Trains of October - Thanksgiving

We Give Thanks

Train Running in October

Indeed, we have so much to be thankful for on this glorious Saturday morning.  We thank Mother Sun and Father Wind for keeping the forecasted rain away from the railroad long enough for us to hold our operating session.

We are thankful that we are all in good enough health to be able to get out and enjoy this wonderful hobby with our good friends.

Of course, we are thankful for Father Fred, our enthusiastic host for all our outdoor train operations.

May everyone's Thanksgiving Weekend be filled with peace and joy and good health.

What a thrill it was for me to escape the dispatch hut in order to run my D&H GP38-2 for the first time this season.  The locomotive is named the Ralph Dipple after a fine gentleman and OVGRS member who passed away a while back.  Ralph Yard in Firgrove is named in his honour.

Click on an image to enlarge it and click outside the image to return to the default look of the page.

Before we begin, I would like to take this time to wish all of our OVGRS family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving on Monday.  May your weekend be filled with joy and laughter...it's the best medicine!

The colours of autumn are almost no match for the colours we find in our diesel collection on this day...and, this year's autumn colours are exceptional!

I scoured all ends of the both railroads in search of a cornucopia of hues...and both roads did not disappoint.

Marcel's UP loco is safe in the hands of Grant on our passenger runs.  We catch him having run around his train (Pool Train 15) in order to deposit and lift some head-end gear in Glen Hammond.

Indeed, lines from both sides of the border are found on the IPP&W and the RP&M and this New York Central switcher adds to the menu on this day.

This CN switcher acts as yard goat in Nelson and is kept busy all morning long.

Lawrence's B&O road unit always gives us the blues...in a good way!

We thank Doug for taking on the role of Craig Leigh Yardmaster seeing as both Bernie and Paul A. are away this weekend.  Doug has asked for the same assignment next week allowing both Bernie and Paul to run mainline trains!

As always, Ironroad #103 comes to the rescue as Moe has brought her from her stable in Craig Leigh where she begins her work aboard 312 at Spruce.

Doug and Marcel ham it up in Craig Leigh pre-ops. Thanks again Doug for taking over the yard in Craig Leigh for us!  Marcel will be my crewmate aboard 301 today.

John is our visitor on this day after learning about the operations from Andrew through a "Large Scale" Facebook page.  Welcome John!  Malcolm peers in from behind the two!

Mason is our other visitor coming in to check on Grandpa Henk.  The other lads listen attentively to the pre-ops open table chat.

Lots of operators on this day!

Moe can't wait to get started!

Beer from Telluride must mean...

...Bill Sn3 Scobie is in the house!

Skipper Fred reminds us of the safety procedures.

D&H #7316 gets down to business assembling its train at the Northland Interchange.

301 has reached Mount St. Helens and works the facing spurs.

At Spruce the crew sets out a boxcar on one of the three facing spurs.

They are so excited to view an opposing passenger train with a Union Pacific yellow unit up front that they realize they needed to lift a car from the same spur...but only much later on...thanks Henk!  (The conductor explains that it was the dancing girls in the club car that had grabbed his attention away from his work!)  Big grin!

Malcolm and Paul have found Ironwood on their eastward trek across the line.

Grandpa learns a lesson or two from Grandson!

Skipper Bill in the dispatch booth!

301 rolls into Nelson Yard on the arrival/departure track.  They will continue westward aboard 311.

318's crew drills the trailing spurs in Mount St. Helens.

There's that "heavy" in charge of the passenger run!  It's an action shot...a tad out of focus.

Ah...there's the depot at Spruce.  Thanks to Marcel it is out in the sunshine!

The shade of Mount St. Helens.

Grant is kept entertained switching out Bell aboard the Pool Train.  He will reach RP&M rails momentarily.

Who's on first?

No, who's on second!  Hehehe!

We once again welcome John to the railroad as Andrew and Henk offer up some friendly advice.

Train 15 has plied RP&M rails and once again arrives Glen Hammond, this time in the opposite direction from earlier.

Pat is working Bell aboard 304 in the distance as Grant reviews his orders for the Glen.

