Railroad Related Activities From Pat

Keeping the Railroad Juices A-Flowing!

Hey folks.  As always it is nice to see what others are doing over the off-season railroad related.

Pat sent along these half dozen images along with a great e-mail.

Check out Pat's message to me below and in the captions in the pictures.

Hey Mike, the last few days have been enjoyable with railway related activities.  

Saturday I went to the Hobby show at Galeries d'Aylmer and purchased a few large scale cars at a reasonable price. 

Sunday was running large scale trains at George's. 

I picked Uncle Fred up for the session.

Len was in attendance too!

Today,  after working in the rail and pipeline section of the Transportation Safety Board I enjoyed some Ironwood cider in a Railway City glass. 

I acquired the cider from our trip to Niagara wine country Labour Day weekend 2022.

All aboard for railway related stuff every day!  Cheers, Pat!

Thanks a ton for sending these our way, Pat!

I've been busy as well with train related activities over the past little while.  I attended the January OVAR meeting last Tuesday evening in the midst of that raging snowstorm.  We saw some 55 folks brave the weather including many from our OVGRS group.

I brought out Fred's Canadian Pacific tankcar.  The CP never actually adorned their tankers in this scheme but we are happy that the large scale manufacturer chose to bring it out in this livery as it is quite pleasing to the eye!  I also brought along two milk trains and various other milk cars as well as the creamery I received from David Primeau which I fixed up somewhat and placed on a diorama.

Ralph Beaumont was our guest speaker and he offered up an excellent presentation on "Diesels in the Bruce".  Awesome!

The month before, our table display showcased some of John Soehner's magnificent work.

I brought out my large scale B&M 40' boxcar Paul Norton had given me and showcased the "scaled down" difference of a similar car in HO scale.

A nice view of some of John's handiwork.

A bunch of the OVAR members anticipate a great dinner.

And...a superb dinner it is every month.  

This was John's plate seeing as I take a diabetic meal without the pasta.  I get extra vegetables and they taste amazing!

In a recent blog entry I told you that I was about to embark on this O-scale project for our good friend, Doug Matheson.

Doug had ordered the kit from Wiseman Model Services.

It was a joy creating the model...thankfully in a larger scale than HO!

A great deal of the work involved cleaning the casting, painting the finicky detail parts and familiarizing myself with the terminology of all the parts.

If you review the top two images you will note how I was able to allow the front wheels to turn in any direction, left or right or straight.

With the dramatic increase in road building in the 1920's due to the rapid expansion of motor traffic, a road grader was necessary to level the road surface.

Early forms of the graders were pulled by teams of horses, oxen or even...yes...water buffalos!

Eventually self-propelled versions came into being...although Doug & I may decide to have a team of horses pull this little puppy!  This will mean all the necessary paraphernalia will have to be constructed in order to join the equine team to the grader!  That's for another day!

Finally, I am writing this blog entry after returning from an evening of skating at the Governor General's home at Rideau Hall.

This year, rather than having to reserve free ice time for groups, they have opted to open the rink each weekday evening for a free public skate from 5:00 - 8:30 and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 8:30 in the evening!

I'll be heading out two or three times a week for sure as exercise is so good for those identified as being diabetic.  Check out the wonderful heated building where you go to put on your skates.

Following an hour of skating, it is time to relax a little bit.

The wood stove is stoked and the place is cozy warm.  A fire is kept burning during all free skate times and there is even an outdoor fire pit as well.

The ceiling for the "hot stove" is gorgeous.

Here are Lisa, Alison and yours truly.  My daughter Alison is the Deputy Director of Visitors Services at Rideau Hall and the organizing of the rink falls under her department.

A closer view of our smiley faces!

Before and after each free skate a Zamboni clears and waters the ice.

Also, there are washroom facilities in a nearby building that is a one-minute walk from the rink. 

Anybody in our greater OVGRS family is more than welcome to come on out and enjoy what our Canadian winter has to offer.

Time to get a warm cup of tea for now!

Thanks Pat for sending along your wonderful pics and stories which spurred me on to creating this blog entry!

All the best, Pat, Mike, George, Len, Fred and all the OVGRS family

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada