Session #6 Second Section Pics From Mark & Mike
Upon reaching the halfway point in July, we have managed to achieve six operating sessions since the May long weekend.
These would include three narrow gauge events and three standard gauge events.
Our July 15th session saw a multitude of operators running a vast amount of trains across the two systems, as is the norm. Mark has sent along these first 13 images from the session.
Mark has managed to capture Passenger 2 mimicking the curve between Ironwood and Spruce in spectacular fashion.
Over in Bell he finds a crew switching the western end of town.
Train 303 has made it through the junction and Mercer Siding with the aim of reaching Peter's Pond. Chris is at the throttle in this grassy image.
Nothing evokes the business of railroading more than a large classification yard always on the move and Nelson Yard does not disappoint!
Mark's young one enjoys viewing the ore cars at the Northland Ore Dock located in "Craggy Lee" aka Craig Leigh.
Our Ironwood Road road unit bypasses the interchange track at Bell in an easterly movement.
With Passenger 2 safely tucked in bed, the next assignment for the crew will be Pool Train 33.
Mark and a young one with a nice smile!
Henk's centercab has gone renegade as it runs away from Nelson Yard! We wonder just exactly what Henk said to it to make it take off in such a manner?
Dilip re-rails a car in the big yard as Bill and Henk look on. Dilip's crewmate Paul in back works on Rat 63, the first RP&M run of theirs on the day.
Ralph Yard is host to traffic on the west end. We are wondering where the stanchions are on the TH&B unit.
Oliver is enjoying the experience of running George's locomotive under the watchful eye of the western yardmaster.
A rare glimpse inside the dispatcher's hut finds Mike studying the dispatch board.
Thanks Mark for offering up these great images from Saturday's session for all to see!
Behind the Glen Hammond depot the photographer discovers a carrying case with a nice Canadian Pacific Geep diesel as its contents.
This CN Geep awaits its next assignment on the near track in the Glen.
Similar Geep...earlier vintage livery as found in Firgrove.
The crew quarters in Firgrove are rather Spartan - but this is the nature of the beast when one works on the railroad.
A little import from below the border finds its way north.
The Chandler's Sludge facility holds its own up in Cedar Rock across from Watson Electric.
Malcolm and Gerry study their train orders in advance of the session.
Fraternal twins ready and raring to go!
Douglas Yard to the east is hammered down with freight cars.
MT's await assignment at the ore dock.
The water tower stands as guardian to the entrance to the Craig Leigh terminal area.
A string of reefers stand still on the ice track.
Some head end and passenger cars await assignment to the passenger runs.
Gerry and Moe - pre-ops.
There's a happy camper seeing as we will be running trains in the heat of the morning!
The Feather Canyon is in evidence on the side of this WP 40 footer.
St. Helens awaits the morning rush hour as cars relax in the shade.
The same can be said of this trio residing on the Ironwood Brick spur.
The Spruce team track also plays host to a trio of friends.
The crusher and the aggregates sidings hold a couple of cars each on this day.
A future project for the WW crew will be to replace this "wye" switch at the western (geo-east) end of Spruce with a standard turnout. This will eliminate the obtrusive S-curve we note when mainline trains make an appearance here.
That WP car from another angle reflects the sun's rays rather nicely!
A radio and a snack are both vital to train operators who require communication abilities and nourishment before they head out on the rail "road".
The lads slowly gather around the patio in advance of the pre-ops briefing.
The lasses do as well!
All eyes peer over to the crew lounge "head table" where Skipper Fred makes his announcements.
Well...most sets of eyes! 👽
In the distance Moe uses his telephoto lens.
The meeting continues.
Everyone is all ears!
Then the fun begins!
We find our RP&M friends arriving Track 4 ready to work the sidings at Stuart.
Paul's handsome diesel was handpicked by Paul for the run!
In this rather grainy "snipped" image we spot Paul and Dilip off in the distance.
Video work of their train backing into Stuart.
This next series of images taken at Spruce covers the meet of two Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo diesels.
As mentioned in an earlier blog post from this session, our long hood forward unit with the torpedo air tanks on the roof of the long hood is the GP9...
...while the short hood forward unit is the "7".
The Pool Train slows for a stop at the depot as it passes the railroad's office building.
She leans into the curve with brakes squealing.
An overall view of Spruce from the west (geo-east).
Spruced up video at Spruce!
The July 15th parade of trains continues at Spruce.
Ore traffic makes for an interesting version of a unit train.
The curve outside from Spruce makes for a great train spotters' location.
Indeed, the community of Spruce never disappoints railfans as evidenced in this video!
Nelson Yard plays host to an incoming train from the west.
In back two other trains are on the move - the ore train and the Pool Train.
While over in Bell, our RP&M crew continues their work at Stuart.
Video evidence of four trains on the move at the same time.
The Pool Train has arrived Glen Hammond.
With the Nelson Crew occupied, the ore train could come into the Glen.
Video of the activity on the outskirts of Nelson Yard.
An eastbound departs the big yard with the coloured chits still aboard!
The ore train has found a clear alley.
Video review of the action.
Our RP&M crew continues to shunt cars at Bell.
Some colourful specimens.
The eastern end of Bell.
RP&M video activity at Bell.
RP&M Train 74 is ready to depart the yard limits at Bell.
It would seem that both railroads have leased CP units.
The train reaches home iron and will prepare to descend down to Rat Portage.
An RP&M transfer caboose brings up the rear.
Video reels of the meet.
With the yard ladder now clear, our IPP&W train can make an appearance at Bell.
Heading down the ladder...
...and in on Track 3.
The parade or ore and passengers in the distance can get underway once again.
Continued video review in the area.
The ore train arrives as the passenger train in the far-off distance gains its headlight.
As on the real railroads, occasionally we have a temporary "service interruption" as the lead trucks of the road switcher jumps the rails.
The incident as captured on video!
The Pool Train finishes off the parade of westbounds heading for Bell.
The crew is at Watkins Siding where they meet an opposing counterpart.
Some headend gear.
Milk and reefer cars add to the mix.
With the passage of the Pool Train, our IPP&W crew can continue with their set-out to the east of Bell.
Watkins video action.
The Pool Train gets in on the switching as well.
There is a lift to be taken from the west house track.
Pat gets the turnout.
The milk car is grabbed.
Pulling out from the spur track.
These maneuvers as captured on video.
Then our crew aboard 314 is underway towards Wellington Lake and Peter's Pond.
Downgrade at Watkins.
"Across the aisle views" at Ironwood find the crew of 313 working hard.
Robin and Chris have things well in control as Andrew switches out Spruce and Doug rushes over to the east to follow his train which will go stealth beneath Mount St. Helens at any moment.
Continued video footage in the region.
One more glance at the cars in Douglas Yard. Twin hoppers bask in the sunlight away from the dappled shade offered by "Big Tree".
This image finds Passenger 2 charting its course out from Spruce following a station stop on the curve.
301 tracks on to Ironwood out from St. Helens with Steve and Seanna in control of things.
Another glimpse of Barry finding fulfillment in Craig Leigh.
As does Paul!
Peter's Pond is coming alive with the action of eastbound 302.
Henk and Bill handle the chores in Nelson Yard as Gerry and Malcolm work RP&M Train 71 at Glenn Hammond. We spot some toes in the foreground.
They belong to observer Doug...one of the railroad's three dispatchers.
RP&M 71's power is our Ironwood Road RS3 which has come in to relieve a disabled IPP&W unit.
This little engine is ready to work a full day...or so we think!
Steve and Doug share pleasantries as they await the efforts of the yardmaster up in Firgrove who is busily making up their second trick of the day, Train 314.
Andrew and Marcel are spotted up in Cedar Rock with Train 302.
This is the trickiest area to switch with no runaround tracks available to offer assistance.
Fred and Paul share some time together in the crew lounge.
Mike manages to capture a westbound IPP&W run (Train 301) imitating the curve into Spruce from Ironwood.
RP&M Train 73 has reached Bell and takes Track 4 to handle the spur sidings in the town of Stuart.
Our Nelson Yardmasters share a brief respite from the action having 311 and 312 "at the ready" for the two arriving IPP&W crews.
Some waiting time for the the crew of the ore train as Pat is about to radio dispatch for clearance to run the passenger service into Ironwood. Ralph and Moe enjoy the moment.
301's crew handle the facing sidings at Spruce with acumen.
With ever decreasing track availability, Ralph wonders if there is room for his ore train to enter Nelson Yard. He is held momentarily although we do spot a free alley along the second far track near the aisle where Andrew and Marcel stand.
At the same time the pool train makes an appearance in the Glen where there is some switching to be done. Over in the distance at Bell we spot the RP&M crew continuing with their efforts at Stuart.
312 wants in at Spruce but dispatch holds them short of town to the west while 301 continues its work here. 312's conductor, Andrew, takes the available time to review his work orders for this location.
One of the prettier (or more handsome) pieces of rolling stock is this black Southern Pacific 40 foot boxcar in this railfan's opinion.
Speaking of opinions...don't you think Bill looks great in pink! I know I do! 👍👍👍
Train 73 uses the lengthy yard lead to switch at Stuart and Bell. We thank Chris Lyon for coming up with the idea of lengthening the trackage to the east of Bell to be used for such train movements!
