Month: October 2024

The Train Station Inn

Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia

By Jane Clarke

Pete points to the name “Jane” stenciled on the side of the 40’ boxcar.

Most summers, My husband Pete and I take a family vacation to my sister-in-law’s cabin in Elgin, New Brunswick, Canada. And most summers, we take a vacation from the family vacation.

This year we stayed three days at the Train Station Inn of Tatamagouche. I was dubious about booking it until I found out we could stay in Boxcar Jane! One side door of the boxcar was removed and replaced with an entryway with two people  doors. The interior walls were clad in drywall and wainscoting, but the floors appeared to be the original wood, heavily sanded and coated with gallons of polyurethane. There was a spacious living room, decent sized bedroom, small kitchen, and tiny bathroom. The only windows were above the entryway doors.

The Inn was its own little resort with a formal dining car, outdoor pub, gift and coffee shop, and lounge car. There was live music at the pub 2 of our 3 nights. It also boasts the largest collection of cabeese in Canada. Most of the cars were Canadian National, naturally.

We were there to bike a small portion of the Trans-Canada Trail. Like many trails, the quality of it varied between counties and townships.There were some remnants of the railroad, such as the Tatamagouche bridge. Not part of the RR, but the Sutherland Steam Mill was fascinating! So many ways to kill yourself at work back in the day.

If you are ever in Nova Scotia, I highly recommend the Train Station Inn!

Business Meeting: 13 October

The monthly meeting of the South Mountain Division (SMD) will be held at 2:00 PM on Sunday, 13 October at the home of Andrew Dodge in Olney, MD.  Following the business meeting Andrew will discuss layout design issues which will be of special interest to those of you who are planning a layout but have not yet started construction.

The Central Maine Railway is a freelanced railroad modeled in O scale Proto 48 that operated in Maine in the late 1890s. Running between Bangor and Portland and west to a connection with the Grand Trunk Railroad, the main focus of the layout is the area between Belfast and Camden with a car float/tug operation from Camden Junction and Stonington on Deer Island. A steamship company also operates a passenger side-2 wheeler between Deer Island and Camden Junction. The layout occupies two rooms plus a staging area with a total area 1,000 square feet.

All the locomotives, cars, and buildings are scratch built. The engines are operated though radio controlled NCE hand held radio devices and operate on hand-laid track. The scenery is real dirt and stones with a hand-painted backdrop.

There are also more than a thousand hand-made trees. Of special interest, besides the ships, is the fully operational rotary snowplow, and a full-size Victorian Shingle Style “cottage.”

Also included; A small HO logging railroad with geared engines and a switchback located in North Carolina. It is 2’x8′ with a 4’x2′ leg.

Please email southmountaindiv@gmail.com to obtain the street address and Andrew’s contact information.