Garden Railroading: Session #1 of the 2024 Season

Session #1 May 25th

We kicked off the 2024 season this past Saturday.

Operations were of the narrow gauge variety.

We welcomed a few guests to the layout, a father & son team, Graham and Aaron Wood. Graham recently retired as a CN locomotive engineer where he spent the final couple of years of his career running the Rocky Mountaineer while Aaron is a locomotive engineer for CPRail. The two lads ran Train 301 with their affable host, our very own Marcel.

Another father & son team made it out with Chris & Jonah working Train 302 together.

A great big welcome to Graham, Aaron and Jonah!

We spot Aaron, Graham & Marcel pre-ops with the necessary fuel required to run the trains!

Jonah & father Chris engage John in conversation near the crew lounge before the session begins.

We'll kick things off with a few images sent my way from Seanna & Steve. We spot their train, Passenger #1 threading the needle between the ironwork of the Fred Mills Trestle.

Earlier the crew blew through the pedestrian crossing located outside the railroad's dispatch booth.

Still much earlier they had conducted their station stop on the big curve outside Ironwood.

Twin engines meet up in Bell. This must be Pool Train 33 judging by the headend equipment spotted in behind the locomotive.

Passenger 2 basks in the morning sunlight following its run from Firgrove. When engineer Garry arrived Craig Leigh, his train was turned on the wye and backed down through the web of trackwork to reach the end of the line.

Two engines engage in conversation on the sweeping curve located between the Craig Leigh passenger terminal area and Douglas Yard.

Aha! Seanna & Steve capture a glance at the newly levelled team track at Spruce. The work crews certainly have been busy of late!

Pool Train 33 is on its return journey home to Craig Leigh and is spotted at the pedestrian crossing nearby the dispatch hut.

Much earlier still we find Passenger #1 taking up the near track to the aisle down in Craig Leigh.

Bernie, Graham & Steve are captured on camera in the wee hours of the day just as the operations get underway.

Later, Pool Train 33 starts out from Craig Leigh.

Garry, Steve & Seanna share the crewing duties aboard Train 33. Here in Glen Hammond they will have switched out a headend car or two.

Seanna managed to find eastbound way freight, IPP&W 304 at Spruce. This lovely locomotive belongs to John.

A much later glimpse of Passenger Trains 3 & 4 meeting in the Glen.

The times they are a-changing as the old steamer gets a glimpse of "things to come" with a CN diesel switcher hanging around the engine house tracks in Craig Leigh.

Thanks Seanna & Steve for these glorious pictures!

The image above was sent my way by Malcolm. We are in the pre-ops phase and all cars have been distributed to their designated locations around the railroad as I share some conversation with Chris & Jonah up in Bell...before "The Bell" gets rung!

Who rung my bell? Why...Marcel did!!!

With all of our bells rung, we gather in the crew lounge to recuperate.

A few stories, jokes and laughs are shared amongst the gang and our heads are once again cleared!

Fred, our affable host, makes sure that our guests have the opportunity to introduce themselves and offer up a bit of background for us to learn more about them!

Then it's Fred's turn.

Safety measures are discussed and we dedicate this season's train running to the memory of our dear friend, Lawrence.

"Let the session begin!" Father Fred announces...so I rush from my dispatch booth over to Craig Leigh to capture the image of the first train out this season. Train 301 has been cleared down to St. Helens with orders to protect against Passenger #1 upon arrival.

Graham keeps a watch ahead of his locomotive as 301 leaves the eastern end of the line heading west for Nelson Yard.

We see a video capture of 301's departure out from Craig Leigh.

Remember, to engage a video, click on the white arrow in the middle two times with a pause between the two clicks.

Graham, Aaron & Marcel have made St. Helens.

Video footage of their arrival at St. Helens shows their train as it comes in on the passing siding to leave the station track open for a meet with Passenger #1.

Meanwhile...off in the west end of the railroad Passenger #2 meets IPP&W Train 30 at Bell.

Passenger #2 departs Bell while the crew of 302 gets on with its work as seen in this video.

Nelson Yard is well organized on this day as Doug & Bill have all trains prioritized and ready. We see Chris & Jonah continuing with their efforts up in Bell to the left.

Our umbrellas certainly come in handy in keeping our operators cool and protected from the sun's rays.

Garry has arrived Glen Hammond with the order board indicating a stop. He will await a meet with Passenger #1 which was delayed with traffic in the east end of the railroad. We see Malcolm busily working RP&M Train Rat 61 in the big yard.

The new Glen Hammond station complements the green and yellow colour tones in the passenger equipment beautifully!

In this video I inadvertently mis-identify Passenger #1 as Passenger #2. In reality, Passenger #2 has already arrived Glen Hammond and awaits the arrival of Passenger #1. A minor brain cramp in the wee hours of the morning!

A glorious meet is photographed one more time in the Glen.

Yet another interesting video of a meet, a regular occurrence on the IPP&W and the RP&M. This is Passenger #1 arriving the station for the meet with #2.

In Ironwood we find 301's crew working the sidings.

Marcel's power is spotted near the station to the west of town.

Having met 304, Marcel, Aaron & Graham have completed their efforts in Ironwood aboard 301 and head over to Spruce.

Ironwood is left behind in the rear view mirror as 301 proceeds on to Spruce in this video effort. The crew of 304 now discusses their work to be tackled in Ironwood.

Train 301 enters Nelson Yard from the east.

We follow on video 301's trajectory as the crew is lined up into the yard. On the radio I have cleared 304 in on the station track at St. Helens as there must have been another train holding the siding there momentarily. Typically they would be offered the passing siding to begin their trailing spur moves at St. Helens.

302 is right hand running through Mercer Siding heading for Nelson Yard.

Jonah & Chris have stepped aboard Train 312 as they begin their easterly trek to Craig Leigh.

312 is underway out from Nelson Yard on this video clip.

Meanwhile, up in Bell we find this Denver, South Park & Pacific gem running IPP&W Train 314.

Grant is at the helm as his is the only "single person" crew run on this day. Kudos to Grant for getting the job done in the same amount of time as other two person operators!

He is already on his second trick of the morning!

Grant lifts the coal load to show me the "innards" of his locomotive.

While finished at Bell, Grant gets underway towards Peter's Pond.

314's roll through the countryside is captured on video.

Train 304 begins its journey out from Glen Hammond bound for an appointment at Spruce.

The crew's heading is geographical west near the Fred Mills Trestle while the train is actually running eastbound.

The locomotive belongs to John. It's number is 419 but so far there is no lettering to identify which railroad it is from. John will come up with something creative, we are sure!

Video of his train as it travels through the trestle and on into the big curve at Lilly with work awaiting at Spruce.

The lads have done a great job in placing the loaded ore cars at their various mines around the railroad - inside joke!

The new siding at Ironwood Brick looks really nice!

Dilip has the ore train underway having departed Firgrove earlier in the day. His train will grow in length before he reaches the Northland Ore Dock in Craig Leigh!

Having dealt with the Fallentree Mine on the outskirts of Nelson Yard, the ore train is now bound for Ironwood.

Indeed, the unit ore train continues to spread out during its eastward swing across the rails of the IPP&W.

The ore train earlier passed by the lovely extension to the Brunt's Brewery facility.

This was one of Lawrence's final projects that he was working on before he passed away. He will be deeply missed by all.

The passage of ore through Bell as caught on video.

Ore travels through the newly laid track with the new Hosta Garden adding a verdant backdrop.

Dilip navigates the big curve as dispatcher/photographer Mike deals with other trains as witnessed and heard on this video.

This Nelson Yard vista showcases how busy the west end of the railroad can appear at times.

Pool Train 33 meets RP&M 71-72 at Bell.

Pat & Ralph are kept busy with the exchange of cars at the interchange.

We once again spot twin locomotives at Bell.

Video efforts at Bell with trains IPP&W 33 and RP&M 71-72.

Here's one of our Workday Wednesday stars...skipper Bernie who will handle the duties at Douglas Yard this day.

I manage to spot this CN puppy outside the engine house in Craig Leigh.

Marcel tells us that his friend, Graham, gave an assist in the detailing of Number 1372. She's gorgeous, Marcel!

Hey...Paul has arrived! What a treat to see you out at the session, Paul!

George is the Firgrove yardmaster and he fulfills the role on his own today as Len had to bow out of the session due to work commitments.

We check out the new depot in the Glen.

Bill has placed the chimneys atop the structure.

Let's check out the Northland Ore Dock.

Lots of loads and a few MT's!

Chris's locomotive #32 was lettered as PEIR last year in reference to the Prince Edward Island RR.

Chris craftily made a few alterations as he created the wafer which is a look so emblematic of the CN. Lovely that, Chris!

The two digits for the number 32 are raised slightly!

Awesome!

As Marcel, Graham & Aaron reach the end of their run with 312 up in Firgrove, it's time to end this particular posting.

But, just as Marcel turns his power for the return run of 322 in this video, I will be returning with another blog entry from this, our inaugural session of the 2024 season, to appear later in the week!

As for me, I had to rush over to the Glebe to set up my gear to make music with such talented musicians and singers as those who you see in this picture...Jeff, another Mike, Chris & D'Arcy.

My Fender Stratocaster sits alone on its stand beside two lovely looking bass guitars.

As musicians, we provided the music for a variety of singers to come up to the mics to strut their stuff at the Ella Street Party in the afternoon following the Great Glebe Garage Sale!

Molly and her dad (another) Chris on keys sing an old standard from many moons ago..."Cheek to Cheek".

As for me, here I am in the "wayback years" with that same Fender Stratocaster (before I stripped it down to the woodgrain) singing at the microphone with my buddy, Pete Sutcliffe, in the background on his acoustic guitar.