WDWD and OVAR Sept. 12th & 13th
Hi gang. Lawrence, Pat, Fred and I got to working on the railroad this morning as part of the Workday Wednesday crew.
Enclosed are images of the various jobs accomplished with further plans for the late fall or early spring which are too big to tackle at the moment.
Fred also asked me to share a few pics from OVAR's inaugural dinner of the season...but I won't show a ton as I know many will go in OVAR's outstanding newsletter, "The Interchange".
It's always great to see Lawrence making it out to Fred's on Wednesday mornings!
Lawrence appreciates seeing the structures around the railroad and he has found one resting atop one of the buildings in the terminal area of Craig Leigh.
Good reach there Lawrence!
Where should we place this little puppy?
"How about Spruce?" Lawrence suggests.
Mike brought out a 40 foot boxcar to ensure clearances are met.
(Photo taken after the boxcar was sent somewhere else.)
Lawrence checks out St. Helens.
While Pat was doing some weeding (out of the picture) Mike and Lawrence gathered around the depot end of Spruce.
Mike rested his foot on one of the boulders and this happened - with no weight or pressure applied at all. Yikes!!!
Aha! Another job to be taken care of!
Sometimes we must climb atop the boulders in order to place the depot and the office/garage in place before each operating session.
The boulder eventually made it in place with the aid of other rocks, earth and stone dust.
Pat recalled from his recent run of the RP&M that some cars' couplers were not staying in proper position relative to each other while he was switching traffic back and forth in and around the Hamer Manufacturing facility.
Indeed, there was a dip in the tracks.
Pat got out the good old "go to" popsicle sticks to shim the rails somewhat.
Mike pulled out a string of hoppers as a test train.
There goes the popsicle stick.
A number of sticks were required for the tracks to reach the desired elevation.
Lawrence, Pat and I figured that one of the planks had risen over time and that the shim you see below should be removed...which will be done in the off-season.
An added shim will be required beneath the concrete brick holding up this area by the depot down in Rat Portage as it now resides too low.
Pat worried that we wouldn't want traffic inadvertently rolling from the yard in Rat Portage through the tunnel to the front area of the property - a valid concern.
Pat & Lawrence in discussion.
The trackwork was addressed on a temporary basis until further efforts are made to ameliorate the situation.
Fred is excited to get the office/garage cleaned out so that the WDWD folk can gather indoors in the fall to work on refurbishing some of the existing stone buildings or even creating some new ones using these "Jigstones" pieces.
Fred found two "Jigstones" molds used to create some of the stonework but he couldn't locate the rest.
Doug M. - Fred is wondering if you have some of the molds at your place seeing as your large scale layout also incorporates similar stone buildings and you are a part of the team which has made all the gorgeous structures in stone for both layouts!
Here we see some of the Jigstones samples spread apart.
Now we see them placed together like a puzzle where Lawrence tells me grout would be used as the "glue" to hold the stonework together. Brilliant!
Lawrence is having fun going through the old leftovers.
Pat passes by.
Fred has a few cars which require some addressing indoors at the RIP Table!
Aha! Where did this little beauty come from?
Fred found the old Ford Woody inside down in his basement somewhere or maybe out in the garage.
And...how about this little puppy!
I love how it has its front wheels are in the "turned" position!
She's a gorgeous pickup truck!
Fred tells me that in the good old days Paul Norton would find these in the toy section at WalMart where he would pick them up for the railroad.
Great finds Paul!
Love the lines!
Quite the pair.
Lovely!
This tank was also uncovered during our paleolithic dig!
We've found a suitable place at the Larabie Siding of course.
Spruce will be a good enough location for the pair of vehicles we think.
Funnily enough, the Ford Woodie had a missing front left wheel. No problem, we will disguise the missing wheel as we park the car close to the wall of the building!
Looking good there for Mr. Pickup truck!
Colour coordinated as well.
Having turned the truck around, they both make for a rather charming scene.
Lawrence explained to me what a bread board is and what it is used for.
Copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser to learn more.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-breadboard/
Here's the nice box Fred used to store some of his left over Jigstones pieces.
Lovely box Fred!
Here are the the three lads!
Hey, check out our new digs for OVAR!
Hugh Strobel, our guest speaker is the gentleman in the white shirt sitting below Greg Stubbings and Brian Earl.
Six folks were seated per table.
Angus Palmer actually visited the town of OVAR in Portugal on a recent trip where he stood in front of the OVAR sign in the village square. Wonderfully creative that is!
It was nice to see folks bring out items for the display including our very own Pat Brewer!
A creative caboose in my books!
Here are some of the other models not on the display stands but on the display table.
You certainly recognize this pair!
Our good friend, John Soehner and his friend, our presenter Hugh Strobel brought out plenty of road vehicles and locomotives.
Spectacular.
Robert Peck showcased these old puppies and asked the question..."What could be created from all these parts?"
There's John now! Great seeing you out, John. Love all those models of vehicles too!
The dinner at our new location, The Marconi Centre, was of superb quality.
The dining hall is attached to the greater Villa Marconi Long-Term Care Centre.
They even made a special diabetic meal for little old me - even though I've reversed my diabetes numbers...I still watch what I eat very carefully.
A lovely hostess named Donna then brought me a special dessert while all the other folks ate chocolate cake drizzled with a lovely sauce. My dessert was "To Die For"!
Back to our guest speaker, Hugh Strobel. Well, he's a man after my own heart. Here is my large scale diesel locomotive, a Delaware & Hudson GP38-2.
And...here is an image of a brace of four D&H units as photographed by Hugh which appears in one of my Railroad Explorer magazine issues.
Hugh is renowned for his images which include people in them - either railroad employees, passengers or the general public at large. He told me that he has always been inspired by the photography of the legendary Phil Hastings.
In this image also appearing in one of the issues of my "complete collection" of Railroad Explorer magazines...we see two lads cleaning up the debris in a rock cut not far from Ticonderoga, NY which is hindering the passage of their train, the Adirondack with Alco PA 17 towering above in a patient mode.
Well Hugh...the impression Mr. Hastings made has indeed left a lasting effect on you and your photographs prove their worth.
Hugh mentioned railfanning with our good friend, John Soehner in the middle of winter. Here is another great photo from the magazines Hugh managed to snap of another D&H passenger run.
Hugh travels far and near from his home in the northeastern corner of the United States to snap photos, both black and white and colour of a large variety of railroad lines both in the US and Canada.
His outstanding presentation last night focused on the action around Brockville and was truly engaging and entertaining.
We must celebrate Bernie's achievement from back in June when Carl and I were deeply honoured to present him with OVAR's prestigious McEwen Award for his many outstanding contributions to this fine hobby of ours! Congrats once more skipper Bernie!
Indeed, model railroading brings us great happiness and joy.
Here I am enjoying running a train on our dear friend, Tommy Hood's Canadian Northern layout. It is with tremendous sadness that Brian Earl announced at our OVAR dinner last night that Tommy's wife, Pat, passed away that morning following a lengthy battle with cancer.
Please keep Tommy and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
We thank our dedicated WDWD crew.
Thanks, Pat!
Thanks, Lawrence.
While I didn't get a picture taken of me at the crew lounge table I managed to dig up this older one taken in the lobby of the NAC with my family along with my neighbour, Lucien, who is the gentleman in charge of all the ushers at our renowned National Arts Centre.
And, thanks Father Fred, for another fun day spent in your company!
A "Company of Fools" we are not!
All the best...the Workday Wednesday Crew (WDWD crew) of the OVGRS
We are the OVGRS from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
No comments:
Post a Comment