Session #6 Standard Gauge - July 12 2025

A Review of Session #6

This July day dawned sunny, yet very hot...allowing us to run trains.

The crew attempted to get all the equipment set up early in order to take advantage of the morning's cooler temps.

By 10:00 AM although, the temps with humidex readings were already in the mid 30's Celsius which would translate to the mid 90's Fahrenheit.

Our brave operators managed to get all three tricks in by lunch time!

Seeing as I had to remain with my train, most video shoots showcase the passenger runs as well as those trains we met upon our journey across the two railroads.

Mike's Delaware & Hudson GP38-2 gives a 'shout out' to our standard gauge sessions where she can run across the entire system at Fred's.

Here are a couple of sisters running wild through New Jersey in 1992. 

Photo courtesy of the Bridge Line Historical Society

Marcel's Santa Fe beast will run ore across the Ontario landscape.

Pat's New York Central switcher has already pulled into Firgrove aboard Train 303 and will depart as Train 314.

Len's Great Northern GP30 will work between Firgrove, Ralph Yard and Bell on this day.

Mike's other diesel, this CN RS3 holds down the job on Passenger #2.

Bernie will traverse the railway from east to west aboard Passenger #1 with his TH&B GP7 #73.

Pat is busy down in Rat Portage with his CP road switcher working the RP&M rails, known as 'The Wilderness Route'.

302's power has latched on to its train and will depart Firgrove behind Passenger #2 and ahead of the ore train.

Here is George's Ralph Yard switcher.

Moe will run 304 with this CP stud!

Speaking of CP studs, here is a bigger brother...Doug's Geep...about to head up the Cedar Rock Branch aboard Train 323.

Editor's Note:  I wasn't able to snap pics of every single diesel that roamed the two railroads, but our readers have seen them all over time!

If the diesels were the actors, these folks must be the 'directors'.

Len & George set out the rolling stock in Ralph Yard.

Garry, Moe, Doug & Fred will play starring roles in this script!

Pat "squared" are happy to be here - heated temperatures aside!

Bernie can't wait to get started running our paying passengers across the vast wilderness of Ontario.

Dilip & Jeff will crew 302.

Wherever you look around the massive Nelson Yard you will find Henk.

Here he is with Malcolm who will work the RP&M today...but the million dollar question is...where is Henk's sidekick?

Well, here is a creative T-shirt, and...

...his sidekick must be inside it!

Yes he is, Mr. Bill of the 'Scobie channel'...in sombrero and all!

We catch up with our two head chefs following the session...Marcel, the chief cook on the day and Moe, the chief canopy support holder!

More folks joined in on the session and you should see them later.

Well, if the locomotives are the actors and the operators are the directors, the rolling stock must hold the role of the 'bit' players.

And...they perform their role with colour and flair!

Right Bernie!

It's always great for this railfan to spot a New England based rail car shuffled into the mix!

Seeing as we are based in the province of Ontario, it's nice to find an ONR car trackside.

Here we spot the initial paint scheme the railway came out with in brown, some in boxcar red and others in a brighter vermilian.

 On the ONR, Glacier Green and a big blue sky colour made an appearance followed by a jade green coloured car with the same oval appearance as above.

Here is a later blue & yellow 'chevron' scheme from the same road.

Aha!  I've spotted yet another ONR car in yet another paint scheme with a different logo on the side.

Indeed, the Ontario Northland Railway is near and dear to many of our hearts here in this great province of ours.

Four cars reside on the ore dock as Passenger 2 is on the move out from the station track in Firgrove.

Train Number Two is found departing Firgrove on video.

Having made a station stop at Bell, my train arrives Wellington Lake.

Video scenes abound near Wellington Lake...the town named for our Firgrove yardmaster, George Wellington.

Note how both passenger trains have "steam generator" cars placed directly behind their locomotives as neither diesels have steam generating capacity.

Editor's Note:  I initially referred to the cars as HEP cars and Father Fred set me straight as you will see in the 'comments' section at the end of this entry!  Big smile!

This video shows us the two trains travelling on the two different subdivisions which make up the IPP&W Railway.

My train in back is riding east along the Bell Sub while Bernie drives his train west along the Spruce Sub.

Train 304 crests the hill at Spruce on approach to the yard.

She's one colourful consist!

A car near the headend derailed just after the turnout was thrown (or just after some debris was lifted off the tracks) as witnessed in the video.

Train 301 arrives St. Helens above while Train 2 enters the curve at Hayes Falls.

We tiptoe through the crossing!

The roof of the depot shines in the heat of the morning sun.

Train 2's arrival into Peter's Pond is captured through the video lens.

Here is a vintage photograph taken a few years back with a New York Central steamer hauling Train #2 at this same location.

These next four images were sent in by Bernie and were taken on Wednesday when Chris & I assisted Father Fred with the new choke cable alignment down in Peter's Pond.

While it would appear in these images that Chris & I are trying to figure which direction we are to face to say our morning prayers, Fred looks on in bewilderment.

But truly...it was indeed Father Fred who did most of the work on his hands and knees involving the new alignment of the cabling.

We are now testing it out as Fred wants the the turnout to be 'for the main' when pushed down.

Thanks for these images Bernie!

Father Fred runs a bead of lubricating oil down the entire length of the choke cable.

Video of Father Fred's efforts.

And, of course we spot one WDWD bunny rabbit...

...which has turned into two of them!

In the video Robin feels guilty having just arrived near the end of the WDWD session, but 'no worries' as Fred & the group appreciate the visit!

Robin spent the morning working at the yacht club.

We find ourselves back to the operating session...where this image finds me 'highballing' it through Mercer Siding.

I slow down as I reach the curve at Anderson.

Highballing video footage.

Let's back up a bit to the pre-ops time when the cars have to be set out as per instructions.

Lists are checked and double-checked as the empty layout soon fills with cars of all varieties!

Folks enjoy their morning coffee from the balcony across the street.

We wonder if they are true railfans!  💥

Why...it's Doug & Doug...or Doug to the Power of Two!

There's the newly established birdhouse a neighbour of mine put out on her boulevard with the sign 'FREE' attached to its perch.

It rests on Fred's stool for the time being.

A look from the other angle.

There is a post and platform which I also brought to Fred's to support the structure, but it will be installed on a much cooler morning!

Marcel has placed the loaded ore cars at the Ironwood Brick siding.

Nelson Yard fills up as Henk indicates to his assistants the track locations for each car.

Later in the morning Train 301 reaches Spruce but must hold the main line as the Pool Train has arrived and must switch out the house track with the ore train waiting on the western approach to town out of sight.

Marcel has delivered ore loads to the Northland Ore Dock.

At the end of the session he diligently places them back into their respective bins.

It's mid session and trains are a-comin' and a-goin' at Nelson Yard.

The 'first trick' passenger trains have met at their designated meeting location of Glen Hammond...

...and they do so again in reverse order as 'third trick' trains.

The Pool Train is the 'second trick' run for both crews combined.

Passenger #2 clears the junction and arrives for a station stop at Bellamy.

I have radioed dispatch to notify them that my tail end has successfully cleared the junction.

Off in the distance, Len runs down to Bell from Firgrove with a shorty passenger train.

Junction video session.

Passenger 2 is on approach to Glen Hammond.

The train's consist trails far behind on the big curve out from Bellamy.

The Bellamy/Glen Hammond curve image reminds me very much of this image I took back in 2006 aboard 'The Canadian' as our train was arriving Vancouver!

In the distance you can spot the tail end of Passenger 1 which will meet Number 2 in mere moments.

Bernie rides atop the Fred Mills Trestle.

A closer view of his train.

Marcel navigates the siding at Mercer hauling ore from the mines!

Passenger/ore video tales.

Trains 1 & 2 meet within mere moments of each other - by design - and just like clockwork!

The meeting of the minds as witnessed on video!

Passenger 2 departs 'The Glen' as the center cab stationed in Nelson Yard looks on.

Malcolm, aboard Rat 61, returns after conducting his work at Lilly.

It's a three-way meet of sorts.

Yardmasters Bill & Henk look out over all this action!

Action Jackson video work!

There is little wind on this very hot & humid morning...so, looking at our flag, let's take a moment to celebrate this great nation of ours!

A Canadian Diesel Moment

RSC24 #1801 is one of four of these diminutive diesels coming from Montreal Locomotive Works.

Photo courtesy of Brian M. Schmidt Collection

A Second Canadian Diesel Moment

We find the same unit in the later black and red 'lazy 3' scheme.

Marcel has informed me that the wet noodle looks like the number three that has fallen over on its back - thus the 'lazy three' designation as the logo is referred to among many CN employees!

Photo courtesy of Brian M. Schmidt Collection

A Third Canadian Diesel Moment

These four units spent most of their active life working in Canada's Maritime provinces.

Photo Courtesy of the Montreal Locomotive Works

Pat follows the departure of his train out from Nelson Yard while another train is spotted way off in the distance at Mercer Siding.

Doug & Moe are found down in Peter's Pond in their bright orange and red shirts...a truly colourful team of operators...handsome too!

They began their morning as first trick Train 304 and now are aboard their third trick of the day, Train 323 bound from Nelson Yard to Firgrove.

Douglas Yard is full of colour as Yardmaster Paul has yet another train made up and ready to depart on the A/D track.

Judging by the shadows this would appear to be the late morning third trick Train 321.

"Mike," Henk says to me, "This weather is too hot to be out in the sun!"

So the best thing to do when you feel the heat too much is find respite in the shade of the crew lounge and drink plenty of fluids.

Let's head indoors to my air conditioned workbench area.

Here we see a young lad hired by the sawmill to wash the logs before they are to be placed on the log carriage in the O-scale model I have been working on with Doug & Rob.

We see the hose reaching all the way to the elevated water tank.

A view from the front shows the pump house I scratch built along with all of the piping leading to the boiler.

Earlier I had license plates hanging on the walls as a series of them came in the kit, but as Doug advised, they would act as an anachronism due to the earlier date in which we have set the sawmill diorama...so they have been removed.

The boiler exhaust pipe towers above the mill floor.

The log ramp contains a handful of logs ready for cutting.

The project has many more hours of work before completion where a second adjoining diorama will be built and the land will fill in the gaps noticed beneath some of the structures.

Another view looking down the length of the sawmill.

The dual sawblades certainly do come in handy when thicker logs must be addressed.

The finished lumber is stacked in piles with 'stickers' separating each level to allow air to reach all areas of the finished product which helps to prevent warpage.

Some video footage of the sawmill.

A second video look at the project.

A third low-angle video glance of the sawmill. 

Back at Fred's, Garry carries this wonderful logo on the front of his T-shirt celebrating 100 years of the De Havilland Moth.

Lovely Garry!

And Seanna loves running trains, be they steam or diesel!

And here she is...one of our pioneering women of the OVGRS!

Well we sure had fun running diesels at Fred's this past Saturday...and these diesel locomotives 'ran me' across the country aboard 'The Canadian' back in 2006!

With our beautifully designed and built Park Car bringing up the rear...I guess that's about it for this blog entry.

As I travel through our western provinces in one of the domes with friends you meet from countries all around the globe, I saw 'farewell' for this posting...but not before...

...we celebrate our session with food, drink & great camaraderie...and not before...

...we thank Father Fred for hosting this great bunch of train operators and visitors to the session.

Indeed, we watch out after each other especially in the heat of the morning when mother nature decides to turn out nation's capital into an oven of sorts.

Had the humidex readings been any higher we would have most certainly cancelled the session.

Thanks Fred...and thanks to all those who braved the humid environment to run the trains.

There will be another posting from this session to come later in the week!

We are the 'hot' OVGRS members in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada