Workday Wednesday Achievements

Much Achieved on Workday Wednesday

As per usual the WDWD subgroup got right down to business with projects that will aid in the improvement of our Saturday train operations.

I was not able to attend as my family wanted me along on a lovely trip down the Rideau Canal system following my daughters who were kayaking their beautiful waters.

Much thanks to Chris & Bernie for sending along photographs and captions detailing the diligent efforts of the WDWD crew! 

We begin with the images Chris sent my way.

Here we see Jeff, Pat & Bernie examining the ladder entrance to Spruce which continues to be problematic.

At the end of the WDWD images, I will share a few pics from my experiences with Karen & Alison paddling along the Rideau Canal system from Burritt's Rapids to Merrickville.

We saw many boats throughout the day and in the summer the lockmasters may see some 40 vessels transiting the system through  their locks on any given day.

We are back to the WDWD session where Fred has taken it upon himself to clean up the 'Maintenance of Way' cart and to better organize all of the tools we use each Wednesday (and sometimes on Saturday).

It's "Molly Fred"!

While Fred wanted to use Round-Up to kill the roots of the weeds, Chris tells us that simply pulling the weed by grabbing hold of the upper section of the root will allow for the entire structure to be torn away from the ground.

Thanks for sending along these images and descriptions, Chris!

 Doug and Bill are ready to calk the windows on the tower.

Bill is seen getting his fingers dirty.

Chris and Pat ponder the derailing problems leading into Spruce. 

Fred had done some adjustments on Saturday and we had no problem running the Annie through the curve.

 Henk moves the tool cart to the canopy so Fred can start reorganizing it.

Fred follows to make sure Henk places the cart in the proper spot.

Fred starts clearing off the cart and he has quite the job ahead of him.

The switches into Spruce have long been a problem for steamers. 

Investigation led us to believe the guide rail on the switch was the problem. 

The decision was made to replace the switch and Pat starts the process.

Fred is hard at work organizing the trolley.

 Pat and Jeff install the switch in place.

Jeff checks the level.

 Pat is nailing down the switch.

Henk, Doug and Chris take a moment out in the shade.

The lads readjust the alignment of the tracks with the switch.

Bernie is ready to drive an Annie through the newly installed turnout.  

The locomotive successfully took the turn into the Spruce yard. Unfortunately, the locomotive would not go straight through the switch. 

This had us scratching out heads. 

Double problem; the switch rail point was too narrow and the leading truck was out of gauge. 

The switch will have to be replaced again!

Pat is topping up the tire pressure on the cart. 

A little oil on the bearings also helps.

Pat was a busy beaver today. 

Here he is putting the support for the track leading into Bell back into its position. 

More work is required to level that portion of the benchwork.

Thanks, Bernie, for all the great pictures and for writing the captions for us!

Back to my day outing where I find my two daughters in the lower Nicholson lock between Burritt's Rapids and Merrickville.

The girls have an audience...our puppy Lilly!

And Lisa too.

The couple aboard the vessel "Plane Relief" are retired air traffic controllers who worked a tower somewhere in North Dakota the morning of 911.

When the water is lowered or raised the girls must hold on to the guide ropes along the side of the lock.

Karen will grab the rope momentarily and Alison will hold onto Karen's kayak which is the recommended way to stabilize the vessels as the water level in the lock changes.

The structures alongside the locks resemble railway stations as does this building at Burritt's Rapids.

There was a flock of geese congregating with the many vessels moored here so I walked down to photograph them.

Video of my photographing attempt with the Canada Geese!

And the girls head off south to Merrickville!

And, with this video, we head off until the next blog entry!

In the next 'trains' blog posting I will share a few more pics from our escapades along the Rideau Canal system!

Finally...a great big note of "Thanks" to Fred and our wonderful WDWD crew who strive to keep the railway running like a Swiss watch!

Check in next week for pics from our upcoming Session #10 when we will be running our standard gauge operations!

Finally, thanks to all our blog readers from around the world for checking in each week to follow our antics trackside!

We are the WDWD crew of the OVGRS in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada