Today in Aiguillages we're talking about American trains with Frédéric Morin
while discovering his layout called The Fraggle Rock Lumber Co Railroad,
and about a convention dedicated to American trains that will take place in September 2018.
Welcome to Aiguillages!
For now we're at the Bugeat Railway Model Making National Exhibition
that was organized by the Haute Corrèze Evènement association at the beginning of September
and that I had told you about in a previous episode of Aiguillages.
Frédéric Morin went there to display his layout.
You discovered the first part of this layout in a preivous episode of Aiguillages at the end of Season 4 in 2012.
Since then, new modules were added and its size has more than doubled.
Last time we talked about it in Aiguillages was in 2012, we were in Saint Etienne
and there were only 5 modules, now there are 9 and this is its final configuration,
of course it's not complete yet but it evolved a lot, this is now a large L shape, trains run on it, it forms a loop
and the show doesn't disappoint.
In 2012, the sawmill behind me was already there, it is now complete, it took me almost a year of work,
I started with a kit made by Sierra Model West and I built the sawmill, I improved it,
I made transfer tables, and typically American elevators for boards that we can't find in France,
then I added a logging camp for our lumberjack friends, it's being finished and I will add a large paper mill
as well as some buildings here and there, it will take me about 3 or 4 more years.
This is certainly true as Frédéric's working sessions are not long,
he chose a different pace compared to most model makers as he prefers to work on it in the morning
while others go for a run.
I'm an early bird, I like working for 20 to 30 minutes each morning before going to work,
it allows me to focus and unwind, I don't do long work sessions, I do it whenever I please,
for example I know that after an exhibition I might not want to work on it for a whole week
as I've spent 2 whole days operating my layout and this is enough.
Exhibitions also provide an opportunity to work on this layout.
I'm able to access parts of the scenery that are set up differently at home
so I can access difficult parts and above all, this is the most important thing,
it allows me to show the public how I work.
Most of us display finished elements but saying which materials I work with and what I use
allows me to prove that what we do is rather simple, there's nothing extraordinary about it,
it's just about developping a few technical skills but people are very interested in knowing how we do it.
At home, Frédéric is lucky to have enough room to set up his layout and enjoy it,
the only thing that changes is its configuration.
Here it forms an L, but at home it forms a U.
At home, it forms a U shape, I use a module that I put in an angle next to the sawmill and it forms a U around me,
there's a bridge at the access door that turns the layout into a loop so that trains can run.
As space was optimized, the layout will not be extended.
Considering I'm the only one operating it, it's enough.
If it got bigger, it would become unmanageable in terms of what the public could see
and I wanted a layout that could be assembled by one person within 2 hours
and that could be dismantled in the same way, that would be easily transportable and easily handled
and as I'm alone it's not possible to make it bigger.
Except if he could involve other model makers!
Or course Frédéric thought about this and we might soon see other modules joining his forestry.
It's an ongoing work, at exhibitions my layout is displayed as the inside of an L shape
and there's another layout that can be displayed as the outside of the L, but this project is not as advanced,
eventually it will be a Bourbon distillery, we hope we get to taste our production soon!
It should be nice, and a third friend joined us about a year ago, he's passionate about aviation in the 1930s,
and about air racing in particular so his layout will be an airdrome with Gee Bee workshops
as they're the one that were used for air races, and this will add to our layout.
We should get an 8 meters by 11 meters layout with 3.5 visible sides, it should be nice.
As he's using an American narrow gauge, the scale is different from the one we're used to in Europe.
This is a 1:48 scale, called 0n30, the American 0 scale is a bit different from ours,
'30' stands for the 30 inches gauge which is about 76 cm, this is a typical American narrow gauge
that was used for tree cutting and transformation in sawmills, it was also used in quarries and mines.
An HO scale was used for the gauge.
This is Bachmann's small commercial transgression,
since 30 inches gauges were not as common as 3 feet gauges.
3 feet gauges are equivalent to the 0n3 scale, it was commercially complicated
so they decided to use 30 inches gauges compatible with HO tracks that were easier to sell,
so that their material would be more adapted and multipurpose.
Rolling stocks on Frédéric's layout are typical for small lines like this one.
There are Shay, Heisler, Climax and Mallet engines that were reserved for this type of line,
there are some diesel trains as I reproduce the 1950s so they were beginning to appear,
there are some trackmobiles and a school bus made from a galloping goose, that was very American too
and various other trains, of course there are Skeletons to transport wood as well as classical wagons.
To reproduce landscapes and buildings, Frédéric got inspired by a precise region
but he allowed himself to be flexible.
