Workday Wednesday - December 6th

Workday Wednesday - December 6th

Wednesday, December 9, marked our last workday before taking a break till after New Years.  The goal was to finish the Craig Leigh station and we almost made it!  Many thanks to Bernie for taking pictures and recording our work.

The usual crew (Bill Scobie, Bernie Goodman, Lawrence Watkins and myself) joined Fred in the shops nicely heated by the old wood stove.  

We did the many small tasks in a logical sequence to give time for glue, grout and paint to dry.  First order of business was to repair the stone damage on the baggage portion of the station. 

Thanks to Doug Matheson for sharing all these stories and to Bernie, Bill, Lawrence, Chris & Fred for their dedication in assisting with the rejuvenation of the structures. 

These first two pictures show the extent of the damage and the beginnings of our repairs.

Here the left corner had a significant hole in the backing plywood that was filled with silicone sealant.  The stones to fill that opening have been cut and are laying on the wall.

Indeed, some repair work was required.

The bottom right corner was also badly deteriorated.  The stones have been removed and discarded.  New stones were cut and ground down to fit the opening and then glued in place.

While the glue was setting on the stonework, Chris came in and we began a discussion about the new GH station.

Chris brought with him the gable ends he created for the station.

Next was a decision on the tower roof - it needed to be made watertight especially on the one edge that didn't align perfectly and as well the base platform needed to be attached.  After some discussion Bill decided he would take it home and work on it in the comfort of his own shop.

      I mixed some sanded grout with water to get a good consistency.  Then using a sponge the grout was pressed into the new stones all                               around the station and in the baggage area.

After seeing the grout, Bill thought he could smooth out the front "walk" of the CL station.  The plywood had some very rough spots.  While we had reservations about its durability, Bill did an expert job in laying the new "concrete".

And a closeup of the walkway building in progress.

Bernie had already earned his master stone mason certification.  Next he got his journeyman's ticket as a painter...he applied a concrete coloured paint to the base of both the station and the baggage area. 

(I took one picture and somehow got my fingers in it!)

While paint and grout was drying, I painted the underside of the base of the new GH station.

To hasten the drying so we could continue, Bill used the shop light which throws a lot of heat.

Fred and Lawrence got a kick out of our ingenuity.

With everything sufficiently dry, the dry-brushing of the new stones was tackled.  I used acrylic tube paint on a makeshift palette.  The quarry couldn't match exactly the old stones from 15 years ago so the new stones have a bit more tan and a bit less red.

That concluded the day's efforts and, as I said, almost finished.  A tweak or two on the dry-brushing, painting the underside of the main station base plus the final installation of the tower roof will complete the job.

The winter Workday Wednesday crew are on holidays now till January 3 when work will begin in earnest on the Glen Hammond station.

Once again, thank you Doug, Lawrence, Bill, Chris & Fred for your tremendous contributions on the "off season" Wednesdays!

In other news, this morning we held our annual December AGM meeting in the boardroom at Fred's.

Lots of camaraderie was shared amongst the group (great tasting food as well).  

I will post another blog entry over the next couple of days showcasing the fun we had as we gathered.  

If anyone else snapped photos from the meeting, feel free to e-mail them my way and I will include them in the next blog entry!

All the best from our OVGRS family to yours!

The OVGRS clan of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada