2026 - 2027 Operating Season

Operations on the Carleton Railway this fall are off to a good beginning -- there were 14 people (including me) at the October operating session, which is excellent.  The east-end staging tracks (representing the CPR Gibson Subdivision) are operational, and the Millville yard will soon become a functional yard complete with a yardmaster.  Scenery updates have been completed.  Here are the dates for the upcoming sessions:

November 10, 2026;  December 8, 2026;  January 12, 2027;  February 9, 2027;  March 2, 2027;  April 13, 2027;  May 11, 2027.  I also expect some extra Saturday operating sessions during the winter months.  

There will also be operating sessions during Port City Rails 2027 -- the joint convention of the Maritime Federation of Model Railroaders and the Eastern Canada Division of the NMRA.  Our Saint John club will host the event.  For information about the convention, go to portcityrails2027.ca

   

East-end Staging Yard

The benchwork is in place for the east-end staging yard, representing the CPR Gibson Subdivision east of Hainesville. The staging yard will be just below East Newbridge and South Newbrdge. It is time to start laying track! There will be 8 staging tracks (4 tracks for the 3 daily passenger trains, 2 tracks for the CPR local freight, and 2 tracks for the CRY/CPR fast freight. I still need to construct the removable "bridge" over the sink. Once completed, the staging yard will make it possible for the big yard in Millville to be a functional classification yard with its own yardmaster.

Recommended Resources for Modelling the Potato Industry

 

Incorporating Potato Farming and Shipping on a Model Railway

Recommended Resources

1.     These two National Film Board of Canada videos, free online, provide exceptional insight into the potato industry in Carleton County, NB.

·        "Harvest in the Valley" 1955   https://www.nfb.ca/film/harvest_in_valley/

·        "Potatoes" 1976   https://www.nfb.ca/film/potatoes/

 

2.     About modelling the potato industry in Maine:

·        “Aroostook – A Railroad You Can Model,” by Peter A. Cook.  Model Railroader, 

July 1966.

 

3.     For anyone interested in potato shipping by rail from Prince Edward Island:

·        https://princestreet.wordpress.com (Chris Mears).  Search for “potato” for great info about potato shipping on Prince Edward Island.

 

The Carleton Railway:

Email:  mcmulls@nb.sympatico.ca

Instagram:  @carletonrailway

Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TTX0pGBz18

(20-minute 2023 layout tour)

The Completed Potato Field

I finally completed the second large potato field in Rosedale; there are a total of 107 rows of potatoes -- it took a long time to "plant" all those rows, but I think the result is worth it. Since potato farming is so important to the Carleton Railway, the potato fields are more than just scenery -- they provide a visual context for the railway's existence. In the photo, it is early morning on the farm as the sun rises in the east.

Fishing under the Railway Bridge at Big Lake

Life looks very peaceful at Big Lake, York County, as the Nor'Easter from Boston crosses the bridge on the way toward Fredericton via the CPR Gibson subdivision.   

"Planting" HO-scale Potato Fields

I finally "planted" the big potato field in Rosedale last weekend.  The first photo shows the beginning of process, and the second photo is the finished field.  There are 98 rows of potato plants. 

 

Guest crews this winter

In February  I was glad to host a 12-person group from PEI and Moncton for a day of operations.  Then the following week a smaller group from the Amherst, NS area were joined by some locals to operate the Carleton Railway again.  Here is the PEI/Moncton group: