Garden Railroading: Workday Wednesday July 22

More Work Conducted at Spruce

Bernie sent me the following photos and story detailing the work completed on Workday Wednesday this past week. The main goal was to finish up the landscaping around Spruce. All of the track work was laid. The work included removing excess soil and rock. Black weed cloth was then laid down and half-inch stone spread over that. Concrete blocks were installed where the industry(s) will be located for Spruce. Doug and Lawrence did the heavy lifting. Meantime, Andrew found some copper slide gadgets that he thought might be used for switch cables. He was busy installing a prototype at the west entrance to Spruce. It seemed to work quite well and they are only $1.00 each from Lee Valley. Much discussion was had about how to approach the now empty pond. Fred has contacted a friend who will do the job. There is still enough water for the fish, so if anyone wants some, they are available.

Lawrence trying to remove another load of soil from Spruce with Fred in the way.

Young Mr. Sn3 made the trip from across the river to see how things were going.

Lawrence spreading stone as Doug is fitting blocks for the Spruce industry(s). Fred is collecting the empty stone bags. We made a run for another four bags.

Andrew installing his new idea for a switch throw.

Andrew with a big smile for the camera.

Andrew's prototype switch cable throw. The device slides back and forth and appears to function quite well. It is made of copper and costs all of $1.00 at Lee Valley.

Doug is brushing off the industry slab as Fred picks stones from between the tracks. Lawrence is busy removing and/or placing larger rocks and bricks.

Spruce in all its glory from the east end (geographically - west end on the railroad).

Spruce in all its glory from the west end (geographically - east end on the railroad).

Mark and his son showed up for a visit. He helped Bernie unload four very heavy bags of stone.

The pond cannot be salvaged and Fred has made arrangements for it to be filled in and compacted properly.

Thank you so much, Bernie, for sending along such a great account of the detailed work from Wednesday!

Although Mark missed the real work the fellows completed on Wednesday morning (hopefully someone took some pictures!) he did stop by Fred’s in the afternoon just to check out the progress at Spruce and the sad demise of the pond first-hand. These remaining pics were sent in by Mark.

The sad end to Peter's Pond. The soil around the pond became saturated when the water hose feeding the pond was moved overnight, perhaps by raccoons.

The patio stone edgings/corners in the last photo are also very memorable. Fred related to me how his father hand-cast all of these from concrete using molds he created himself. A true legacy!