Bill Meek's Ontario L'Orignal Railway

Bill's Ontario L'Orignal Railway, the OLOR, is one of the regular layouts on the roster of the Friday Night Group. Bill has managed to capture the essence of eastern Ontario beautifully on his model railroad depicting an area about an hour's drive east of Ottawa.

The image to the right depicts a baseball game in session at trackside in the Glen. Glen Robertson is a major interchange point on the railroad. What a joy it must be to be a ball fan and a railran in the middle of a beautiful Canadian afternoon!

The IVACO rolling mill in L'Orignal is located a few kilometres to the west of Hawksbury. The OLOR pushes its lengthy consist of bulkhead flats carrying heavy steel billets the distance from Hawksbury to the plant in L'Orignal.

The billets are offloaded and converted into steel coil inside the plant. The finished product is shipped by rail and truck to destinations all over North America.



Bill's farm scene on the layout is quite typical of local farms throughout all of eastern Ontario and he has managed to capture this way of life in a very realistic fashion.

The barn is an Alder model and the farmhouse is a combined kitbash of two lovely resin kits. Located behind the farmhouse (out of image) is an old-styled television tower antenna donated by fellow FNGer Trevor Marshall.

The inclusion of animals, a tractor and a friendly farmer help round out the scene. Trees were assisted by Mike H. If you look closely you'll spot a dead tree in the forest...a definite must in this region of the country! The images look great and the layout...even better in person!

A synopsis of Bill Meek's OLOR Railroad

The 25 mile Ontario L’Orignal Railway, owned and operated by Railtex from November 1996 to January 2001, is the inspiration for Bill’s model shortline operation. The former CN Vankleek Hill Subdivision serves the communities of Hawkesbury, L’Orignal and Dalkieth. In Vankleek Hill, The crew boards the Portia and Champlain, two GP9’s once owned by the Cartier and later the Goderich-Exeter Railways, for the morning run south to Glen Robertson to exchange their consist with the CN train arriving from Coteau Junction, east of Montreal. At the Glen, they drop off loaded cars of steel wire, roof shingles, plastic packaging, etc., as well as the empty cars they collected the previous day in Hawkesbury. They lift open gondolas of scrap metal, bulk-head flats loaded with 40 foot long steel billets and empty flats destined for Ivaco Rolling Mills in L’Orignal. The six day a week operation is carried out a leisurely pace, traveling at no more than 10 to 15 miles per hour.

Bill’s model of the OLOR reflects the laid back, country style of prototype. Construction began in 1998 and much of it is now plywood and track. The completed scenery along the track from Glen to Hawkesbury features a tree-lined rail line through rolling hills, fields, farm scene, and the 417 overpass. The layout provides enough track to simulate typical drops and lifts, including the unusual prototype manoeuvre of backing the train from Hawkesbury the 4 ½ miles east into the Ivaco Rolling mill in L’Orignal. The plant, which will be the focal point of the layout, is currently well under construction.

The image to the left shows the Ontario L'Orignal caboose as it appeared after the paint scheme for the railroad was changed from the Cream and Green of the ex-Goderich and Exeter appearance to the Taurus blue scheme.

* Photo by Ian McCord of Ottawa

Ian McCord invites you to visit his website at www.mrfreightcar.com where you can find more of his railroad pictures.

As for Bill's model railroad, I can personally attest that I feel like a real OLOR engineer or brakeman when I operate on this fabulous layout!

Mike H.