Garden Railroading: September 4th Ops

September 4th Train Ops - Part Two

We have been gifted with more pics from the lens of Bernie's camera which you will see in a little while as well as some great looking video work sent our way from Mark. I will share a link with you regarding the vids.

What follows is the second section of our blog postings from this past Saturday's train operation.

You will be able to enlarge the images by clicking on them and shrink them them by clicking outside them. Enjoy!

When 2021 is recorded in the annals of rail history, it will be looked upon as the year that held many surprises for the railroad industry.

First and foremost, train operations were able to be resumed following a lengthy period of drought due to the worldwide pandemic.

While the global situation is not fully clear, and may not be for some time to come, the trains along the IPP&W and RP&M railways continue to haul lading in an efficient and safe manner.

All loads are tied down as per specifications.

The Pool Train is able to generate revenue for both railroads.

With the uptake in commerce, units from far afield have been brought into the stable of both roads to ensure the traffic continues to flow.

Even our friendly mascot leads the cheer for our operations.

Our records show that our industries receive their cars on the day they expect them with few delays noted.

Canadian equipment shares the sidings with our colleagues south of the border teaming up to make a colourful tandem.

The RP&M railroad serves the community of Rat Portage. We find Rat 70 working the sidings there.

Coal will be on the move at some point on this day as this SOO LINE hopper rests near the engine house in Craig Leigh.

302's crew arrives Firgrove. They will board their train and begin their descent into Bell in short order. Pat is the conductor and Malcolm will be driving the train.

A quartet of like-kind cars rests on a siding in Ralph Yard. Indeed, livestock will be on the move at some point as well today.

There is a lot of colour in black freight cars and this Southern Pacific specimen does not disappoint.

Ralph Yard lies adjacent to the ready tracks in Firgrove.

Nelson Yard awakens as Andrew and Henk get things underway.

Bob demonstrates to Grant the digital displays on his caboose and locomotive.

We find two Pauls in Craig Leigh.

Bernie sent along this next batch of images for our enjoyment!

Doug assists with the setouts near Cedar Rock and Mount St. Helens.

Fred and Grant are all smiles as they know the weather will be cooperating with the session on this day.

Love at first sight!

They are quite the pair. We love Bill and Henk!

Bob, Grant, Norm and Malcolm listen in on the pre-ops discussion from the back balcony as Moe, Doug and Pete follow along from their front row seats.

Lawrence, Moe, Doug, Pete, Paul and Marcel all listen in as Sid sits in the back.

Bill, George and Len are good little boys...paying close attention to the proceedings.

Mike keeps his focus as Fred speaks...

...as does Henk!

Bill begins his work in earnest to the east of Nelson Yard.

301 has arrived Nelson Yard. Pete and Doug make up the crew of this westbound manifest freight. They will depart Nelson Yard as Train 311 under the guidance of Yardmaster Henk.

Our visitor, Norm, takes in all of the action below the umbrella located in Glen Hammond. In the background, 327's crew works the interchange over in Bell.

We have a meet with 327 and RP&M 65-66 near the interchange in Bell. The crews can work independent of each other thanks to the inclusion of a new crossover and a "double ladder" as recommended by Henk.

Steve and Seanna resume their work with 327.

Thank you Bernie for all these great photos!

Mark's CN switcher is hard at work at the Northland Ore Dock.

These next series of photos have been snipped from video Mark sent my way.

We catch Mark classifying the ore cars at the Northland Ore Dock.

Mark has railfanned the arrival of Passenger 2 in Craig Leigh. Paul Norton is backing the train into the terminal tracks at the eastern end of the line.

Then Mark fires up his CN switcher and gets down to business.

He will place the cars on their respective tracks near the terminal building.

Later, the CN endcab works Train 31 down to Mount St. Helens.

The return journey to Craig Leigh will be aboard Train 30.

Check out Mark's five videos of all this action at the link below.

(You may have to copy and paste the link into your browser.)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eeh9ndxr5mmbwbg/AAD0Cry8Y4R1chiX2KU5LUeLa?dl=0

We thank Mark for sending along the link for us to enjoy!

Back to my pics...another image of the gang pre-ops.

My dispatch board indicates all of the eastbounds ready to roll from the western terminal of Firgrove.

Doug and Pete discuss their crew assignment aboard Trains 301/311/328.

Ironwood comes alive when Pat and Moe arrive with Train 318.

Doug and Pete reach Spruce aboard 301 after departing Ironwood.

Steve and Seanna work Train 327 at Wellington Lake as two trains are found in Ironwood; 318 and Passenger 2.

The ore train reaches Blockhouse and will find shade through the pedestrian crossing.

Into the deep canyon.

Ore empties are arranged on the Northland Ore Dock as Marcel and Paul begin the wye maneuver with Passenger 2.

Paul Anderson, the Craig Leigh Yardmaster, oversees the routing of the passenger consist.

St. Helens is always picturesque in the dappled shade.

318 has an easy go of it in St. Helens as all siding moves are of the trailing nature.

The ore train continues each eastward journey with its destination coming in sight in short order. Bob keeps an eagle eye on his run.

318's power takes the wye in order to commence its next run in the opposing direction.

Moe had purchased this unit from Chris Lyon when Chris and Lela moved to Nova Scotia.

The locomotive will handle Train 303 our from Craig Leigh once it is turned.

Mark is the assistant yard master in Craig Leigh.

The Santa Fe unit in charge of the ore train ambles into Craig Leigh.

303's power is not on the train and holds its departure for the arrival of the ore train.

Mark takes charge of the turnouts for the ore drag. Once the ore cars reach the Northland Ore Dock, 303 will be able to depart Douglas Yard.

Norm, Sid and Fred enjoy each other's company as the session is now well underway.

Bill continues to break down incoming consists and build outgoing drags.

We find him at the eastern throat of Nelson Yard.

Moe awaits clearance for his train as he stands near the big curve at Lilly.

The assigned power in Ralph Yard go about their business...

...as Rat 70 does the same in Rat Portage...in this previously seen image.

The crew aboard 311 have work to conduct in Cedar Rock. Norm looks on as Pete and Doug work the spur tracks.

Marcel and Norm are framed nicely between the tall timbers along the Cedar Rock Branch.

This Algoma Central unit is a favourite of railfans as 304 works eastward at Watkins Siding. Steve and Seanna tell us that the unit was painted and lettered by our good friend, Charls Gendron.

Train 312 finds work in Spruce as the ore train has already bypassed them. Pat and Malcolm have everything under control here.

Moe follows the flow of the ore train from his perch in Ironwood.

Pat has found a different perch at Watkins Siding.

It would appear...

...that a "big hook" will be required to clear the tracks...

...for the crew aboard Pool Train 15!

Let's check the video review of that!

Train 20 finds its routing through the arrival track in Bell.

The crew passes beneath the large blue structure containing Brunt's Brewery.

302's crew deals with interchange cars as the tail end of Train 20 makes Bell.

Train 20 travels along the mainline adjacent to Stuart Yard.

Let's review the video tape of these moves.

Passenger 2 has departed Glen Hammond and sails over the Fred Mills Trestle.

The sunlight gleams over the surface of the dome liner.

Grant and Bob follow the progress of the passenger run as they await clearance for their ore train.

The passenger train as caught on video tape.

There's lots of activity taking place in these next set of images. In the distance we have Doug and Pete working 301 westbound at Spruce while an eastbound passenger train (#2) ascends the grade between Blockhouse and Spruce aiming for a station stop at the lovely depot on the curve in mere moments.

Concurrently we have Moe and Pat servicing the sidings in Ironwood aboard eastward facing Train 318 as Seanna is found in the distance running westbound 327.

Steve keeps an eye on 327's path as the crew enter the territory around Wellington Lake and Watkins Siding.

They slow to a stop shortly where they will eventually meet an eastbound drag, Train 302 out from Bell. Note the ore cars at the Ironwood Brick facility on the ridge to the left. On this day, the ore train will switch out the siding without assistance from any IPP&W train crews.

Let's check out the video action just mentioned.

302 holds the siding at Watkins awaiting the arrival of 327.

Locomotive crews greet each other.

327 must pull forward to have its tail end clear the turnout for 302.

Video action.

Passenger 2 reaches Spruce to find 301 protected in the siding.

Silver passenger cars meet a silver boxcar.

Looking good, folks!

Let's watch that on video now!

The ore train has finally been granted clearance out from Nelson Yard.

The locomotive throttles to higher numbers as it departs the yard.

She's the "Jewel of the Forest" in this image.

Lots of ore on the move.

Fred and Sid marvel at the proceedings.

The ore train as seen on video.

Onward and upward to Spruce.

For the crew of 301 in Spruce, the parade continues.

Moe works his locomotive in Ironwood as the ore train gains the grade near the big curve at Spruce.

Pat checks his train order as 301's crew is once again protected in the siding...

...for the arrival of the ore train.

Here she comes!

Still more video of wonderful railroading action.

Doug goes about his business with 301 as Grant peers ahead of his engine hauling all that ore.

Indeed, this is a well-designed railroad!

The curve in the forest reminds us of an actor "back stage" awaiting to enter the scene.

And...enter the scene he does!

For Ironwood is the next stage...

...with plenty of train action!

Still more video work of the ore train's progress.

It's always a thrill to see a locomotive arrive the railroad that has never made an appearance before.

Canadian National #8152 is one such diesel.

Mark is taking her for a test run at Craig Leigh.

She takes the curve to the east of Douglas Yard.

While these two may not have come from the same family, they work together to keep cars on the move in an efficient manner in the neighbourhood of Craig Leigh.

We enjoy the video footage.

Let's step up to the plate and check out the meet of the ore train with the Pool Train.

The ore train has arrived Craig Leigh and has pulled into the inside track that leads to Douglas Yard.

With the tail end clear of the turnout, Train 15 is cleared out of the yard.

We love the paint scheme on Marcel's CP diesel.

The meet is caught on video.

Mark directs the movement of the ore consist.

The train backs onto the inner leg of the wye.

This leg will steer the cars over to the Northland Ore Dock.

Video work of the ore train.

Moe is waiting for the inside track to clear so he can pull out of Craig Leigh aboard Train 303 with crew mate Pat.

The cars reach the dock.

Grant surveys the action.

Further video footage of the process...with a little derailment to boot!

We finish this blog entry with a handful or two of images. Marcel and Moe await each other's trains at Ironwood.

Malcolm hauls Train 312 into Ironwood from the west.

Over in Nelson Yard, our "odd couple" have things under control...surprisingly! (Just joking lads!)

The view from my dispatcher's hut captures a half dozen crews in three locations on the railroad.

Looking the other way, we spot the dispatch hut centered along the tracks at Glen Hammond.

Seanna is all smiles as her hubby, Steve, calls out instructions across the stairway.

Their train handles cars at the interchange with ease.

Bob, Grant and Andrew share the space between Ralph Yard and Rat Portage.

We must thank Malcolm for offering up his throttle to give Norm an opportunity to run his train!

When Marcel wasn't running trains, he was the president of the Carleton Regional Snowmobile Club.

Our wonderful ore train crew...Bob & Grant.

Our amazing passenger train operators...Paul & Marcel.

Who does not appreciate this amazing livery showcasing the Algoma Central? Thanks for bringing this little puppy out to play, Steve and Seanna.

Here they are...our Algoma Central crew.

We love Seanna's railroad shirts!

Here's an artsy shot! Malcolm's locomotive is fresh out of jail!

(Just kiddin' again!)

Norm continues to enjoy the engineer duties on Train 319.

Is it the Kingston Trio? Peter, Paul and Mary? Cream? The Jimi Hendrix Experience? Rush? The Police? No, this "three piece band" is non other "Lawrence, Henk & Andrew"!