OVGRS Christmas Party and AGM

OVGRS Christmas Party and AGM

Some twenty or so members joined Fred in the boardroom for our Annual General Meeting.

Doug Matheson chaired the meeting and Henk took notes.

Then it was on to the real reason we gather - to celebrate friendship and good food!

Dilip sent along this first batch of pictures from the meeting.

The boardroom is indeed full with overflow running into the workbench area in back.

The boardroom table.

It was nice to see some friends we hadn't seen in quite a while.

Two tiers of chairs were set out for the meeting.  

That's Garry in the foreground.  We appreciate Garry's efforts in compiling a historical document of the developments of the OVGRS throughout the years since its inception.

Our successes from the last season of train operations were reviewed and our future development needs for the railroad were discussed.

Thanks for these pictures, Dilip!  Much appreciated!

I arrived early to find Steve & Fred in conversation.

Did I mention good food?  

Does that mean good food for good health or good food that makes one feel good?  Heh heh!

Pat was happy when I presented him with a tiny gift via Lawrence's collection.

We thank our other Pat for offering a list of potential repairs to the railroad to be undertaken before we get our operations underway for the 2025 season.

We thank Doug for chairing the meeting before the partying got underway.

We also thank Henk for keeping the minutes and acting as the OVGRS treasurer.  

That's Doug & Bernie in back.  We appreciate Bernie's efforts in keeping track of the funds that have come in from the sale of Lawrence's and Joan's donated items.

Conversations abounded all around the room.

Malcolm shares an image with Doug from his phone.

Bob shared with us the story behind his pain relief patches he finds so helpful.  Thanks Bob!

Steve & Seanna are Santa's Little Helpers offering up two batches of chili for the group to enjoy!

Yummy, yummy, yummy. I've got chili in my tummy!

Thanks Seanna & Steve!

Indeed, we enjoyed a wonderful time gathering in the boardroom at Fred's place!

I'll wrap up this blog entry with this 'overview' video from the room.

On behalf of the entire OVGRS family, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and relaxing holiday season.

We are the OVGRS of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Doug, Doug & Mike Go Sailing

Doug, Doug & Mike Go Sailing

Well...not quite.

The three of us drove down to Kingston to check out the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes which is dedicated to the history of mariners who plied the Great Lakes in vessels of all varieties.

We also paid a little extra to enjoy a 90 minute guided tour of the S.S. Keewatin which now resides in the dry dock beside the main museum building.

While she is in 'dry dock' she floats with water around her hull.

Keewatin means "Northwest Wind" in Ojibway (Chippewa) and it is also the name of the area rock formation which contains iron ore.

The Keewatin is the largest of the remaining Edwardian era passenger steamers in existence in the world today along with the SS Nomadic and the lake steamer TSS Earnslaw which is currently still operational in New Zealand.

She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland and launched on July 6th, 1907 and completed in September of that year...five years before the Titanic sailed!

The vessel sailed on her maiden voyage where she docked in the Davie shipyard at Lèvis, Quebec on October 5th, 1907 where she was split in two at a point 1/3 of the distance back from the bow.

Note how the split was made: not in a perfect vertical fashion, rather a staggered approach which offered a stronger bond when reassembled...engineering at the forefront!

She had to be split because the canals below Lake Erie, specifically the Welland Canal, could not handle ships of her length - 336 feet seven inches.  Of course, the bulkheads were sealed shut.

She was reassembled at Buffalo, New York where she resumed her delivery voyage under her own power on December 19, 1907.

She was an elegant passenger liner which once travelled between Port Arthur/Fort William (now Thunder Bay) on Lake Superior and Port McNicoll on Georgian Bay (Lake Huron).

She carried passengers and packaged freight goods between the above-mentioned ports for the Canadian Pacific Railway's Great Lakes steamship service.

Here we find the S.S. Keewatin having arrived Port McNicoll where the Canadian Pacific passenger train is waiting at the station.

Ignore the glare off the glass and enjoy the view!

Canadian Pacific locomotive #1271 holds the honours on this day.  She is 4-6-2 Pacific built in April of 1948.

It is difficult to eliminate the glare of the lighting found near the purser's cabin at the passenger entry to the steamship.

The passenger train entered the station nose first as the end of track would be near where the photographer would be standing.

Since I love building dioramas, I believe this scene above would fit the bill nicely for a year long project!

If I wanted to model this particular angle, I would have to truncate the S.S. Keewatin, model the station in its entirety and perhaps place the steam engine and a portion of a passenger car facing to the front of the diorama.

This view taken the other way showcases the platform where passengers were transferred between marine and rail transport.  

(Photo:  City of Toronto Archives)

This is perhaps an easier angle to create a diorama...but it would be quite wide if I were to model the entire ship and passenger train!

I'd like you to meet my brother, Doug, and my other brother, Doug!

Well, we're brothers in spirit sharing the same passion for anything "transportation"!

We learned that one of the reasons this lovely vessel eventually became 'obsolete' was due to the fact that she was of wooden design and manufacture...made with a wooden cabin interior and superstructure.  

After a disastrous fire on a different, yet similarly built ship in 1949, the regulations changed...becoming far more strict for wooden vessels.

Another reason leading to her obsolescence was the fact that as technology progressed, faster and more reliable transportation means developed...in particular roads and highways to go along with rail travel.

Destined for the scrapyard, the Keewatin was rescued by entrepreneur R.J. Peterson of Saugatuck, Michigan who sailed her to Lake Kalamazoo where he created a maritime museum.

In 2011, she returned home to Port McNicoll where she remained until 2017 where plans were made to move her to Midland, Ontario.  

Funding fell through with these plans as with plans to keep her at Port McNicoll.  

In March of 2023 the vessel was donated to the Marine Museum in Kingston on Lake Ontario.

On April 24, 2023, she departed Port McNicoll for Heddle Shipyards in Hamilton Harbour for retrofitting and repair prior to her move to Kingston.

The ship made her grand appearance at Kingston on October 26, 2023 under tow by tugboats where she was placed in dry dock and received a heritage designation.

This video display in the museum shows her arrival at Kingston.

On May 17, 2024, she was opened for public tours.

And...on Friday, October 18th, Doug, Doug & Mike took advantage of said tour!  

We visited the museum located in the building adjacent to the dry dock and then enjoyed our 90 minute tour of the passenger facilities.  

We will make it a point to return in the future to take a separate tour of the engine room!

In a future blog installment I will share with you some lovely images from inside the Keewatin...

...as we traversed the various decks from bow to stern!

I will also create a short blog entry containing images from inside the museum where we find our two Dougs!  

A great big note of thanks go out to both Doug's for dreaming up the idea of the trip and for carrying it out!

Short video footage of the SS Keewatin and the museum at the harbour in Kingston, Ontario.

So...when we meet again you will get to know our lovely tour guide, a young and knowledgeable lady who came to Canada from her home in Palestine.  

She was well versed in the history and the technical aspects of the Keewatin.

All the best,  Doug, Doug & Mike of the OVGRS

Writing to you from Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Closing Up For the Season and Freight Cars

Final Close-Up For the Season

Hi folks.  A goodly number of operators arrived Fred's property this morning to conduct the final close-up for the season.

"Many hands make light work" as the saying goes, and the packing up of buildings and the taking down of the canopy, fridge & umbrellas was completed long before 11:30 AM!

A discussion was held on freight cars seeing as one of our founding members needed to remove his 27 cars from the Standard Gauge inventory in order to sell them to another member in the group.

This is not a problem as we already have sufficient numbers and many HO railroads operate better when the owners remove 10% - 20% of their fleet.

Our trainmasters have told us that they "cycle" cars on and off the railway via the Northland Interchange in Craig Leigh to the east and via an interchange track in Firgrove to the west anyway seeing as we already have a sufficient number of cars for the session.

With a dozen or so boxcars removed along with eight tank cars, three reefers and two flatcars, the members felt that it would be nice if a few of us who own freight cars already would be willing to "loan" one or two to the railroad simply to add "spice and variety" to the operations.  These cars would be brought into regular service to make up for the ones removed.  The "on and off" cycle of interchange of traffic at both ends of the line would continue as has been done of recent and we would see a greater variety of traffic with the addition of new cars.  Should you wish to donate a car or two on "long term loan" we would place your name on the bottom of the car as an identification mark (with Bernie's labelling machine) should you wish to take your car(s) back at any time.

