Kitchener - Doubleheaders Layout Tour

The Credit Valley Free-mo Group was in the process of setting up when I picked up my layout tour program. It was to be on display for two days so on my way home on Sunday I made a second stop to see it up and running.

I headed over to Kitchener on Saturday for the annual layout tour. It had been a few years since I last attended. I actually saw a few of the layout last spring during the NFR-NMRA convention in town. I passed on many of these layouts and focused on about 5. It was a nice sunny day also and it gave me a chance to hit a few of the location that my have engines or equipment out. One is the GO facility that I have never taken a good look at. It actually is fenced off and mostly hidden. I did get a look at one end of the equipment in behind the McDonald's parking lot. This was a two day trip as I spent the night in Orangeville and headed north of Barrie to pick up an air unit for my boat....more on this trip shortly...George Dutka

The Kitchener GO terminal has two sets of equipment laying over for the weekend. It is all fenced in and much of the area is hidden by structures. The best view is from behind McDonald's. March 24, 2018

David Johns CPR BC layout was one I had seen before. Unfortunately it was very busy and I did not get around the whole layout. The isles are very narrow with many areas having enough room for one person at a time. There was a lot of bottlenecks. This photo was taken from the doorway into the layout room.

On the mountain a clean up is well underway in the BC mountains.

David had a really nice sign out front.

My next stop was to Greg Shinnie's waterfront scene. On display was this building flat in a frame which was made by Bob Santos, as a gift  for Greg.

Greg's layout I covered in a post last spring is actually a diorama that he will build into a home layout. The wharf has trackage on both sides that needs switching.

To get to each side there is a 4' wide loop with a siding which lets you run around cars. A 0-8-0 was working the wharf this day.

In Guelph I stopped in to see a G scale basement layout. A real treat to see something that large running indoors and well detailed. The layout is the work of John Johnson.

On Sunday I arrived late afternoon to check out the Free-mo Group once again. It was setup as a three pronge display. There was many trains and switchers running at the same time. More on this setup later.

One of the larger displays of this group.