Tom-Foolery on Tom Hood's Layout!

All in the Friday Night Group agree with the byline that has appeared on the cover of Model Railroader Magazine over the years..."Model Railroading is Fun!" And our good friend, Tommy Hood, sincerely buys into this notion as well!

During our latest train running session on Tom's magnificent Canadian Northern RR, a minor tremor of an earthquake hit the region surrounding Ottawa.

Railfans up and down the Canadian Northern line encountered difficulties taking clear pictures with all the shaking and rattling going on! Unbeknownst to most, the tremor caused a "service interruption" near the major terminus of the rail line. The Canadian Northern's company photographers, Lyon and Hamer made it quickly to the scene of the devastation in time to snap some pictures before a work train arrived to clear the mess. Except for some minor damage to equipment, we are happy to note no fatalities were reported. (Hmmm...is there a reason Stanley and his co-horts should appear in this picture?)

The Canadian Northern line was out of commission only for a short time due to the diligent work ethic of company employees. Trains were running in no time at all and railfans resumed their perches trackside up and down the line.

That's Mr. Hobbs we see to the left...Bob to us. When he's not complaining about something, he wears that devilish grin that tells us there is something he knows that we don't! Bob is like the "Mike Nesmith" of our group. Do you recall the guitarist in the rock group "The Monkees" who was never seen without his hat? Keep smiling, Bob!

Diesels are not a nasty word on Tom's layout as you will spot a few along the line...although steam reigns supreme. Thanks to Chris Lyon for this fantastic trackside shot of this pair rounding the curve in the shadow of "Brokeback Mountain". There's a story here. The aisleway narrows at this juncture of the railway and the operators rub elbows (and perhaps other body parts) as they navigate their trains across the wonderful terrain.
(Yes, the mountain was coined this name last evening as a result of the visit by the Friday Nighters!)

Freight cars from a variety of Tom's favourite roads line the tracks in the major classification yard on the Canadian Northern. This busy scene is located below Tom's garage. Operators certainly have their hands full at this location as trains are constantly on the go to and from the terminus.

Tom runs the company CDS Lettering Ltd. which makes dry transfers for the hobby industry. Many a model railroader is indebted to Tom and his partner, Al Craig for their fabulous product.

The grin on Mike's face is a given. Model railroading is fun when you get the opportunity to run a layout like Tom's Canadian Northern. Mike likes to get the chance to run trains when he isn't behind the camera. This fast freight has rounded the bend and will be passing by the marshland area, a landmark location on the layout.

No, Mike...that's not a B&M locomotive!




Chris Lyon and Mike Hamer managed to charter a helicopter from Northern Helicopter Services where they followed the Canadian Northern line for quite a distance.

"The perspective is thrilling" stated Lyon as he leaned out over the helicopter's skids to shoot a bunch of aerial images.

Chris captured a great shot of this freight train rumbling through a rock cut as it rounds a bend in an outward bound direction. One thing is certain. The territory is rugged and it must have caused considerable hardships and financial grief to put a line through such spectacular scenery.




Operating a layout of this magnitude requires quite the posee of stable mates andTom's Canadian Northern is in good hands as we see here. That's Stanley managing the yard turnouts very capably with Bob, Barry and Jim looking on. That looks to be a 24 stall engine house, Tom. Quite the engineering feat! To the left we see a couple of tracks that make up the passenger yard.




Where's Bruce? Has anyone seen Bruce? Oh...there he is...way down there! Hey, he appears almost HO scale at that distance!

Indeed, this image gives you a good indication of the size of Tom's layout. This is but a fractional piece of the entire pike. That's "Brokeback Mountain" to the left. Behind it (out of sight) is a gorgeous trestle. The town tracks to the right provide trains with the opportunity to meet.

Yes, Tom's layout is already an "operational" layout. Last evening, we dispatched "on the road" and many meets and passes were organized. In fact, we used three of the town's tracks at this location to set up a rare "triple meet".

And...a focussed group we are! Here, a bunch of the fellas are active with their trains as Tom (in the backgroud) oversees the operations. That's Peter to the left, Barry (arms folded), Tom and Bill on the right. Man, those Canadian Northern steamers sure are handsome, Tom.

Thanks for a great evening!
Cheers, Mike H.