Workday Tuesday & Wednesday Efforts

Workday Tuesday & Wednesday Efforts

Following Fred's, Chris's, Pat's and my escapades on Monday, the "Workday" sessions continued for two more days.

On Tuesday, Bernie & Doug C. headed over to Fred's and continued with the massive cleansing of the Craig Leigh area seeing as we still had the trailer/dumpster belonging to Fred's neighbour, Mike, in the driveway.

Today was a wet, damp and rainy day here in Ottawa but that did not deter Doug M., Bill, Chris & Fred from heading outdoors under the canopy in the crew lounge from working on the station at Bell.

Doug Culham and Bernie continued the clean-up underneath Northland Interchange and below the engine house on Tuesday.  

Here we see Doug inspecting the re-laid trackwork that was near finishing.

Doug is 'going to it' nailing down the remaining remnants of track yet to be dealt with due to time constraints on the previous day.  

Bernie and Doug reassure us that the track appears to be complete.

While Doug finishes up with the smaller hammer, Fred will have to install throws on some of the switches.

Wow! Wee!  I have never seen the area beneath the Northland Interchange so clean in my life!  

Bernie tells us that a number of old and cracked pails, many without lids, were disposed of along with one heckuva heavy monster railway tie and a mess of rotten wood.  

We still have a half dozen pails hanging around the property at the moment.  

Using two dollies, Bernie and Doug were able to maneuver the enormous railway tie to the trailer.

Ah...much better lads!  

Some old junk including a prehistoric patio umbrella base that took up residence at this location for the last two decades is now off the property!

Fred's workbench area is now clear!

Thanks, Doug, for finishing up with the nailing of the railway ties near the terminal buildings in Craig Leigh.

Looking G-R-E-A-T lads!

Thanks, Bernie, for these wonderful pics and stories!

Chris grabbed a few photos of Doug & Bill setting the refurbished Bell Junction station in place on the Wednesday.

After shifting some of the adjoining structures, it still didn't fit quite well and a slice of the platform had to be removed.

Note how the platform is a tad too large.

The lads shove the depot as close to the fence as possible.

Here we spot Bill sawing away at the platform as Doug guides the process.

Although the station is now "in service" there are still a few more touch-ups and details to be taken care of.

Doug shared with us that there is quite a bit still to be done to the station.  

Chris volunteered signage to be installed.  😀

In addition, the roof is painted and texture has been applied but the texturing is a bit heavy in places.  It needs a bit of scraping and then a resealing with black paint.  

The gable ends need to be painted.  This will be done using the red paint/stain that is used in doing the dispatcher's cabin next spring.  

The stonework needs another wash of black.

Lastly, the clearance is very tight.  The stakes under the station require some modification to ensure the station will clear big locos (like a K-27 or even a Connie). 

Doug summarizes the experience as being a good morning in the rain.  As paint dried we even worked a bit with Fred clearing some space in the garage shop. 

Thanks Chris for the pics and to you & Doug with the written synopsis from the day's work.  

Also thanks to Bill for working tirelessly on this damp Wednesday morning.

Thanks to Bernie & Doug for sharing their efforts from yesterday as well.

And, I am proud to say that there were no disputes occurring over these past few days of railway maintenance...unlike what you see above when one track crew mislaid the section of rail in the foreground to the right!  Heh Heh!  😎

Indeed, Master Fred has a look of tremendous astonishment on his face seeing all that has been accomplished in such a short while!

You deserve a break for sure, Father Fred!

We are the Workday Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday Crew of the OVGRS

On Saturdays we take a break to run the trains and on Sundays we have a day of rest!

Cheers from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada