HOTrak Visits the Garden Railroad

The Great Members of HOTrak Visit Fred's

The lads from HOTrak paid Fred's Garden Layout a visit for a midweek train ops session.

  The photo above shows the visitors and the regular garden crew mates all together.  From the back row, left to right we see John, Bill, Doug, Frank, Garry, Pat, Pat, Paul, Paul, Colin and Bernie. In the front row from left to right we see Gord, Fred, Doug and Larry.

To see larger versions of the images, simply click on the image.  To return to the blog, simply click in the dark area outside of the image.

The only person not in the group shot was little old me, Mike the photographer.  Here I am setting up some cars at the lumber mill outside of Nelson Yard before the session begins.

Colin and Larry are busy setting out cars in Nelson Yard while John and Pat are helping out in Glen Hammond in the background.

That's John to the right and Larry to the left with the yard at Glen Hammond in between.

Pat's a happy fellow as he places cars in the yard at Ralph.

Yer doing a great job there, Pat!

Doug, Paul and the other Doug set out cars in the yard at Craig Leigh.

Pat does the same at Spruce.

With the setup complete, Bernie and John share a smile for the camera.

Ready for the train ops and health and safety briefing.

The canopy over the main table is a Godsend.

Doug and Pat discussing their next move with their train at Bellamy.  They have just departed the yard at Glen Hammond in a westbound direction.

Looks like Lawrence has loaned this crew his lovely B&O road switcher for the run.

John is in control of his eastbound train en route to Blockhouse, Spruce and points beyond.

Rounding the curve, he'll be downgrade to Blockhouse.

Colin uses the RP&M 44-tonner to switch the large yard at Nelson.

Meanwhile, Doug and Pat have brought their train into Bell along Track 3. 

A nice view of their power on the day.

Aha!  I believe we will have a meet at Bell with this eastbound in care of D&H #7316 arriving at the same time.

Indeed, a meet we have!  Looks like the crews will have to cooperate in order to complete their switching.

Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  No, no, no, silly....it's a train!

And a lovely passenger train to boot!  Garry and Pat check their orders during their station stop at Bellamy.

A beautiful sight to beyold!

Meanwhile, Gord is busy at the yard throat.

Paul, Doug and Pat check their respective switch lists to ensure they have dropped and lifted the appropriate cars at Bell.

Over at the other end of the property, John and Bernie are westbound at Ironwood after departing Craig Leigh earlier and passing through St. Helens.

We don't use screw drivers in HO, but we certainly do in G!

Now it's Bernie's turn!

Larry has arrived St. Helens ready to switch the facing point industries.

But, alas, his locomotive has gone dead on the tracks.

But Larry is still all smiles.

Because Fred comes to the rescue with...yes...your eyes are not playing tricks on you...a steamer!
It's fun to see Fred running a train on his own layout!

Now that's a true tall tale to tell...a steamer coming to the aid of a much younger diesel, I say!

Paul blocking traffic in Douglas Yard at Craig Leigh.

Garry's smile tells it all.  You can't not have fun when you're running trains with great friends!

Bell still appears quite congested with traffic.  That makes it all the more fun!

Colin continues with the blocking of trains at Nelson Yard.  It is very interesting to see how the "personality" of a yard changes throughout a session.

Doug, the dispatcher, ensures all trains move in a smooth and efficient fashion.

A great "overall" shot of the yard at Bell to the left and the two other yards, Glen Hammond and Nelson to the right.

Glen Hammond and Nelson Yard.

Precious commodities being shipped on the RP&M freight.

Gord knows a good thing when he sees it!

Garry and Pat have arrived Rat Portage with their pool train.

Passing through the yard. 

That's the yard at Rat Portage to the left and Ralph Yard at Firgrove to the right.

Bill has arrived.  Get the man a throttle, I say!

Pat and Doug enjoying the session.  Perfect weather...overcast but no rain!

John posing at Spruce with Paul to the left, the other Paul in the background and Larry to the right.

Frank paid us a visit and enjoyed the camaraderie the group offered.

Paul and Garry are deep in thought at Cedar Rock while the other Paul looks on from his seat in the distance.

Meanwhile, now that I am an employee of the illustrious Rat Portage and Mattawa Railroad, I was given permission to use my new CN diesel to switch the line.  Because I railfanned as I ran this train, this will be the one train on the day where you will be given a relatively in-depth account of its run. 

First order of business...turn the diesel long hood forward.

Check!

Then pick up the drover caboose from the yard.

No need to turn the caboose this time as the marker lamps are displayed properly.  Because running this line does not take as much time as some of the longer runs on the IPP&W, I came up with the idea of starting out at Nelson Yard rather than at Bell where my initial traffic is on the interchange track.  This means that I will have to run a "caboose hop" from Nelson to Bell...effectively lengthening my train running time.  Having to turn my locomotive and, at times, the drover caboose, I also add time and enjoyment to the run.

I've reached Bell and found my four cars on the interchange track.  I've already turned the caboose on the turntable, which takes time, and now I am heading to the turntable with my locomotive as it requires turning as well.

Job done...but I can't depart to the RP&M line as yet.

I first must back my train into the station at Bell.

For a station stop.

Then it's time to set the switch to take my train down the RP&M line.

I'll have a couple of station stops en route before reaching Rat Portage.

My locomotive has rounded the big bend and finds daylight out of the tunnel on my approach to the yard at Rat Portage.

Now, I say, that's one lovely looking caboose!

 I must run around my train to lift a car from an industry.

 And bring the car back to my train.

Then it's "out of town" en route to Nelson Yard.

 But first, I must gain permission from the dispatcher to cross the diamond at Bellamy Crossing.

Permission acquired.  I have also notified the yard master at Nelson of my approach to yard limits.

Now, I'm on a new train...effectively a "turn" along with my previous train.  Note how I've already turned the caboose and the locomotive on the turntable at Nelson Yard.

I have a pass with another RP&M train at Bellamy and I've been cleared to cross the diamond on my way back to Rat Portage.

My sidings will all be trailing for my train on this run, so switching should be a breeze.

"Zero cars out" from Rat Portage, but that doesn't mean I have nothing do to.  I must stop at each station along the way.

I've arrived Bell, gone to the station for a station stop and parked my caboose on the caboose track.  What a joy it is to run the RP&M.

 Let's check out some more shots from the day.  The pool train has arrived Glen Hammond.

Stock cars on a siding at Craig Leigh.

Love this Northland RR ensignia!

An RP&M transfer caboose.

Two gorgeous steamers at Ralph.

A view from a different angle.

A CP geep switching at Nelson Yard.

The pool train in the siding at Mercer.

The ore train ready to head out of Firgrove.

Watch your step!  We never step over trains along the walkway.

Above and below.

Eastbound train on the curve out of Spruce.

A meet at Mercer.

Paul running the ore train.

On its approach to the bridge outside Nelson Yard.

Another look at that meet at Mercer.

Taking the diamond at Bellamy.

In the yard at Nelson.

Got to cut the grass!

Funny to see an RP&M diesel far from its home turf.

The same diesel spotted at Spruce.

The B&O road switcher takes the large curve on its eastbound approach to Bell.

RP&M 44-tonner switching the ore cars near the mine.

An IPP&W caboose.  IPP&W stands for The Ironwood, Peter's Pond and Western RR.

Lots of traffic at Bellamy.

A lovely CP caboose at Ralph.

Aha!  A Boston and Maine freight car!

We commemorate the memory of Ralph Dipple and other great members of this lovely garden railroad.

Bill and Larry signing the guest book.  Thanks to HOTrak for coming out to run trains and thanks to Fred and his crew for hosting!
What a great day in the train yard!  Hope you enjoyed following along!
Mike Hamer - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada