Session #13 Narrow Gauge Operations September 8th

Session #13 Narrow Gauge Operations September 8th

Our IPP&W and RP&M railways present a window on the past.

We intermingle new technology (remote radio equipped locos and sound) with the old (those wonderful steam locomotives) to re-create history.

The east-west battle to get trains over the line continues for yet another day.

In today's entry we chronicle how both lines handle their passenger service to enable its local citizenry access to places close and far in the days of steam.

For those new to the blog, you can enlarge the images by clicking on them.  You can return to the default look of the page by clicking outside them.

We spot Sid's Mikado locomotive on one of the ready tracks in Craig Leigh.

Doug has been working on the engine for Sid.

Engine #10 faces east on the staging track in Glenn Hammond.  It's task will be to get lading across the Spruce Sub and into Craig Leigh for interchange to further points east.  Steve & Felicity will crew this train.

And...here is the crew now!

302's anonymous power basks in the glow of the September morning sunshine.  Pat & Moe will helm this train.

Here's Pat...but where's Moe?

There's Moe...in a pic from last Saturday's session!  Go Sens Go!

It's great to have Pete back for another Saturday seeing as he is here for a month visiting from Nova Scotia.

Here's Pete & Pat in an image also taken last week.

Chris appears to be lit up as the sun bleaches his shirt while Steve and Bernie hold their own pre-ops discussion!

With previously shown 304 facing east we see the van beside their engine bringing up the rear of Train 303 facing west.  Chris & Pete will take control of that train when the session gets underway.  Their terminating destination is Firgrove where traffic will be dropped for exchange to all points west of the IPP&W short line RR.

The power for 303 will be Chris's Prince Edward Island RR steam maker!

Hey!!!  We welcome Joel to the mix on this morning.  Joel is a very close friend to us all.  In fact, he is the lad who has made up our schematic drawings of both railroads' lay of the land.

With all the hard work the Workday Wednesday crew has undertaken over the past couple of years, there are many new sidings and industries which have yet to appear on the schematic.  

Joel has arrived to take measurements and create new drawings in order to produce an up-to-date schematic map for us.  Greatly appreciated, Joel!  

Pat & Gerry enjoy time spent with Joel.

Joel has brought along a friend he had met on-line...Terry.  Terry recently relocated to the Ottawa region where he and his wife now reside in Casselman.  

Terry put a query on-line asking about the "railroad scene" in the Ottawa region.  Joel responded and the two met for the first time this morning!  

Chris & Pete enjoy meeting Terry.

Terry crewed with me on the day when we ran all three passenger trains...which will be the general theme of this blog entry.

Here's skipper Bernie, one of our well-respected WDWD (Workday Wednesday) crew along with Grant & Ralph.

Terry and I are underway.  What better way to learn the "lay of the land" than through a speedy run across the entire system aboard Passenger 2 & 1 plus the Pool Train, number 33!

Passenger 2 is found behind the Fallentree Mine heading east.

The rails steer the crew "to port" as they enter "The Corners".

Passing in behind the newly famous "Railfans' Cabin" number 2's run will take passengers and crew beneath Mount St. Helens.

Mike tells Terry about the lovely garden railroad owned by Barry & Bonnie Birkett in Belleville as this video moves along.

For those new to the blog, to engage the video simply click on the arrow in the center of the image above once and then a second time.

Passenger 2 overtakes the ore train at Mercer Siding.

Two locomotives, two sizes, two roads!

Number 2 advances to a stop alongside the ore train awaiting its green signal in this video footage.

I radio dispatch, "Dispatch, Passenger 2 has cleared the junction."

We see our train conducting its station stop at Bellamy in the distance as the ore train approaches the western throat of Nelson Yard.

#455 crawls into the yard on a slow approach.

There will be work to conduct here for the crew of the ore train.  

It would appear the ore cars have been delivered from the Fallentree Mine into the yard in advance of the train's arrival as noticed to the left near Bob's jeans.

Passenger/ore video on the network!

Holding our two to three minute station stop in Glen Hammond allows me to spin around and capture the action behind me in Bell.  

Here we have RP&M 71 working Stuart in the distance with its power in the foreground.  IPP&W Train 314 is visiting the yard as well where we spot their caboose in the distance.

Train 71 will become Train 72 on its  return run out from Bell.

"Other trains" video at Bell.

The morning sun reflecting off light surfaces plays havoc with my photo efforts, but we recognize the two "unit" trains in these images.

Ore is the sole content on the list of lading to the left...while passengers make up the manifest for the train on the right!  😎👩👨👧👦👲😎

With the ore crew out of the way and our station stop in the Glen handled expediently we are able to roll out to the east for Spruce with a brief station stop at Blockhouse.

Sun-drenched video work near the midpoint of the railway.

The Fred Mills Trestle spans the wide chasm known simply as "The Gap".  It sees some eleven trains cross its span each day.

The greenery is growing once again at Lilly following the Van Zijl wildfire which took place earlier in the summer.  👍👍 

 (Couldn't resist, Henk!)  💖

Number 2's approach to "The Gap" is recorded in this video effort.

We make our way into Ironwood from Spruce on our approach to the station platform located on a curve in the line.

The western end of Ironwood houses three siding tracks, two of which appear to the right; the freight track and the team track.

Running video of our approach into Ironwood.

We ride the ridge between Ironwood and St. Helens as we encounter the railfan cabin.

The changing colours are yet to be found this fall, but it certainly appears to be an autumn coloured train!

Now...the eagle-eyed observer will note the inclusion of two observation cars in the train's consist.  This is due to the fact that the tourist season is quickly coming to a close and ridership has skyrocketed throughout the final weeks of summer.  Indeed all equipment was brought out of the yard to accommodate the larger numbers! 

Have you noticed something else?  Yes the parlour car at the rear of the train is reversed in its juxtaposition to all other cars in the train.  

The story goes is that the crew encountered a coupler issue and the car was turned before departure.  

That's our story and we're sticking to it!  😎😬😎

Entry into Craig Leigh finds our train having to wye itself.

Well...lookie there!  A quick trip to the crew lounge RIP track and that coupler is repaired on the parlour car!

Once we have cleared the easternmost turnout, Doug observes Bob as he gets his turnout.

Ore train power departs Craig Leigh.

Craig Leigh wye video serves to entertain the masses.

  Sid looks on as Terry backs our train along the inner leg of the wye.

The track alongside the engine house holds sufficient trackage for our train to clear the wye switch so we navigate it.

Wye show this video?  Wye not...we suggest!  😄😄

We then proceed along the outer leg of the wye.

Our train tails off in the distance.

Sid continues to enjoy the action.

With our power now on the main line out from Craig Leigh, in short order we will be able to reverse our train and back in to the terminal area.

Continued video trials in Craig Leigh.

Our tail end clears the water tower.

Our bell rings continuously as we reverse our train to its home destination.

Sid, Terry and Doug look on as our run nears its termination time.

Video that marks the end of the journey for Passenger 2 until another day's run.

302 meets 303 at Watkins Siding in this image sent my way from Pat.  You can see Passenger 2 heading eastward in the distance following their station stop at Wellington Lake.

Pat also included this interesting meet...similar to the previous one where three trains actually met as a triple meet.  

Here, an interesting saw-by allowed the passenger train access to the depot before heading off.  Initially the two wayfreights held on the two mainline tracks here, one on the main and the other on the siding.  

To engage the passenger train, the eastbound freight in the distance ran ahead and tucked itself in on the siding along with its westbound counterpart.  Their cabooses are almost kissing in fact!  

Then, all it took to grant access "in" for the passenger train to the station track was a quick shuffle of both trains east (away from the camera).  

Finally to allow an escape route for the passenger run, it took a quick shuffle of both trains to the west (toward the camera). 

Creative thinking on the part of all three crews allowed such a cool event to take place!

Also from Pat, this image shows this lovely PPJ #10 residing momentarily in Firgrove.

Pat just sent me two more images via e-mail as I was working on the blog.  

In the picture above we spot Chris and Pete handling their third trick train of the morning, number 324.  The origin of this consist was Nelson Yard and the train will be handed off to the Craig Leigh yardmaster at the end of their run where cars will be designated to trains traveling further to the east in our vast nation.

Joel is taking measurements of the latest track developments for a new schematic map of the system as Moe sits in the shade awaiting entry into Spruce.  

Mike and Terry in the distance have swapped out the cars in the house track (note the burgandy baggage car to the left) and are finishing up building their consist for their run westward.

For fun, the passenger crew followed their manifest orders and switched out the house track "facing" siding on their westward journey...but they could have easily lifted the car on their eastward return run of the pool train where the siding would be of the trailing nature.

Speaking of Pat...he was a guest "speaker" at the Gatineau Book Festival in Aylmer on Saturday afternoon just a short time after he departed Fred's place.

Some more from the advertisement.

There's Pat's name at 2:00 PM!  Kudos to you, Pat, for continuing to promote our wonderful hobby!

Here are some visitors to the railroad - I believe they are neighbours of Fred's.

This little guy wanted to run the trains...or perhaps chase after them!

Fred's a happy camper whenever visitors come by to see the trains.

We think the ladies simply followed this handsome man in after he arrived and parked out on the street!

Or perhaps this handsome lad!

Love the logo on the shirt, Steve!

Two shady characters...or is that...two characters in the shade!

We catch an RP&M run on its return to Glen Hammond following its work in Rat Portage.

These are definitely not two shady characters...in fact I must say they may very well be the most polite of the bunch!  

(Just kidding! - we're all polite on this railroad!) 

Seeing as they are in Spruce and with their van situated to the west (geographical east) on their train this means they have to be running their second trick of the morning, Train 313.  

The crew began the day aboard IPP&W 304 in the Glen and ran east to Craig Leigh.  At Spruce they are now are heading west to Nelson Yard.

Terry tells me he rather enjoys billboard reefers...just as I do.

These two angelic white ones were sharing a siding in Ironwood when we passed through...worthy of a couple of photos!

At the end of the run, I show Terry one of the four turntables we have on the system and he is very interested in how it was built.

This is the underside of the "armstrong" at Firgrove.  The other three exist in Rat Portage, Stuart and Nelson Yard.

I had never inspected the underside closely.  Of course, ball bearings offer a smooth spin for my locomotive!

Brilliant design in total - including the notched area between the rails that accommodates the yellow "alignment" tab which slides into the location.

The yellow tab can be seen four images up.

Terry is not a shady character even though he is found here in the shade!

Hey, check out these two friends of Terry's.  He is holding Marge and Harry.  

Marge and Harry love to sit trackside and observe the passing trains.

With magnet enemas inserted in their backsides, Terry has ensured they will remain wherever he chooses to place them on chairs trackside or even on the passing trains.  That's one brilliant idea in my books.  

Hey...let's see Marge & Harry in action.  You've got to check out this brilliant video on YouTube Terry has posted on sharing a cup of tea with modelers around the world.  It is a "must see" for sure!  

The link is below the next image.

The video showcases what Terry was up to back in Victoria, BC before his move back to the Ottawa region.

Copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to be highly entertained by Terry and modelers around the globe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRkvJlBmN3g

Thanks for sharing this video with us Terry!

In other news, Mark has informed us that he has been going to George’s on Sunday quite a bit.  

Mark tells us that Pat Brennan wanted him to share these photos of his yellow DRGW Annie - which you may recognize from the IPP&W where Mark has brought her out a few times. 

Mark goes on to mention..."We called her “mellow yellow”, especially when pulling that gorgeous yellow string of narrow gauge coaches back at Fred's…"

At George’s layout, mellow yellow was a “Jill of All Trades” last week, pulling both passenger and freight consists.

The developing line outdoors of George's shed is looking most impressive thanks to the efforts Len and George have put in on the system over the past little while.

Thanks for sharing these images Mark!

Following the session at Fred's on Saturday, my family jumped into the car and headed over to the Long Island locks on the Rideau Canal system with a specific purpose in mind.

A friend of ours was in the process of kayaking the full distance from Kingston to Ottawa along the Rideau River waterway (with a friend of his) and we wanted to greet them both at this location where he and his friend would be spending the night camping beside the lock station...which you are allowed to do for a nominal fee.

Here are their two kayaks upon arrival.

The water appears rather calm...great for kayakers.

A flight of three locks exist at the Long Island Locks location marking the north end of the longest stretch on the Rideau River unbroken by lock stations...thus the name of the river section - Long Reach!

Note the steel through truss swing bridge that cars can drive over.

Kayaks share the waterway with numerous other motorized vessels.

Our friends were tired and ready for dinner and a good evening's rest before descending the locks starting at 9:00 AM Sunday morning.

The lower section to the north.

A look back from the north to the south.  Out of the image to the right is a huge stone dam wall...massive in nature.

Here is the dam as photographed by Ken (of the Watson clan - any relation, Steve & Seanna?) back in 1999.

Here we see our family friend, David Wright, discussing the accommodations with one of the lock employees.

Meanwhile, back at Fred's we find Paul, Moe and Grant attempting to escape the sun's rays with Grant seemingly the only successful one of the trio!

Ralph and Robin discuss the fun they experienced throughout the morning hours.

Joel was successful in gathering a host of new sidings and town names for the railroad as Paul relaxes beside him.

Felicity and Gerry truly are shady characters now!

As for me, when I'm not running trains or blogging you will find me with my good friend, my Fender Stratocaster.  

Note the remote "wireless" connection to my amplifier where you see the green "on" light reflecting off the lower "tone" knob on the guitar.  

This is remote guitar playing which is very similar to the remote running of the trains we enjoy at Fred's!

Running trains is as much fun as making music and blogging!

In fact, we may be making music in Fred's backyard sometime soon seeing as we have world renowned saxophonist, Pete Conroy, in our midst for but a short amount of time!  

Will keep you posted!

We catch Fred and Terry deep in conversation regarding anything trains!

Yes, he's "our father"!

Cool shirt, Fred!

On behalf of Fred, Terry, Joel and the entire gang of the OVGRS...thanks for checking in on this latest blog entry showcasing the "narrow" version of the fun we have when running that gauge of equipment.

Remember, the first OVAR dinner meeting kicks off tomorrow evening.  Should you be able to make it out be sure to bring along a model for the display table!

All the best from the Ottawa Valley Garden Railway Society

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada