Structures on the Railroad For Placement Purposes of Scenes In the Spring
We wish to thank Neil for walking around the entire two-railroad system during our last train operating session and snapping images of all the structures along both lines.
This will be most helpful to the group when we go to pack away the railroad and bring the buildings back out in the spring for next season's operations.
Fred will have his workshop up and running in the garage throughout the off-season should anyone wish to work on the building of new structures or the refurbishing of old ones.
Let's begin our tour at the western end of the line and head east as if we are running on Passenger #2.
Here we find the depot at Firgrove. This is the western terminus of the IPP&W railway.
The section house resides at the yard throat in this elongated photo.
Our passenger consist is on the "Passenger Arrival/Departure" track while the freight cars are ready to go out on the next train as they are found on the "Freight Departure" track.
The St. Lawrence Dairy and Watkins Millwork structures tuck into the fence while the Firgrove engine shed is found to the right.
We head on into Bell where we find the large Brunt's Brewing facility which towers over the area.
The depot is to the right and the structure named for Henk is the dominoes building Lawrence created.
An overall look at Bell from Glen Hammond.
Out from Bell we find the tourist district at Wellington Lake where a little depot serves as the drop-off point for vacationers wishing to enjoy the beaches and the water.
From Wellington Lake we have travelled through the verdant landscape in "The Corners" and we have tunneled beneath Mount St. Helens before we come to a station stop down in Peter's Pond.
We see the fishery and the new facility named for WDWD crewmate Pat Brewer all residing in the lower Peter's Pond area.
Then it's up the Cedar Rock Branch where we find the crusher and the new trestle.
Lawrence recently built the trestle from scratch for this area. Note the wonderful "Cedar Fuel" fuel tank Lawrence devised to cleverly hide the outdoor electrical outlet.
We find more storage tanks and the Sludge facility up in Cedar Rock made by our dear friend, Bruce.
The Watson Electric building (in need of roof repairs) and the supply shed are seen in this photograph.
Here is the lengthy platform that resides here as well where George had a hand in some of the pipelines.
A view of Cedar Rock from the other end of town.
Out from Peter's Pond we travel the countryside through Mercer Siding where we reach the junction area of the two railroads at the location known as Anderson. A signal protects the crossing.
We also spot the tower which guards train movements through the junction at Anderson.
Here we are at Anderson with the diminutive depot acting as a station stop for the Pool Train. Off in the distance you spot the grey platform for the passenger stop at the location known as "Pratt's Bottom" on the RP&M line. The three 40-footer boxcars are residing on the Lyon Supply track at Anderson. This siding is serviced by outgoing RP&M trains only as there is no runaround track in the neighbourhood.
An aerial shot taken by Neil at the same location.
Here's the freight shed which handles traffic in Anderson off two sidings These are switched by the crews of our secondary railway, the Rat Portage & Mattawa.
We now have reached Bellamy nearby the western yard throat for Nelson Yard where we spot the ornate station holding court over the passenger movements.
The town of Bellamy has the Nelson Yard lead and the spur siding in the distance where we moved the large white freight shed from Spruce to this new location.
An aerial view of the same area.
A further aerial view of greater Bellamy.
Mike's got his sunglasses way atop his head so you barely see the features of his face looking down at his orders which rest atop the old green engine house at Nelson Yard.
A glance to the west at Nelson Yard.
Adjacent to Nelson Yard is the depot in Glen Hammond resting beneath the windward side of the dispatch hut. Doug Matheson built this structure using the "Jigstones" method.
Crews working Nelson Yard must deal with the Fallentree Mine industry just to the east of the yard throat.
Beyond the Fallentree Mine, crews cross "The Gap" in order to work the two green structures which make up McKenzie Lumber. This glance back at Lilly from the end of the peninsula shows how the two McKenzie buildings are worked by a train that must traverse the beautiful wooden trestle created by Lawrence, Fred (and perhaps a few others).
We have the two green structures found at Lilly which are worked by our RP&M crews outside Nelson Yard with both structures having their own spur siding.
As just mentioned, they combine to make up the McKenzie Lumber facility.
Yet another view from the end of the peninsula. Note the ancient Blockhouse overlooking the area in the distance.
We have reached Blockhouse where there used to be a siding. It was removed recently. Three lovely structures reside in the area; the ever-present Blockhouse, the old station and the new station with the old depot now turned into a museum. Lawrence recently brought out the new blue depot. Lawrence played a big hand in creating the stone structures at Blockhouse using the "Jigstones" method.
From Blockhouse we take the pedestrian crossing by the dispatch hut and climb Clarke Grade which leads up to the town of Spruce. We see some of the residential buildings located in Spruce in the above image.
This structure is an old relic from the past which hangs out over the grade at Clarke Hill.
Arriving Spruce we find the elegant depot on the big curve to the west of town (geographical east). Fred's office/garage resides in back but it was not put out for the session when this image was taken.
A couple of smaller structure lie between the mainline and the team track.
Another look at the buildings in Spruce and the amazing rolling stock! (Couldn't resist!) 💘😎💘
Here's the office/garage structure.
We find ourselves with Seanna in Ironwood - so named after the Ironwood trees that were in this location on the property when Fred was but a wee little lad!
At Ironwood we have another station located on a curve in the tracks! Lovely that is!
We also see the freight shed and the large fuel tank at Larabie Fuels. The Windmill is out of the image to the bottom but it resides over the Windmill Siding.
At Ironwood Brick we have the freight shed and the ore tipple.
Between Ironwood and St. Helens, trains rise above an area known to locals as "The Plateau" where the now famous "Railfans' Cabin" exists.
A series of low slung platforms/sheds make up the various industries in Mount St. Helens.
Operators must take care when spotting traffic as the sidings here are made up of two industries each with the middle track being a quick layover track. The cattle in the stock pens are relaxing as they see no stock cars on the near track!
We glance across the mainline to see the small station located in St. Helens.
With clearance granted by the Craig Leigh yardmaster, a green target is given down in St. Helens and crews can climb the grade up into Craig Leigh. Here at the wye we see the boiler house.
The sand tower resides in the middle of the wye alongside the innermost of the three legs.
Looking nice in the morning's sunlight.
We find the icing platform in Craig Leigh with another water tower located across the tracks.
Lovely!
All of those gorgeous Jigstones structures that Doug Matheson and our late friend, Ralph Dipple, made line the outer wall of Fred's office/garage.
These images will certainly assist us when setting out the structures come next spring, Neil! Thanks a ton!
I believe some of these larger structures stay outside all winter and are boarded up under the plywood sheets once many of the buildings are placed on the tracks and covered.
Some of the recent building additions from Lawrence.
The terminal building acts as the easternmost point on the line. Doug, we love the look of the station at the end of the line!
We're not done, though. We have to address the structures on our secondary railway, the Rat Portage & Mattawa. Here is the stone depot down in Rat Portage with its recently installed water tower.
Hamer Manufacturing acts as the only opposing turnout to all others down in Rat Portage offering realistic operational challenges to our RP&M crews. Everybody...and I mean "everybody" loves switching out Hamer!" 😎👀😎
Comber Chairs and the towering Golding Grains tuck up against the wall of Fred's house while the two brown cars are spotted on the team track. The track leading to the turntable acts as a "layover track" at times when trains must tuck in their consists should a triple meet of the two RP&M trains along with Pool Train 33 be choreographed.
A view down the length of Rat Portage.
Here's Neil now! He is wearing his OVGRS golf shirt.
If ever anyone wishes to purchase a shirt with our OVGRS logo on it, get in touch with Neil and he can order you one. There are a variety of colours sizes and fits to choose from.
Weather permitting, this Wednesday we pack up all the structures for the winter.
Thanks, again, Neil for sending along these great images which cover every square inch of both railways!
All the best, Neil, Mike, Fred and all the gang of the OVGRS
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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