Garden Railroading: Session #4 Finally!

Session #4 Finally Takes Place

Indeed, the weather gods finally found favour with the OVGRS.

We had missed gathering the previous two Saturdays due to poor air quality and poor weather forecasts.

This meant that we finally made it out to Fred's place for the first time in three weeks!

"No, No, No Henk! The inside of the bell!"

Our famous Dutchman, Henk, performs the honours of ringing the bell to assemble the group around the crew lounge.

Actually, Henk did ring the bell from the inside as is how it should be done. He was simply posing for the picture! 😁😀😃

Indeed, smiles abound on the two Pat's faces seeing as Henk has returned from overseas and we are finally running trains once more!

A big grin greets us from Dilip...

...and from our grinning Grant!

It's a full crew for the morning's session with 22 folks in attendance.

Pre-ops set-up time is also a time to re-acquaint ourselves with our fellow members of the group and Bill, Doug, Moe & Robin get down to business.

Mark, Robin, Doug and Pat listen in on Fred's profound words.

Skipper Fred is happy to get operations underway once again.

Passenger #3 shuffles into Bell with this Santa Fe visitor hauling first class passengers eastward.

Moments earlier the train sailed around the bend leading into the vicinity of Bell. That's the town of Stuart to the lower right of the image.

Earlier still, the train was found earning its keep hauling tourists along the foliated face at the ledges.

A video depiction of the tourist train.

This New York Central endcab demonstrates great determination hauling freight along the line.

With Bell in sight the train curves to the left...

...and breezes past the cars in Stuart.

A video review of the train descending into Bell.

Our Firgrove Yard Master hauls passengers and milk into Bell.

Unit 647 notches up on departure out from Bell.

Leaving behind a yard full of traffic.

Shuttling down the main at Watkins.

A video capture of Passenger 2 out from Bell.

Train 303 arrives Mercer Siding following its departure out from Glen Hammond.

Wow! The RP&M has upped the ante introducing this lovely pairing of F's to the railfan crowd!

Grant and Doug hold short of Rat Portage aboard Rat 61 as Robin works RP&M Train 71 in the distance.

There's a wave and a greeting from the crew!

Ore cars are being set out by Mark, one of the crew members on this morning's ore train.

George checks his list as Bob sets up the ore train in Ralph Yard. Dilip and Robin are focused on other matters to the right of the image aboard RP&M Train 71.

While the process may appear complicated, the work being done here is typical and organized. The crews of 303 and 304 assemble their trains and work the siding tracks at Glen Hammond before getting underway.

Doug is running RP&M Train Rat 61 with Grant as his crew mate this day. He checks his manifest in Nelson Yard before Gerry and Mike get down to work over there.

Doug is one of our three dispatchers who cycle in that role with Bill and Mike. Bill is working the dispatch booth this morning.

303's power is this Conrail GP30 owned by Malcolm. He will crew with Chris throughout the morning's session.

Glen Hammond video clips.

Eastbound Train 304 is first out of the gates from Glen Hammond.

The consist is found running by the depot at the recently abandoned siding known as Blockhouse.

Off in the distance we see the 303's Conrail unit continuing its work in Glen Hammond.

The reason 304 got out first is the fact it had far less work to accomplish in the Glen before departure.

Meanwhile, the Nelson Yard crew continues to build trains.

Train 304 as captured on video tape.

Our RP&M crew aboard Rat 61 must conduct a back-up maneuver before departure from the big yard.

Northland F's meet a TH&B Geep.

F-unit video demonstration.

We spot our RP&M crew handling some switching chores at Bellamy after having backed out from Nelson Yard and heading into the Glen.

In the foreground the Nelson Yard crew drills the western throat of the yard without interfering the junction.

While...off in the distance the Firgrove-Bell Hop returns home.

Much action in this video of the area.

303 is now underway and meets Passenger 2 at Mercer Siding.

Number Two greets the junction with a "Santa Fe smile"!

Bellamy is its next station stop before reaching Glen Hammond.

Some passenger video views for your enjoyment.

RP&M's Nelson Yard/Bell Turn has climbed out of the hole and reaches the outskirts of Stuart.

The crew holds on RP&M rails awaiting clearance into Bell.

The Drovers' Caboose always intrigues railfans far and wide.

Listen to the dialogue in this video as it would seem that some alterations will have to be completed in RailOps to offer room for all the traffic at this location.

No reflection on our train masters who put the sessions together...we appreciate all they do for us!

Ore is on the move out from Firgrove.

"It's a BFL!" Gerry states unequivocally. "A Big Flippin' Locomotive!"

Bob enjoys running equipment that dwarfs the units the rest of us bring out which adds to the entertrainment we experience each week!

Steam preservation video footage!

Train crews demand our awe and respect as they navigate their lading across the system and this image attests to the organization required to keep trains constantly on the move.

Four crews are spotted in this single view across Spruce to Ironwood and Wellington Lake in the far distance.

Seanna holds "in the hole" at Ironwood for the passage of the our passenger train. Two IPP&W wayfreights occupy the neighbourhood at this time, Trains 301 and 304. In behind near the fenceline we spot Train 303 at Wellington Lake.

With a "moderate risk" rating of 4 on the air quality index Seanna is not taking any chances as she dons her mask for the outdoor operations.

Her Algoma Central unit always manages to capture the lens of this railfan!

Nothing beats the appearance of train meets on this blog and the Canadian power on both trains delight this rail photographer.

Doug's CP beauty faces east at Ironwood.

New infrastructure appears each season. The spur track at Wellington Lake materialized a handful of seasons ago.

Paul must be the Craig Leigh yardmaster as I spot his GP30 diesel in Canadian Pacific clothing!

The IPP&W welcomes diesel engines from a myriad of railroads and Paul's diesel locomotive does not disappoint.

Anxious to couple onto a pair of trains, these two cabeese take a well-deserved rest on the van track in Douglas Yard.

A check back in on Ironwood finds multiple crews working their trains.

What's with all the red shirts! Why, it's Canada Day, of course!

I wore a shirt I purchased as a fund-raiser many years ago.

The money from the purchase of the shirt went to the Streetcar 696 Restoration group. Sadly, the volunteers must find a new home in which to restore this wonderful historic piece of Ottawa transportation at the moment. Let's hope that they are successful in doing so in order to continue with their volunteer efforts.

I received a wonderful e-mail from Mark with attached images from his recent "Merry Time" trip with his wonderful family. The following images and captions come our way from him.

Driving through New Brunswick on the way to PEI we stopped at Woodstock, about an hour west of Fredericton, to grab a bite to eat. Woodstock has a lovely “small town” downtown situated at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag river where it flows into the St. John River. At the confluence of those two waterways, an abandoned railway bridge (I believe it’s Canadian Pacific) has been turned into a very useful pedestrian crossing.

Leo and I took a short stroll over the boardwalk covering the bridge, which now lies in place of where track used to be.

The railway history of PEI is a tumultuous one - for although it’s often said that building a railway across the Island is what brought PEI into Confederation in the first place (since the effort apparently bankrupted the local Island government, when they tried to go at it alone) the railway sadly exists no more. Many memories of the age of rail remain all throughout PEI. Here in Summerside sits is what I believe was the main passenger station of the city. It’s now home to a local brewery.

Kensington, the town “built by the coming of the railroad,” contains many rail heritage highlights. Here is the beautifully-preserved station (along with some stub track) which now hosts a fine restaurant, coffee shop and art gallery.

CN 1762, built in 1960 by MLW, began life as an RS-18 but was eventually converted to an MR-14-C - a six-axle model used extensively in Eastern Canada.