Garden Railroading: Session #8 Invasion of Friends Standard Gauge Saturday, July 14th Morning Run

Day Two of our annual "Invasion of Friends" saw us running diesels for the standard gauge session on the Saturday morning and afternoon. This blog entry will showcase the AM ops.

To view images from yesterday's session, check the blog archive to the right.

To enlarge the photos, click on them. Click outside them to return to the default page.

Diane, NIcole and Gaetan are ready for the day's activities to begin.

To view some great video footage Malcolm took of the session, copy and paste the link below into your browser.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AIkmsPHY%2DdM%5FLdk&cid=4275D0234272929B&id=4275D0234272929B%2128085&parId=4275D0234272929B%2128084&o=OneUp

To see Moe's amazing drone footage, copy this link into your browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmk_xSDOLHw&feature=youtu.be

Our local lads, Henk and Bill Sn3 Scobie are also prepared for a great day of train ops.

Good friends, Doug and Barry.

Sir Ric, the Craig Leigh yardmaster on the day!

Sue visits me in the dispatch booth.

Henk and Ken begin the tall tales early on.

Diane has her hobbies all ready to go.

Jan takes in the sun! It was already hot at 9:00 AM!

Jim will crew with Doug.

Ed will help oversee Nelson Yard along with yardmaster Ken.

Other actors on the day include this Helms Leasing unit belonging to Brian.

Paul's CP GP30.

Steve's Northern Ontario is represented.

Ric's little brute of a diesel...a masterpiece.

Jim's New York Central switcher.

Barry's TH&B GP9 with the torpedo air tanks on the long hood.

Malcolm's Conrail unit, an EMD GP30.

Garry's CN geep.

Steve's newly painted road unit in the CN wet noodle scheme.

Lawrence's B&O road switcher.

Barry's Ottawa Central diesel custom painted and lettered by Steve.

My beautifully weather CN road unit custom painted by Bill Sn3 Scobie and made to look more realistically weathered by Chris Lyon.

Ken's "diesel wannabe", Rio Grande 41. Hehehe!

Let's check in on some of the local yokels! Hey, there's a rare photograph of me.

Indeed, we freed Doug from his dispatch duties so that he could run on the high iron.

Dispatching a railroad line is a lot of fun!

Malcolm, taking a picture of me taking a picture of him!

Garry will run the RP&M trains on this day.

Paul will man Train 302, allowing him to take a break from his usual role as Firgrove Yardmaster.

Brian will take over the Firgrove role for Paul on this day.

Here's dispatcher Doug! Hmmm...maybe we shouldn't have allowed him out of the dispatch booth after all! Hehehe! (More on that incident later,)

Doug enjoys the shade as his train, 303 holds the siding in Mount St. Helens.

Don't worry, Doug...I'll be sure to post some images of you actually working!

Steve worked for the RP&M on this day. We catch him taking a break over the noon hour.

Lee paid us a visit. Great to see you Lee.

My wife, Lisa (on the right), once again brought out my good buddy, Bill, for a couple of hours of train watching and socializing. Diane is chatting with Lisa. Great to see you out, Bill!

Moe, the jack of all trades lad, with his drone.

Fred welcomes all friends during the pre-ops meeting.

Great socializing takes place during pre-ops time.

Hard work does as well. For we have to set out all of the cars to their pre-ordained locations around the railroad.

Short sleeves tells us that it is hot already.

Bill's hat will certainly protect him from the rays as he places cars to their designated sites.

Brian revs up his diesel.

Two happy campers, Bill and Ed.

Malolm and Doug study their train orders, getting a good head start on the action.

Diane smiles along with Nicole and Gaetan.

Sue, Gaetan, Bill and Doug are ready for the bell to ring.

Ric, Nicole, Jim and Malcolm are all itching to go!

Garry and Ric share a laugh.

Of course, it must be Bill telling the story!

Indeed, laughter, friendship and pure joy abound.

Let's get to the train action, shall we?

Barry is ready with throttle in hand.

While his crew mate, Doug, studies the consist on his orders for their run aboard Train 301.

Barry's GP9 will be up to the task.

With clearance granted from the dispatcher, Doug walks from Craig Leigh to Mount St. Helens.

301 has been given the siding for its meet with 318.

In the distance, Doug walks towards Ironwood upon completing his moves in Mount St. Helens. Nicole has her passenger train climbing the grade out of Blockhouse destined for Spruce.

The crew of 301 are in Ironwood.

They take the siding.

Holding the siding.

For their second meet of the day, this time with Passenger #2.

At the other end of the line, Bill and Paul's train is almost ready for its morning assignment.

They are running 302 out of Firgrove bound for the far eastern reaches of the railroad. We find them on Track 3 in Bell.

Using the mainline as their lead, they drill the sidings in Bell.

Note the new fence posts going in along the property line.

A handsome GP30.

Out from Bell, 302 has arrived Peter's Pond. The crew has already determined the placement of cars in relation to their locomotive as they will run up the branch to Cedar Rock in short order. The crew must determine their setouts down here in Peter's Pond as there is no runaround track at the end of the branchline.

A happy crew!

Ken ambles over to check in on the action.

Malcolm will be the engineer aboard 318 with crew mate Doug.

318 gets an early departure out of Glenn Hammond eastbound to Craig Leigh.

He railfans his own train! A true trainaholic!

318 steps out onto the big span outside of Nelson Yard.

Conductor Doug verifies their work at Blockhouse.

Over the pedestrian crossing.

The video footage Malcolm shot at this location showcases three trains on the move simultaneously!

They've arrived Spruce early in the morning.

They are already through Ironwood and into Mount St. Helens.

Doug indicates to Malcolm how many more ties he has before he must stop.

An efficient crew, these lads are ahead of the game!

Jim's locomotive and caboose ready themselves for the day's action.

Jim and Doug are aboard Train 327 which will depart Glenn Hammond shortly.

They first have a number of moves to do in the Glenn before heading out.

They begin their westward journey which will see them visit Peter's Pond, Cedar Rock an Bell before arriving their destination of Firgrove.

Being the superior railroad, IPP&W trains have priority over RP&M crews. Thus, Jim and Doug are given their green signal and are allowed to proceed first through the junction.

327 arrives Peter's Pond.

They run around to the rear of their train as they will have some cars that will require placement at facing sidings up in Cedar Rock. These cars must be placed "ahead" of their locomotive seeing as they are a westbound train.

Cedar Rock is located at the very end of the Cedar Rock Branch.

They have made their way back down the hill into Peter's Pond.

Where they have protected themselves from other traffic.

Gaetan and Nicole have Passenger #2 in Peter's Pond for a meet with 327.

Let's check in on Passenger #2's run beginning earlier at their originating point of Firgrove.
It would appear that Passenger #2 is ready to depart.

Carrying passengers eastbound to Craig Leigh...

...with Gaetan and Nicole in the cab.

Downgrade at "The Ledges."

Rounding the big curve into Bell.

Slowing on the main in Bell.

Station stop.

Onward toward Peter's Pond.

Downhill once again.

With the park car bringing up the rear.

Arriving Peter's Pond.

For a short sojourn at the depot.

Meeting Train 327.

Tackling the grade up to the junction.

Bellamy station stop.

Nicole inspects her train.

Arriving Glenn Hammond where they meet an RP&M train.

From my perspective in the dispatch booth I capture this image of Passenger #2 at the depot in the Glenn.

Meanwhile over in Craig Leigh, Ric takes a little break and parks his diesel beside the engine house.

Over in Firgrove, Brian keeps the action on the move.

He controls all movements in and around the passenger station and the yard at Ralph.

His Helms Leasing locomotive.

The mainline acts as a lead for Ralph Yard.

Great job, Brian!

Over in Nelson Yard, Ken and his crew keep things moving at a brisk pace.

Working the east end of the yard.

With Ed's assistance, he works the industries across the gut.

Henk assists as well.

An overall shot of the area around the bridges.

With six people handling the activities around the yard, operations can certainly appear quite busy!

Trains arrive and depart within the "heightened" time constraints of .a modelled "ops session."

The umbrellas are a basic requirement in these temps.

Ken keeps everyone on the move.

Lots of interesting discussion, for sure!

The photographer spots Garry in Glenn Hammond making up his RP&M train.

We awaits the arrival of Passenger #2 before striking out on his journey.

Garry passes the station at Bellamy.

Down in Rat Portage.

Henk and Steve man the other RP&M train.

They must hold the junction for the passage of an IPP&W westbound, Train 327 which we saw earlier.

Once the IPP&W train clears the junction, they are allowed to cross over the shared trackage.

They are just arriving Bell in the distance.

Other crews are spotted near the interchange.

The RP&M crew quickly gets down to work.

Using Track 4, Henk and Steve tackle the interchange tracks.

On their return, the crew works the RP&M industries to the west of Nelson Yard.

In front of the depot at Bellamy.

Rolling stock review.

A fine example of a stock car.

A loaded gondola car.

Yum yum!

Two Ontario Northland cars share the same siding in Spruce.

We've once again caught up to Doug and Barry aboard 301.

They've arrived Ironwood.

With work complete, it's around the shaded bend and into Spruce.

Doug is the conductor on this train.

Malcolm shoots video of 301's meet with the ore train.

The locomotive passes the lovely depot as the crew works the spur siding.

It's a lovely location.

A shady area for train spotting.

Almost done.

301 is on the roll to Nelson Yard.

Around the curve to the west of Spruce.

That's one lovely looking unit, Barry.

Through the pedestrian crossing.

Barry holds the train at the Nelson Yard limits awaiting permission to enter the yard.

301 waiting for clearance into Nelson Yard.

We find Paul and Bill with 302 up in Cedar Rock.

Bill double checks his orders.

Paul awaits instructions.

Some cars go to the crusher.

Others are spotted to the tank track.

Paul has brought 302 into the yard.

Ken has lined them up on one of the far tracks.

They depart Nelson Yard in short order as Train 312.

Earlier on in the session, Malcolm rushes to capture a shot of Passenger #2 meeting his train, 303, at Mount St. Helens.

He and Doug have run around their consist and are busy servicing the industrial tracks.

Including the near track where the cattle show a keen interest in the operations.

With their moves complete, they pull back out from the industries.

And run around their train. They are protected in the siding for a meet with the ore train.

In Ironwood, 303 has a few facing moves.

Then it's into Spruce.

Jim and Doug aboard 327 have completed their moves up in Cedar Rock and have descended the branch where they find the ore train down in Peter's Pond.

Shortly thereafter, they are spotted west of Watkins Siding.

Jim's New York Central switch engine is up to the task as a mainline runner.

Jim lifts a car at Brunt's Brewery.

Hmmm...now why would Doug be traipsing along off railroad property?

Aha! The little engine that could...

...caused a "wee" service interruption as it seems a freight car tumbled to the ground.

A while later we find Jim and Doug once again in Bell, this time travelling in the opposite direction as Train 304 having come down from Firgrove.

They pass Stuart Yard along Track 3.

That sure is a lovely locomotive, Jim!

Time to check in on the ore train. In the distance you can spot Lawrence hauling ore down the slope between Firgrove and Bell.

Exiting the Watkins Siding area named in his honour.

Arriving Peter's Pond.

Working the Fallentree Mine in the Nelson Yard environs.

Backing up into Nelson Yard while Passenger #2 travels below.

Departing Nelson Yard through the bridge, Lawrence will trail Passenger #2 through Blockhouse, Spruce, Ironwood and Mount St. Helens before arriving the Northland Ore Dock in Craig Leigh.

Passing through Spruce.

An eager railfan captures some video footage of his train.

Departing Spruce.

Between Ironwood and the Mount.

Let's check in again on the comings and goings around Nelson Yard where Ken and Garry are kept busy.

Ed lends a hand as well.

Ed observes as Ken continues to make up and break down trains.

Ed, Garry and Ken are doing a fine job.

Garry works the eastern section of the yard.

With a keen observer trackside.

Dad is along for the ride too.

That's a lovely locomotive, Garry!

From my view inside the dispatch hut, I snag this image of Ken and the lads.

Meanwhile, Passenger #2 continues on its run eastward.

Nicole railfans her train while Gaeten ensures all is well with the consist.

Slowing for a station stop at Blockhouse.

Under the eastern throat of Nelson Yard.

Through the pedestrian crossing.

Arriving the lovely depot in Spruce.

Station stop in Spruce.

Onward.

Meeting 301 in Ironwood.

East of Ironwood.

Approaching Mount St. Helens.

Arriving Craig Leigh.

Where Ric has all things in control.

He instructs Gaetan to clear the east leg of the wye.

Ric guides Gaetan through the wye in a backup move.

His head end is in Northland.

While his tail end steps onto an available track on the big peninsula at the ore dock.

Nicole ensures all is well at the tail end of her train.

Now, it's a back-up move past Douglas Yard as the train nears its final destination at the passenger station in Craig Leigh.

The Strathcona.

Revelstoke.

Shoal Lake.

The park car "Skyline."

On final approach into the passenger terminal at Craig Leigh.

Safely tucked to bed.

Yes, there are some fine looking structures along both railroads.

Golding Grains named for Ric and Jan.

Speaking of fine looking structures...

...Ric and Jan brought this one to Fred as a gift. Lovely Ric and Jan!

A newer structure to the railroad is this lovely icing platform and ice house.

Of course, the passenger terminal in Craig Leigh is a thing of beauty.

Mount St. Helens.

Some older facilities in Spruce...

...with the roof beginning to show its wear. There are many more fine structures trackside that you can find if you study any of the pics of action up and down the line.