Garden Railroading: Workday Wednesday Accomplishments

Workday Wednesday Accomplishments

The "Workday Wednesday" crew was back at it again.

A number of items needing attention were addressed.

These include the replacement of an entire switch in the lower Peter's Pond area, the repair of a turnout leading into Mount St. Helens, the shoring up of the new depot area in Ironwood and the shifting of a name placard for Watkins Siding. This along with the standard weeding, whipper-snipping and other gardening chores that are required to be done on a weekly basis.

Fred and Lawrence inspect the switch in question in the lower Peter's Pond area.

The decision to remove the faulty turnout and replace it with another has been decided upon.

We will replace the switch.

Fred examines the underneath area of the questionable turnout.

Lawrence tells us that a little screw underneath required some minor adjustments to allow the rail to throw properly.

Work in progress.

The new turnout is in place.

Working at ground level offers challenges for all of us in our "advanced" years, shall we say.

But Lawrence finds a solution. He has found a long length of track with the ties positioned "willy nilly" and is in the process of shuffling them down to be arranged in their correct position. Why not take a seat in the shade to conduct this form of labour! Hehehe!

Coming along nicely there Lawrence!

Meanwhile, Fred and Pat continue their work involving the far turnout at Mount St. Helens. Indeed, with the "wear and tear" of our operating sessions, continued maintenance is a "must" in order to have the railroad running in topnotch shape!

While Fred, Pat and Lawrence were occupied elsewhere, Fred had wanted the depot at Ironwood to be elevated somewhat. So-o-o, I "went to town" with the gravel lifting the depot and framing the trackwork with stones.

A look from the other side.

A couple of 40 footers acted as a test for clearances and everything worked out fine.

While the cars appear close in this photo, they clear the depot nicely. Now...if we have a renegade operator...hmmm....well, that could be a different story! Big grin!

Fred is pleased with the appearance from his throne in the crew lounge. Something had bothered Fred...the lovely plaque that tells us where Watkins Siding is located appeared in behind the view of the station from Fred's perch.

So-o-o-o...it was easy as pie to remove the plaque and shuffle it down some four feet to the east.

The plaque is now moved and is seen much more easily by crews over in Spruce and other distant locations along the line.

Once Pat finished helping Fred with the switch in Mount St. Helens...

...it was on to other chores, such as lubricating the elevated choke cables that throw the switches.

Looking good, Pat.

Pat is a smart lad...he's wearing his safety glasses! Now if only the temperature would drop a few degrees so we wouldn't have to sweat it out. Indeed, rain or shine, snow or sleet, the "Workday Wednesday" crew manages to compete against the elements in helping to keep trains running along the Ironwood, Peter's Pond & Western and the Rat Portage & Mattawa railways!

Back home in my air-conditioned crew lounge I got to work on some diesel repairs for my D&H GP38-2 locomotive. Fred had found from Charles Ro Trains a couple of parts I required...one being this adjustable step that allows the crew to walk over top the coupler of the diesel.

One of mine had broken off recently under the rigours of train operations and needed replacing. I was thrilled when Fred told me how easily available they were. They came in a package of two for the low price of $6.95...hardly enough to break the bank account. In the photo above, the two pins fit inside a recessed area and it took all of two minutes to remove the old broken section and add the new fitting.

Voila! In like flint!

The colour match was perfect!

And...I now have an extra one "just in case"!

I also needed a pilot footplate for one end of the unit as when I got the engine from Gord Bellamy, it already had lost this piece.

Again, for the small fortune of $6.95 two came in a package as well, even though I only needed one. To better match the "concrete" grey of my D&H unit I painted the lower one. The upper one is too different a shade of grey for the unit.

See what I mean...the colour is too light.

Ah...that's a better match!

I had to redrill the holes in my pilot so I had to match the drill size to the pins on the part.

Previously I had scratchbuilt a pilot footplate but it kept falling off as the glue wouldn't hold to the rigours of switching with a screwdriver seeing as I hadn't used pins, just super glue to attach it. Now, it fits perfectly and should hold up in any situation.