out with!

Quite the Quartet

Mainline trains on my layout are often found in care of multiple-unit assignments varying from double headers to three and four locomotive consists depending on power needs due to train length and weight. One such train is PM4, an inbound hauler from Portland, Maine to Mechanicville, New York. This train does not make it to Boston. Rather it diverts west at Lowell Junction headed westbound for New York state.

This first scene depicts the four units required to haul train PM4. The locomotive set is spotted crossing the New England River Bridge after exiting Haney Cut at milepost 42.

The four units drawing the train are GP7's #1568 & 1566, RS2 #1503 and RS3 #1519. The beautiful maroon and gold paint scheme of the Boston and Maine sure looks handsome along the flanks of all these powerful units!

The photograph above is from a vantage point operators would not normally see. The elevated landform with a stand of trees noticeable to the left of the tracks helps to create Haney Cut and effectively disguises the portal to staging.

This scene clearly depicts the verdant landscape so prevalent in New England. At this point the train is still in the state of Maine. In a few miles, it will cross the Salmon River where it will then enter New Hampshire on my version of the B&M.

Little did I know that while I was snapping these views of train PM4, my good railfan buddy, Marty Phillips, had travelled to North Dover from his home on Vancouver Island to railfan New England on the very same weekend! What were the odds of that?!

While I was on the high ridge above track level, Marty apparently had decided to tackle the same shot from water level below the New England River Bridge.

Later on, it was fun to compare shots of the same train from different angles! Marty sure has captured that artistic 45 degree shot looking up from below!

Meanwhile, I managed to head over to the Salmon River where I captured this image of the lead unit above the beautiful stone arches of Stanley Bridge. Picnickers near the gazebo must have had their afternoon peace and quiet momentarily disturbed when this quartet arrives on the scene! Some of the best salmon fishing in the northeast is found right here at, you guessed it, the Salmon River!

I met Marty later on at a restaurant along Boundary Road and he showed me this ground level image he just managed to grab way back at milepost 39...the inbound approach to Marshall Cut.

Mitchell Creek sure looks murky with all that spring runoff. We both couldn't recall the creek level being that high near the culvert entrance from past railfan trips. New England must've seen a lot of rain recently! While we enjoyed a lunch of smoked meat sandwiches Marty asked me about our American buddy, Mike Sherpak. I knew that he was back in Iraq...and that he was thinking about coming up to Canada in the fall. Marty wondered if he would make it all the way out to the west coast. "Hey, why don't you come back to Ottawa during his visit?" I asked the Marty Man.

Marty also shared another shot he managed to snap out by the interlocking tower where the diamond with the Maine Central is located. There seemed to be a work gang doing some track repair along the MEC right of way so the B&M had the highball through the interchange.

"Boy, there sure is a lot of traffic along the Howard Street overpass," mentioned Marty.

I showed Marty the remainder of the shots I managed to get as the train entered yard limits and prepared to stop in North Dover to exchange a cut of cars.

This image of the lead unit entering yard limits as it passes Haney Fuels was taken from the steps of another industry in town. What I particularly enjoy about this photograph is the B&M's creative use of an old boxcar as a storage shed for heavy equipment. This is but another example of the Boston andMaine Railroad trying to be cost effective during a downturn in the economy!

I managed to snap this last image from my railfan trip looking back down on the station platform from above the ridge in town. Then it was back in the car to head north to Canada.

While Canada may be my home, North Dover is a close second!

Everytime I railfan here, I meet warm and caring people...many of whom are train nuts themselves. One thing's for sure...that quartet of diesels sure made for a great day of railfanning for both Marty and I!