Of Railways and Streetcars

Of Railways and Streetcars

Bernie was kind enough to send along a few more images from yesterday's WDWD maintenance session.

Lots of planning & planking & 'measuring two times' and 'cutting once' took place!  👍👍 

All our workers still have all of their digits firmly in place on their hands!  😵

This is the general neighbourhood where we were working yesterday...the location of the Fallentree Mine up above the passing train on the escarpment.

Of course, the mine had to be removed temporarily and all of the tracks lifted leading into the mine and over to the main line leading into Nelson Yard on the upper level.

Here is the general area from a different angle.

Bill & Bernie cut out all of the trackage leading off the main into Nelson Yard as well as the trackage trailing off to the right of the image which would lead onto the Lawrence Watkins Trestle...as shown by the yellow arrow.

As mentioned before, the Fallentree Mine was removed to enable all this work to be accomplished and the two spurs leading into the mine were temporarily removed as well.

The subroadbed timbers were rotten and required replacement.

Chris joined in and lent Bill & Bernie a hand.

I was able to give an assist as well...although I was occupied with other chores on this morning.

Henk lent a hand as well.

Our workbench over in Craig Leigh comes in handy.

Looking good there lads!

While all of us no doubt will have a few aches & pains today, this kind of work keeps the body moving...leading to great longevity!  

(Google "The Blue Zones!)

In my role as "Company Photographer" I am able to snap the maintenance crew in action each Wednesday morning!

My job was to replace the trackwork which is a tad tricky as there are tolerances in laying a few sections of track to meet two already existing ends...but I got the job done...under the surveillance of Foreman Scobie!  Heh heh!

I just received a lovely email from Mark Shumelda sharing the CTV news segment of Ottawa's very own Streetcar 696 now finding a new home at the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario.

Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen/Rheaume Laplante

A number of fellows from my old HO scale operating group have devoted countless hours in the refurbishment of this wonderful specimen...even though many thousands of hours are still required.

Photo courtesy of the CBC.

Here are a few photo snippits from the news feed with Patricia Boal hosting the newscast.

Indeed, the streetcar was trucked from its home in Ottawa down to Smiths Falls.

Arriving the museum grounds.

The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario is housed in the town's restored 1912 Canadian Northern Railway Station - now designated a National Historic Site.

Smiths Falls is a beautiful town of about 11 000 people located on the historic Rideau Canal system.

Many years ago when the car underwent its initial phases of refurbishment it was housed in a back shop of the OCTranspo facility at the corner of Industrial Road and St. Laurent Blvd.

Many OCTranspo employees with skills such as sheet metal working and general carpentry, when finished their regular shift at OCTranspo would then head over to the barn and devote many volunteer hours on the streetcar before heading home.

Many OC workers also volunteered their time on specific evenings and weekends as well.

Now the folks at the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario can lend a hand along with the original staff to bring the process to completion.

I recall during one of the number of evenings work was going on, I headed over to the OC barn to find the group working on one of the trucks of the streetcar.

Indeed...she's a heavy puppy!

My research tells me that streetcar 696 was built in 1917 and is the last surviving 600-series streetcar from Ottawa's electric rail era.

Streetcars ran in Ottawa from 1891 until 1959.

The car was originally built by the Ottawa Car Company and carried passengers between Rockcliffe Park and Britannia until its retirement in 1959.

The refurbishment has been decades in the making thus far!

Becky Allen from the museum is thrilled to have this gorgeous piece of history in the collection.

Smiles abound with the museum volunteers.

A number of our local OVAR members have dedicated a tremendous amount of time refurbishing many of the museum's railway heritage items.

In the past I have supported the project by purchasing a variety of items including this print of a painting done by local artist and live steamer Peter Cunningham.

I have also bought this wonderful book on the history of streetcars in Ottawa as authored by Bill McKeown.

I was also tasked with interviewing a number of the streetcar operators who were well up in years.

That was many years ago and I would imaging most, if not all, have passed away by now.

The purchase of this golf shirt in my closet also helped aid in the project's fundraising.

Lovely.

Bill McKeown's book contains many b&w images as well as a number of coloured photographs from the past.

In the above image we are one block west of Holland Junction with a 600-series streetcar on the right approaching the stop at Harmer Avenue on the Britannia Line on May 15th, 1951.

Image courtesy of CRHA Archives, fonds William H. Bailey

Streetcar 825 has run through the countryside from Britannia Village and is coming to a stop at Richmond Road nearby the Richardsons Crossing 'materials and reclamation' yard on September 15th, 1956.

Image courtesy of Bill Volkmer.

On May 14th 1951, car 669 is Britannia-bound at the Woodroffe Avenue stop.

Image courtesy of CRHA Archives, fonds William H. Bailey.

It's the 'dead of winter' as car 800 waits at the Britannia Loop.

Image courtesy of R.J. Sandusky

To view the newscast segment, simply copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/article/ottawas-historic-streetcar-696-relocated-and-viewable-by-the-public/

Well that's all from me for now!

Thanks to Bernie for the great pics from yesterday's work session and thanks to Mark for the link to the CTV newscast on our city's beloved 696 streetcar.

And, a great deal of thanks goes out to Padre Frederick for hosting us as he always does!

For the time being we will continue to operate without cars visiting the Fallentree Mine and the facilities at Lilly for the next few ops sessions.

Rest assured, the work will get done and the railway will keep all of its customers happy!

We are the WDWD crew of the OVGRS based in Canada's National Capital.

Workday Wednesday May 27th

Workday Wednesday - May 27th

Once again to 'beat the traffic' I arrived Fred in the 'Sixes' this AM

Freddie had the tea and the coffee pot on ready for the work crew.

Lots was covered on this morning with a great turnout.

 It's 6:20 AM and the skies look ominous at the corner of Riverside Drive & Baseline Road.

Alas, no ill weather materialized and the sun broke through by the time Lisa & I dropped our daughter, Karen off at the high school where she teaches...after which I made my way to Fred's.

For our readers who live far away this is the Canada Post Building known as Confederation Heights...and it is one of my favourite structures in our fair city.

Here is the school where Karen teaches Grades 11 & 12...Nepean High School.

Nepean High is on the list for "Doors Open Ottawa" next weekend.  

Folks can visit the school between the hours of 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM next Sunday, June 7th where they can take tours offered by the high school students themselves.

The high school is 104 years old as an institution and its historic building is103 years old and is located in the Westboro community of Ottawa.

It was still a tad bit chilly in the wee hours of the morning but that did not deter Fred from getting down to business.

The handle on our narrow gauge shed had broken away from the door.

Indeed it had!

Fred has all the parts prepped for the assembly.

After a few 'nuts and bolts' appeared, the job was done!

Indeed, Fred is a very proud papa!

I devoted my time to sorting all of the standard gauge cars for our operations this coming Saturday.

They had been stored over the winter...in a 'willy nilly' fashion...thus amendments to their destinations were required.

One tray labeled for Nelson Yard & Bellamy actually held cars for a totally different location!

Yikes!  Someone forgot to change the ID card!  😡😎😉

We are all sorted and ready to rumble on Saturday!

Let's check in on a video "round-up" of all the freight cars.

Skipper Henk arrived.

He soon got down to business with the whipper-snipper.

It's "B&B"...no, not "Bed & Breakfast"!

Why...it's Bill & Bernie!

Welcome back from your European river cruise Bernie!

No sooner had they arrived when they immediately got down to business replacing the rotted out roadbed beyond the turnout which takes trains over to Lilly and the Fallentree Mine.

"Stick 'em up, Mike!" Bill indicates.

Indeed...rotten it is!

We spot the efforts of the lads as captured on video tape!

Chris got down to business with the weeding.

Fred labeled the garbage cans he keeps beneath the boardroom table.

Their placement here is to protect them if it rains even though the table is under the canopy atop the lounge.

Seanna & Steve work away with the many structures around the railway.

The old roadbed has been lifted.

This job has to be completed by the end of the morning seeing as this section of the line leads all incoming and outgoing trains to and from the eastern end of Nelson Yard and is necessary for our operations this coming Saturday.

A new section will be cut in here.

Bill & Bernie have placed the plank 'cup side' down and have drawn the exact locations for the cuts immediately atop the area in question.

Video footage of Bernie at work.

Et voila.  

All is good as my foot presses down on the joint.

Bill drew a perfect line and Bernie made a perfect cut!

With the one end angled in nice and snug, Bill proceeds to draw the new angle for the other end of the plank.

Bill is ambidextrous...he can smile and carry a pencil atop his ear all at the same time!

And...to top it all off...he's a 'tree hugger' as well!

But we love his 'narrow minded' approach to things!

(That's an inside joke that only true railroaders will understand!)  😎😍😎

Bernie makes the final cut with me standing safely away atop the end of the board hidden at the bottom of the image.

Mary and Ted arrive to take Fred out for lunch.

Is skipper Fred "out to lunch"...we think not!  😋😁😋

Why...it's a perfect fit!

Of course, Bill & Bernie live by that age old adage, "Measure Twice, Cut Once"!

A look from the other end.

Looking real good there lads!

Indeed, the "workday Wednesday" crew is one heckuva hard-working bunch!

See what I mean!

Ditto for Steve & Seanna as Henk takes a much needed nap after his hard work!

But he re-awakens to offer greetings to Fred's brother, Ted!

Meanwhile Chris tends to the weeds in the rust garden.

Time to pack up...

...then we all can take a much-deserved break in the crew lounge.

And we enjoy the tales Henk offers from his recent visit back to his home in The Netherlands.

I couldn't think of a nicer way to spend my birthday than with my railroad friends in the morning and then with my family and my little puppy dog for the rest of the day.

My singer in my band, Corinne, sent this birthday greeting my way.

I have now traveled around our golden sun 68 times in my life...yikes!

My band is supposed to be playing at Fred's Patio Party Friday night at 7:00 PM but the weather forecast for that evening is rather foreboding.

 We may very well have to postpone until another weekend when Pete is still in town with his saxophone!

Hey one thing great about being born on the 27th day of a month is the fact that the number 27 is a perfect cube (3x3x3) and if you take the digits from 2 to 7 (2+3+4+5+6+7) what number do you arrive at?  Yes...27!

Our good mate, Fred, is a happy camper as things are progressing nicely around the railroad.

We look forward to a highly successful season of train running out in the backyard.

Thanks to all who made it out today to conduct some much needed maintenance, even if there are still many projects left on the plate to be considered and dealt with.

We are the WDWD crew of the OVGRS up here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada