On October 18, 1987 TraiNgang members Brian, Craig, John, Phil and Wayne got together with Tim Horton and built two modules with
track plans modelled after the waterfront dock area of Squamish, BC on the BC Rail main line. Unfortunately the two modules were not
finished, changed hands at least once and ended up in storage for many years.

Some 17 years later, in late 2004 current TraiNgang members Tom Carr and Patrick Schafli acquired the two unfinished models, took
them out of storage and decided to finish them.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 2. This module features less track
work, but has room for expansion. Both
modules can be operated together or
separately..

Figure 3

Since these modules were built The TraiNgang has adopted the Mountain Division for all it's
modules. So the first order of business was to add the Mountain Division to both modules.
While this looks relatively simple it can certainly prove to be a challenge for the novice
module builder (figure 3).

Fortunately all the original track on both modules had been wired when it was laid, so just
the new Mountain Division had to wired. This was relatively easy, especially with the help
of Don Slee, our club's resident expert on wiring.

The work started in early 2005 at Bob
Berbeck's home in Maple Ridge. Fortunately
Bob is a very experienced module builder and
has the tools and equipment necessary to
make the job go relatively smoothly.
Unfortunately January is not exactly the
warmest month of the year in British
Columbia, and working in an open garage can
be somewhat chilly. However the work went
well (figure 4) and the mountain divisions were
soon in place.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Next came the really challenging part, the
scenery. This part had to wait until the
weather improved somewhat and so the
modules "went home" until the summer
months.


Several workshops were held in Bob's garage
over the summer of 2005 as Tom and Patrick
got their modules ready for their official debut,
at TRAINS 2005 as part of the largest
TraiNgang layout of the year (figures 5 and 6).

Figure 6

With the basic scenery planned and laid out in Bob's garage Tom and Patrick were on their
own to finish things off. Figure 7 shows Tom's module after the basic "landscaping" has
been done. Still to come is track ballasting and trees. Track ballasting may look easy, but
a beginner can soon discover what happens what a little too much ballast can do to a
switch, and why it is important to use a wetting agent before applying the glue. A 50/50
mixture of rubbing alcohol and water applied with an eye dropper will keep the ballast nice
and moist and allow the glue to saturate it properly. Take care that the glue isn't too thick
or it won't saturate properly and your ballast will dry in clumps.

Almost ready to run. Figure 8 shows Tom Carr adding joiner tracks between the two modules prior to the opening of TRAINS 2005 on November 11th.

Figure 9

A long way from figures 1 and 2, both modules are now fully sceniced to represent anwhere in Southern BC around the transistion era, 1950's and early 1960's (figure 9). The two modules don't look anything even close to their originally intended design, but after 18 years in the making they are a part of The TraiNgang.

Figure 8

Figure 10

"Somewhere in Southern BC" on Patrick Schafli's module (figure 10). Both Tom and Patrick would like to thank TraiNgang Coordinator Bob Berbeck and all the members of The TraiNgang who offered their support, assistance and help with their first modules. It has been fun and a great learning experience.

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