Session #11 A Glance At Double Passenger Operations
Our eleventh session of the season got underway beneath cloudy skies that never really opened up...thankfully.
Throughout this season it has been difficult to predict if we should go ahead with our sessions or not...seeing how inconsistent the weather has been in these parts.
The majority of the days this summer have been forecasted to have rain to some degree in "some" area of our region...but we forge ahead!
Session #11 was a very special one for our friend, Ralph.
To enlarge the images click on them. To return to the default look of the page click outside them.
For this is the inaugural run of his newly purchased locomotive, SPC #22.
While the SPC stands for the South Pacific Coast Railroad which ran between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda with ferry connections to San Francisco...Gerry, Ralph and Mike put their heads together and Gerry came up with the notion of it standing for the...
Spruce, Peter's Pond & Cornwall.
Ralph hails from Cornwall and makes the long drive up each Saturday for the session. Spruce and Peter's Pond are both locations on our railroad.
This is akin to Mike marrying his passion for New England railroading and his passion for running trains at Fred's by naming his steam locomotive the "Ironwood & New England".
Ralph will be teaming up with veteran operator, Bernie (a good man) and they will be in charge of eastbound Train 302 at the start of their shift.
Also beginning its day in Firgrove will be #12, this 4-6-0 belonging to Moe.
On loan from the Tweetsie RR, this colourful steamer will surely gather railfans trackside throughout the territory.
Unbeknownst to me, the Tweetsie RR is the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad. It was given the nickname "Tweetsie" based on the verbal form of the acronym for the railroad ET&WNC. Also, the sound of the steam whistle is closely representative of the sound of a "Tweet"! 😀😋😄
Thanks to our very own Chris for the reference.
In the image we also manage to catch a glimpse of another steam locomotive which will ply the rails of the IPP&W "sans" lettering.
Yet another unlettered engine, this side tank beauty will handle all car movements at Ralph Yard in Firgrove.
Engine Number 48 will be called into service at this location throughout the morning as well.
Pat has arrived early with the crew to assist in the weekly car set-out ritual.
There's a smile from skipper Pat!
Not to be outdone, Felicity lends a hand railing cars up in Cedar Rock.
Steve joins in on the fun!
Such a talented and diverse crew we have!
Bernie was most likely the very first to arrive the property as is typical! Here he is with pencil in hand crossing off cars on the various checklists after the cars have been placed to their respective locations.
Our highly capable Nelson Yardmasters get down to business in the expansive territory they must govern.
Bill appreciates the new railers our "other" Doug has built from scratch!
How do we know? Why - his smile tells us so! 😀😋😄
To the east in Craig Leigh, Sid and Paul work together in legging out the cars to their "near and far" industries at this eastern terminal of the railroad.
Great job lads!
St. Helens is beginning to be populated with cars.
Ditto for Spruce.
Colourful cars to boot!
Cedar Rock begins hosting traffic as well.
The cars don't all have to be of the "freight persuasion"...as this combine offers up the argument.
In kinship with the IPP&W...how about this RP&M specimen thrown in the mix!
Number 401 was there long before the highway!
I'd ride in this beauty any day!
This lad will bring up the rear...observation car #327 "Lake Agassiz".
In keeping with the elevated numbers of passengers wanting to travel now that the pandemic is (hopefully) in the rear view mirror, the IPP&W has instituted a new plan...explained in the next picture's caption.
On the station track in behind wayfreight 302 we spot Passenger 2. Typically it ran alone along IPP&W rails in the early morning hours on the first run of the morning. Now it will share the road with its opposing counterpart, Passenger 1 at the same time. The two crews will meet at Glen Hammond.
Engineman Gerry will drive Passenger 1 out from Craig Leigh at 09:30 hours...
...while affable engineer, Moe, will depart Firgrove at the same time. If both trains keep to schedule, the pre-arranged meet in the Glen should leave neither crew waiting for long in front of the station there.
Sid is our honourary cheerleader, devoted rail assistant and dear friend. If there is any work to be done during a session Sid is the first on duty to lend a hand!
Here's Chris...our talented parts builder with his 3D printer!
Ralph, me boy! That's one gorgeous locomotive you've got for yourself!!!
Grant and Bill hold court to the west of Nelson Yard.
Bill is proud of his efforts in laying the stone dust around the high-traffic walking areas on both sides of Nelson Yard, Glen Hammond and along the aisleway at Bell.
Your efforts are greatly appreciated Bill!
This image is similar to the moon walk photo!
Dilip offers up a great big smile as the crew assembles in the lounge.
As always, Fred informs us of any new developments on the railroad so that we are prepared for anything that will crop up during operations.
A quick glance at the yards at the three major points along the line shows us that plenty of traffic should be flowing on this day. Double-laddered Nelson Yard, located at the mid-point of the line is the largest of the three.
Ralph Yard in Firgrove is the smallest of the three with its single ladder.
Douglas Yard in Craig Leigh is similar in size, but with traffic plying the rails on either side of the yard its appearance makes it seem like a mid-sized yard. In reality it is actually no bigger than Ralph Yard when you consider capacity. This yard is home to a single ladder system as well.
In Craig Leigh we find the ore dock with two tracks of MT's.
As the session progresses it undergoes a transformation and we find the other two tracks housing ore cars with loads. Their ultimate destination would be an imaginary "laker" at water level beside the dock.
Mike's Ironwood & New England 4-6-0 will be the power aboard Passenger 1 this day. In this snippet from video, I back the engine away from the engine shed/ore dock area on a heading to the passenger terminal.
Craig Leigh video work.
To engage the video click on the white arrow in the middle of the image twice (slowly).
In reverse.
Passing the ice house.
Continuation of the video.
Passing Scobie's Foods.
Gerry observes the action as I continue to back my locomotive onto his train while video-taping at the same time!
Passenger 1 is on the roll!
Squeezing through the imaginary gates!
Witnesses to the scene.
Rolling the video camera!
Our westbound train rounds "Big Tree Bend" and will leave town in short order.
With a green signal, she is on her way!
Judging by the radio communication you hear on this video between Passenger 2 and dispatch it would appear that Number 2 departed Firgrove slightly earlier than Number 1 out from Craig Leigh.
Backtracking a few minutes and far off to the west, Passenger 2's train has been made up and is awaiting its power to join in on the fun.
This snippet finds Moe burnishing the rails with Passenger 2...now underway heading east.
Video footage of Passenger 2's departure out from Firgrove.
Train #2 has been through Bell and will encounter Wellington Lake in short order.
Back in the eastern sector of the railroad, 301 is caught switching out St. Helens as Passenger 1 approaches.
Steve and Chris have their train protected as Train #1 slows to a station stop.
How about a drone shot of the action at St. Helens!
Number 1 shakes, rattles and rolls into Ironwood.
Number 1's arrival into Ironwood caught on video.
The crew is instructed to make a station stop at Spruce before backing onto the main to allow for the arrival of 304...not unlike VIA's situation of today where the passenger service holds "in the hole" for the "priority" freight trains. Now that's one great big reversal of fortune!
Video evidence of the backup move.
304 enters the scene from stage left.
Meet at Spruce as captured on video.
Underway...finally! 😃😃😃
Farewell to Spruce video views.
Number 1 leans into the curve on the outer approach track to Glen Hammond.
Video of Number 1's arrival at the meeting place.
Station stop for Train #1 in the Glen. The crew will await the arrival of Train #2.
If you look in the distance, Number 2 is holding at Mercer Siding.
Video events.
Moe drives his consist through the junction tracks.
Having stopped in Peter's Pond and having navigated the junction with the RP&M, Number 2 has been lined up to reach Bellamy.
The crew boards passengers before trundling off towards its pre-arranged meet with Passenger 1 in Glen Hammond.
Away from Bellamy, Train #2 works its way into the Glen.
As we witnessed a short while ago...Number 1 arrived mere moments earlier. Perfect timing that is!
There's nothing prettier than a picture of a train on a curve...
...except perhaps...a train on an "S" curve! Our single curve will suffice here! 😁😀😁
The established meet soon comes to fruition at its dedicated location.
Gerry awaits the arrival of his counterpart train.
Video of Passenger 2's approach into Glen Hammond.
Houston...we have landed!
The meet has been a glorious event for the railroad!
Number 1 is now clear to proceed on its westward journey as Number 2 faces east.
Gerry radios dispatch for clearance out of the Glen.
With the meet having taken place, Passenger 1 is cleared through to Peter's Pond - that is with a station stop at Bellamy before reaching the junction! This is caught on video.
Once Moe & Gerry offer greetings to each other, Moe has headed out first and Gerry is now cleared to Peter's Pond with a stop at Bellamy first.
Out from the Glen, Moe hauls Passenger 2 through "Big Leg Bill Canyon"!!!
The power is removed from Passenger 1 upon the train's completion of its run in Firgrove.
The locomotive will be turned in anticipation of its run aboard Passenger 4 later in the session.
Passenger 1 & 2 will repeat the process in reverse order on the third trick of the morning. We will number them Passenger 3 westbound and Passenger 4 eastbound.
For the second trick train, both operators will join to form the crew of Pool Train 33 where they will traverse both railroads with switching of headend equipment at particular locations en route.
We will examine the Pool Train's run more closely in a subsequent blog entry. Here we catch 33 arriving Spruce for a station stop.
Note the baggage car residing on the newly installed House Track at Spruce.
The crew has lifted the car.
They will swap it out with the maroon baggage car you see up ahead.
The crew backs out from the House Track.
They will have to run around the yellow car in order to lift it onto their train.
Pool Train 33 overtakes the ore train at Watkins Siding.
A glance at the original cars from Passenger 2 down in Craig Leigh at the terminal. These cars will go out on the third trick...what used to be Train #1 but will later be Train #3.
The RP&M baggage car has been set out successfully in Spruce.
Much later in the session, the Pool Train arrives Spruce once more this time in the opposite direction to its first visit here.
Other freight crews are occupied in Cedar Rock (foreground) and at Ironwood (background).
We say farewell to the pool train as it nears the finish line. The crew must step up on the grade out from St. Helens towards Craig Leigh where they will wye their train and proceed in reverse to the terminal.
The third trick of the day sees Passenger 4 (formerly 2) arriving Bell out from Firgrove.
Number 4 makes its way into the Glen where it will meet Number 3.
Then on into Spruce...
...followed up next with a station stop on the curve in Ironwood.
I wasn't able to capture the run of Number 4's counterpart, Number 3...but the scenario would be very much the same as that shown with Passenger 1 & 2 which you read about earlier in this entry.
Say...how about we check in on Ralph's new locomotive! Here he is using the siding at Watkins as a lead for his swithcing.
Ralph and Bernie have taken Track 3 at Bell upon arrival from Firgrove aboard eastbound Train 302.
With work completed at Bell, the crew was cleared through Wellington Lake and in on the Cedar Rock siding at Peter's Pond.
The crew pre-determines their moves before heading up the Cedar Rock branch as there is no runaround capability at the end of the branch.
Bernie and Ralph put their thinking caps on.
Ralph's in good hands with Bernie at the helm!
She's a real looker, Ralph!
These next two snippets illustrate a meet between 302 and Number 1 taken during both crew's first trick.
Two great looking steamers!
Some nice video footage of the meet down in Peter's Pond!
We are now up in Cedar Rock and the crew is drilling the trailing sidings here. They will lift a car from Vant Aggregates.
The reefer came off their train, so judging by its position in relation to the locomotive it is destined for the Cedar Rock Supply track which you see to the left in the foreground.
The outside braced hopper car is residing on the Ellens Crusher spur while the Culham Coal Company sees no traffic on this day.
302 dances down the branch with three lifts in tow.
The crew passes the old Norton's Fishery building which has been relocated in recent times.
The reason for the "steam" sandwich is the fact that there is no runaround capability on the Cedar Rock branch so lifts are placed on the locomotive dependent of trailing or facing sidings at the far end of the line before the crew returns to their train down in Peter's Pond.
The Cedar Rock Branch joins the Bell Subdivision of the IPP&W in Peter's Pond East.
Video capture of their movements.
Bernie and Ralph have been lined up for the blue track and we note the termination of their train here in the big yard. The crew no longer runs 302...they will now be running 312.
IPP&W 312 east has arrived the town of Spruce...the namesake for the eastern subdivision of the line.
The Spruce Sub sees some 12 trains a day ply its rails...non of the RP&M variety.
IPP&W trains plying the rails of the Bell Sub in the west must contend with traffic off the RP&M at times though.
Later, 312's crew makes St. Helens where Moe takes a gander at Ralph's new locomotive.
The crew terminates 312 at Douglas Yard in Craig Leigh.
We see their train on the arrival track to the left and we notice their third trick train, number 321 on the departure track to the right.
You should be a "proud papa" Ralph!
Coming home to roost!
Bernie and Ralph...a great crew!
Wow! Check out the gorgeous carrying case Ralph has made for his new steam locomotive!
Now...that's customization in my books!
The handle spins for ease of motion.
The doors open to allow the engine to escape onto the rails.
Ralph has installed a clear plastic substance for a window.
This creative gentleman has attached the cable to keep the clear window in its "up" position.
He is showing me how, when not in use, the cable is "magnetized" to the interior of the box...ingenious!
Here's the South Pacific Coast...or...should we say...the Spruce, Peter's Pond & Cornwall!
Thanks to Gerry for coming up with that idea!
A look from above.
Velcro straps hold this little darling in place.
A magnet holds the clear front in place as well for safety.
Here's our friendly neighbourhood BBQ!
And...here's our friendly neighbourhood BBQ chef...Magnificent Moe!
On behalf of our skipper - Fred, our proud papa - Ralph, our passenger engineers - Gerry & Moe, and all the OVGRS gang...thanks for checking in once more on the happenings in Fred's backyard.
We are currently getting over one thousand views a day to the blog so we wish to send greetings out to all of those in the big wide world who share the same passion for train operations as we do.
Welcome aboard this OVGRS Express!
Cheers from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
