See how an expat Newfoundlander is building local history in his Alberta garage
Dave Piercey is showing off the province's 'unique, underrated' architecture
In a suburban garage in Sherwood Park, Alta., Dave Piercey has built a scene from Newfoundland history.
It's a 45-centimetre-long model of the stone CN Railway Building in St. John's, now known as the Railway Coastal Museum, accompanied by vintage 1969 buses and cars, and miniature people carrying a tiny casket with the words "Newfoundland Railway" written on it.
Piercey, originally from Norman's Cove, is a model railway enthusiast, who is working on recreating sections of the Newfoundland railway of the 20th century.
Like many who share his hobby, Piercey builds his own landscapes and buildings around the tracks he has set up, and he has found that the surroundings of the railway are capturing more of his attention than the actual tracks.
"The architecture in Newfoundland, sometimes I think it's underrated. It's so unique, it's so different," said Piercey.
"It was just sort of a natural fit that a railway would run through these sceneries and this type of architecture."
Piercey makes his models out of styrene, plaster, wood, cardboard and paint to a 1:87 scale.
He has recreated several landscapes and buildings throughout eastern Newfoundland, including the railway station in Avondale and the harbour at Holyrood, complete with railway, fish plant and wharfs.
Unlike most model railway builders, who pick one time period and stick to it, Piercey builds his miniatures to match different years.
"I picked '79 for Holyrood because I felt that was kind of the peak of that operation there with the fish plant and the CN station that was next to it," said Piercey,
"Whereas I felt the story in St. John's was best told a little bit earlier."
Piercey has even branched off into models of other transportation, notably a 120-centimetre-long model of the passenger and vehicle ferry William Carson, circa 1969. He said the ferry was his most complicated project so far. His favourite project has been the wharf scene in Holyrood.
Piercey recently attracted attention to his work when he posted photos of his miniature Newfoundland scenes to social media groups for Newfoundland railway enthusiasts and for Newfoundlanders living in Edmonton.
"That's the unexpected best part of doing it," said Piercey.
"It's amazing what it triggers in people's minds when they look at these things.… The stories that are coming back are just fabulous."
Piercey is currently working on a model of the Roman Catholic church in Avondale, working from a series of photos he took of the building. He is completing 31 tiny windows, with eight or nine pieces of cardboard and glass in each window.
After that, Piercey is eyeing sections of the Newfoundland Railway that went through Bowring Park and branches to Placentia and Argentia.
"I could use a bigger garage."
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