Due to the positive response I received I've added this "Modeler's Notebook" section with information on modeling the Kettle Valley Railway. I hope to include track plans and photos sent in to me by those of you either planning or building model railroads based on the KVR. This could lead to a sharing of ideas and info for modelers of all scales interested in the KVR. The sucess of this page will depend on you. As planning and work progesses on my own proposed HO scale Coquihalla Canyon Railway I'll post updates for comment.
I came across this image while doing a search of the BC Archives site. I had previously stated that it appears to be very similar to the CPR outside-braced boxcar made by Accurail and that I'm sure the KVR would have seen many of these over the years.
Since then I have received the following e-mail from Paul Clegg:
"An HO model of CP 123456 pictured in your website is actually made by Westerfield under the name Fowler Car. In fact, Westerfield has several versions of this car, including a stock car. A very extensive series of articles was published on this car in Mainline Modeler during 1986. Essentially, CP originated the design and ultimately built some 30,000 of them. A number of other railroads later copied the design. This car type was in use in the OCS service until the early '80's. A very long service life considering construction began in 1909."
Check out Westerfield's website for more info on the model mentioned as well as others.
CPR outside-braced boxcar #123456--BCARS
A while ago I did up a set of drawings of a CPR 100 Ton Coaling Tower that appeared in "CP Tracks" (Volume 5, Issue 4), the newsletter of the Canadian Pacific Special Interest Group to accompany a short article by Dave Johnston. This was my first attempt at a scale structural drawing and I found it very challenging but very rewarding! Although the Kettle Valley, to the best of my knowledge, did not have any 100 Ton towers the drawings were done from standard CPR plans and would be perfect for a large engine servicing facility. I will soon be posting scale drawings in both N and HO scale in PDF format that can be downloaded and printed off.
Front & Side view (coming in the next update!)
Back view (coming in the next update!)
Site Plan (coming in the next update!)
I have also drawn up plans for a CPR Wood Freight Reefer that was also published in CP Tracks. I hope to be uploading these soon as well.
The BC Archives has posted some new photos of the Kettle Valley on its website (try an image search on their website for "Kettle Valley"). Included is several shots of the railway including one of Brookmere, two that are labelled Brookmere but actually look to be Kingsvale(?) and the spectacular one of the Bridal Veil Falls trestle pictured below.
Bridal Veil Falls trestle--BCARS
I found the image below while searching the BC Archives site under "snowplows". I had never seen it before as it doesn't come up under "KVR" or "Kettle Valley Railway" but it is indeed a photo of one of the two rotary snowplows used by the KVR on the Coquihalla. The #400805 was originally stationed out of Hope until about 1926 when it was moved to Brookmere where it remained. There is some additional information and photos of #400805 and her sister plow, the #400802 on pages 72-79 of Robert Turner's book "Steam on the Kettle Valley".
KVR Rotary Snowplow #400805--BCARS
This would make a terrific model if someone was willing to scratchbuild or kitbash. A promising starting point is the new Walthers ready-to-run Alco/Leslie Steam Rotary Snow Plow. This HO Scale model features a motorized, spinning plow wheel with cone detail. Positionable chute and flanger details are also included as are separate ladders, wire grabirons, and roofwalk. A matching tender, metal wheelsets and knuckle couplers round out the detailing on this replica. Like the prototype, it is designed to be pushed by your favorite steam or diesel locomotive. It is not currently available in a CPR paint scheme however it can't be long until someone brings out a decal set.
I received a photocopy of a map of the yard at Brookmere from Dean and Mary Miller. This is a fantastic map! I worked it out to HO scale and to model it perfectly you would ONLY need about 45 FEET! Obviously, a condensed version would be more feasable.
Click on the small image below to see an enlargement.
LAYOUTS & MODELS:
This is a new addition to the Modeling page, it is my hope that people will send in info (and maybe trackplans and photos) of Kettle Valley inspired layouts that they are working on.
To start things off want to share a couple sketches of my own. I have been busy working on plans for a future HO layout. I have a space 20' long by 11' feet across at one end and 12-14' across at the other. I would like to include a section of the Coquihalla (notably Romeo and Bridal Veil Falls Trestle), Brookmere and the Nicola River Valley. As you can see from the sketches below I want to keep the ratio of scenery to track quite high. I had toyed with the idea of going N scale in order to achieve the scenic vistas I was interested in but as I have already a lot invested in HO I decided to try to accomplish what I could with my given space. I had also thought about going with a double deck layout and although I haven't ruled it out altogether I would prefer not to. I welcome any comments, I'm in the process now of laying out a condenced version of the yard at Brookmere and will post my progress as I go along.
Click on the small image below to see an enlarged photo.
Trackplan of proposed Coquihalla section
View of the Coquihalla section
This photo is of a HO scale model of the Brookmere station. Great modeling by Gerry O'Brien! It was posted to the Canadian Pacific Railway database website back when it was up and running. Thanks SLiM.
Prototype Info
I came across this image while doing a search of the BC Archives site. I had previously stated that it appears to be very similar to the CPR outside-braced boxcar made by Accurail and that I'm sure the KVR would have seen many of these over the years.
Since then I have received the following e-mail from Paul Clegg:
