We're Ready to Roll in Fred's Backyard
Hi folks! Today a dozen friends descended upon Fred's backyard to erect the canopy for yet another season of train ops.
With a forecast looming with rain at some point in the afternoon we knew that we had the morning 'all to ourselves' and more was accomplished than originally imagined.
All of the boards protecting the structures from the elements were disassembled and the buildings were placed all around the railroad.
Bob & Fred share a smile beneath the canopy near the end of the morning.
Bob, it is so wonderful seeing you 'out and about' once more!
I arrived at 7:30 as we had to drive my daughter out to the west end of town at an early hour.
Note the fallen pine needles all around the patio.
The needles are befriended by a series of pine cones in St. Helens.
All of the walkways are also under 'needle' coverage.
Lots of raking had to be done with lots of bags sent out to the curb to be picked up.
Claire is making a huge difference blowing the needles off the tracks at various locations around the railroad as witnessed in this video effort!
A video I snagged earlier.
Our protective assembly over the passenger area in Craig Leigh offered relief for all of the structures placed beneath while the snows of our Canadian winter fell throughout the last number of months before spring finally arrived.
Claire offers up a greeting our way as Doug, Seanna, Steve & George begin removing the boards.
Note all of the structures hiding beneath the covering.
Here's George.
Here is Steve.
We've got the canopy up and Chris & I have carted the cupboard and the fridge out from storage as Fred checks the levelling behind the crew lounge fridge.
The 'beer keeper' is slightly angled to the back to ensure the door shuts properly!
Note up top how we have pulled the canopy more to this side of the lounge to ensure rain does not make its way down upon the workbench area.
Bob works on the ties that help keep the canopy in place.
Yes, the canopy does not reach fully over to the bar here...but that's the best we could do besides purchasing a larger one!
(When this one was purchased...the proper dimensions were given to the company fabricating the canopy...but it arrived a little too short. We chose to keep it anyway and work around the problem.)
George, Mark & Pat are spotted in the crew lounge as Pat continues to work on the tie-down of the canopy.
Our other Pat arrived and assisted with the setting out of the structures.
Nice shirt Pat!
(Pat will drive Fred to lunch when the work in the yard gets done. Then they will attend their 'History Circle' meeting.)
Some structures are so large that they require two folks to carry them to their designated location on the railroad.
Looking good fellas!
The distribution of structures is non-stop!
Yet another house is going up across the street from Father Fred's place.
As soon as I arrived home I noticed some more of my daffodils were now in bloom!
Beautiful!
More bicolours!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our American friends from Buffalo, New York who sang the Canadian National Anthem before the Buffalo Sabres playoff game with the Boston Bruins after the singer's microphone cut out on her. This was a truly touching display showcasing the love many of our friends south of the border feel for their northern neighbours!
Thank you Buffalo, New York!
I have a model railroad friend named Dennis who lives in Buffalo and who was in attendance at the game!
Check it out at the link below which you may have to copy and paste into your computer's browser...or simply click on my white sentence.
My band is playing a gig in Orleans at Connor's Irish Pub & Eatery this Saturday night (May 2nd) at 8:00 PM.
If you have time on your hands and you want to listen to some great hits from the past, feel free to make your way there!
Fred is in a great state of relaxation knowing that the canopy will serve us well for yet another great season of train running!
For our next 'Workday Wednesday' session the WDWD crew will run a couple of trains with both freight and passenger equipment to assess any track issues that must be dealt with before our operations begin later in May.
We also have a number of items listed in the maintenance logbook to address...so check in next week to see our progress!
Thanks for hosting us Fred and thanks to the crew who was able to make it out today!
Great work everyone!
We are the WDWD crew and operators of the OVGRS family here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada!
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