Tree Incentive

We've made it to December - that means I just have a few weeks to meet my Fall goal. Outside looks and feels quite Winter-y already, with 9" of snow and high temperatures below zero. I've been blessed with a new incentive to get the Train Room floor done though... and it is a Christmas tree. Right now, the items that are headed back to the Train Room are blocking the path to part of one of our Christmas trees. And, in my wedded bliss, I can strongly sense that my loving wife would strongly like to decorate a Christmas tree as soon as possible. So, scraping efforts have been doubled. 25% of the entryway/closet area has been scraped, and I've arranged to borrow another shop vac from a coworker, as the one I've been using is somewhat hindering the process at the moment. I believe this weekend will produce much progress.

The eighth in the series of future passenger train discussions is "The Canadian". This is a streamlined 7-car version of the real-life Canadian Pacific "Canadian" which entered service in 1955, and a form of it still operates today. The Canadian connected Vancouver, BC to Sandbury, ON, and then on to either Montreal, QC or Toronto, ON for a 71-hour trip. On our honeymoon, my wife and I were able to ride on The Skeena passenger train (a.k.a. "Jasper - Prince Rupert"), a small sight-seeing consist that runs on some of the same tracks as the current Canadian. We traveled from the bustling metropolis of Dunster, BC (I'm sure you've heard of it) to Jasper, AB. Dunster has a population of about 27, but they use the metric system, so I'm not sure how that converts. Anyway... it was a very fun and pretty 60-mile ride. We had practically an entire passenger car to ourselves. At the end of the train was the Waterton Park vista dome observation car (Canadian Pacific #15417). I was allowed to tour it briefly before the train left Jasper. Jasper was not on the original route of The Canadian; instead, it was served by Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian National passenger trains. My Canadian is an O-scale MTH set, pulled by Williams F3 ABA locomotives. Lionel originally made a semi-scale version of this set in 1957; the locomotives from that original set are some of the most sought-after Lionel collectibles of the postwar era. Mine have little collector's value, but they make for a very sleek trainset, and will be pulling The Canadian around the train layout of the future for years to come. The observation car on my set is based on the Sibley Park (original Canadian Pacific #15413). The CP's color scheme of grey and maroon, with yellow accents, and their nifty beaver logo is rather ritzy, and graces the top of the blog today while running on the SPCR&GC RR. Keep your rails shiny ~

Section scraped in front of closet door

25% of this section done

The Canadian in the Canadian Rockies

Newlyweds and the Waterton Park in Jasper, AB