Henk is all smiles as he has Mason doing all the work for him!

The SOO LINE road switcher captures this railfan's attention as it continues to work the big yard at Nelson.

Len is all smiles at Ralph Yard up in Firgrove.

Pat has borrowed Len's CP unit and works Golding Grains in Rat Portage.

Train 15 is busy switching out the spur track in Glen Hammond.

The "other Pat's" power aboard 327 in Bell.  Soon he will reach Firgrove and become Train 304 for a return trip back to this location.

Glen Hammond and Bell.

Are ya havin' fun yet, John!

Grant and Pat share the aisleway although they are in fact many rail miles distant!

Mason tells his grandpa to get up off his rear end so that he can have the cherished seat.

Activity in Bell.

Following a lengthy wait at Watkins, Train 311 is finally cleared into Bell.

RP&M Train 67 ascends the grade out from Pratt's Bottom.

The Hamer Manufacturing facility is busy on this day.

As is the yard in Rat Portage.

Sid crews for a while with Pat as their train has reached the interchange.

We are seeing "double red" with the headend and tail end touching!

A quick gander over to Nelson Yard.

Another gander over to Douglas Yard on the eastern front.

Doug...in Douglas Yard!

Ore cars have arrived the Northland Ore Dock and will be offloaded onto a visiting marine vessel.

These next set of images are snippits from the videos.  They do not enlarge very well, but are okay to view in the smaller format.

While the Craig Leigh yardmaster readies some of 301's consist, the crew must work the Northland Interchange area themselves.

My Delaware & Hudson diesel is up to the task.

Video work at Northland.

Click on the white arrow two times to engage the video.

Marcel and I have isolated the trio of tankcars we require for our train.

We will nestle them in the middle of our consist for safety.

This means we will have to go and grab a freight car from our train...

...and pull it ahead to meet the outgoing tanker traffic.

We catch the move on video tape.

With the tank cars safely nestled within the confines of our consist, we radio dispatch for clearance out of Craig Leigh.

With clearance granted...

...it's "Westward Ho" down to Mount St. Helens.

This too is captured by this videographer.

From our perch high up in Mount St. Helens...

...we notice a flash of yellow and silver off to the west.

This is what we find...Passenger #2 out from Wellington Lake.

Nice video taping of the passing train way down below!

318's power is found in Spruce.

The crew have backed off the siding to allow 301 entry.

With the eastbound turnout back in their favour, 318's crew sets out for Ironwood following a note of appreciation from the crew of 301 for allowing early entry into the yard.

The passing trains...as captured on video.

Well, well, well...what have we here?

Passenger 2 enters Spruce.

Yet another meet of two trains...number 1 and 301.

She's a looker for sure!

The boys aboard 301 are staring into the club car where a bevy of beauties are enjoying a drink or two...or three!

Video capture of the moment.

Train 327 is found in the foliated landscape at "The Corners".

Rounding the curve, the diminutive switcher will throttle it up to gain elevation at Watkins.

Climbing the grade through Wellington Lake with Bell off in the distance.

Making the grade on video.

Skipper Bill learns a new language.

What's that you say for the video man, Bill?

Mason understands train movements as he relays instructions to his Grandpa.

We drool each time we spot this yellow puppy!

She moves like a charm throughout the yard.

Our train, 311, will be made up shortly.

Video views of the Nelson action.

It's blue skies all day for us when we spot this blue beauty!

Lawrence takes the junction crossing en-route to Glen Hammond with ore on the move.

Once clear of the siding, 311 is able to advance westward.

Through the junction protected by the opposing red target.

Video review.

Who's not on first or second...he's on third!

Henk's rugged little centercab.

Video fun!

The Firgrove yard goat gets down to business having readied our third run of the morning, Train 328.

He pulls ahead.

Then he will tuck on to this consist and removed it to allow access for our locomotive to find their cars of 328.

Nice video work.

Our locomotive will need to be turned first.

Len handles the Armstrong for us.

And...boy...are his arms ever strong!

Ready to roll.

Spinning wheel video footage.

Finally in the lead...

...and onward to Bell.

Marcel's smile tells it all.

Nothing beats running a railroad with good friends!

Downgrade out from Firgrove as captured on video tape.

Meanwhile, somewhere out from Bell we spot RP&M 68 returning home on home rails.

The tail end.

Sir Pat...the engineer!

While off to the left we spot the ore train tracking through Bellamy.

While RP&M 68 has reached Pratt's Bottom to the left, the ore train navigates the big curve on into Mercer to the right.

Sayonara!

Great looking video of all that action!

I would be remiss if I did not take the time to give thanks to our Workday Wednesday crew.  I snapped this image of Pat this past Wednesday.

I had forgotten to bring my camera out the previous Wednesday.  Suffice it to say that it is the "little" things the Wednesday crew does that make a "big" difference in how the railroad operates.

For instance, Lawrence spent the better part of the morning with a reciprocating saw cutting the support board out from under the track bed near Brennan Gap at Blockhouse.  This was a very tricky procedure.

The track was relevelled with heavy stones resting atop for the better part of three days to ensure that the "horizontal kink" in the tracks was eliminated.

Mike re-laid the ties on the Lawrence Watkins Trestle that had lifted as a result of the work.  Fred was occupied with other tasks on rolling stock.  We truly missed Bernie as he has been away on his trip.

Not only do the "Workday Wednesday Wreckers" (my new affectionate nickname as they are anything but!) work on maintenance on Wednesdays!

I've caught one of them "in the act" on a Saturday!

Yup, Pat and Lawrence had noticed that some of the throws needed a lube job.  Why wait until Wednesday?  Let's do it now so we know that it is done!

Wow!!!  What a surprise it was for me to head into Fred's coveted "office" to find Steve!  So great seeing you Steve!  We've missed your wonderful presence and personality a lot this year, but nice to catch up.

Pat and Lawrence are equally filled with joy.

As is Uncle Fred.

Fred...cutting a couple of OVGRS large stickers for my two carrying cases!

Speaking of Steve...here we catch him "in the act" with one of his other hobby ventures working with airplanes on a "larger scale" than we do with our trains.  It would appear that he is a "tug captain" in the above image.   Being involved with Mike Potter and Vintage Wings...what a blast, Steve tells us. 

When I told Steve how much I have been enjoying my retirement he sent me a nice note last year saying...Mike, make the best of it, your first years are the best, I was lucky running into Captain Vern and finding myself sailing around the great lakes and the thousand islands aboard a replica Schooner for five years. I still have to pinch myself about that one, actually became a partner in the ship.   But that’s all past...the ship's gone and unfortunately also the Captain.

Also Judie and I have really enjoyed the opportunity to travel, particularly cruising, we’ve done Alaska, the Med including a transatlantic (something I always wanted to do) and our 30 days to Peru seeing Mexico, Central America, and South America. Sailing with friends in the Gulf Islands aboard charters has been a plus as well. 

The very handsome Steve Mackenzie in full dress!

Oh...the marvelous things one sees in retirement!

To view an amazing video Steve put together on his sailing adventures aboard a very special sailing vessel, copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8nYKwhuc4Y

Steve continues...after all there is more to life than trains. But music...that you will always have. The most important thing is your health; without that nothing else matters. Have fun enjoy, and we'll see you at Fred’s once the world becomes safe again.

These next images Steve sent my way more recently.  The words are his.

These next images Steve sent my way more recently.  The words are his.  Been following the gang on line...had a great summer...bought a Seadoo, one of the fastest on the lake. Never too old I guess. Had a busy summer with family visiting from England and France didn’t leave much time for trains. 

One trip out of Arnprior took the grandkids to see the railroad bridge across the Ottawa.

 Also still over at Vintage Wings had a successful fly day with eleven flights for enthusiastic members launched during the day. 

Another interesting event was the memorial for Russ Bannock held at the Arnprior Airport we rolled out five of the trainers the Cornell, Finch, Harvard and two De Haviland Chipmunks for the event. Russ Bannock  DSO DFC* was a Canadian fighter ace during the Second World War flying Mosquitos and a chief test pilot for de Havilland Canada. He passed away at the age of 100 on Jan. 4, 2020. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago when he flew in our Beaver with fellow former De Haviland test pilot George Neil. September 1942, Bannock was chief instructor at No. 3 Flying School in Arnprior, Ontario. In total, he delivered more than 2,000 hours of instruction to student pilots enrolled in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. In 1944, he was sent overseas and joined the RCAF’s No. 418 Squadron in June of that year, flying de Havilland Mosquitos on intruder missions over Europe. We are currently working  on our 1942 Hebard Aircraft Tug to be displayed in honour of RCAF ground crews.

Steve sent along these cool shots of a few aircraft mules.

Wow, that's some heavy equipment in my books, Steve!

Currently I am working on another project for Vintage Wings it is a war time aircraft mule that was donated to us by the City of Gatineau. We have moved it up to a friends hanger in Arnprior,( less Covid friendly) In doing research its proving most challenging and interesting. The F.W. Hebard’s were built between 1939 and 1948 by Northwestern Motor Company and were used by both Railroads, Industries, and in Aviation. They used International Harvester truck engines and drive trains. Ours is serial # 3784 with engine #62132, we know its an early one because serial # 6112  engine # 146923 was built in 1945. Northwestern continued to build them until well into the 50’s and the yellow one shown is at the Comox air force museum and was used aboard HMCS Bonaventure. Our biggest problem is raising funds since covid has pretty well ended that. If any one would like to help out it would be appreciated.  Hopefully we will  get back to trains by next year. 

Thanks so much, Steve, for the wonderful images and commentary you have sent my way throughout the course of this past year.  It was fun for me to amass the images in this single posting!

To view Steve's video on "Vintage Wings of Canada Over the Years" copy and paste the video address below into your computer's browser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDwJY684uik

Bernie has sent along some wonderful railfanning images from his recent trip as he is still away.  I asked his permission to share them with you, as I did Steve...permission granted!  Bernie tells us that it is a great rail fanning day at Englehart...three trains within ten minutes plus an ONR heritage scheme.

Just  a few photos. ONR 2201 GP38 running long hood forward with small industry train arrives Engelhart. 

 As soon as it was in the yard SD70I 2105 leads the Ghost 1740 (Ex KCS SD40-2) with a unit covered gondola train.

 Not five minutes later a pair of SD70Is 2102 leads 2101 with train 213 for Cochrane.  Timing is everything! I will put more on flickr when i get home. 

On the way back south from Timmins, I stopped off again in Englehart and got this ex-NW SD40-2. Talking to the local yardies, they call this one the "Stallion". The white ex-KCS, they call "The Ghost".  (The ghost appears two images above!)

Thanks so much, Bernie!  Looking forward to your return!

Here's our new OVGRS stickers adorning Pat's carrying case.

Perfect Pat!

Paul offers up a funny face!

Malcolm has everything under control at Peter's Pond.

Here's our intrepid "fixer upper" Mr. Pat!

Ah yes...thanks to Moe and Paul for the burgers.  They sure look great!

Skipper Henk appreciates them as well.

Pat, Sid and Andrew await a bite post-ops.

Grandson and Grandpa share some special bonding time together.  Great having you out with us, Mason!

John, so nice to meet you.  We know you'll be back for a return visit!  Big smile!

Mr. Marcel!  It was awesome crewing with on this fine morning!  We're really going to miss you when you head back to Arizona this coming Friday.  Keep on sending us updates for the blog from your train activities south of the border!

Spruce sure does appear tranquil in the early morning sun before any trains begin to move.

Speaking of tranquility...Father Fred is very much filled with peace and tranquility just watching the railroad come to life with operators of all ages playing the game!

Well, enough blogging from me.  I don't get in many of the pics seeing as I am behind the camera most of the time.  This image was shot well over a decade ago as I was performing a sound check at the Lone Star on St. Laurent Blvd. before a gig.

Enjoy this special day tomorrow everyone!

While we give Thanks for many things on this special Thanksgiving weekend, we thank the weather gods for allowing us to meet and there is someone we are all thankful to have in our lives...Mr. Fred Mills!

All the best, Mike Hamer, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada