Season's Greetings From the OVGRS

 Season's Greetings All

Yes, it is that time of the year!  Time to cherish our friendships with season's greetings to each other.

We thank Chris for getting the ball rolling this season!

Merry Christmas to all of our OVGRS friends and family!

 Best wishes to everyone for a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

Chris tells us...I got tired of cleaning up snow outside and decided instead to create some snow indoors  😀In case it isn’t obvious from the rather chunky detail, this is a scene on my N-scale layout, continuing a tradition (challenge) of coming up with a new snow scene every year. 

This was my first experiment with photo-stacking to increase depth of field. I used a free app called ‘CameraPixels’ to capture ten images of different focal lengths on my phone, and ‘Affinity Photo’ on the desktop to merge them. The focus is softened a bit by the jpeg compression necessary to make this an email attachment — the original is surprisingly sharp.

Since I was “cheating” (editing) the photo anyway, I replaced the green hills of my backdrop with some more winter-suitable trees and sky. 

The availability of phone cameras and the low angles they make possible provide a whole new perspective in model railroading — and technology like photo stacking makes it possible to get right up close and still capture the entire scene. 

Thanks Chris for kicking off the season with this spectacular image.

Marcel sends his Christmas wishes our way from down in the sunny southwest!

One more message from Marcel!

A very special message from Father Fred.

With all the WONDERFUL, Friendly, Caring, and Compassionate, greetings offered by all of our Friends and fellow Hobbyists;   I feel sort of guilty…

 I don’t do photographs, and with Winter upon us, I can’t look forward to seeing (Almost) everyone on Saturday, and Wednesday mornings, where I could share all my good wishes, and feelings.

    So; I’m left with this rather simple Email.

    I wish EVERYONE, a safe, healthy, and of course Happy, Holiday Season.

     I also join in with everyone, looking forward to a NEW YEAR, 2023, of ALL the good things we have shared in the past.  We all should continue, as we have for many years now, to look to this coming New Year, as one of more Sharing, Caring, Fun, and Fellowship.

  The OVGRS, IPP&W, RP&M will continue to thrive, and provide great fun for us all; thanks to all our shared efforts, and dedication.

  Thank you, EVERYONE, for being my FRIENDS.

   Fred Mills

Hi Fred and All,

 Just to add to Fred’s wonderful message, it is really great to belong to a group that is able to share the joy of a common hobby interest without the hassles of electing an Executive Committee, discussing an annual budget, negotiating by-laws, membership categories, and the like. 

 Our discussions are "subject specific" and always with the objective of improving things and enhancing the fun of operating a first class Garden RR.

 Thanks for the friendship and past and future memories.

 Merry Christmas to all and wishing you a happy and fulfilling 2023.  Garry

Christmas Greetings From Henk and José

Henk tells us..."Attached is a picture of the building where we will live as of March 2023." 

"Our unit is on the 5th level, in the blue section on the corner, just to the right of the center."
Thanks, Henk for this wonderful Christmas greeting.  We know you will feel at home right away when you move in to your new "digs"!

Hi Mike, inspired by the sharing of focus stacking images from Chris, here are two images using focus stacking and combining a part of scenery on a module with real scenery.

These images are from a few years ago.  I did this in Photoshop.  I leave it to everyone's keen eyes and imagination to figure out the model and the real scenery (some of you know this module from HoTrak).

I will try to create a composite image with a winter scene to create a Season's Greetings and send it along.

Cheers, Dilip

Hi again, Mike.  The two images illustrate how the process bends the perspective when a model scene is combined with a real one.

It's important to note that Jeff Hill owns the module called "Wolf Creek" and he created the scenery.  He brings these modules out to the HoTrak setup.  I photographed it by using "focus stacking" techniques where I combined the modelled image with one taken of the Gatineau Hills and the hills near Scranton, Pennsylvania.  All this was accomplished in Photoshop, as mentioned earlier.

For the future "Season's Greetings" image I will create, I will take a picture from Fred's layout and combine it with an image of a wintry scene.  I hope to have it coming your way before Friday!

Mike, I am glad you are doing this blog and keeping the interest and creativity alive!

Cheers, Dilip

Thank you so much for these two images, Dilip...and we eagerly anticipate a nice surprise with your upcoming endeavour with the wintry scene on the IPP&W and RP&M!  Big smile!

Pat, of the Brennan clan, was pleased to see some train-related decorations at the spa at the resort where his family stayed for two weeks recently in the sunny south.

Pat tells us that it was strange to be in 30 degree heat in Mexico at the start of December and see Christmas decorations.

Pat offers up these wishes for our entire OVGRS family...

"Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to my large scale friends.

Say, Pat...we're all a bit envious of you tanning yourself in those sunny climes!!!  Big grin!  Thanks so much for sharing a small part of your adventure with us!

Moe sends along these greetings our way.
Merry Christmas to all of the members in our club!

During the Christmas Season, we take time out for some relaxation and maybe contemplate changes we would like to implement in the coming New Year.

Perhaps we should consider kindness and thoughtfulness towards others.

Old or young, we should try to enjoy each day to the maximum.

Moe

Thank you very much, Moe, for these wonderful words of wisdom!

Robin sent an e-mail the group's way with the following message:

Great work everyone.  

Enjoying seeing the creativity at play and dreaming of what will come after all this white stuff.

Merry Christmas all and here's to a great New Year.

Robin

Thanks so much, Robin, for your Christmas greetings.  It was fun locating an image of you from one of our sessions!

Garry has sent along this special Christmas story along with two lovely images.

Hi Mike, for the blog, if you want. 

Thursday is our regular day to pick up two of our Grandkids from school and it was agreed that this time the parents would not join us for dinner so that they (the parents) could wrap presents at their house without being interrupted by you-know-who. 

So, I got the Grandkids to help me put together our new “in-house Christmas present delivery system” as shown in the attached two photos.  Our granddaughter belongs to a model RR club at her primary school so she was quite good at attaching the tracks together.

The basis of the new system is a VERY nice LGB CN starter set that I bought from Donna Lister in May of this year after her husband had passed away.  I had Christmas in mind, even in May😊  The 2-4-0 locomotive in CN livery is very well made and heavy so it may find its way onto the RP&M at some point if we convert it to battery power. 

The two CN Flat Cars are from a special run done for Winona Garden RR in Guelph.  I also have a black Flat Car from Lawrence and the Club if needed.

The plan is that the Grandkids will sit around the Christmas tree and pick out the presents then deliver them by rail to the adults sitting on the Living Room chairs or loveseat.  The Granddaughter wanted the track loop to go the full length of the Living Room, but house management nixed the idea☹    

Depending on the size of the presents, this should be fun or entertaining or both😊.

The track does not leave a lot of room for presents under the tree, so we may make the loop wider next year.

 Once again, we wish all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Garry

Thanks, Garry, for this lovely story.  What an amazing family you have!

Neil sends us this lovely greeting.

And best wishes for a Healthy, Happy, and mostly retired new year.

The attached picture came up in my Facebook memories this morning, and it could easily be changed to say "148 Days Until Our First Operating Session on the IPP&W!"

To Father Fred, thank you for allowing us to fulfill our railroad "careers" each Saturday.

Best wishes all, Neil

Thank you, Neil, for this wonderful message...and, yes, I'm counting the days to both events...Christmas in December and Christmas in May when we start up our train operations!

Yes, greetings from me on this most special of days in our calendar.

May the winter bring lighter snowfalls at greater intervals and may spring arrive once more with the promise of the genuine camaraderie we all find at Fred's each Saturday morning.

This sketch of a location on my model railroad was created by a friend of my sister's, Dale Patin, back in 2015 following his visit to my layout.

Dale told me that the photograph he snapped didn't reveal the detail on the wheels so he simply shaded that area in which creates some drama in my opinion.

The location is at the interlocking junction between the Boston & Maine and the Maine Central railroads.  The tower, the telltale and the telegraph pole combine with the two F-units to create a marvelous scene.

Malcolm shares his Christmas wishes with us as well.

Hi Mike - I was thinking about a suitable winter photo to share with the gang. 

 Here’s a photo I took in 2014 at Mark Dance’s fabulous Columbia and Western N-scale layout. 

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Malcolm 

Thanks, Malcolm for this wonderful image and message for the group to enjoy!

Steve just sent in this e-mail on behalf of he and Seanna.

Hi Mike, late for the train as usual, but I got around to shooting some pictures.

Mike's reply, "You're not late at all as these are "Season's Greetings" which will run up to New Year's day!"  Big smile!

Click on the image to enlarge it to look more closely at the twelve boxcars of Christmas!

Steve tells us that Hanukkah is almost over, and now the Twelve Days of Christmas prepare to depart Steelton Yard on our N-scale layout. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all at the OVGRS!

Steve & Seanna

Thanks so much Steve and Seanna for your lovely message.  We love the two photos you have sent in of your amazing N-scale model railroad!

Pete sends us this lovely video of a train rounding the bend in the snow on his garden railroad...coming all the way from Wolfville, Nova Scotia!

Please note that the little white arrow you must click two times to engage the video is "camouflaged" in the snow at the center of the image!

Pete's message says, "All the best of the season to all, and to all a good night!"

Pete, no need to pardon the late entry...as we still appreciate the greetings at any time of the season!  BTW - I want that snow plow to come down the middle of my street here in Alta Vista!

Cheers to all!

Johnny ChuffChuff

Wow, Johnny...such a lovely Christmas card for the group.  Love the fact that we have real horses and other real "iron" horses in the painting.  Simply glorious!

Click on the card to enlarge it for a more detailed viewing!

Moe tells us, "Here are a couple of pictures I thought the group might enjoy!"

"A perfect shot of a Royal Hudson coming off the bridge at Castlegar, BC circa 1979."

Moe continues with... "Train #11, The Metropolitan Special, for Cincinnati and St. Louis arrives at Silver Spring, MD in 1964."  

"This would turn out to be the last photo I ever got of a classic B&O livery on a passenger diesel."

"The solid blue scheme was rapidly becoming the standard."

Happy New Year to all!

Moe

Thanks, Moe, for the wonderful images of these great locomotives and for the New Year's greetings!

We look forward to many more greetings from our members in the coming days - even into the New Year!

Mike and the elves of the OVGRS, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada