ALL ABOARD the B & S SIDE HILL EXPRESS  

ARCHIVED INTERVIEW JULY 2002

Martin Collard welcomes passengers to his workshop upstairs in his barn at 1844 East Lake Road in Borodino.

The entryway is made to look like a life sized freight platform.

Martin is the creative owner of the Borodino Scale Line. It's an ongoing hobby for him, and he admits that he probably spends more time in his workshop than he should.

Martin Collard has been married to wife Brenda 33 years this August. Together they have 2 grown children Melissa, who is 32 and Jeremy, 28. They have one grandson, Joshua, who will be 2 this Sept 8th, 2002.

Martin Collard started building model cars when he was eleven years old. But when he saw a "Model Railroading" magazine in 1974 it changed his life. You could make model trains move! He was hooked.

In 1997 Martin started the layout. The back drop is painted by fellow railroad modeler, Tom Staton.

He started to build the dioroma in 1986, after being inspired from a John Olson article in a Railroad Modeling magazine.

By trade, Martin Collard is a school bus inspector for the State of New York. He is also a Viet Nam veteran, who was on the USS Enterprise. He hopes to retire next year, and plans to complete his layout and produce kits in the future.

Borodino Scale Line sells "Scenic Express" scenery materials, Kappler scale lumber, Mr. Plaster detail parts, and Bar Mills Model Works products right here in downtown Borodino.

All the houses are "scratch built."

There is even a replica of a house he lived in in Marcellus. 

The first scene was 28" L x 14" D, a diorama of the waterfront - Borodino Landing.

These are HOn3 scale (narrow gauge) - 3 feet between the rails.

The train track uses a 3w house switch, and runs with DC voltage.

You have to reverse the polarity to avoid a dead short on the frog of the turnout. made of scribed bass wood. 

The clapboards on the green building are made using double-sided 3M tape applied over glue. The tape is removed, paper is peeled off, and the glue is left behind. Then the "clapboards" are applied.

This green truck is made of hydrocal (the powdery part of sheetrock). The grill is actually fine copper wire.

New area of layout is under construction. Photo shows what the final model will look like.

Beginning stages: the sketch

Next Martin makes cardboard mock-ups of the buildings. Note: Waco airplane hangs in the background.

Joe looks at Martin's aerial photo of Borodino.

The massage parlor, rooming house, shack with the bike, McDuff's and the beanery were built by Tom Staton.

Visitors of the Staton model railroad can also get a tatoo while they wait. [see Spafford Business Directory]

Looking up for divine inspiration.

Martin is a member of the Syracuse workshop, with Tom Staton and Gary Frost.

He also credits the Hartford Workshop members he met at last year's NER/NMRA convention.

Tools of the trade.

Some "Sculpta-mold" over styrofoam, and a little wash of water based paint, alcohol and india ink...

That's just modeling talk I picked up on my tour of the Borodino Scale Line.

Martin says he was once asked to build a model for the State of New York. They needed a working display to show people how to use pedestrian walking lights at the NYS Fair. He built it in 1/4" scale- 3 foot by four foot.

They mounted traffic lights in the pavement, and hooked it up to a 110v controller. People could walk up, hit the button, and practice the art of crossing the street. Assuming an average person with a normal gait, once the light goes solid they'd have 4 seconds before the light changes.

An extension of the M&O. It's purpose is to haul crushed limestone (near cemetery).

Modeling is ca 1948.

Note: This bridge was built by Don Clerke from Connecticut, who is now deceased.

Bridge is scratch built, to look like it was about ten years old.

It's all wood except the side girders and lattice underneath which are styrene. Martin took the bridge out to Connecticut, and won competitions. 

The model is based on a real bridge--not exact--but built in the same manner-- as a bridge that crosses over Onondaga Creek at Spencer Street in Syracuse.