One thing I've been doing for the past few months is adding details to my scenes. Toronto has been at the center of my attention. Adding street signs, the entire length of the city, has been a goal of mine. Google Maps has been amazing in seeing what signs needed to go up around the city and where they should be placed.
I've been using Scale Sign's signposts for this project. They have amazing detail and add so much more realism.
It's always nice when a manufacture produces something you think would have to be scratch built in order to have it on the layout. Earlier this year Broadway Limited Imported released the CN Track Inspection car and it's amazing! The exterior and interior lights are operated by touching different spots on the roof to turn different lighting features on or off. It is a great addition to my collection and will provide a lot of interest to my CN business train.
The Vermont Rail's 2026 Model Railroad Show a few weekends ago. It's a small show in St. Albans, Vermont, but gets a pretty decent turnout. The show is nice because it's one where you never know what you're going to find, so it's always worth the trip.
I'm going to wait to do a little more with the Atlas Blue Box Central Vermont boxcar. I'd like to weather it seeing that these cars were few and far between in the early 2000's. However, there are photographs on the web that show there was at least one riding the rails in Ontario during the layout's time period. I don't do much weathering on my cars, but after reading an article in the March Railroad Model Craftsman, I'm interested in trying something out and this inexpensive car is a good one to practice on.
Not much was done to the Rapido Procor hopper before it entered service on the layout. I swapped out the couplers for my standard Kadee whisker couplers. I decided to add Smokebox Graphics FRA self-adhesive yellow reflectors (the company has stopped making these) to each side of the car. It really is as easy as peel and stick. Using prototype photos from the web helps with accurate placement of the stripes.
Sorry for no additional pictures of the show. It's held annually in March by the Northwest Vermont Model Railroad Association. Their website has more information about the show and their club. More about the Central Vermont car in a future post.
I installed an East Coast Circuit's police vehicle in my arrest scene under the Bay St. underpass. Looks great and adds a little more detail and attention to a scene visitors may pass by if not looking carefully under Union Station's tracks.
I use Logic Rail Technologies Grade Crossing Pro/2 to operate all of my grade crossing signals on the layout. I finally got the last crossing on my layout up and running. I started this project back in December 2025 and the plan was to use a Grade Crossing Pro/2 and an expander board with the intention of only needing sensor for the two mainline tracks.
After some though I decided it would be more prototypical to move the crossing signal to the other side of the yard tracks and now my two-track crossing turned into a four-track crossing.
I picked up another GCP/2 Expander board when I was at the Springfield Show. A few weeks ago, I ran all the wiring and got the crossing functioning for all four tracks.
I'm really happy with the outcome.
I ordered a set of flashing construction barrels from East Coast Circuits back in January and installed them on the layout at the Oshawa GO Station construction site.
I needed to make a slight modification to the barrels. Ontario construction barrels are primarily black with orange stripes. I wanted to avoid painting the barrels and risk getting paint on the LEDs, so used thin strips of black painters tape to cover up the white stripes.
Installation under the layout went without any complications and things were up and running (and flashing) in a matter of minutes.
Another job well-done from the folks at East Coast Circuits.
It was a busy and bone-chillingly freezing Saturday at the 2026 Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show (Springfield). I was waiting in line for tickets before 9:00 AM with windchills in the negative numbers. Sunday was bringing a winter storm to West Springfield. The forecast was for over a foot of snow, so attendance was high on the day I went. However, some of the vendors decided that needed to skip this year's show.
Bachmann has a sample of their Siemens VIA Rail sets, this one in the Lumi paint scheme that was announced at last year's show. I was told these should be shipping to stores in May. I had hoped Bachmann would be announcing the Siemens passenger sets for the new Ontario Northland Northlander train sets, but it didn't happen. ...maybe next year.
Iowa Scale Engineering has been talking about releasing a defect detector for a while now. I had my fingers crossed that this show would be its debut, but all that I saw at their booth was a coming soon sign. I'll keep waiting. Iowa Scale Engineering has a great reputation for their electronics, so I look forward to the defect detector's release in the future.
Custom Model Railroads released a new high rise the week before the show. CMR is where most of my tall building kits come from. It's a little wider than most of the building on my layout. I emailed Jeff at CMR the day before the show to get dimensions for the kit to see if I could find a spot for it on the layout, but I wanted to see it in person before making a decision to buy it.
I left the show with plenty of new items. I picked up two new pieces of rolling stock. A baggage car to be used for my VIA Rail train from Montreal to Shawinigan or for The Canadian. I also got an Otter Valley gondola to go along with the MacRail cover I got at last year's Springfield show.
I got a few packs of 40' containers from a local dealer selling these Athearn sets at a pretty good price. I'm trying to focus on well cars and shipping containers for international shipping models since most everything I have for my 53' well cars are 53' domestic containers.
Logic Rail Technologies was back for the second year. I picked up the Grade Crossing Pro 2 Expander I needed for crossing detection in my Oshawa rail yard. I also picked up a second fusee to put on the tracks. Kadee is a staple in the Better Living Center, and I got the replacement couplers I'll need for when my Lumi train set arrived later this year.
Scenic Express had the ultra-fine ballast I needed and picked it up as well as a few Xuron tools at B&B Hobby Supply.
ScaleSigns was not at the show this year. Spring Creek carries some ScaleSigns stock, and I was able to get some signposts. I needed a few Canadian crossbucks and track signs, so I'll order these directly from the ScaleSigns site. Under Construction Replicas was new this year. The make scale construction site objects. I really liked the orange fencing and got a couple sets for my high-rise construction project. I also got rolls of cable and some lane dividers. East Coast Circuits was one of my first starts of the day. I had hoped to get another Walthers fire trucks, but they were out. I did get a police patrol truck for the layout.
The last stop of my spending spree was back at Custom Model Railroads. I decided to pull the trigger and get the new Continental Building. As well as the add-on 3-stories, and the lighting kits. It was the 10% discount that encouraged me to get it now.
I took some time to also check out some of the layouts along the way. Sometimes, with all the people, it's hard to slowdown to enjoy the numerous layouts. Here's a few pictures I got from just a sampling of layouts at the show.
The storm did a number to the attendance on Sunday. Many of the vendors tried to beat the storm and leave on Saturday night. The Virtual Railfan cameras showed large portions of the buildings empty. I don't know how much attendance was affected by the weather, but I'm glad Saturday had clear skies and I was able to get to the show. The 2027 Railroad Hobby Show will take place on January 30 & 31. Fingers crossed for better weather.
