HOMES Layout Tour

Gary Courtemanche's HO scale 15' by 3' L shaped layout is a very detailed and full of industries that have been modeled well. His layout was in RMC a number of years ago.

Don Janes and I took in the Hamilton area layout tour on Saturday September 27, 2025. It has to be at least 10 years since we last did this tour (it might have been 15 years). We took in a good amount of layouts and all where very nice to visit with great hosts. At one his wife was baking us all home made cookies. We saw layouts in HO, N and On30". Many were prototype based. It seems like Don and I where visiting BC, TH&B, Hamilton and Algoma Central - CP in Northern Ontario. I kept the photos down to one or two per layout or I would never get this posted...George Dutka  

John Johnston Grand Trunk Southern is N scale and ran very well during our visit. He uses code 55 rail. John I have know for a number of years and is the editor of the CARM quarterly and also does a lot that one does not see for CARM. He also gave us a nice tip for a track coating for better contact for ones engines.

MMR Ron Tuff's BC Rail layout is a treat to view. It is a 13' by 43' double deck layout that follows the prototype really well. The photo above is one I took of his trees in a narrow shelf area. The trees are maybe N scale or a bit smaller but really effective as a backdrop. Below a BC woodchip load is seen waiting to be lifted.

The BC station was built by MMR Dave Paterson and set on a display base. It is a good representation of the Lillooet, BC station, a location Ron is modeling. Unfortunately we ran out of time and could not visit Dave's layout which was open also.

A very nice Campbell kit on Barry Skinner's Drummond Sub. Much of his rolling stock is built from kits.

Bob Mitchell has a wonderful CP and Algoma Central layout emulating locations in Northern Ontario. It has a 167' run on the main line. Don and I visited Bob's layout before and were impressed on how much more has been completed. I really liked his pulpwood facilities.

Bob also has done a fine job on his track work and ballasting. I really liked how his lower fill ballast is a bit more course than the regular ballast placed on top.

Gerry Cornwell the lumber baron of Mt Albert Lumber has a wonderful On30" layout on the go. It is called Mariposa Short Line Railway a freelanced short line based on the book Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town. 

Gerry has done a great job on his backdrop which really works well with his layout. There are a number of Mt Albert Scale Models and Stoney Creek Designs pilot models on the layout.

The HO Model Engineers Society models Hamilton and the TH&B. They have modeled Wentworth St. in Hamilton by building a series of 3D printed homes which they had a hand in designing for an area 3D printing company I forgot the name of.

Aberdeen St. TH&B station and yard is modeled on their layout too.