Session #16 Second Section

We continue with the second section from our 16th train ops session.

The Ontario Northland car indicates the session as being standard gauge.

Moe has the ore train sliding downgrade out of the Northland Ore Dock in Craig Leigh.

The ore train rumbles past the depot in Mount St. Helens.

Onward ho to Ironwood.

Past the forested areas of the line.

Dwarfed by the Ironwood Brick facility.

On approach.

Two switchers running side by side across the valley.

Another switcher is in care of 303.

You've gotta love the look of those unit trains!

Neil and Brian discuss matters with Henk at Nelson Yard.

Malcolm and Lawrence finish up 327's work at Bell.

303 on steps out onto the span.

Through the girders.

Welcomed into Nelson Yard.

Henk keeps a watchful eye on all train movements in the yard.

Fred, Helen and Pete continue their discussion.

The ore train bounds uphill out of Blockhouse.

Dispatcher Doug!

Lots of action in and around Nelson.

Moe holds the ore train east of the yard switch.

Hi there, Moe!

Train 304 arrives Bell eastbound.

311 arrives the same location westbound.

Pete fires up my locomotive.

We work the back tracks at Nelson Yard making up our train, Rat 71.  We've had to wait for incoming IPP&W trains for some of our traffic.

Garry and Pete.

The cars for our train are to the left.

 We back onto our consist.

We will pull out of the yard to the west in order to grab the caboose from our early train which you can see above the stock car.

Pulling out to complete the make-up of our train.

We then back onto the caboose.

at which point we back out of Nelson Yard to the east.

Paul is in a suitable position to throw the turnout for us.

Rat 70 the runs slowly into Glen Hammond, a town in the neighbourhood of Nelson Yard.

Arriving Glenn Hammond.

We glance over in the distance to spot our RP&M friend, Len, with Train 67 ascending the grade out of Pratt's Bottom.

304 has just departed Bell and can be seen off in the distance on and easterly heading through Watkins.  311's crew handles a few cars in Stuart Yard.

313 departs Nelson Yard for Peter's Pond.

302 then comes into Nelson Yard from Peter's Pond.

The power for 311.

Two switchers in Nelson Yard exchange pleasantries.

311 uses the new yard lead to take care of their traffic needs at Bell.

Steve handles the controls...

...for his and Seanna's engine.

A cool-looking car.

The Nelson Yard switcher for the day.

George lends a helping hand to Len out near the interchange at Bell.

Garry's beauty of a Geep powers Len's train this day.

Rat 71 finishes up its work in Glen Hammond.

The crew is cleared to Bellamy where there is a set out at the team track.

The beautiful depot at Bellamy.

Pete controls our power...

...as Moe departs Nelson Yard.

With our locomotive to the bottom right of the image, we give a wave and a holler Moe's way.

Set-out complete!

Let's get back on our train and head across the junction.

311 aims for  Firgrove out from Bell.

We track across the junction.

Pete does some landscape shaping...

...to allow our train to pass without hindrance!

It would appear that 312 is underway.

Rounding the big bend at Lilly.

Rat 71 climbs the grade outside of Rat Portage.

Some nice tank cars at Ralph.

Neil turns Brian's locomotive on the Armstrong.

We have broken our train in order to handle a few trailing moves.

Pete multi-tasks as he holds the rest of his train in place while he guides his locomotive.

We back onto the team track for some set-outs.

Later we handle the Hamer industry.

It's a pick-up today!

Mrs. Hamer arrives to pick Mr. Hamer up in order to head out to that farewell party for Chris and Lela!

We cross the junction and head into Nelson Yard.

We pass by some strange looking structures.

Our caboose tells us the ending of this post is near.

These last three photos from Malcolm showcase the delicious lunch we enjoy each time we gather.

George munches on something healthy...

While the rest of us doll up our sausages in their buns for yet another tasty treat!

I brought out the machines I have been making for Doug to OVAR last night and they were a big hit.

I labelled the machines and offered a sheet indicating the names of each on a separate paper form...not in the image above.

I can't wait to get started with the scratchbuild of the machine shop building and diorama!

Mark sent along this image with the following note..."Although I had to miss out on the OVGRS ops session on Saturday, I steamed up beautiful Ruby on the gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and she ran her red consist very nicely up and down the P&PL.  you can see the steam condensation clearly in the photo above - it was a tad chilly! Very realistic."..

Thanks so much, Fred, for hosting!  Until we meet again...all the best!

Mike Hamer, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada