Session #16 Happenings

Session #16 Standard Gauge

Our 16th session of the season found diesels ruling the roost.

With other activities occurring in the region we managed to run all trains with fewer members in attendance.

This meant some crews were of the single-person variety.

Diesels danced today and mine showed that it can do a two-step...or maybe a GP38 step with a dash of two!

Even our Ironwood Road switcher pulled out all the stops on the dance floor entertaining us all.

Who doesn't love this Ontario Northland livery on the unit Steve brought out and she's a near match with the lovely transfer van in UP colours.

Hey...there's another ON livery on Ralph's F-unit tucked in behind Marcel's dynamic duo.

Our passenger service is hauled by this CP lovely...another of Marcel's 

Seanna's power for 301 is found up in Craig Leigh residing by the engine shed while hubby's power...

...is found in Glen Hammond aboard 303.

At Ralph Yard we find George's CN switcher.

Len's Great Northern unit rides the rails at "The Ledges" with Train 41.

It's the early morning setout time with five freight cars per tray awaiting their assigned tracks.

Ditto for Nelson Yard where the cars await their coloured chips to determine their train assignments.

Cars destined for the neighbourhood around Nelson Yard are laid out at Anderson with five different colours assembled!

All trays are labelled.  Indeed, Anderson, Blockhouse, Bellamy & Lilly are locations in near proximity to Nelson Yard.

Bill hands Garry a CP 40-footer for the yard.

Pat, Moe and Ralph assist in the setout of cars.  Moe is wearing orange along with Mike on this National Day of Truth & Reconciliation, aka...Orange Shirt Day.

The yard in Ralph is alive with cars.

Ditto for Spruce with traffic of the black & blue nature!

Craig Leigh holds a variety of sidings for freight cars despite the fact it is the eastern terminus for passenger service.

Here's a lovely specimen.

CN reefers rest on the ice track...

...while MT's sit on the Northland Ore Dock tracks.

The interchange track for Doug Matheson's Large Scale Layout is found in Craig Leigh at Northland.

What a great surprise and joy it was to find Neil in attendance!

Great seeing Paul coming out on a regular basis as well!

Folks huddle around the crew lounge table pre-ops.

Fred reviews a few items of interest before the session gets underway.

Moments earlier Sid and Bill were found in Craig Leigh.

Aha...that's how you turn the 103 on!

Thanks, Bill - I couldn't figure that one out!  😍😎😘

Pat and Marcel share a joke in the lounge!

Seanna and Steve hook up the flashers at the pedestrian crossing.

We appreciate all that Steve and Seanna bring to the group!

Let's check out those flashers on video shall we!

This snippet from a video shows Mike placing an RP&M caboose on an IPP&W train...which is allowable.

The caboose connection is seen on video tape.

Yes, at times the cabeese are interchangeable...when a shortage on one railroad appears.  I know with certainty that this is an IPP&W train and not an RP&M one seeing as the caboose is located on the end of the train from the west.  All RP&M trains run west with their end cars placed on the consist from the east.

Nelson Yard video attempts early in the session.

The west end is a hive of activity in the wee hours of the morning.

West end video activities.

Dilip is one of our two passenger train operators on this day.

This video showcases his arrival into the Glen as he flows through the Fred Mills Trestle over "The Gap".

At the same time, Dilip's counterpart, Pat, hustles along the rails through Mercer Siding having been cleared into Bellamy.  The two passenger trains will arrive Glen Hammond within mere moments of each other - as has occurred throughout the time we have been experimenting with dual passenger service running simultaneously!

Video finds at Mercer.

Hot on the tail of Passenger 2 we find the ore train arrive Mercer Siding on a slow order.

Extended video footage from Mercer.

With the passenger train safely through the junction it is now the ore train's turn to make the crossing.

Junction video.

Ore arrives Nelson.

Ore arrival video along with the passenger meet in the Glen.

Yardmaster Garry has retrieved the ore cars for Steve which is greatly appreciated by Mr. McKenzie!

Sneezy video times make for one earthquake of a video.  (Mike sneezes twice!)

The ore cars have been set out by Garry for ease of lifting by Steve.

Continued ore video at Nelson Yard,

The ore train is now on its way east.

Video of ore on the move out from Nelson Yard.

Viewed from nearby, I catch the crew aboard the Ontario Northland diesel notching up as the train departs the big yard.

More video of ore on the move.

From my perch at the gap I am able to catch the O.N. Rail unit having squeezed through the trestle rolling onward to Lilly and Spruce.

Bridge video with ore.

Passenger 2 gains momentum as the crew reaches the big trestle to the east of the Glen.

With a gorgeous CP road switcher on the point followed by a steam generator car, a heavyweight combine, and a handful of streamliners, this train does not disappoint!

The sun reflects back to the lens of my camera off the side of the cars as the train passes by.

Here's Mr. Pat Brennan, the gentleman at the helm of the train.

Passenger 2 video moments.

And here is our dear friend, Mr. Bill of the Scobie clan who shared those wonderful Air Force Museum pics with us earlier this week!

My lack of knowledge regarding this wee little thing inspired many of our friends to offer up information our way which is most appreciative!

Steve M. sent me an e-mail with this picture attached (from Library and Archives Canada - Photo MIKAN No. 3199512).   As you read in Steve's e-mail to the group, he wrote: 

 Mike the little puppy in the pictures Bill sent you are of a Link Trainer.  The Link Trainer is one of a series of flight simulators produced between the early 1930's and the early 1950's by Link Aviation Devices, founded and headed by Ed Link, based on technology he pioneered in 1929 at his family's business in Binghampton, New York.  During the Second World War, they were used as a key pilot training aid by almost all combatant nations throughout that time period.

Mark S. then wrote me saying:

Hi Mike,  I know quite a bit about the Link trainer as I worked for several years as a tour guide here at the Air and Space Museum when we first moved to Ottawa. The museum has an example on display and it was always a highlight for us on tours, particularly for schoolchildren. 

It’s a nifty machine that was on invented by an organ manufacturer originally as an amusement park toy in the 1930s before being used to train thousands of pilot cadets during the war. When fitted with the “crab” device that sketched out the pilot’s path on a map, it really represents one of the first examples of a computer.

Below you will find an excellent history of the Link trainer, including its “link” (no pun intended ) to Canada, where apparently over 5,000 were manufactured in Gananoque down the road from us during the war.

Copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to visit the site Mark references.

http://www.canadianflight.org/content/link-trainer

Thanks, Mark, for this fascinating information!

Mark C. sent in this image with the message below.

Hi Mike, all this discussion reminded me of the franking I received recently - photo attached. "1942-1944 / WWII Air Training Base / Caronport SK".

Bernie, having read the address on the franking as indicating WWII Air Training Base, Caronport, SK sent along  the following message:

In case you are not aware, this site provides a rather detailed history of RCAF Caron, SK. Love the very clear date stamp. Bernie.

Copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to learn more about the air force base.

https://rcaf.info/rcaf-stations/saskatchewan-rcaf-stations/rcaf-station-caron/

Malcolm began the discussion with these next three images.  In his words:

Mike et al - your posting of Bill's photos reminded me of an Ottawa connection to railways and streetcars. The Ottawa Car Company that manufactured streetcars changed its name in the late 1930s to Ottawa Car and Aircraft. 

They had a hangar at Uplands where among other things they made parts for Avro Ansons.  Ansons were widely used to train bomber crews in Canada as part of the Commonwealth Training plan.  

My uncle fondly remembered them from when he was a navigator trainer.  

Attached are  two photos from the LAC CFJIC collection (HC 118887-2 and 118887) and a clipping from Oct 1940 Railway and Shipping World.  (Image HC 118887-2 of the LAC CFJIC collection.)

Malcolm continues:  

In one photo the name of the company is faintly visible on the hangar roof. Also note the gantry crane and railway siding in the background. The siding was built on the right of way of part of a former CNoR one which served a quarry in Bowesville area (c 1912-1918). 

The northern part of it was resurrected by the CNR for the war and a new portion built into the growing airport. There are a few two-engine aircraft in front of and beside the hangar which might be Ansons and there are also a couple of single-engine fighters.  (Image 118887 of the LAC CFJIC collection.)

Here is the clipping Malcolm sent - from Oct 1940 Railway and Shipping World.  (Image HC 118887-2 of the LAC CFJIC collection.)

Thanks Malcolm for this fascinating information which ties aviation and streetcar running together!

As for me...I've been working on this O-scale Dolbeer Donkey engine for my fellow dispatcher, Doug Matheson.

Thankfully this model is in a larger scale seeing as many of the parts are quite intricate.

This will help make up a much larger scene of a sawmill I will be building for Doug.

Some of these images were taken under fluorescent lighting with others taken under incandescent lighting.

Bill sent along these next few images from the National Narrow Gauge Convention held in Denver.  Here we see a lovely version of a sawmill with log pond.

Some lovely weathering helps to age the model nicely.

It would appear that there is some interior lighting going on here.

Bill tells me this is a model of the Rolling Car Dumper at Salida CO on the D&RGW.

The narrow gauge cars would be pushed up the ramp and then rolled over the standard car to transfer the load of coal or limestone. 

It took two narrow gauge cars to fill one standard gauge car.

 It was a dirty job. And that’s all I know about the model. 

Thanks, Bill...for the pics and the explanation!

On a totally different topic, Barry, our OVGRS member from Belleville sent me this image which was sent to him from a friend of a very colourful car with a dragon image on the side.

Last Thursday, our very own Steve Adamson traveled to Belleville to operate Barry's large scale layout.  Steve has a number of friends in the general area near Barry's place.  Steve hooked Barry up with the lads and they were invited for the operating session outdoors.  

Then, Steve & Barry and others traveled over to the home of one of Steve's friends who operates an HO scale layout for a session.  

I believe they also visited the large scale set-up in Picton at a B&B which I have shared with you before.  

Now that Barry has been introduced to some of Steve's buddies down that way he will be able to partake in some of their indoor HO sessions thoughout the winter.  

Kudos to Steve for putting all this together!

And...speaking of colourful rail cars, the Gatineau Hills did not disappoint your author on Saturday.

You will recall that I had to leave Saturday's session early in order to head on up to my nephew's recently purchased cottage near Chelsea on Lac Vert.

Well, the surroundings are gorgeous as my daughter, Karen, in the kayak will testify!

It was fun gathering with extended family.

Some of the younger ones enjoyed fishing off the dock and the dogs were certainly eager to learn of any catches.  (The young lad managed to catch four fish while out in a boat with his dad later in the afternoon!)

Here is my nephew, Jamie.  He is the son of my late sister, Marty, who passed away two and a half years ago after battling pancreatic cancer.

We see my daughter Karen in the foreground with Jamie's partner, Alysha in the jean shorts and Lisa off in the distance.

I've always told you I am a twin - a fraternal one - not identical as my twin brother, Jim, is spotted relaxing lakeside.

Jim was one of the chief auditors working on the Gomery Inquiry many years ago.  Now retired without ever having to wear a suit and tie again, he's pulling a "Gerry Berrigan" with that hair of his!  He is also a musician - drummer in three local bands.  We couldn't be any different, could we!

Back at Fred's we have realized that the session you see appearing on this blog entry was our final Standard Gauge session of the season.  We have decided to have next Saturday's operations be our grand finale with the understanding that the following weekends in October will see a number of city-wide model railroad events taking place.

We also want to get the railroad packed up before the cold weather sets in and we'll need more than the coffee Bill has poured for himself to warm the cockles of our hearts!

Thanks Fred for putting up with us for yet another Saturday's session!

Thanks to all those who contributed to the many images and stories in this particular entry.

Also, thanks to all those who managed to make it our for the operations and to you, the reader for checking in on this entry.

All the best, Fred, Bill and all the ladies and gentlemen of the OVGRS

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada