Garden Railroading: OVAR Display of Our Large Scale Steam Locomotives

OVAR Display of Our Large Scale Steam Locomotives

On Tuesday evening, June 11th a number of our OVGRS members brought forth their steam locomotives for the OVAR display table at the Villa Marconi banquet hall.

OVAR stands for Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders and we meet every second Tuesday of the month excepting July & August.

A typical dinner meeting sees between 85 and 90 members coming out to share camaraderie, an excellent meal, to view models and be the audience for a wonderful presentation given by either members of the group or special guests invited from away.

Last month 20 large scale diesels adorned the display table and this month 16 steamers took their place offering a wonderful array of locomotive for the membership to enjoy.

Here we have our display table with our steamers being the stars of the show! Indeed, an incredible sight!

Two full tables were required to house the equipment.

The only room available for such an expansive demonstration was at the back of the dining hall.

Ralph & Pat came up with the great idea of creating a display table for our carrying cases which in and of themselves proved very popular!

Bernie is all smiles!

As is Mike!

As the lads trickle into the hall, our arrangement of power is the first thing they encounter and the grouping certainly grabs their full attention!

Chris snaps a shot.

We've put names on the carrying cases.

Such a wide variety of "transportation boxes" as Bernie calls them.

Jim Davis from Kemptville got in on the fun as well with his Canadian Pacific steamer he painted and lettered himself.

There's Jim with our very own Pat Brewer who has arrived with yet another steamer!

Engineer Jim!

Looking good, Jim!

Engineer Pat.

Looking good as well Pat!

Malcolm has arrived and Bernie counts 16 steam engines.

Fred chats up Ray Farand as the lads share conversations at their various tables before the dinner is served.

While I won't take away from Bernie's and Mark's Interchange segment on the models that come out each month, suffice it to say that we get a wide variety of engines, rolling stock, structures, dioramas and memorabilia coming out for the display each month.

This month being our final one of the season is the month we present the Herb McEwen Award to a member of the group who has proven to be a strong ambassador to our beloved hobby. Each year the recipient is presented with a McEwen car. After we ran out of the older style parlour cars we have now gone to the new silver-fluted ones which are equally as nice. The South Shore was the late Herb McEwen's railroad line. Herb was the first OVAR member to pass away a long time ago now.

More friendship and stories abound.

Bernie snaps an image of the display. Often times all levels are completely filled with engines and rolling stock!

I brought out the large scale 55 Chevy Bel Air which the group inherited from the Lawrence Watkins collection. I've placed it alongside an HO scale version of the same car which I have parked on a side street on a diorama I had made many moons ago! I will return the Chevy to Fred's property and have it parked outside the Brewer's Barrels facility near the crew lounge patio!

The plaques list the names of our previous McEwen Award recipients with the image of Herb McEwen located in the center of the grouping.

The small piece of green tape covers the name of this year's recipient who I announced once the dinner meeting got underway.

This year's recipient is Chris Vernell who you see in this image Bernie snapped at the Arnprior Train Show in 2023. Chris is in the Thomas the Tank vest. His daughter Robin helps out at the train shows as his wife Maureen has done for many, many years. The Vernell family have been flagship ambassadors to our hobby instilling a love for trains in the very young and the not-so-very young! Indeed, families coming to the train shows will gain the opportunity to have their son or daughter run Thomas the Tank Engine around the layout. This "hands-on" approach offers treasured memories for the visiting families! It was an honour for me to present the award to Chris this year!