I’m looking to model several of the industries along the St. Lawrence River in Ontario, Canada, between Cornwall and Brockville. I’m in the process of starting a new railroad and want to model the area I grew up in. I’m interested in modeling the CN double track mainline that runs roughly parallel to Highway 401 in the area. Some of the industries I want to model are the Domtar plant in Cornwall, CASCO in Cardinal, the grain elevator near Prescott (don’t know the name) and Dupont near Brockville.
After doing a bit of searching on the internet the only good information I found was satellite photos from Google maps. Does anyone know how I can get schematics for those industries or a detailed map of the track they use, or do I have to take photos from a distance and try to improvise a prototypical model? Do these places give factory tours or something similar so I can get a closer look at their operations?
I recommend you visit the CanModelTrains group on Yahoo! as there are several guys there modelling the Kingston Sub and its environs. I am modelling it west of Brockville, but I have found some info on Brochem and other locations you are modelling. I may even have some track diagrams kicking around, but as I model 1980 they might be a bit out of date for your needs. Send me an email and I’ll see what I can dig up.
I use to have a fishing camp north east of Ogdensburg on the US side. I will always remember the huge silos along the river over on your side, between Prescott and the locks at Iroquois. Never could say what was in them but it forever smelled like COCO. Anyway good luck with your search. FYI, a letter or email to the PR departments of these companies exsplaining your MR project may go a long way with photos or schematics:-)
Agreed. They probably have a web page with “contact us” on it, or their corporate HQ has such a page and welcomes contact from the public. Send them an email explaining your circumstances, and ask for literature or links to information. They may offer tours.
I have used our online Provincial Archives site to see photos of of many industries I have thought of modeling. Ontario must have something similar with online pics.
I was on the B.C. Provincial site researching B/A Oil (British American) for my layout as B/A was the gas station of choice when I was a kid. That lead me to several photos the BAPCO paint plant in Victoria. I didn’t know BAPCO stood for the (British American Paint Company) I now had another destination for all my B/A tank cars.
One thing using Google Earth is you get an appreciation of the size of some of these places by using the measuring tool. It can be a real dream crusher if you don’t have a 100,000 Square foot warehouse out back to build your layout in.[(-D]
I was also using Google Earth to measure up some of the Seaspan Rail Barges in Burrard Inlet. I then e-mailed Seaspan to see if they could e-mail me some pics of a particular 320’, five track wide barge I thought I would Like to model, and they were most accommodating. Good luck.[:)]