Garden Railroading: Lots Accomplished on This Workday Wednesday

Workday Wednesday Results

Even though the weather was damp with a slight drizzle early this morning a large contingent of volunteers came out to work on the railroad.

The entire WDWD crew appreciate the efforts of all involved!

This posting showcases the many and varied items covered on a wet Wednesday.

Chris, Bernie & Doug hold court with Fred and me as we await the drizzle to clear.

We are discussing a number of things including what will be on our "to do list" for the morning's work.

Bill arrives with a smile.

Of course...he wears yet another convention T-shirt!

A handsome lad is he!

Doug examines the signal mast that Bill has brought along.

Looking good!

Chris heads over to Ralph Yard to check the tote bins.

Thankfully none have railroad cars in them...only a load of H2O!

Bill brings out the roof for the new Glen Hammond station.

Hey, check out all of the wiring for lighting purposes! This must mean that Seanna & Steve are on the premises.

Hmmm...the interior detailing offers us a clue as to who the figure represents! Portions of a bridge under construction plus the Glen Hammond station on the workbench...and he's wearing that hat of his!

Why...it must be...

Is it?

Yes...it's Lawrence...our dear friend who recently moved on to railroad heaven!

Seanna & Steve connect the station to a power source inside the dispatch booth.

Et Voila! The semaphore is illuminated!

Bravo! Trains must stop at the depot!

The lamp is lit as well!

As is the interior!

Detonation!

Teamwork!

Steve is fully focused on the task at hand.

"It works!" Steve proclaims!

This is Greek to me!

Just checking that all lamps light up!

And they do!

Meanwhile...off to the east at Ironwood, little 'ole me gets down to work installing the track bumpers.

These ones are very special.

Why?

Simple!

Because...Lawrence made them!

Doug comes by to investigate.

Bernie shares a story.

I get down to work with the stones which Henk had recently purchased.

I still have a few spaces to fill in order to tidy things up.

Here is my trusty tool for digging the stones from the bag.

Every now and then I have to stand to relieve the aches in the old knee joints!

That's looking pretty nice!

Hey...I love these pliers as they look like this...

...and with a flip of the wrist they look like this!

Pat has arrived to pitch in with the lads.

Does he have a screw loose? No, he doesn't! Pat has come to examine the books donated by Lawrence to see if any are volumes that the Craig Memorial Library does not have in their possession...as the literature will go there first for all to enjoy!

Fred is not one to sit around.

I catch him working on the turnout.

Looks good, Fred!

Chris makes a great suggestion where we used to have a tall stone step near Lilly that acted as a stair for operators to climb past the tracks and service the two stub end sidings located in the peninsula.

The previous step has long been a tripping hazard with two angle irons holding it in place. The angle irons jutted up into the air an inch or so above the stone step which in and of itself presented a tripping hazard or worse still a sharp object that an operator could tumble atop.

So-o-o, Chris's solution is to make a series of lower steps.

We removed three of the keystone shaped garden stones and laid some stone dust down.

Another flat half-patio stone found elsewhere on the property did the trick beautifully!

Stone dust was placed around the two new steps.

Chris and I also added stone dust to create a low slope at ground level that all will see. We have now eliminated the tripping hazard!

We're no dummies. The dolly does the hard job of lifting and carrying the bucket of stone dust from Craig Leigh over to Lilly.

Some changes will be made at this end of Nelson Yard as well.

Chris and I listened as Bernie explains what Fred wants for the yard.

A new engine house will be located here as well as a track that will saddle up beside the engine house. (Think Craig Leigh) We have to eliminate the small lip of the fascia board to accommodate the planned building.

Chris gets out his oscillating saw and "goes to town" with the job!

Final task of the morning is to plant the small Hosta donated by a lady to Fred which was delivered his way last night at the OVAR meeting.

The Hosta is now in place as are more of the stones. I will bring another Hosta out Saturday to plant when we gather for our first session of the season. If you have any extra Hosta, feel free to bring a segment along as well!