David Primeau's CPR Newport Subdivision and the B&M Connecticut River Sub

The boys of the Friday Night Group are very grateful to David Primeau for offering to host an operating session on the eve of his departure across the country to Victoria, British Columbia. Knowing we could visit any other time, David said to me..."I love when the Friday Night Boys come over and help put my layout through the paces of an ops session!" So, thanks again David. David sent us an e-mail in advance of the session offering a "low down" on the layout and its theme. So I'll let David's words do the talking here.

The time is October 1957, our newly-minted PM is John Diefenbaker, Eisenhower is still in his second term in the White House, the ’57 Chevrolet is due to become a classic, “Love Letters in the Sand” by Pat Boone and “Tammy” by Debbie Reynolds are big on the hit parade, and steam is on its last legs in Canada and virtually dead in the US, except on some holdouts such as the N&W and GTW.

There are four stations on the layout starting with the CPR/QC yard at Newport (NP) on Lake Memphremagog just below the Canadian border to St. Johnsbury (SJ), where the Maine Central RR and St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain RR meet with the CPR, to Wells River (WR), where the CPR ends and the B&M takes over, to White River Jct (WRJ), where the green and gold of Central Vermont makes its appearance. Staging represents Montreal, Quebec City, the Lamoille Valley, Portland, Me, Woodsville, NH, the CV line north to Montpelier, the joint B&M/CV line south to Brattleboro and the B&M line to West Lebanon, NH.

The layout uses DC cab control with six cabs. We cannot assign train crews to specific trains as DCC guys manage to do so well. The aisles do not allow people to pass one another. Instead, operators are assigned to one of the four stations and are responsible for managing and operating the action at these points. One more operator acts as the Rest of the World, i.e., staging. Two stations can occupy two people. Thus, with a dispatcher, if pushed, we can occupy eight people at a go. However, the ideal number is five or six.

Thanks, David for the vivid description of times and events as they are depicted on the model railroad. David's layout occupies a fair sized room and it presents itself in the shape of an "upper case" letter "E". Major north (Canada) and south (Boston-New London) staging tracks occupy the endarms of the letter "E" with the centre arm being a lengthy peninsula with a tall viewblock to separate towns along the route. John handled all trains to and from staging on this evening.

We'll begin our journey in Newport up near the US/Canada border. There's a large classification yard and engine servicing facility with turntable and roundhouse. While many trains pass through Newport on the main, a number of freight trains and turns begin and terminate their runs here.

The operator at Newport enjoys a myriad of entertaining and enjoyable jobs throughout the session...setting out southbound and northbound traffic for a number of different trains as well as going through the rigours of servicing locomotives. Lots of fun. There is even some local switching at a creamery and a lumber mill south of town. This assignment is a true joy to operate!

The two pictures showcase but a sampling of events. Here I'm bringing out a CP steamer that has already been serviced and turned. It's about to take a train back into Canada. That CP diesel switcher is a busy feller throughout the session as there is always traffic to be made up for trains visiting Newport later in the session.

Trains departing Newport southbound reach St. Johnsbury, a veritable hub on the layout. St. J is located on the "far side" of the peninsula as David did not have sufficient room width to have the tracks turn broadly enough to keep the flow going linearly...so the line "crosses over itself" at the peninsula's junction.

As David pointed out, St. Johnsbury is a railfan's "Mecca" with diesels from a handful of railroads being spotted here on a daily basis. Depending on the time of day, you will see CPR, B&M, Maine Central and, of course, St. J&LC diesel colours in front of that magnificent St. Johnsbury station!
Chris handled the chores here on the night, and when he wasn't running trains, he was seen with camera in hand! Hope to see some of those pics soon Chris!

The two images shown here showcase the station, a landmark site from two perspectives. (In the very first picture at the beginning of the posting above shows the other landmark structure in St. Johnsbury, the more recognizable building simply known as E.T. & H.K. Ide.) As model railroaders, we are always debating compromises as we compress scenes into our layout plans...and David is no different than the rest of us. His mainline track departs town differently than the prototype, but not to worry David...you have truly "caught the essence" of this New England railfan hotspot!

Continuing south along the line, we reach the town of Wells River where the CPR ends and the B&M takes over. David informs us that this job is one of the lighter assignments on the railroad. That being said, there is a variety of work chores to be done here including readying traffic for both northbound and southbound trains, conducting drops and lifts at a variety of local industries and turning locomotives on the wye seeing as this location is the terminating point for the major railroads. The exciting event here is the meet between the B&M and CP where traffic continues on its way in the same direction it was flowing but locomotives and buggies swap trains and return from where they came...a challenging, yet highly rewarding movement and Jim B. carried this out so very well! The image above shows a short local travelling along one section of the wye at Wells River. You've gotta love how David has captured the station with its ball signal so beautifully!

Our final on-layout destination is White River Junction, yet another railfan hotspot with its beautiful station. Here is where the CV makes its appearance on the layout. Railfan Mike wasn't able to capture a picture of the Central Vermont on this day although he was told it did make an appearance! Jim M. did a wonderful job operating the busiest section of the entire line!

Oh well, maybe something just as interesting will ply these rails in short order. "Holy mackeral, sapphire...look at the train rounding the bend!" Yessiree, it was the Cheshire...that beautifully streamlined futuristic looking train! Wow...Hamer's got horseshoes "you know where" on this day!

Can you magine being a kid in 1957 and seeing that streamlined beauty arrive town? I'd be the first to skip class and head trackside with my new camera in hand! David informed us that the President of the B&M at the time lived in "Cheshire Country" and rode this gorgeous train to work each day!

Yes sir, we've travelled down the Conn River line and, you know...1957 wasn't a bad year at all! With the myriad colours adorning these newfangled diesel engines it certainly was a railfan's paradise back then!

Thanks David for recreating a bit of New England history for us to appreciate. It was a joy bringing to life a bit of railroading history even if it was for one evening!

Meet David Primeau. David has been into model railroading for more years than he can count. His CPR Newport Subdivision and B&M Connecticut River Sub has been in existence for over twenty years. David has custom built and painted more locomotives than he can care to count. While he says that many are of the older variety and make, he is still very proud of the work he has done and chooses to continue to run this older equipment in lieu of the latest offerings.

One thing is for certain. The layout looks beautiful and it runs like a charm. It was fun operating not the normal "cab control" that we are used to...rather "tower control" where we take over the trains as they approach our district. It's interesting to note that we all had the opportunity to run a greater variety of trains and equipment this way...and it was a great time. Indeed, model railroading is fun!



Here is a short clip of Dave's Great HO layout