I only own two large scale boxcars and I will "loan" both of them to the railway from hereon in.

This 40' Delaware & Hudson boxcar was used as the "battery car" when I bought my Delaware & Hudson GP38-2 from Gord Bellamy.  When Paul Norton kindly converted my engine, the boxcar was no longer required to run the locomotive.  I will always appreciate Paul for doing this work for me.  I think the car looks really cool with that D&H crest with the renumbered system and the blanked out data info.

For our Standard Gauge trainmaster, Steve...once you have removed the 27 cars from the Standard Gauge inventory list, please add this as a replacement 40' boxcar which I am loaning on a 'permanent' basis.  

I'll get Bernie to add my name beneath the car using his specialized labelling machine.  Steve, please add D&H #18230 to the inventory for standard gauge operations.

One of my everlasting memories of running trains on the OVGRS was the day Paul gifted me with this wonderful Boston & Maine car.  I am forever grateful to Paul for doing so and this gesture of his always will remain in my heart.  Such a wonderful gift!  

I bring this car out on Standard Gauge days but take it home each time after the operations as it holds a special place in my crew lounge for all to see!

Next season I will bring the car out to the first Standard Gauge operations and just leave it there for the full season and take it home only at the end of the operations around Thanksgiving time.  

Steve, B&M #46020 should already be on the inventory as it has been used in operations all season long.

For those wishing to "loan" a freight car or two to the IPP&W Railway, send me the car type and railroad name with car number and I will ensure that Steve gets the information in quick order. 

 You can send an image as well if you wish - standard gauge equipment only please!

Back to today's activities in Fred's backyard.  

This 'snippit' image from a video showcases how we have stored the buildings on the new platform at Craig Leigh and below as well.

Because we had widened Craig Leigh by half a board width when conducting the refurbishment here, the old strapping was not long enough to handle the new width...so Bernie went out and purchased some new strapping.

Video effort of Bernie sorting the strapping at even intervals.

This was the finished look as Pat drills in further strapping atop the canopy.

As Fred says with pride in his voice, "Lawrence would be proud of the effort put in by the crew!"

Chris sent along some images my way, so I will start off with them.  Pat looks on as I cut some of the strapping.  

Yes I am dressed in a down-filled coat, hat, scarf and gloves seeing as it is only 1 degree Celsius at the moment which is 33.8 degrees Fahrenheit!

Pat & Moe get in on the action.

Fred contributes as well as Moe steadies the stepladder for me.

Pat & Bernie supervise the collection and placement of the buildings at the newly refurbished Craig Leigh where they will be covered up and stored for the winter.

Bernie & Pat confer on items as the storage of structures is fully underway.

Thanks Chris for sending these images my way!

First things first...taking the 'cabeese' from the dispatch tower and placing them on trays in the shed.

With 27 fewer cars, there was plenty of room for the cabeese to go...even if some are from the Narrow Gauge operations.  The goal was to get them inside.

To beat the weekday Ottawa traffic, Lisa got me to Fred's at 7:45 AM!  Yikes!

Father Fred and I agreed that I wouldn't climb on any stepladders to address the canopy's removal until some of the other lads arrived.  Chris & Bernie made it out shortly after my arrival!

All of the umbrellas, including the new ones made it into the dispatch tower with ease leaving room for the fridge and the cabinet.

Yup...they all fit in perfectly.

Chris is carrying part of the Brunt's Brewery complex that came from Lawrence's workbench.

Bernie brought out his Dremel tool to cut the rail on that rather long siding at Craig Leigh.

We felt that the extension we added a couple of weeks ago was unnecessary for operations so we cut it back to the length of the siding at the ice house to the left.

It looks much better now!

Bernie & Chris are dressed for the weather and Fred's steaming hot coffee warms the heart of anyone!

Chris removes the lamp posts at the Craig Leigh passenger terminal for safekeeping over the winter.

Pat Brewer has been keeping note in our little black book of the structures which will require some refurbishments over the winter in Fred's heated garage.  

These buildings were not set atop Craig Leigh - rather placed in the garage for future attention.

The gathering continues!  Why, it's a "structure party"!!!

Bernie and I found a bin that was "Not too small, not too big, just the right size"...like Goldilocks and the Three Bears!  🙈🙉🙊

Because the engine house was screwed down from the inside, this was the best 'avenue of approach' for the structure to be protected in the wintertime.

George, Moe & I carried the fridge into the dispatch hut and we see George handling the storage cupboard.

The storage cabinet had been screwed to the supports along the back wall in the crew lounge and it was a dickens of a job removing them.  So-o-o I removed my eyeglasses in order to see the screw heads with my head tucked inside the cabinet.  

Moments later I couldn't find my glasses at all.  I searched high and low all around the back table shelf and tables to no avail.  I went inside to see if I took my glasses off to pour a third cup of coffee - nope not inside.  I was fretting that perhaps they were now placed inside a structure that had been put to bed, or worse still...stepped upon!  Until...

...there they were...caught up inside the top part of my winter hat!!!  D'uh...silly me.  I had momentarily placed them on top of my noggin' to better see that screw head inside the cabinet after which I inadvertently put my hat back on.  

Here I was walking all around for ten full minutes frantically searching for them and they were right where I had left them...on top of me head!  

😞😝😟

We catch Pat working the side cutters on the plastic ties which hold the canopy onto the supports.

The handsome lad is all smiles!

Chris handles the chandeliers...errr...hanging lamps.

Pat works the back extension of the canopy.

The bar fridge and cupboard are tucked away in the dispatch hut leaving an empty counter!

Cool canopy video!

Pick a head...any head!

Malcolm comes prepared to work!

And work he does!  George holds another sheet.  Garry is just out of the picture to the left.

The plywood covering is coming together nicely.

Pat lines up the proper location for the screw to ensure a good fit!

Steve continues to work on the crossing signals.

Seanna too!

They take their namesake "Watson Electric" building home to "spruce up" including a new loading dock elevated at freight car door height.  

This will mean a foundation will also be added to the structure.  We look forward to the finished product in the spring, Steve & Seanna!

Some structures made their way into the car storage sheds such as the Craig Leigh passenger terminal building.

Yup, the space where the passenger terminal existed is now empty!

Beee-uuuu-tea-fulllll!

Fred & Pat relax in the boardroom following completion of the putting to bed of the railway items.

The Revolution box you see atop the table is one of four we have purchased for the railway.  It has been determined that the Revolution throttles and receivers will be installed in all of our extra locomotives that have used the older air wire type system that has had issues.  

You may recall those older throttles presented operators with many problems as they were quite different than our regular throttles folks are used to.  Operators frequently encountered "range" issues with the old Aristo 27mh equipment.  

This means that we will always have two spare diesels and two spare steamers "Revolution Equipped" on property located at each end of the railroad "just in case" there is a problem with someone's locomotive not working.

Pat and Bernie also share conversation in the boardroom.

Pat is thrilled to own a "new to him" Coca-Cola car for his collection which Marcel found on eBay!

As for me...with the outdoor train season having wound down, my focus will be on my music...

...my HO scale model railroad...

...and building more models for friends as I have done with all of these structures.

You will recall this machine shop I scratchbuilt for our dispatcher, Doug in O-scale.  Well, my winter project will be to "dig in" on a sawmill diorama also in O-scale for Doug.

Finally, this blog itself could not exist if it were not for Fred's extremely welcoming nature in inviting and including "all folks" interested in trains and train operations each Saturday morning to run on the IPP&W and RP&M railways in his backyard.

Indeed, Fred goes out of his way to ensure everyone feels welcome.

We cannot think of any better host as our very own "Father Fred".  Thanks, Fred, for all you do for all of us!

Don't forget to send me any information on a large scale "Standard Gauge" car (or two) you wish to loan to the railway for our upcoming season...should you decide to do so!  😀😄😁

We are the OVGRS of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada