Derek Osborn Hosts CARM Meeting
At His Canadian Model Trains Facility.

Derek Osborn lives in Angus, Ontario, smack in the middle of our Canadian Association of Railway Modeler's (CARM) Central Ontario chapter region. He kindly offered to host our January, 2009 meeting at his manufacturing facility. We had a demonstration of how Derek designs items and how he produces the parts using a laser cutting machine.

Derek doesn't just make Canadian railway model items although this is his primary focus at the moment. He makes boat kits, doll houses, and does custom laser cutting work: anything from fridge magnets to floating key chains, signs and one-of-a-kinds.

CN van by Osborn Model Kits

He is now producing a CN modern caboose (van) in N scale. Here's one sitting on a small diorama with a partially completed model in the foreground.

Canadian road crossing cross bucks

This is a picture of a railway crossing showing his Canadian cross bucks and level crossing boards. Derek makes the cross bucks in N, HO and O gauge in three styles: first generation, transition and current. He also manufactures items like Canadian style whistle stop boards (right side of photo). His catalog includes whistle posts, yard limit signs and other trackside detail items.

Here's another view looking down at the crossing.

Osborn Canadian trackside details

You can see examples from his catalog or by visiting www.osbornmodelkits.com. Derek sells to hobby shops and attends many of the Canadian train shows in our general region.

Derek Osborn demonstrates his manufacturing method

Derek Osborn at his computer

Derek uses a CAD-type program to design and lay out the parts for precise cutting. The cutting is done by a laser that burns through the wood. Derek explained that the laser machine functions much like a printer except that instead of printing lines, it burns them. It is remarkable how fine a line can be cut.

The Universal Laser

The laser cutting machine is on the left in this photo.

Here you see the laser cutting machine with the top open. The wood (plywood, basswood, etc) is placed on the platen as you would do with a scanner. The laser reflects through a series of mirrors. Without getting too technical, there are several ways to set up the cutting.

N scale van bottom

Closeup of van's base.

The laser has cut out the bottom of the van. All the beams, cross braces, steps and tool box are cut to the correct depth according to the computer drawing. Derek is holding a new base he has just cut for us as a comparison to a previously manufactured one.

To the right is a closeup view of the N scale base of the Canadian National (CN) van he has just made for us with the laser cutting machine. If you are modeling Canadian railways and want to do so faithfully, it's worth checking out Osborn Model Kits. Even if you're not trying to model Canadian scenes, his items would look great on any model railroad.

In addition to CN and CP trackside details and other lineside items, he also manufactures a number of small buildings: a barn, church, gas station, donut shop, branchline station, freight station, lakeside cottages and boats.

And a suspended HO layout, too!

At the conclusion of the meeting, we lowered Derek's suspended HO layout from the ceiling so that we could see how he managed to do it. If you're interested in seeing how a suspended layout might solve your space problems, go to Derek's suspended layout.

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