Garden Railroading: Session #14 September 16th

Session #14 September 16th

With many of our members away at the HOTRAK set-up here in Ottawa we thought we would have a skeleton crew for this week's train operations.

Alas, twenty folks descended upon Fred's property and all trains ran to schedule.

A hardy bunch we are indeed!

When the operations are of the standard gauge variety, we are treated to a multitude of diesel locomotives in all shapes, sizes and colours.

This centercab in Ironwood Road lettering was "done up" by our very own Doug Culham. She runs beautifully as well!

Marcel always manages to surprise this railfan with what he brings out to our sessions.

This Seaboard System Geep grabbed my attention immediately.

Marcel mu'd the Seaboard locomotive with his CN geep for the run on 301.

Moe brought along his Canadian Pacific Alco which began its day in Glen Hammond on Train 303.

It is a real treat for me to tell you that Andrew surprised us by arriving the session with one of my favourite looking locomotives, his SOO LINE road switcher.

Andrew is making a difference in the lives of our Ukrainian friends on a global basis!

We miss you when you are not here, Andrew, but we understand the positive impact you are making on so many.

Chris is "in the house" with his Canadian National geep.

We find him down in Rat Portage crewing with his son, Jonah. Great to see you out, Jonah!

We spot TH&B #401 up in Firgrove. This engine belongs to Seanna & Steve.

Love the air tanks on top of the unit!

Seanna & Steve also brought out this gorgeous Algoma Central Geep. They ran Passenger 1 concurrently with Passenger 2. This image showcases the locomotive later in the morning aboard Pool Train 33.

The Pool service has reached RP&M rails off the IPP&W and has arrived for a station stop down in Rat Portage.

Typically our Ironwood Road RS3 would work Nelson Yard. We find her in Spruce at the moment.

Yardmaster George is aboard CN 8146 on the yard throat at Ralph Yard in Firgrove.

A good looker she is as well.

Mark has brought along his GE25-tonner to work the yard at Nelson this day. He also has his CN endcab at the ready should its services be required!

Mike (little old me) has brought along his D&H GP38-2 to spend time along RP&M rails. Here we see him working Rat 63 in front of his namesake industry - Hamer Manufacturing.

Now, this behemoth earns the prize of "Best Diesel Locomotive in Show" on this day. Just kidding you, Bob! Bob has brought out his Santa Fe steamer to run ore as it was done in" them there good old days" when steam ruled supreme! With its 2-8-8-2 wheel arrangement, this engine promises to be the star of the video world!

Fred loves the mixed consist of heavyweights with streamliners in his passenger trains. This is the grouping assembled for Passenger 2 out from Firgrove which Steve will run.

At the same time Steve departs Firgrove aboard Passenger 2 Seanna will depart Craig Leigh aboard Passenger 1. Running in directions opposed to each other, their pre-arranged meeting point is Glen Hammond...central to the railroad.

We note some of the headend gear that will make its way onto the Pool Train, a run taking place during the passenger crew's second trick of the day.

It's Marcel...all aglow in beams of light.

Mark snaps a picture of me snapping a picture of him!

Love the cap, Marcel.

Marcel plays baseball for six months of the year when he is back in Sun City, Arizona during our Canadian winters!

Pete and Doug are found in Craig Leigh as Doug pulls cars out from their respective car trays.

Doug and Marcel in conversation.

It's wonderful to see Jean out...dropping Sid off to run trains while she visits a friend for breakfast in this end of town!

Jean and Sid make a wonderful couple!

Here's Seanna! She and hubby Steve will cover both railroads on this day when they run Pool Train 33. They will also enjoy the simultaneous passenger runs.

Love that carrying case, Seanna!

Here's Steve alongside his sweetheart - and his other sweetheart...that TH&B diesel locomotive! 😁👀😁

Chris and Doug discuss scale size when thinking about 3D printing.

Chris has masterfully 3D printed this O-scale truck sideframe for Doug. Brilliant work Chris!

Chris and son, Jonah, will crew together on this day aboard the RP&M trains...a great team they will make!

Two of the labourers working on the construction across the street from Fred's showed tremendous interest in the trains.

They are both from Portugal and they appreciated us showing them around the railroad.

They were gobsmacked with what Fred has going on in his backyard!

Grant and Chris will team together on this day aboard IPP&W Train 302 out from Firgrove.

Not only are these two fellas railroad aficionados, they both love cars - Grant with his antique beauty and Chris with his drag racing car!

Marcel shares a few pics with Pete pre-ops.

Bill instructs Jonah on the proper way of ringing the bell - from the inside and not the outside!

Jonah's a quick study!

With the bell now rung, it's on to the pre-ops meeting.

Father Fred displays the "Maintenance Log Book" for folks to write in any issues they discover with the trackwork or freight equipment during operations.

The "Workday Wednesday" (WDWD) crew can then refer to the book and deal with the situations midweek.

It's a "Full House" as mentioned at the top of the blog - even though HOTRAK was enjoying their setup at St. Anthony's which kept a fair number of our members away for this session.

Fred is extremely happy at the turnout!

There's Pete and Marcel enjoying a joke or two!

Doug and Sid get in on the action.

Video of the lads in "Craggy Lee" in the wee hours of the morning!

Some of us are "single crews" today so I am conductor/brakeman/engineer...and chief photographer for the railroad - all in one package!

On this video you will hear me contact dispatch to notify them that I am now clear of the junction once my tail end clears the crossing tracks. This is standard procedure.

I arrived Rat Portage with six cars and a van.

I depart town with a single car in tow!

My departure from Rat Portage is captured by this railfan on video.

It's an upward climb out from Pratt's Bottom on the RP&M line but no struggles ensued today as our consist is this trip of equipment.

We summit the grade in Stuart and head down the RP&M ladder.

I meet an IPP&W counterpart, westbound 303 having arrived on Track 3 mere moments earlier.

Note the parallel ladder tracks that will allow the two crews from the two railroads unhindered work as they deal with their setouts and lifts.

Entry into Stuart and Bell as caught on video.

Aha! Here is Passenger 2 making its arrival known in Glen Hammond following their brief station stop at Bellamy.

At the same time our ore train glides into Bell have bottomed out from the grade at "The Ledges".

It's a simple case of the old meeting the new!

Rat 61 holds in the distance as Passenger 2 makes is "on final" into the Glen.

Passenger and ore video work.

That's Bell to the right and Glen Hammond ahead of us.

Four train are found in this snippet image from the video as we see Jonah admiring the ore train's advance through Bell.

While over in the big yard at Nelson Bill and Mark have everything under control.

Passenger 2 makes its arrival into the Glen in this video.

And...here is our fabled meet between Trains 1& 2 as Seanna steers Passenger 1 onto the far track parallel to the station track.

Mark railfans this wonderful couple with their great looking trains!

All is well with the world when plans reach fruition!

Passenger meet on video for your benefit!

With the "all aboard" call being announced, Steve heads out with Train 2 for further points east.

He's underway.

In short order Seanna will be able to depart for points west.

"Au revoir" to our passenger friends!

Passenger departure as captured on my video camera!

I have arrived Stuart with RP&M Train 71 and am in the process of turning my diesel on the armstrong table!

With my locomotive turned I will begin my work with a new train, RP&M 72.

Turntable video.

Train 40 makes the short hop down from Firgrove to handle the house track and/or Bernicky Freight Forwarders.

George hauls into Bell.

Video of his moves down to Bell.

These next few sequences of picture snippets and videos showcase the parallel running of RP&M 72 and Passenger 1.

Well...almost parallel as we now take to differing planes as I run downgrade as Seanna rises above me in her upgrade approach to Firgrove.

Parallel video work.

If it weren't for the sound of the engines the crews would almost be able to talk to one another!

Impressive!

A lovely "going away" shot of the scene.

Continued video work in the western sector of the railroad.

Off they go with one crew speeding up while the other slows to a stop.

The tail end of both trains!

Final parallel video efforts.

We catch Seanna having arrived the station track up in Firgrove...

...while Mike continues his descent in the tunnel beneath Firgrove.

Video on two levels.

Much later in the session we find the Pool Train having arrived Spruce.

The town of Spruce is the namesake for the eastern subdivision, the Spruce Sub and this location appears rather busy at the moment.

Off in the distance in a haze of sunlight we find Andrew with clipboard in hand and Dilip running Train 313 back through Ironwood. By now they are on their second run of the morning.

Spruce and Ironwood video!

Andrew...it was so nice seeing you back in Ottawa even for a brief sojourn from all the wonderful work you are doing for The Ukraine.

You are the light and an inspiration for us all!

Jean and Pat share a smile with me post-ops! Great that you were able to make an appearance, Pat!

When we see this beauty in Fred's driveway, we know that Grant is in the house!

She's gorgeous Grant!

As for me, I had to "hightail it" to a local community party in The Glebe following our train operations to perform from 2:00 until 7:00 PM!

Here is our makeshift stage in Capital Park off Ella Street in the Glebe.

Little old me on my Fender Stratocaster.

Molly singing here heart out to a very appreciative audience.

I must be checking out the girls in the audience!

These are my buddies in my various bands and we all play multiple instruments.

For a guitar lover, we have multiple guitarists in the crowd.

Keyboards, sax and drums as well.

With this "out of focus" shot we'll call it "Mike - in a psychedelic haze". This is my dentist Mike Watkins who we call "Doc Watkins" whenever we want a sax solo! Just to let you know...our very own Pete Conroy is an amazing sax player as well!

There's a smile from my dentist!

Chris plays that telecaster like it's "out of this world" but he is known more for his bass playing!

Mark has that beautiful Gibson hollow body guitar in Indigo blue.

My lawyer friend, Gerry, plays some mean licks on his Gibson Les Paul. In the background is Jeff, a well-known singer/songwriter here in the Ottawa area.

Brothers D'Arcy & Chris McGuire on drums and keys. They used to form the "house band" at Irene's here on Bank Street.

Chris's daughter, Molly McGuire poses with our other drummer, Mark. Molly is the lead singer in my R&B band along with Mark on the skins and many of the others you have seen here.

I'm on a break in our set where I snap an image showcasing a mere fraction of the two to three hundred folks in attendance at the park for the party. Too much fun!

Joe is a police officer here in Ottawa and he played a number of tunes before I got my camera out. Here he is pictured at another party in another summer.