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 t rack plan, usually a very d etailed p lan. Th is story was passed over a n umber of times because it lacked one. The layo ut was photographed by B ob H egge in 1970. In 1974 th e article was scheduled for publication and I wrote to the layout builder for an update. Th e letter was returned marked "Move d; not forwardable ." S o, the article's publication was scrubbed and it was returned to the fil e. Wh en I reviewed the article recently, I saw it from a di ffe rent perspective . Patterson had modeled a beautiful waterfront scene an d he had included a lot of animation on his layo ut- a subject I think deen •es more attention. This time I realized chCJt there is info rmation here that is worth sharing u·ith you reade rs a nd I should stop o _ ing about the track config uration . S o, l;e r ar ome high lights of a fin e HOn3 1/ oad u·hich has (o r had) some very un- <:.;o] { ru e . In hopes th at the layout still er.•;.; Tt le the article in the present La on. OC expec see movement on a model Y railroad. usua lly tra in movement. You don't expect to see a riverboat to
padd ling 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 fr on t of the station . And you don't expect all this movement to be accompa n ied by appropriate sounds from a stereo system . All this unexpected action, and mo re, 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 HO n3 layout operating somewhere in the North west around the t urn of the century. Revenue is supplied by a silver mine, a quarry, and logging and its· a ssociated sawmill operations. When you fir st 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 riverboat 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 wa ter. The biggest disadvantage in usi ng 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 wa s made for the waterfront an d ri ver ar ea . 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 fi be rglass resin and fibe rglass cloth. Befor e the area dried. it wa sprinkled with Sakret to gi\'e i tex ure. If he we re to do i again. Patterson would eliminate the cement. which added abou t 400 pounds to e layout weight. H is lightweight approach would be to make t he basic frame for e area ou of wood. cove r it with t~· wire mesh. and then put on several layers of fiberg -, clo . Another p blem v.-i '-ing real wa te 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 runn ing rails for e ferry :\ all cire scenery culat ing pump embed ed a long the shoreline eeps ater in motion . 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 ha d to be ""blasted~ awa y fo r the sta tion si e and a retaining wall had to be built. There are m any things which make this an ou tstan ding mode l railroad: the real is ti c wa terfront. the animation. the weathered scr atchbu ilt 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 lift 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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All photos: Bob Hegge.
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
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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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.
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.
SEPTEMBER 1977
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