Seasonal Set-Up Today at Fred's

Seasonal Set-Up Today at Fred's

A dozen of us arrived Fred's early in the AM hours to begin the process of preparing the railway for train ops.

This involved clearing the various aisleways of pine needles and leaves; blowing the track surfaces of debris; setting up the canopy and the crew lounge area; removing the plywood covering that protected the structures during their winter hibernation: and finally placing the myriad structures to their respective locations trackside.

Mother Nature allowed for all of this to take place without a hitch.

These first set of images come from Bernie's phone.  Here's the 'before' image...

...and here's the 'after' shot!

The junction is submersed in debris.

Another 'before' shot...

...followed by the 'after'!

That's better!

Man oh man...this isn't even the half of it!

Bernie snapped this group shot later in the morning.  

Missing are Steve M. and Malcolm who both pitched in a great deal before having to leave.

And...here's my shot with Bernie now pictured in the group!

Thanks for sending along your set of images our way, Bernie!

One structure has gone missing...so we have the 'police line-up' to determine 'whodunnit' as witnessed in this police video effort!

Remember to click on the white area once; and then a second time to engage the video.

A drone shot of Steve, Felicity & the Bernie Man!

John & Fred send their regards up this way!

Bernie did a fabulous job on the Thursday and the Friday spray painting the canopy's framework!  

And he even made it out on Saturday.  

(Jill must be wondering if he married the OVGRS!)  😎😁😀😁😎

Chris & Fred skirmish with the canopy.

Bernie & Felicity work the aisleway between Cedar Rock, Spruce & St. Helens.

The canopy is being raised into position.

Mark waves hello from down below.

Mark in silhouette.

Steve battles an elusive screw holding the tarp.  

He finally met with success!

Our other Steve tackles the north end of the terminal area.

Dilip poses for that great American Gothic 'farmer image'!

Malcolm & Felicity share a story or two.

Here's Seanna!

John looks on as Fred explains the historical importance of the stool in the foreground of the image.  

Fred tells us that its purpose was to act as the original table to house his controller on the earliest version of the railroad when there was simply a loop of track running near Ironwood and the trains ran via wire connection to the rails.

Chris takes a well-deserved break.

Mark & Dilip confer regarding the canopy's edge.

A trio of lads hard at work assembling the shelving in the crew lounge.  

Note that the bar fridge has already been elevated to its position of prominence.

More meetings.

Seanna & Steve test out the pedestrian crossing signal box.

"Hands up, Mike!" Malcolm mentions.

Hi Mark!  Indeed our work deserves a "High Mark"! 👍👍 

The groundwork never ceases...but Felicity is up to the challenge!

"Mow, mow, mow the lawn...gently down the tracks!"

"Merrily, merrily, merrily...Dilip runs forth & back!"

Looking good there, Dilip!

John rescues the louvred cover to the shelving.

Steve ponders for a moment as to where all of these structures will end up all across the railway!

No worries...as Skipper Bernie had all of the structure locations pinpointed on his cell phone!  

That's a Boy Scout for you!

Still more structures to go...with many resting down below out of sight in this image.

And...yet another 'in-fill' begins across the street from Fred's driveway!

There's the Bernie Man!

Thanks again for sending along some of the photos, Bernie!

Seanna & Steve just emailed me this image of the new roof they created for the "Watson Electric" structure which is located at the end of the Cedar Rock Branch.

Thanks Steve & Seanna for a great effort on the roof for the facility named in your honour!

And...here's Father Fred!

Thanks for checking in on our escapades from this morning.

This coming Wednesday, the "Workday Wednesday" crew will meet to assess the trackwork for any maintenance issues.

We'll also oil all of the choke cables leading to turnouts from their throws.

This coming Saturday will be "Free Running" of the railroad with the first ops session slated to begin two Saturdays from this date.

The first session will be of the Narrow Gauge variety.

We are the OVGRS of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada