East Toronto Trams, Trains & Ships

24/11/2025

This is an American Civil War era model of a horse-drawn ambulance wagon. This was one of the first wagons that was specifically designed for battlefield casualties. The seats could be adjusted to lie flat for stretcher casualties or kept in the upright position for ambulatory cases. I completed this model a few years ago. The model is 1:16 scale and was from a kit. Notice that the kit has the Red Cross insignia, which in fact, was not added to ambulances until some years after the Civil War. So while it is not authentic to the era, I like the look of it just the same.

20/10/2025

Here is a streetcar model I built a couple of years ago, but am only now getting around to posting here. It is an late 19th - early 20th century Toronto tram. This is actually from a kit that is supposed to be a Madrid tram, but it was similar enough to what carried passengers on the streets of Toronto, so I adapted it as Toronto Railway Comapny's number 14 tram. I also added lighting.

10/10/2025

10/10/2025

I completed the Hjejlen, the Danish paddle steamer. Unlike some of the more recent scratch-build projects, this is a kit, so all the parts and pieces are included. Still, hundreds of parts needed measuring, cutting, sanding, and fitting. It did take me about 9 weeks, working a few hours a day. I am also entitled to a free ticket on the actual boat, which provides excursions in Denmark. A good incentive to visit the country?

05/09/2025

Because the Hjejlen kit is a new product for the Billing Boats company, they have included a free excursion ticket for a ride on the boat. Only the first 100 kits sold have this, so it looks as though I will have to travel to Denmark to take advantage of my free ticket.

04/09/2025

For my next project, I will be constructing a model of a Danish excursion paddle-wheeler, the Hjejlen (pronounced Yi-len). This boat was originally launched in 1861 and continues to operate today as the world's oldest coal-fired sidewheeler. This will be a kit as opposed to a scratch-build. It is quite a complicated model and will take me some time to complete. So stay tuned for updates.

27/06/2025

Here is a new addition from the shipyard. This is the Paranza, a 1:25-scale Italian fishing boat. They are common to the Adriatic coast, but similar ones can be found in Greece and other ports in the Mediterranean. These boats are known by their very colourful sails. As usual, I have added a few extras, including a box of fish and an anchor. Many of these boats did not have traditional iron anchors but simple ones made up of a block of concrete or large stone attached to a rope.

01/06/2025

Most of my posts on this page have focussed on the "finished product" - the models in completed form. However I thought I would present a number of photos that shows the various stages of the building process. As you can see, this also includes the assembly of the furniture, beds and other cabin contents. In this case, the model is the "Abbas" a late 19th century Nile steamboat. Photos of the Abbas were previously added to this page.

14/05/2025

The train collection is expanding! My latest addition is a narrow gauge steam locomotive from the late 1800s to early 1900s. This is also scratch built, using a lot of leftovers and bits and pieces scrounged from around the house. The only things I had to buy was the train's bell and the glass lens for the headlight lantern. Unlike the larger ones that pulled passengers and freight, these smaller locomotives operated over shorter distances and were the workhorses around shipyards, rail depots, ports, mines and forestry operations.

20/03/2025

This is the latest in a series of train cars. This time it's an 1830s-era locomotive. I was committed to using leftover parts and pieces from other projects as well as stuff I had lying around the house. I was trying to minimize expense and only had to buy the wheels and a wood dowel for the engine boiler. I now have a small collection of locomotives, ranging from the very beginning of railways in the early 19th century to the modern era. I might put together a display of these - a mini railway museum.

18/01/2025

For the railway enthusiasts, I am adding some new additions to the collection. These are 2 scratch-built railcars. One is a mini caboose and the other is a utility car. These were used to transport workers, materials, and supplies in port areas, railway yards, logging and mining operations, and other large industrial sites. They could also be used as field offices or places where workers could have coffee or tea and seek shelter in bad weather. These 2 models are approximately 1:29 scale. They are built with leftovers from other projects and items found around the house. For example, the wheels are made from 2 sizes of metal washers glued together, and the windows are made from microscope slide glass. I have also weathered the models to give them a ramshackle appearance.

10/09/2024

A few months back I posted some photos of a model of the Abbas - an 1880s era steamboat that originally ran excursions along the Nile. However in 1883 the boat was also used to try and evacuate civilians threatened by the Mahdi and his forces. The boat was lined with planks and sandbags and equipped with cannon and an early type of machine gun to protect it as it ran the gauntlet of enemy forces on the banks of the river. I tried to copy the scenes in the film Khartoum by adding soldiers, guns and protective planks.