Garden Railroading: December 2023

Season's Greetings to All Our OVGRS Friends Far & Near

Hello OVGRS friends, this blog entry is meant for all of you to share your season's greetings with the rest of the group.

If ever there was a time for camaraderie, friendship and peace in our world, it would be now.

So, join on in and share a greeting for all who follow the blog from all around the world.

I will kick off the season with my greetings from the Hamer clan to your lovely families.

My short line railroad, the St. Clare & Northern holds the holiday honours on this day driving along Boston & Maine rails heading for the junction with the Maine Central on a snowy day.

Remember, you can enlarge the images by clicking on them.

You can return to the default look of the page by clicking outside them.

If any of you have young children or grandchildren, you can copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to have them watch a lovely nursery rhyme about a Christmas train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGXAuyxok4s

Every December I photograph a [temporary] snow scene on my N-scale layout (and in this case cheat a little by photoshopping the background trees and sky).

Best wishes to all my garden railroading friends! Chris

Let us remember the birth of Jesus,

that we may share in the song of the angels,

the gladness of the shepherds,

and worship of the wise men.

— Robert Louis Stevenson

Holiday Greetings to all, with the hope that everyone has a Safe, Caring, Healthy, Friendly, Happy Winter season; while looking forward to a Great NEW YEAR 2024.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR FRIENDSHIP

Fred Mills

Moe sends a Christmas cheer to us all from his family.

"Have the best Christmas ever and be sure to work on emptying that bucket list!" his canine friends tell us!

Ralph sends along this next message our way as viewed through the image above and the two below!

A very special Happy and Enjoyable Christmas Wish to all the OVGRS group!

Thanks to all who have helped to make the 2023 season a wonderful experience for all participants.

God bless you all and let's look forward to the 2024 season with hope for another safe and enjoyable experience with Father Fred.

Henk sends along this wonderful Christmas greeting our way from his native country.

Henk, I'm wondering if there would be snow in The Netherlands at this time of year?

The above image showcases both of our recent contributors, Henk with the big smile and Moe looking on in amusement!

Our good friend, John Soehner, sent along this image of a portion of his many modelling projects our way.

Here is his message:

Saturday December 22, 2023 and a dull dreary day ahead outside, based on looking out the window. No sign of snow from all that the "weather people" have to say, only humming and...

“Dreaming of a White Christmas”.

So down to the shops and a little more work on the WW & P Double Sectionhouse kit-bash of the Kanamodels Product CP Section House kit!

Going for the somewhat Grand Trunk cream ’n’ green that I have on Whitby Junction Station and the single Section House already built years ago.

John is not only a brilliant modeller, he is an incredible railfan and a super ambassador to our hobby - delivering clinics whenever asked to do so!

Merry Christmas, John...from all of us to you!

Our dear friends from south of the border, Diane & Ed Mann have sent a link to a JL Christmas Greeting Card our way.

Simply click on the link below into your computer's browser to see the e-card.

https://jlcards.com/BQ5k8A

Thank you Diane & Ed!

Merry Christmas to you both!

Garry sent along this lovely image of a train circling his family's Christmas Tree. Doesn't this take us back to our youth so beautifully?

Here is Garry's message: Hi Mike, thanks so much for doing these Christmas wishes on the blog.

As I mentioned last Christmas, the Grandkids will operate the Garden RR train which will deliver presents to family members in our Living Room on Christmas Day.

This picture is before presents were put under the tree as presents tend to block the view of the back of the RR.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy 2024 filled with fun OVGRS operating sessions. Garry & family.

And...here is Garry wishing for a White Christmas as so many of us are!

Johnny ChuffChuff & Noelle sent along this lovely image and greetings our way.

A very Happy Christmas, Mike, to your family and to all our Ottawa friends!

This welcoming manger scene is in our foyer, Peruvian terracotta, 8" high.

Cheers, John

This just came in from Malcolm: Hi Mike - Merry Christmas to you and Lisa! Here is a Christmas pic for the blog.

A photo we took at Omega Park a number of years ago when we had friends from Australia visiting. We wanted to give them a true taste of winter - something they had never experienced before.

Merry Christmas to our entire OCGRS family, Malcolm

Here's a fun picture of Malcolm running his train in a blizzard between St. Helens and Ironwood.

We simply had to review Mark's pics from the CP Holiday Train's visit to our area!

Here's Mark & Leo!

The images were taken in Eastern Ontario near Merrickville.

