Fort Kent Dad - A bit about me and my
interest in trains
Fort
Kent Dad aka FKD
I have always had an interest in trains, don't know why; maybe it was
watching trains with my Uncle Fred when I was a youngster back in my home town of
Hamilton, Ontario where we could see the TH&B trying to push trains up the
escarpment.
My N Scale collection goes back to the early 1970's when I was a teenager.
I guess I must still be just a kid at heart.
Here I am playing with my first N Scale set - and Aurora Postage Stamp series
set - I still have a couple of cars left from that original set.
My idea of what constitutes a layout has changed; This was my rendition of a
70's style coffee table layout, complete with dripping wax candle in old wine
bottle.
Over the years I have had a couple of layouts. One in Saltcoats Saskatchewan
(sadly no pictures) and one in a duplex basement in Bonnyville when my
children were little. The Bonnyville layout was two 4x8's put together to
make a layout 4x16 feet. It was an island style layout. I remember
the comment of one young visitor; "Hey Mister, that must have taken you all
day to build."
Previous Layout, early 1980's.
A wee bit about where I live.
We moved to our present home in 1982 and I did have a layout in the basement
for a bit, but it was never finished and I cannot find any photo's of that
layout. In the early 1990's that layout was dismantled and all my train
stuff when into hibernation, for over a decade.
I
spent countless hours doodling layouts and MRR scenes as I waited for space to
open up in our little home. We do live in a little (under 1000 sq feet)
house. It really is our little house on the prairie. Our home is one
of the original Wheat Pool Operator's homes. Most every small town on the Canadian
Prairie likely has or had a house just like ours. The grain elevators of
Fort Kent were taken out long ago and even the track was ripped out a few years
back. The track was only a stones throw from our house, trains were few and far
between and when they came, I would go and watch. Snapped these pics of
Rail Link service just before the end of rail. The line is now a trail and
for the most part is used by snowmobiles in the winter (which is only six months
of the year here) or by quads and horses all year long.
In the picture on the right I can make out my house in the background, but
you need a magnifying glass, but it is there.
BTW I do hang out as FKD at Scale Rails Online. Stop in and join the
chat with other model railway Nthusiasts.
Fort
Kent Dad aka FKD
I guess I must still be just a kid at heart.
I
spent countless hours doodling layouts and MRR scenes as I waited for space to
open up in our little home. We do live in a little (under 1000 sq feet)
house. It really is our little house on the prairie. Our home is one
of the original Wheat Pool Operator's homes. Most every small town on the Canadian
Prairie likely has or had a house just like ours. The grain elevators of
Fort Kent were taken out long ago and even the track was ripped out a few years
back. The track was only a stones throw from our house, trains were few and far
between and when they came, I would go and watch. Snapped these pics of
Rail Link service just before the end of rail. The line is now a trail and
for the most part is used by snowmobiles in the winter (which is only six months
of the year here) or by quads and horses all year long. 
