Brantford Model Railroad Club

https://www.ctvnews.ca//canadian-pacific-railway-buys-kans

So here’s something of a different thought. My new era of modelling is mid-40’s to diesel transition. A lot of people focus on the traditional rolling stock but forget the time period. War armaments have always been a big thing to be transported by rail (even to this day). Yet you don’t see a lot of it reflected in models from the period. Not sure why? But here’s some photos for reflection including the last modern day unit train of M1 Abrams tanks on a BNSF train. Enjoy!

Not train-related... but the Brantford Model Railroad Club members would like to express our condolences to the Gretzky family. Thank You Walter. God's Speed

Was just reminiscing tonight with a friend about our mutual RR memories growing up around trains. I remember fondly how my dad would take me down the the Brantford station to watch if any trains were running. One miraculous day we have the great fortune to run into a Mr. John Sharp. He’d seen us there on a number of days and this time in mid 1985 he’d taken it upon himself to introduce himself. He was a local engineer that operated out of Brantford and in a time before the G...ranny bureaucracies took over. He invited us to tag along on his routine trip to Paris Junction to switch gravel cars and such up that way before returning to Brantford. At 15 years old I had an amazing experience to handle the controls on a GP-9 with freight cars attached for the run up Hardy Rd. Hill and on into Paris, ON. John shared some coffee with my father and talked with him for some free legal advice (my dad being an OPP officer at the time). I still remember to this day the hilarity of it all. He kept his heavy steel lunch box on that bloody thing being the suicide brake. Which an engineer was suppose to keep his foot on because otherwise the automatic braking system would engage. He just left his lunch pale on it to spite the CNR safety bureaucrats who as he put it couldn’t piss to hit the side of a locomotive if they had to. It was a glorious day to say the least. I’m sure he’d have lost his job had CNR found out he’d let a 15 year old boy operate a local freight en route to its destination. Lunch time on the now defunct spur behind the now defunct Paris Golf & Country club. Curious thing was we’d heard a lot of police sirens that day too. But more to that later. The absolutely amazing part was him his two brake men and my dad and I all skinny dipping in the Paris quarry which in the 1980’s was partially filled with water from local springs. By the time we got back at 5:00pm (having started at 9:00am) it was a good day. Problem was my father had told my mom we were only going to be 30mins and in a time before mobile phones. Well... she’d called the OPP to report my father and I missing. The local Brantford police had found my dad’ car at the train station abandoned. So the OPP had put out a Province-wide alert for both my dad and me. It took a lot of explaining and apologies (mostly to my mom at the time) but in the end no one was otherwise held responsible. The curious thing is that later on I got to know other CNR employees who when I’d mentioned John Sharp’s name they’d all cringed like oh you met that SOB?! My experience was he was a good man. But then I was a kid and didn’t work with him. So that might be the reason. In either way it was a fond memory none the less! See more

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I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all our followers, contributors and commenters. We hit a milestone this week with 3.5k people reached and 1,009 engagements. Thanks to you all for supporting the Brantford Model Railway Club and the model railroading community as a whole! Cheers!

So here’s something of a different note. Please feel free to comment if anyone knows anything more than I do. So my father was a senior Constable on the OPP in Brant County during the late ‘70s to late ‘80’s. He progressed further along the chain of command thereafter. But in the good ole days before bureaucrats took over policing he could take a wide-eyed young boy into a Rail disaster/crime scene investigation. I was the only 12 year old walking amongst firemen, CNR investi...gators and other police as I took these photos on an old Kodak instamatic camera. It was a VIA rail passenger train that had plowed into the rear of a CN freight train just east of Nith Rd. In Paris Ontario. Now the curious thing is I’ve researched online and have been unable to locate this particular disaster on either the CN, VIA or Canadian rail history sites. Had I not shot these photos back in the early ‘80s it’s unlikely anyone would have known about them. So can anyone give me more information on the accident? I’ve tried numerous sources and nobody seems to know anything. Help? See more

Just posting this for another member of our club showing how the work is coming along on his layout. Cheers.

Well it seems the end may be near for the last transcontinental passenger train in Canada. Service is temporarily suspended due to the pandemic but even before the below report came out.

A couple more photos from the Dave Gresser collection. Taken in Brantford, Ontario.

CNR Paris bridge More progress on the bridge. Officially ready to start the scenery work and I have half of the bridge track ready

A couple photos from the Dave Gresser collection.

Tonight I Ran my via train with the Rapido via lrc cars and I really enjoyed and hope the viewers enjoy it I made a j-train Via Rail 62 to Montreal with Via 6402 leading and Via Rail 52 With 6454 leading to Ottawa. Here are some videos and photos

Hmm. Not sure why the video of the westbound freight didn’t upload on the previous post. But here it is for your viewing pleasure. A wave from the engineer and an extra blast for good measure.

Last Saturday we held the 2020 Annual General Meeting of the Brantford Model RR club at our usual spot (one of our members hosts the meeting every year most graciously at his house which backs onto the CNR mainline in Paris, ON). Social distancing was in great effect; the weather cooperated and was glorious. Sadly this year there were only two trains (on average we get around 5 and after the first train passes they let everyone else along the line that we’re on location, so w...e get a wave and an extra blast on the horn from the engine crew). This year we got a window train which few consider worthy. Lol. But we did get a good sized westbound freight that both waved and gave a good blow on their horn. As one member commented on the lack of trains? They were social distancing too! . In any event it was a grand time, spent with good friends and we got a lot of plans set for many projects including adding an upper deck to the layout! . Yes it’s finally happening!! See more

A steam generator mid production destined for Bruce Nuclear being moved around the yard at BWXT.

Came across an interesting story on the web about the Kamloops Heritage Railway being the only one left in Canada that still runs on actual CNR mainline tracks. It’s an interesting movie clip to watch. Checking out their website however adds a certain mystery though. They talk about having been involved in many TV and movie productions. But the video they show on the website is of a Soviet 2-10-0, whereas they run a restored CNR 2-8-0. Neither engine looks the same and the wheel configuration difference isn’t just a cosmetic one. Very curious indeed. Worth checking out in any event. Hope you enjoy the video! https://youtu.be/g_3AbUWzYZE

Photos from the Dave Gresser collection. Taken in Brantford, Ontario. VIA borrowing GO equipment.

Suicidal Saturday’s. No we’re not actually going to start a trend like that. Scary thing is there’s enough content out there that could very well make it a common thing. Here we have a compilation that represents a disturbingly growing trend of our youth playing chicken with high speed trains in Europe (but it’s been happening to a lesser extent here too with deadly consequences). However the first guy in the video is actually a German State railway employee inspecting switches. The fact that he dodges not just one, but two high speed trains travelling at 300kph (180mph) is amazing. I hope he went out and bought a lottery ticket afterwards!! https://youtu.be/HgVB1jYcTp0

Photos from the Dave Gresser collection.

Pictures from the Dave Gresser collection.

I’ve visited Ashland VA a few times over the years. The old train station has been a bank and a restaurant since. But the double mainline still goes through the centre of town and has done so for over 100 years. But despite that you still get locals who make these kinds of mistakes. Luckily in this instance the occupants were able to evacuate long before the through freight (despite slamming the brakes in futilely) rams the car like its a toy. Crazy times in Virginia. . https://youtu.be/PDjOoCY_7ms

At the club's latest operating session we had a railfan excursion extra led by VIA Rail 6437 in it's 40 year colours. We also had a visit from a UP SD90Mac-H heading up one of our freight runs. Operating sessions are running with limited attendance so our local customers can have service.

OSR working Guelph Today. Video coming soon.

Dave Gresser photo. "Get the switch kid." The engineer told the brakeman.

Taken by Dave Gresser. A Toronto bound train comes into Brantford for it's station stop with a friendly wave from the cab.