I'm inspired by Oregon, I like this State for its landscapes so I used a mix of what there is,
I added buildings that we can find in Colorado, things like this so I search the Internet
and I reproduce what I see, I'm not trying to recreate a real site like some do, it's an imaginary place
but all of the buildings I made existed.
Industries like the one reproduced on this layout were very common in the United States until the 1950s
and represent an endless inspiration.
There were loads of them, they were several kilometers or dozens of kilometers long
depending on what was needed, it was very local, lots of wood was needed for buildings
and generally the Unitated States used a lot of wood so it was very common there.
Often these industries would be connected to the normal gauge network for commercial trade
and it fell into disuse a bit like it did in France, now only associations keep these railways alive.
There is the famous Durango & Silverton in Colorado as well as others in the Appalachians, I forgot their names,
some railways still operate.
In France, some people are passionate about American trains.
About 700 of them connect through a Forum dedicated to this subject.
It was only a short step from organizing an exhibition, which did happen in 2011,
with the first American Trains convention in Noyant-sur-Allier, which was organized again in Le Cendre in 2016
and is going to take place again next September in Clermont-Ferrand.
Last year in May, we organized the 2nd American Trains convention with only American trains using all scales
from 1:400 to 1:5, next convention will take place in Clermont-Ferrand on September 8th and 9th, 2018,
everything that is displayed is renewed and we'll be making a very American contest: a pizza layout!
It's a circular layout that is 60 cm in diameter, a functional loop with an American theme,
and there must be a train, whatever the scale.
There will be Z, N, HO, we could even use a larger GN15 scale like our American friends do so well,
which is 1:35 and it can work on a 60 cm diameter.
We chose an American size, which makes big pizzas, we chose a medium/large which has a 60 cm diameter,
Americans even make 71 cm diameter pizzas!
It really must be circular and it has to operate, we can add switches and we can maneuver,
the theme has to be American, whatever the time we choose.
Everything is possible, there's no limit in height, it just has to be within 60 cm in diameter.
We already have about 15 candidates and we think more are going to join.
The first convention created a lot of motivation and we talked about it a lot
so there are many people interested in the second event that will take place next year.
A convention is not exactly like a model making exhibition, even if it is quite similar, of course.
For Frédéric, the difference lies in mindset.
The goal really is to have fun, to meet with friends, to have a good time and to exchange,
we don't worry too much about it, it's more like the spirit of Americans
rather than that of a French model making exhibition.
It's open to the public, we want to share what we make and we create more workshops too
to explain how we make our sceneries, how we assemble complicated engines, how we modify them,
things like this, members of the association volunteer to lead these workshops
and to show that there's nothing complicated about our hobby, noone has to be super gifted to do it,
it's just about acquiring new skills with time and practice, we care more about the atmosphere,
that is the difference.
Lots of French model makers come, John Allen is the one who started this atmosphere model making,
he was the pioneer of this kind of model making and we're more immersed this way.
It's easier with larger scales but smaller scales like HO or N are interesting for modern diesel enthusiasts,
splendid trains can be made and there are very nice urban networks with very dense industrial areas
with lots of tracks so lots of enthusiasts put 4 or 5 switches on a small surface
and go from a building to another which is a very American principle, it can be found in France
but it's not that dense here.
Above all, we're here to enjoy ourselves, no matter if American or French and no matter the theme!
We play with trains, we enjoy ourselves, we share our passion and that's it.
For those of you who don't want to wait until next convention to try American trains,
there's a forum where enthusiasts gather: Forum US.
We gather all scales, from Z to GN15.
Only bon vivants are part of this forum.
It's important for me to say so because I know in some French forums people can get fussy
and it's not the case with us.
It's a laid back atmosphere, we joke around, we get along then and we progress together,
we don't judge people's level when they join us, each has their own model making,
everyone contributes and the goal is to share and get better together as well as having good times.
There's still one thing you won't find on the forum: the project Frédéric is working on for the next convention.
For the next convention, I'll only display a pizza layout.
This is a secret, nobody can talk about it!
Each theme will be revealed at the convention.
The first time, as organizers, we presented our layouts
because we were starting and we had to fill the exhibition a bit.
Now that we're on the right track we can focus more on our organizing role
and I'll just make a pizza layout to make it more challenging.
Layouts, challenges like pizza layouts and many other things will be to discover
just like during the previous events, of course I'll tell you more about it soon in Aiguillages.
Next week, we'll talk about the layout of the Thonon-les-Bains club that was displayed at Savoie-Modélisme.
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