The yard ladder to the west of Bell acts as one of the two parallel runaround tracks which Henk so eloquently thought of installing a couple of seasons ago. What a positive difference this made to operations! This is Doug's locomotive facing west at Bell indicating to me that his train must be 303, his first trick of the morning along with crew mate Steve.
As more trains arrive Nelson Yard, the yardmasters continue with their efforts in assembling third trick trains, some of which you see on the three nearer tracks to the aisle in the big yard.
The ore train advances through Watkins Siding named after our dear friend Lawrence.
Robin and Chris hang out around Ironwood with Train 324, their third run of the morning. We spot them drilling Larabie Fuels, a trailing siding for them.
The topographical nature of Spruce means that an incoming train from the west can sneak up on crews working the town. Note Clarke Grade running uphill to Spruce where, if a train were running, the crew working the town wouldn't necessarily notice its arrival.
Another gander at Larabie Fuels in Ironwood where 324's crew has spotted the triple dome tankcar.
Gerry and Malcolm's appearance in Nelson Yard indicates the arrival of RP&M Train 72, their return run from Stuart and Bell.
Steve handles the switching chores aboard IPP&W 303 to the east of Bell as Pat switches out the West House Track aboard Pool Train 33 in the distance.
There's the Pool Train on the other side of the Interchange track with the consist of 303 on the nearer Track 3.
Having CN Geep 4578 now facing westbound at Ironwood implies this to be Train 313.
Remember, all eastbounds are even numbered trains and all westbounds are odd.
A closer examination of the great looking weathered spark arresters Chris fabricated for his locomotive.
George and John continue with their efforts up in Firgrove.
Paul and Dilip have returned to Rat Portage from Stuart and Bell where they conduct some switching.
Their opposing RP&M train holds the main to the east of Rat.
Dispatcher Mike is orchestrating a triple meet of the two RP&M trains and the Pool Train. It is Mike's intention to get the Pool Train through Rat Portage as expediently as possible being a passenger run.
One of the RP&M trains use some siding spurs to "stuff" its consist freeing up the passing siding for the other RP&M way freight. This will clear the main line for the Pool Train.
We find the Pool Train making its appearance down in Rat Portage where the triple meet gets underway. One opposing RP&M train is tucked safely in the siding while the other is tucked back in amongst the industries and team track where you notice a fraction of the diesel locomotive's front hood at the bottom right of the image.
Here we can see the three trains with two headend areas showing their diesel engines while the red and yellow caboose showcases the tail end of the third train taking part in the meet.
An aerial shot of the power on the Pool Train.
Another "top down" look at the action.
The ultimate goal of the dispatcher is to get the passengers through congested areas as quickly as possible and while this meet may have hampered local RP&M switching, the goal was achieved with great satisfaction on the part of all three crews and dispatch too!
Threesome meet video capture.
With the triple meet complete at Rat, the Pool Train has found the depot in Glen Hammond.
I arrive back at my perch in the dispatch booth to find two young lads; Doug and a younger feller of unknown origin following 313 through the pedestrian crossing.
313 proceeds by the area known as Blockhouse and will be held short of Nelson Yard.
In the meantime, our RP&M train that encountered the Pool Train and another RP&M counterpart back in Rat Portage have made its arrival known in the big yard as Paul and Dilip put the train to bed.
Just as there are many links in a chain...the many links of locations around the railroad tie together as we note in this video of the arrival of two trains at once from either end of Nelson Yard.
Train 313 managed to shave off time on its westerly run from Craig Leigh to Nelson Yard.
Yardmaster Scobie deals with a truant boxcar as 313 enters the big yard where it meets the RP&M diesel now devoid of its train.
Hmmm...a very unusual switching move is made with that boxcar! 😎
Video evidence at the eastern flank of Nelson Yard.
Yardmaster Scobie uses hand gestures to point out some required moves for incoming trains.
Note how Paul is now working Lilly to the extreme right of the image as he follows his RP&M train orders.
The discussion continues.
Then yardmaster van Zijl gets in on the action as Doug and Steve bring in Train 314 over at the far throat of the yard.
As we follow the Nelson Yard activities on video, dispatchers Mike and Doug hold a discussion on the numbering of trains on the crew lists.
314 is routed into the yard along the extreme left track where Steve observes the run-by. Note the number of operators as captured in this image alone.
Indeed...the railroad is a hive of activity all over Fred's property - the ultimate in organized confusion! 👍👅👍
Further related video from the big yard.
The Nelson Yardmaster pulls the van from the back of the recently arrived train as a crew member does the same off in the distance to assist the yard employees. Paul continues with his efforts at Lilly in the upper right of the photo.
This video gives you a better idea of these movements in and around the yard.
The ore dock is always a railfan's delight. This railfan is quite surprised to see ore cars from two distinct eras (the standard gauge and the narrow gauge eras) residing on the dock during the same session! Yikes! 👻
At a different time in the session we spot the Pool Train departing Glen Hammond on its return trip home to Craig Leigh.
Taking the overpass.
And...off through the iron web of the Fred Mills Trestle.
Henk and Bill get back to business in a much quieter yard.
Over in Ironwood the umbrellas fulfill their obligations in keeping the crews somewhat shaded as visitors roam the aisleways.
Spruce and Cedar Rock manage to keep our train crew relatively occupied for some length of time.
A CN sandwich!
Chris and Robin are enjoying every moment of their day.
The team track and freight house track enjoy a handful of 40 foot cars.
Train 33 approaches the pedestrian crossing...
...and makes its way into Clarke Canyon.
The crew in Spruce hardly notice the ascending passenger train as it grinds its way upgrade behind the stone retaining wall.
There's a smile from skipper Bill!
Big Henk and his little loco make a perfect match with big implying Henk's wonderful personality!
The eastern end of the railroad offers up more shade than the western sector although Chris and Robin find little protection from the sun's rays at Spruce.
Mark and Ralph discuss possible locomotives for Ralph!
Train 71 arrives Stuart and handles the new industries located there.
Indeed, the railroad continues to evolve.
Our test project of swapping the Interchange area with the town of Stuart seems to be working well for the time being.
Gerry and Malcolm assess their moves here.
Stuart video.
Changing times in Nelson Yard does not describe annual changes...
...rather, those changes within the yard within the context of a single operating session.
At times, it can be "feast or famine" in the big yard with a half hour of quiet solitude...
...followed by numerous trains all wanting in at the same time!
This doesn't seem to bother Henk though! 😃😄😏
It is always interesting to hear the chatter on the radio that sometimes arises when you check out the video footage.
Paul directs a turnout which he requires back in Nelson Yard.
The gradient at Watkins is enough to put any crew to the test.
Steve and Seanna manage to navigate it with nary an issue.
They have arrived Track 3 in Bell and meet our RP&M crew holding on Track 4.
With Train 311 safely tucked into the siding, the RP&M crew can continue with their switching efforts.
While Bell may appear busy at times, most of the bottleneck issues seemed to have been ironed out.
311 makes Bell in this video.
Our final train of the day is Passenger #1 seen "making the grade" with ease.
Taking the crossovers, the crew is now lined for the station track in Bell.
Our final video segment of the day showcases the beauty of passenger service.
Fred's tractor tires make for an interesting garden ornament in the good old rust garden.
Inside the boardroom is found this great looking metallic image.
Fred's workbench is a fine place to spend the afternoon!
Bernie's locomotive has handled itself beautifully on this day and is ready to head home.
Ditto for Steve and Seanna's fraternal twin unit!
And...Barry will be heading home as a very happy camper taking with him the silos Chris custom made for him.
The penalty box seems to always be full following a session.
Oh...there's a fourth!
Love the hat and button!
I have already shared this amazing link to a video of Glen Campbell playing William Tell's Overture with my OVGRS friends last season and once again this past week.
Today I would like to share this amazing piece of musicianship with all of our blog readers out there in the bigger world.
My last name is Hamer and it brings me great pleasure to witness this "Guitar Hero" of mine playing a "Hamer" guitar with an amazing symphony orchestra backing him up.
Copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to check it out yourself!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUBhE00h9U0
Thanks for checking in on this blog entry!
In this image, Lisa and I are captured polishing off the glass table top of an N-scale "coffee table" layout I was working on over a decade ago with a number of train friends!
While we operate "big equipment" at Fred's, this N-scale layout inside a coffee table shows what can be done when a dozen modelers gather over a two month period (once a week) to produce a work of art to be raffled off at Railfair (remember that) for our local children's hospital, CHEO.
Yes, whether you are running trains big or small...
...there is no doubt that this hobby of model railroading along with realistic train operations is good for both the heart and soul!
This is a poster made by one of the local train groups based on an image Mike took in his crew lounge of four 40-footers in four different scales. Eventually Mike plans on purchasing an S-scale boxcar and a Z-scale one to add to the educational display!
We at the OVGRS understand that the most important aspect of the entire experience of train running in the great outdoors is the friendships we develop and hold onto for our lifetime!
And...Friar Fred is the glue that holds us all together!
Thanks so much for checking in on this rather lengthy blog posting. I guess that with a great session now under our belts the more images the merrier to fully understand the fun we have running trains at Fred's place!
Also thanks to Mark for sending along the batch of images for me to use in this entry.
Stay safe, be well!
Mike, Mark, Fred and the entire group of the OVGRS
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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