2015 Doubleheaders Layout Tour

I feel this might have been the best detailed module on the Free-Mo layout at this years Doubleheaders layout tour.

Yesterday I took off last minute to the Kitchener, Ontario area for the 32nd annual layout tour. It has been at least 10 years since I last attended. The tour begins at the Hespeler arena located in Cambridge, Ont. There I found 5 layout set up with 4 running. The Free-mo layout was a monster size setup which pulled 4 groups together. They began setup at 6am and still had not got any train running yet at 930am. This is the largest HO scale modular layout I think I have ever seen.

I visited two layouts in Kitchener finding the traffic well beyond what I wanted to spend the day in. I did plan on heading up to St. Jacobs, the new home of the famed Aberfoyle O scale layout and also the Maple Syrup Festival which was in full swing. Early morning radio reports during my drive over from London indicated the roads north to St. Jacobs were already jammed up. Instead I decided to cover some layouts I had never seen before and in the rural area of Ayr and the outskirts of Cambridge. From there it was over to the Paris Jct. Hobbies before calling it a day.

A friendly welcome to David Johns layout in Ayr, Ont.

It think I may have brought gremlins with me because a good amount of layouts I saw seemed to have run into electrical problems while I was there. All used DCC. The first layout I visited had Dan Kirlin our area DCC guru under the layout trying to keep it up and running for it's owner....and the list went on....enjoy the photos...George Dutka

CPR shop area photo of the Ayr Junction layout.

This is what one saw entering the doorway of the Ayr Junction Railway. The layout features Mount Stephen and Cathedral Mountain from out west and a glimpse at the Grand River Ry freight motors from here in Ontario.

More power ready to go at Ayr.

Another view of a nicely detailed Free-Mo layout section.

I think I found the source of the electrical problem.