Workday Wednesday August 16th

Workday Wednesday August 16th 

With a lighter crew today the WDWD gang still managed to accomplish quite a bit.

Fred showed us two more car re-railers which Doug had built, painted and donated to the cause!

It was great to see Lawrence and Joan pay the group a visit and Lawrence got in on the work action to boot!

Lisa and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary and her birthday on this day...and I am such a lucky guy...she let me head out to Fred's to work on the railroad and then head to a band recording session later in the evening!

Here are the colourful car re-railers as built from scratch by Doug Culham.

Thanks so much Doug!  Our back and our knees really appreciate this great "assist" when re-railing the cars!

Here's Lawrence...paying the WDWD crowd a visit!

It was great sitting down for a break from the work to have a lovely chat with Joan!

Indeed...Lawrence noticed from the blog that some of the windows on the Comber Chair Factory required re-gluing.

He is found hard at work down in Rat Portage.

Looking good there Lawrence.

Of course, we can't forget this latest addition to the railroad which I have showcased on the blog of recent.

Again, Lawrence's brilliant craftsmanship comes through big time!

Such an awesome scene to railfan up in Cedar Rock!

Pat, one of our chief installers of the trestle admires its beauty alongside Lawrence.

Pat is off into cottage country just outside of Wellington Lake.

He has noticed that the track is "floating" here with the wood beneath the rails beginning to show quite a bit of rot.  Hmm...seems like another major project to be dealt with in the near future!

We were experiencing a few derailment issues at the curve out from the tunnel beneath Mount St. Helens.

Pat carefully inserted some more stone dust to solidify the trackwork at this location through Hayes Falls.

Another gander at the new coal trestle from afar.

Lawrence brought Fred this tender.

Fred examines the base with the trucks.

Throughout the course of the week Fred has been filing railroad ties for me to insert in the locations where gaps occur.  Some locations are beneath rail joiners where two sections of track meet where we have purposely left ties out.

With Fred's handiwork in filing the ties down somewhat, Mike is able to insert them beneath the rail joiners and they will not disrupt the operations.

Again, I would like to take this time to thank Paul Norton for the lovely gift of this gorgeous Boston and Maine 40 foot boxcar my way.

Paul, the car will sit on a special shelf in my crew lounge from late October to early May.  Then, during the regular operating season I have donated the car to our cause for the standard gauge sessions as I love seeing it run on the IPP&W and the RP&M.  It adds another splash of colour and excitement to the operations in my humble opinion!  

Fred and Steve have already made the arrangements to get it ready and road worthy for operations in RailOps.  Yeah!

Seeing as the B&M had their grab irons painted the same colour as the surrounding area I found a matching paint colour at Michaels and have painted the metal grabs.

This makes for a more realistic look to the car.  I can't wait to see it running on the railroad at our next standard gauge operating session!

As promised from my last blog entry where I showcased my tour of the West Block which houses our "temporary makeshift" House of Commons, these next few images will take our blog visitors from far and near on a tour of the East Block of Parliament.

From the southwest corner of the East Block we view the Chateau Laurier off in the distance.

Between the East Block and the Chateau lies the descending locks of the Rideau Canal system which you will see in a short while.

This sign on out front the main lawn showcases the coat of arms for Parliament Hill.

A closer view.

Parliament Hill has its own policing force called the Parliamentary Protective Service.

A close-up of one of their vehicles.

Out on Wellington Street I found this police motorcycle.

The age-old Changing of the Guard Ceremony has been replaced with "Canada on the March" which is a musical version of the ceremony this year.

Here we find the participants in their scarlet uniforms and bearskin hats.

To experience this wonderful event you only have until August 25th to do so which is the end date of these performances for 2023.

Video of their march along Wellington Street.

They arrive Parliament Hill with military precision at 10:00 AM each day weather permitting.

Visitors are advised to arrive the Hill by 9:45 AM where you can listen to an audio presentation on the history, symbolism and proceedings of the ceremony. 

Their arrival at the Hill as captured on video.

Another vehicle of the Parliamentary Protective Service keeps a watchful eye on the Hill.

Back to my family's visit to the East Block.

The East Block was originally built to house the offices of our Members of Parliament and Senators.  Today it houses only the offices of the Senators.  Along with these offices you will find some some faithful recreations of offices of people of great importance from the past using much of the original furniture and artifacts which were found in storage.

This is the recreation of the office of the Governor General circa 1872.  While the role is mainly ceremonial today, back in the late 1800's the monarchy's representative took an active and direct role in the running of our nation.

The lamps of the day.

Our tour guide had us examine the crown molding and how it became more lavish with each subsequent office we visited where the room's tenant grew in importance to the country.

Sir John A. Macdonald's office...the office of the Prime Minister.

His coat and hat rack.

This photo I found on the net shows the elaborate crown molding in the Prime Minister's office.

This is the office of Sir George Étienne Cartier who served as co-premier alongside Sir John A. Macdonald for Canada East in the Union government.  Note the cable coming down from the ceiling feeding the lamp with gas.  Also note the model of the steam locomotive sitting atop his desk. (Modern model)  Cartier promoted the development of railroads throughout his career.  He was heavily involved in the development of the Grand Trunk Railway.  He was also a driving force in the early promotion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) which was promised to be built as part of the deal to bring British Columbia into confederation.

Also of note - the "call bell" dangling down from the ceiling.  Reminds me of watching the television series, Downton Abbey!

Here we find the Privy Council Chamber.

The bookcases and many other furnishings are authentic from back in the day our tour guide informed us.

The importance of the Privy Council is evident in the multiple layers of crown molding found in the room.

The coat rack outside the Privy Council.

The lamps of the day.

The elaborate glass.

Stained glass is found in many locations throughout the building.

We are walking along the sidewalk on Wellington Street over to the Senate as we say farewell to the East Block.

Love the Chateau Laurier.

Banners fly in abundance in the downtown area.  I note that it is clouding over whereas we enjoyed blue skies earlier - a foreshadowing of the stormy weather yet to come on this day!

Walking over the canal I spot four vessels making the climb up the locks from the Ottawa River.  This location is known as the Ottawa locks at Colonel By Valley.  

For folks from outside of town this location is found at the confluence of the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River in the heart of our nation's capital.

I snap some video footage of the proceedings.

A closer view.

More lock video.

The lock gates have opened and the vessels are allowed into the next section.

Four in one!

It's fascinating to watch the water torrent in from my perspective high up on the bridge.

Still more canal video tape.

This blue-hulled vessel almost resembles a tug!

A shot from a few paces to the east.

For Chris or Dilip (who sometimes bike over to Fred's sessions) how about arriving on one of these!

We have made our way to the south of the bridge to say farewell to the vessels having escaped the final lock at this portion of the Rideau Canal.

Off they go!

Video footage of their passing.

Au revoir!

Note the flag flying on the bow of this vessel.  It's a white flag symbolizing that this vessel is in the process of navigating "The Great Loop" along the entire eastern portion of the continent of North America which I showcased in an earlier blog entry.  First timers on the loop fly the white flag.  Then if you go again, and again, and again...then you will always fly the yellow flag.  

Some "loopers" have been known to have covered thirty loops.  They must live on their boats year round!  The loop can be done is as short a time frame as six weeks while some have been know to take 12 years to complete a loop in intervals.  The folks we have met have typically done it anywhere from six months to a year's time.

In my next blog installment I will showcase our visit to the Senate which is housed in our old railroad station!

Hey, a few of us are lucky enough to be able to make it out to Barry and Bonnie Birkett's place in Belleville next Thursday.

I always find joy in running the trains around Barry and Bonnie's beautifully gardened landscape.

Barry welcomes visitors from Ottawa, from Kingston, from Toronto and from his local area.

Some tracks are found at ground level while others are elevated.

Marcel was my partner on one of our visits.  Here he is wondering where his crewmate has taken off to...probably snapping pictures for the blog!

A view from the upper deck.

Mark must've visited when this photo was snapped!

That sure is a colourful consist in colourful surroundings!

Lots of great train action is to be had in one of Barry's well-designed operating sessions.

The umbrellas perform the same purpose as those found at Fred's place.

Barry has incorporated some great urban scenes throughout the railroad which work nicely with his rural trackside surroundings.

Love the gardens Bonnie!

Chris is enjoying the shade as a train passes by!

I'm loving these trestle shots!

The TH&B excites this railfan every time he spots those maroon and cream colours!

Henk and Moe are enjoying the operations as Johnny ChuffChuff and Barrie confer in the distance.

Into the tunnel by the falls.

A meet of two opposing trains...similar to what we witness on the IPP&W and the RP&M.

Malcolm railfans his train while I railfan Malcolm!

Doug enjoys a break at lunch time!

Back in Ottawa I was recently gifted this puzzle from a non-railroad friend.

When he and his wife saw it in the store they said to each other, "It's got Mike written all over it!"

Lisa and I completed this 1000 piece gem within 24 hours of starting it!  I've created this artsy shot of the box lid resting atop the finished work.

We've done over 200 puzzles of the 1000 piece variety over the course of the pandemic!

One more shot of this fun experience!

Thanks for checking in on this recent blog entry!

And...keep in mind that OVAR will be starting up in under one month's time.  If you are not a member I would advise you to come on out to one of our dinner meetings and check the railroad camaraderie and fun we have on the second Tuesday evening of each month except July and August!  Along with fine food, we always have a great guest speaker and folks bring out models to display!  

Our first meeting of the year will be Tuesday, September 12th and renowned railroader and speaker Hugh Strobel will be offering a live presentation of Railway Operations in Brockville.

On behalf of Fred, we'd like to thank you for visiting our blog once more!

All the best and enjoy a pleasant remainder of your week!

Lawrence, Pat, Mike, Fred, Barry & Bonnie and all the OVGRS family

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada