April Blog Entry Review of Season

April Blog Entry

Our blog entry for April will review some unseen photos and videos from Sessions 4 & 5 from last season.

With the snows finally melting in our region, it is nice to revisit warmer times up here in Ottawa from last summer.

All three sessions showcased in this posting were accomplished in the month of July.

Hey, where's all the snow in this picture!  It certainly wasn't taken in Canada!

Session #4 Standard Gauge

Chris brought out this 'cow & calf' diesel tandem to run atop IPP&W rails on July 6th, 2024.

Remember...you can enlarge images by clicking on them and then return to the default appearance of the page by clicking outside them.

On this date we ran our standard gauge operations.

Nelson Yardmaster Henk seems to be practicing some form of 'chair yoga' while lads off in the distance check out the 'cow/calf' duo.

Bernie is 'running light' with our Ironwood Road RS3 through Spruce.  

(Oops...we must've forgotten to bring out the depot!)

He has transferred his light engine from the engine house in Craig Leigh to Nelson Yard where it will take up duties on the RP&M for the day.

Paul will use his CP GP30 where it will travail in Douglas Yard at the eastern end of the line.

Garry brought out his CNR steam locomotive to run Passenger 1.

He also brought out his CNR Alco AB tandem for Robin to run on Passenger 2.

We look over to Bell where we find a number of freight cars on the Interchange Track.

Judging by the potential traffic which abounds in the three locations above, July 6th will be a busy day on the railroad.

Hey, did you know that the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played on this date, July 6th, 1933 in Chicago's Comiskey Park?  

The American League defeated the National League by a score of 4-2.

And...on this day in 1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time.

They met as teenagers when Paul went to see John perform at St. Peter's Woolton's Parish Church in Liverpool.  

John was playing with his then band, the Quarry Men at the church fete/garden party.  

This was three years before they formed The Beatles.

Sadly, on July 6th, 2013, the beautiful downtown area of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec was destroyed as a 73-car runaway oil train derailed and exploded in flames.  

The loss of life was enormous - 47 souls.  

The explosion destroyed more than 30 buildings in the town's central area.  

We must learn from these incidents and it is our hope that the entire railroading community will learn from this tragedy.

Back along the route of the IPP&W, CN Geep #1701 leads Train 302 out from Bell along the lengthy Watkins Siding bound for Peter's Pond.

Later in the morning the crew aboard Train 303 arrives Wellington Lake where they commence their switching duties at the trailing siding.

This move is an easy one for westbound traffic.  

If you crew a train running eastbound and have work to conduct at this location, you must take advantage of the runaround possibilities located up the grade to the west at Watkins Siding to spot and lift cars.  

Malcolm and Steve are crewing 303 on this July morning.

Doug Culham is the proud owner of one of Lawrence's diesel locomotives.  

Doug & Moe work 301 in Ironwood at the moment.  

Lawrence also created that interesting load of buoys on the bulkhead flat you see momentarily spotted by the crew at Larabie Fuels in the top lefthand corner of the image.

It seems Garry's steam locomotive will have the honour of hauling Pool Train 33 out from Craig Leigh on this day.

Fred is in discussion with a visitor on this morning near Mercer Siding.

This CPR 40-footer certainly brightens our day!

Our RP&M crew works down in Rat Portage.

The far sidings to the east at Bell are being worked by the crew aboard 314.

With the setout complete, the crew is underway towards Peter's Pond.

They arrive the Pond and take the Lower Pond Siding as their work will see them remain in this area.

The crew aboard the train in the foreground have already sashayed up the Cedar Rock Branch.

Malcolm's Conrail unit is always an eye-catcher.

At the western end of the line, Train 302 glides down the slope out from Firgrove.

302 as captured on video.

To engage any of the videos in the blog click on the white arrow in the center of the image once and then once again.

302's entrance into Bell interrupts Train 40's movements for a mere moment.

Yet another video moment in Bell.

RP&M Train Rat 61departs the Glen and enters the environs of Bellamy.

Rat 61 as found on video tape.

The recently installed Watkins Co-operative elevator dwarfs the trains running below.

Train 314 runs through Wellington Lake and enters 'The Corners' in this video segment.

We find ourselves at the pedestrian crossing with the signals Seanna & Steve created which protect the public from moving trains.

A crew in Peter's Pond has triggered the crossing signals as they momentarily set out a car on the main line as noted in this video footage.

Nelson Yard traffic is sorted and organized by our highly esteemed yard masters.

Video footage in the big yard.

Chris needs to get his units to the western end of the yard in order to line up his RP&M train.

The power moves quickly through the yard on video.

Now on his train, all Chris requires is to pick up his van.

Continued video footage in Nelson Yard.

Train 312 ascends Clarke Grade with intentions on Spruce.

The climb up Clarke Grade is captured in this video maneuver.

Nelson Yard and the Glen are quite busy places at this moment in time.

The Nelson crew assists the crew aboard 314 who have just arrived the big yard.  

Malcolm & Steve will depart shortly and continue on their easterly journey.  The video showcases their power and caboose being swapped out.

Garry pulls out of Glen Hammond with his steam locomotive on this diesel day!  😎

Video footage of the passenger train's exit out from the Glen.  

Note the radio chatter with the crew seeking permission on radio "to" St. Helens.

Train 311 takes the crossovers at Watkins Siding to guide them in on Track 3 at Bell.

In this video check out how light the flat cars are as they bounce around quite a bit!

Train 313 leans into the curve at Lilly.

Video of 313's progress between Spruce and Nelson Yard.

We spot Doug & Moe attending to chores in Bell.

We witness their setout of the B&M car in this video segment.

Session #5 Narrow Gauge

Indeed, this Prince Edward Island locomotive provides proof that our fifth session of the season was one of the narrow-minded variety!  

It took place on the 13th day of July.

On this day in history the Live Aid benefit concert was held in 1985 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.  Now, that's one heckuva line-up!

Heh, heh!  Bernie & Mike (little ole me) managed to be fed into Nelson Yard ahead of other traffic as yardmaster Henk offers up advice to other crews to wait their turn as heard on this video effort.  

We are terminating Train 302 and will soon depart eastward aboard 312.

Earlier, Bernie & Mike faced some facing moves as they arrived Bell with Train 302.

They managed to sneak out from Firgrove ahead of Passenger 1 but they ensured the main line and station track were free for this following train.

Robin walks along the pathway in the shade has he follows his train out from Glen Hammond bound for Peter's Pond.  

The town of Stuart is clearly visible with some reefer cars abiding there.

We find an eastbound having arrived Ironwood.

Meets abound on the system and Ironwood plays host to many each day.

Mike & Bernie back their train along the wye in this video.

They continue the turn of their engine in this further video.

Then they are ready to back onto their new train to once again hit the high iron, this time heading west in video.

321 makes headways west between St. Helens and Ironwood in this video reel.

The crew works the trailing sidings at Ironwood Brick where one siding is choc-a-bloc full as witnessed in video.

Video of Bernie's 'close shave' with an oncoming freight train!

And for those who don't know...Bernie's surname is actually "Goodman"! 😀😎😄

While the trains and their crews appear close in proximity, they are actually plying the two subdivisions of the line.  

Pat & Dilip (seated) are working Wellington Lake aboard Train 311 along the Bell Sub while Bernie has just guided his train, 321, into Ironwood along the Spruce Sub.

Another video of another meet.

"Trains here, trains there, trains, trains everywhere!" as seen in live video footage.

Hey, someone brought out the missing Spruce depot!  Yeah!

Train 321 is downgrade at Clarke Hill on video while 323 drills Bell.

Train 321 continues on its westward trajectory as the crew rounds the bend at Lilly while RP&M crews are captured on the same video.

321 finds its way home on video!

Sid proves himself to be one of our awesome helpers in cleaning up following the session as he carries a bread tray of cars back to their shed.

Following clean-up, some of the lads take advantage of the cooler temps in the shade.  

We spot Bernie, Moe, Marcel & Robin enjoying some camaraderie.

Our OVGRS sticker adorns the side of this carrying case.

in other news, here's a look at the sawmill which I showcased on my other blog.

I brought it out to OVAR this past week.

It's loads of fun attending OVAR (Ottawa Valley Associated Modelers) as we enjoy a great meal, a fabulous presentation and a whole bunch of camaraderie.

I always promote our large scale section of the hobby by bringing out two of Fred's cars for display.

To see videos a series of short videos of the sawmill, copy and paste the link below into your computer's browser:

https://craftsmanstructures.blogspot.com/2025/04/sierra-west-scale-models-sawmill.html

Thanks for checking in on this blog entry.  

Here you see me performing with my band "The Mystics" at the Orleans Bowling Facility.  Loads of fun!

Father Fred is all smiles as yet another successful session comes to completion.

These smiles will continue throughout our upcoming season as we look forward to having Mother Nature on our side!

All the best to everyone in our Greater OVGRS Family

We are the OVGRS of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada