Modelling the Outer Station Scene

A couple of projects that I recently completed help to 'paint the picture' of everyday CN operations around Kingston's Outer Station. One is for piggyback loading, the other is a maintenance-of-way (MoW) vehicle garage. Piggyback loading across from the station was circus-style, with wooden walkways lining both sides of both tracks and a ramp at the timetable east end. While I don't have space for this entire ramp, I do have room for the walkways.

I sliced a couple of strips of basswood from a plank, and glued them end-to-end. Then I glued craft sticks along both sides underneath, leaving room for posts made from the same material. Strips of cardstock, roughly the same colour, were glued as diagonal braces.

Then I painted the walkways a variety of greyish shades, because that's the overall colour that weathered wood appears. In the background is the MoW garage. This garage was located across from the station, even farther away than the piggyback ramp. Since I only had one inch of space, I only made the building one inch deep, out of scrap styrene. Another upcoming project will be camouflaging that gap behind the craft cupboard!

 Final scenicking remains to be done, but here's a piggyback flat car and trailer:

 In later years, MoW cars were stored at the ramps when they were no longer in use.

Canadian Army armoured personnel carriers being winched off flatcars at the ramp, and winched onto a truck in October, 1964 (below) with the station at left and MoW garage at right. Notice the lighting on the walkways, and unloading ramp near the garage. Looks like I need to add some smokejacks!

Here's a photo taken in July, 1971 during the final fantrips of CNR 6218, showing the piggyback ramps at Belleville:

Another detail will be the Mileage 173 three-sided concrete milepost visible from the station platform. I filed the end of a sturdy piece of balsa, being sure to represent the angled, water-shedding top surface. I wrote the numerals on the two track-facing (not the north) sides. My first draft is shown with the prototype, featured on the rear cover of Gordon Smithson's At the Bend in the Road - Kingston: