Rail sites in the Maritimes

First off, excellent choice of a destination, Jeff! I am sure that you (and everyone with you) will enjoy yourself. In Halifax, we have Maritme Hobbies and Crafts,

, the fellows there are excellent and have very good knowledge regarding the hobby (aka lifestyle). They are the biggest in the city. There is a small shop over in Dartmouth, but, in all honesty, its' not worth going into, not much selection and his prices are quite a bit more, than Maritime's.

Of course we did . You're more than welcome to pop into my website to check out some of the links to areas around Nova Scotia. And to drop me an e-mail from the site (to get past my spam filtres) if you have any questions you want answered about the area.

There is another fairly good shop in Moncton, N.B., Don's HO Service. They are only open Wednesday evenings and all Day Saturday. Check out their web site:

We have a shop on the eastern suburbs of Saint John, the Train Trax: We have an association of Maritime Model Railroaders with a web site that I maintain: that might be of interest. It lists other shops too.

Have a good trip!

Bob Boudreau Saint John, N. B. My site:

Don's slipped my mind. I've not been to his shop, yet. But, I've had dealings with him at the shows in town, here.

Jeff,

If you go to Louisbourg (all tourists go to Louisbourg) be sure to drop into the Sydney & Louisburg Railway Museum. It's right on the main street and can't be missed. Should you do stop there, be sure to view the HO layout depicting the S&L circa 1960. It's in the freight shed.

And don't forget the Orangedale Railway Museum. It occupies the original ICR station in Orangedale and is said by many to be one of the best railway museums they've seen. It's about 5 miles off the Trans-Canada Highway just before Whycocomagh (or Waycobah if you want the Micmac spelling)

The Cape Breton & Central NS Railway has freight trains leaving (and arriving) Sydney late in the afternoon. Times vary but you should see something between 3 and 5PM. If you visit their shop, you had better check in at the office first. They have a new guy in charge and he's a bit of a bulldog when it comes to trespassers. The Bras d'or (VIA tourist train) arrives in Sydney around 6:30PM on Tuesday and leaves at 7:30AM on Wednesday.

Glen Smith Port Morien, NS

Keep your eyes on the Mt. Porcupine gravel pit as you're crossing the Canso Causeway too.. usually a string of CB&NS hoppers parked there. Sometimes full of coal.