99
SUMMER
2015
ESCARPMENTMAGAZINE
.
CA
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Themodellinggroupwas originally formed throughaBruceCounty initiative toencourage re-
tirees toget together in some productiveway. By channeling their many talents into research,
modelbuildingandcreatinghistorical reproductions, theBluewaterModellers found theirniche.
For this latest project theModellersconsistedof five retireesaswell asa few specialists inpartic-
ularareasof interest.CliveMorgan isa retiredengineerandeducatoratMohawkCollege.Brian
Swanton isa retired teacher.MikeMarshallwasa lab technicianandworked in theconstruction
industry,whileStanMcClellenwasacivil engineerandadministratorat theNational ParkServ-
ice.Somehow Iwasadmitted to thisgroup for this latestproject. I’mnot surehoworwhen I joined,
but I haveenjoyedworkingwith this groupof expertmodelers andhave learned somuch from
theexperience. Theirprecisionworkmanshipandcreative ideasmademe realize that Iamnever
tooold to learnnew things.
Thegroupcontinuedresearchingeveryaspectabout theproject—wesurfed theweb for information
abouthistoricalOwenSound, the railroad, theharbouraswellasshippingon theGreat Lakes—we
contactedCanadian Pacific to findout about colour schemes usedon their railroadand ships in
that timeperiod—we tooka field trip to theSSKeewatin (the last remainingCPGreat Lakesship) in
PortMcNicol toget a feel of how the shipwas built andwhat it was like to sail on these vessels.
Everydetail had tobe investigated, suchaschanges thatweremadeover theyearson theships to
make sure the shipswedepicted in1910had thecorrect details. Sinceweelected tocut through
themiddleofoneof thegrainelevatorsand themachineshop,weneeded toknowwhat the inside
of the twobuildings looked likeat the time. Stan looked for photos of machinery from theearly
1900s, then foundacompany thatmakesminiaturemachineryona3Dprinterusingdrawings from
theperiod. Brianvisitedoldgrainelevators to seehow theyworkedandhow theywerebuilt.He
thenmodelled twodifferent typesofgrainoperations to showhow theyoperated.
All thebuildings, ships and railwayequipment that weregoing tobe in-
cludedon thedioramawerecatalogued.Theneachmodelerwasassigned
projects toworkon.At first, Iwas tobuilda small shed that sat behind the
hotel. I think itwasa test to see if I had thechops tomake thegrade. I as-
sume Ipassed the testas Iwas thengiven theStationHotelasmynextproj-
ect.Since thehotel isoneofonly twobuildingsstill standing today, Icalled
oncurrentowner,ScottVining, tosee ifhehadanybackgroundon thehis-
toricbuilding. Scott gavemeanoldphotoandawriteup that hadbeen
donea fewyearsbefore. From that Iwasable todecipherwhen thehotel
wasbuiltandwhoowned it in1910.
Bluewater Modellers – L-R: CliveMorgn, Tom Hakala, Brian Swanton,
MikeMarchal and StanMcClellen
The intersection showing the Station Hotel and behind
it the IronWorks. Both are still standing today.
After five years
of research and
over 8,000 hours
of modelingwork,
the Bluewater
Modellers
recreate
Canadian Pacific’s
Owen Sound
operations in 1910.
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