Hi
– I’m Bear-ee the train engineer, your guide….
“Welcome
to our Garden Railway – Bear with us still!’
This historic photo of
the Canadian Pacific Railways De Winton Station as then located just south of
Calgary at the hamlet of De Winton, Alberta. The building has been removed now and
only the memories still remain.
3-D Mountain wall with waterfall feature and snow shed.
Once again this has been an
extremely busy year, trying to keep pace with yard maintenance, construction
projects and general upkeep around the acreage. Trains were not running in the garden except
for track maintenance and our annual Canada Day open house event. However other major accomplishments were
made, to the outdoor layout, such as adding a second large water feature in the
north garden with streams flowing from two directions into the lower lake
there. Several large rocks had to
be strategically placed to dam the water flow creating multiple tiered water
ponds.
Jytte was busy planting perennials wherever
she could and then nurturing them through the summer- plus she worked tirelessly in the wooded
areas to eliminate the long grasses and deadfall there, to provide room and sunlight for the wild
rose bushes to flourish. It is
remarkable to see how she can transform the garden, as she does, apparently
working best alone – which is my clue to disappear and find my own
projects to work on.
Most of the track on the layout
is supported by raised treated posts to a 2 x 6” framework
structure. The track had been
removed prior to the winter snow last season; it has been cleaned and re-laid
after the support framework had received a weather resistant topping. I had also made other advances into the red roofed roundhouse structure, shown below, to get
a foothold on the development of the town of Skagway. The track plan determined; has all been
laid, the docks with a radio controlled boom crane constructed as well as the rail
yards, which include a six bay roundhouse with a gallows turntable. Construction starts were made to some of
the other buildings; such as the Golden North Hotel, ore bunker towers and the rail
side coal chutes which are located next to a busy lumber mill with storage
yard.
“Surely - If it wasn’t
for the last minute – nothing would get done at all!”
< . The North side garden
with waterfall feature that flows into four tiered ponds.
A Danish village- that
is fashioned after Jytte’s home in Denmark is located outside her new
room extension. >
The scratch
built church buildings shown here are replicated from the ones in the village
of Greve near Copenhagen, Denmark. Jytte’s home place. >
The straw roof building in the foreground is the
rectory, the roofing materials were made from local straw gathered in the
fields. To learn how to build a
tile roof as shown on the chapel refer to the helpful tips section in the addendums section. The western town
façade has now received a new “live in addition” as an
extension to Jytte’s room, to allow for her own private sitting area with
a garden view.
For the first stage in the development of the garden
railway I had planned to stay focused on the rail plan, water features and to
establish the garden. This would
also include the construction of bridges, mountains, tunnels, snow sheds and
ancillary features such as retaining walls and so forth. I do not plan to place
any buildings other than the existing small village on the two main layouts
only to enhance the view from Jytte’s room. The second stage will incorporate
building the town of Skagway Alaska under a 30’ octagon style enclosure
to include the docks on the Lynn Canal and the rail yards with a 4’
turntable and roundhouse. Work has
begun with the track now in place, town buildings will be constructed over the
winter months.
The basic plan as shown here has changed / evolved on a regular basis, the final
track plan still bears some resemblance to the original.
The current track layout consists
of three independently controlled sections. Two larger continuous loops that can be
transversely crossed over by any engine, with a reverse loop section within to
allow the trains to change direction and return to the town site on the same outbound
track, yet in the opposite travel direction. The third layout would be into the Frontier
town of Skagway, once within the Town the engines would then have to be turned,
on the gallows turntable at the roundhouse, before leaving the town site to
venture into the mountainous ranges again.
We are currently working towards finishing the two large water features
and laying the sub-structure for the exclusive DCC “digital command
controlled” expanded rail lines.
I did not run trains outdoors this season other than to trouble shoot
the layout – rather, construction upgrades will continue into the spring
of 2009. When completed the entire
layout will measure over 70’ wide x 250’ long, with the 2009
seasons planned expansion into the 30‘ diameter roundhouse structure
(shown above) which will eventually house the bustling frontier port town of
Skagway, Alaska.
This open sided structure will provide some overhead weather protection
for the buildings and rolling stock.
For the winter months temporary tarpaulin panels provide additional wind
and snow shields to allow some construction to continue on, without too much
discomfort. If needed a forced air
heat source can be utilized to increase the comfort level.
The
full scale Western Town facade stretches to 150’ in length
and is two stories high, with a vista view roof top deck, behind the Saloon
front doors. I have aptly named
this private lounge area – “TOOTERS”.
I have also designed and
built a unique circular stairway to the second floor balcony and Saloon
entrance. This stairway is a one of a kind marvel. To see some of the features that I have
described, and have not shown the pictures on this web site, you will have to;
either link to the site mentioned below or pay us a visit; I will
be pleased to show you around!
Please
note: As we are not generaly open to the
public on a regular basis, please telephone ahead to arrange for a convenient
time to visit. Try to put together
a small grouping to maximize your appointed time allowance.
Looking East- above the tree tops,
the Mountain View is to the West (not shown) and stretches across the horizon
for a distance of 500 miles in length.
I can only imagine what my parents thought when they found this piece of
property nearly 40 years ago. I
remember it then as, “the little house on the prairie”, Now that
the trees have matured and I have added my input towards the development of the
acreage and expansion projects, I now suspect that I will never leave from
here. >
Looking South – over the valley view as seen from the rooftop
deck.
“I am well
aware that there are grander places to go and see: - but I can not imagine a
better place to live.”
I do not plan to ever
move again, therefore the railroad and building façade is of a permanent
structure. Hopefully, these
developments will remain to entertain for several generations to follow.
<
The front lawn and the south side - barn end of the western town, shown here,
are just two of the many great sitting spots for the visiting senior groups to
enjoy their lunch and to reminisce of the days gone by, in a serine
setting. Most of the seniors that
reside in this community either grew up nearby in the rural areas or came from
farms and homesteads within the province of Alberta.
The
east side pathways and entrances leading into the woods areas, that were once,
unmanaged scrub brush - will soon be adorned with natural grown “Alberta
Rose” spring flowers. Myself, I do enjoy the rustic privacy barrier,
while Jytte has plans to pretty it up- just a tad! When it
comes to the garden it is her decisions that rule!
Our office is located under the cupola bell tower, behind the 3-Dimensial
mountain wall, on the northern end of the residence; my personal suite with the
solarium hot tub extension has the brown exterior siding. The railway layout, as described above, wraps
around the corner and is evident on both the north and east sides of the
property. The green rustic siding
area below the cupola bell tower will soon resemble a horse stable / fire
station frontage– circa 1915.
To view a wonderful 55
picture collection of early photos of
De Winton Station in the making as presented by Cindy Roberts of Angel
Marketing. (Barrie’s daughter –is a web page designer!)
Click on the link. http://www.angel-marketing.com/trains.htm