Very colourful and creative!

A cool late evening shot!

Well lit up!

Mark, Ollie & Leo brave the cooler temperatures to take in the action!

Mark then sent along this wonderful video of the holiday train in action in a smaller scale! Simply click on the white arrow twice to engage the video.

Lovely, Mark - thanks for sharing!

A friend of Lisa's snapped this photo in Europe and sent it our way as she knew I loved trains and other related modes of transportation.

It would appear there is no snow there either. Lisa's friend is from The Netherlands.

There is a small connection to Christmas as the Christmas radio station is advertised on the front of the car.

Hi Mike,

Henk has just informed me that the streetcar in Lisa's picture is riding in The Hague. It is a car from line 1 between Delft, Downtown The Hague and Scheveningen Beach. This one is on its way to Delft. It is an older model which soon will be replaced.

Thanks Henk!

Terry from the UK sent along this snow-covered image for us! Looking great there Terry! I imagine Santa visited your land before making his way to Ottawa!

Here is Terry's message to Fred which was passed along my way.

Afternoon, Fred. Great chat on Friday and I'm sorry we had to curtail it somewhat but we are working to a schedule here, as you readily understand. Still, got some words in !!!

Just thought you might like to share this YouTube video of the state of the 2-8-2 'Prince of Wales' under construction in the Darlington Works where the story of railways began in the 1820's.

The cylinder casting was made in sections, as the skills of making it in one pour have long been lost. However, making it using CAD has resulted in amazingly accurate ports and passages, so maybe it was all for the best. That part of the loco cost us just under CAN$400,000....................................

Copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to check on the updates Terry sends our way.

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

The UK does a masterful job of restoration and preservation as noted in this second story at the link below. Copy and paste the link into your browser to see the awesome work done in this shop!

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

Thanks, once more Terry for sending along your Christmas wishes. All the best to you and your family "across the big pond" in 2024!

Pat Brennan sends along Christmas and Season's Greetings our way by way of this Southern locomotive tender he owns.

That's one lovely locomotive tender, Pat!

Pat is standing in a snowstorm between Spruce and Cedar Rock with Mount St. Helen's spotted off in the distance.

Now for something very special!

We would like to take this moment to wish Lawrence a very Happy Birthday today!

Lawrence is the glue that holds our railroad together!

Bernie agrees with me that this man is the real McCoy!

Garry would also attest that not only is Lawrence a devoted "Workday Wednesday" worker, he is a great crewmate when running trains!

As for me, Lawrence has been a mentor in all things railroading! Here's to you on this special day Lawrence!

On behalf of the entire OVGRS we wish you the best in the new year.

Your courage is an inspiration to us all!

Oh, look, we've spotted one of Santa's elves trackside way back in December of 2015!

Yes, yes...it is one of Santa's elves named Bernie of the Goodman clan and he's clearing the tracks ahead of his diesel when that December's weather (like this year) allowed us to run trains into December!

Bernie enjoyed reading about the locomotive works facility in the UK seeing as he has a personal connection to the location. Below is his message my way.

Merry Christmas Mike and Lisa. Lets hope your eye situation clears itself up sooner rather than later.

Just a quick note, I was born in Darlington where the P2 and Tornado are/were built. The Darlington Works built many locomotives for the LNER. I spent a year in grade 7 in Darlington and spent many an hour train spotting on the very busy London-Edinburgh line.

We used to play soccer behind the locomotive works. As the token Canadian with no soccer skills, I was always the goalie. This had a bright side as it gave me a few moments to watch them move locos in and out. Good times.

Bernie continues...

I actually still have good friends in Darlington from way back in that time. Jill and I went back in 2016 and met up with a few neighbour and train spotter friends. We spent a great day at the Shildon Railroad Museum, just outside Darlington.

Of course, Darlington is not only famous for the birth place of Bernie Goodman, but also the first operating railroad in the world, the Stockton and Darlington.

Bernie sends along his best wishes for all as we turn the calendar to a new year!

My musician friends and I played a Christmas party recently.

From left to right we have Gary, me, Mark and Alec.

We covered a number of old standards as well as some Christmas tunes with Adrienne back in town visiting from her new home in Sooke, BC.

Tina was awesome on the Handpan drum.

My friend Wayne on mandolin actually situated himself perfectly to appear as Rudolph with his red nose as there was a set of antlers hanging on the wall in behind him with a Christmas decoration hanging on them. I only noticed this when I saw a video of the band later on!