Workday Wednesday May 27th

Workday Wednesday - May 27th

Once again to 'beat the traffic' I arrived Fred in the 'Sixes' this AM

Freddie had the tea and the coffee pot on ready for the work crew.

Lots was covered on this morning with a great turnout.

 It's 6:20 AM and the skies look ominous at the corner of Riverside Drive & Baseline Road.

Alas, no ill weather materialized and the sun broke through by the time Lisa & I dropped our daughter, Karen off at the high school where she teaches...after which I made my way to Fred's.

For our readers who live far away this is the Canada Post Building known as Confederation Heights...and it is one of my favourite structures in our fair city.

Here is the school where Karen teaches Grades 11 & 12...Nepean High School.

Nepean High is on the list for "Doors Open Ottawa" next weekend.  

Folks can visit the school between the hours of 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM next Sunday, June 7th where they can take tours offered by the high school students themselves.

The high school is 104 years old as an institution and its historic building is103 years old and is located in the Westboro community of Ottawa.

It was still a tad bit chilly in the wee hours of the morning but that did not deter Fred from getting down to business.

The handle on our narrow gauge shed had broken away from the door.

Indeed it had!

Fred has all the parts prepped for the assembly.

After a few 'nuts and bolts' appeared, the job was done!

Indeed, Fred is a very proud papa!

I devoted my time to sorting all of the standard gauge cars for our operations this coming Saturday.

They had been stored over the winter...in a 'willy nilly' fashion...thus amendments to their destinations were required.

One tray labeled for Nelson Yard & Bellamy actually held cars for a totally different location!

Yikes!  Someone forgot to change the ID card!  😡😎😉

We are all sorted and ready to rumble on Saturday!

Let's check in on a video "round-up" of all the freight cars.

Skipper Henk arrived.

He soon got down to business with the whipper-snipper.

It's "B&B"...no, not "Bed & Breakfast"!

Why...it's Bill & Bernie!

Welcome back from your European river cruise Bernie!

No sooner had they arrived when they immediately got down to business replacing the rotted out roadbed beyond the turnout which takes trains over to Lilly and the Fallentree Mine.

"Stick 'em up, Mike!" Bill indicates.

Indeed...rotten it is!

We spot the efforts of the lads as captured on video tape!

Chris got down to business with the weeding.

Fred labeled the garbage cans he keeps beneath the boardroom table.

Their placement here is to protect them if it rains even though the table is under the canopy atop the lounge.

Seanna & Steve work away with the many structures around the railway.

The old roadbed has been lifted.

This job has to be completed by the end of the morning seeing as this section of the line leads all incoming and outgoing trains to and from the eastern end of Nelson Yard and is necessary for our operations this coming Saturday.

A new section will be cut in here.

Bill & Bernie have placed the plank 'cup side' down and have drawn the exact locations for the cuts immediately atop the area in question.

Video footage of Bernie at work.

Et voila.  

All is good as my foot presses down on the joint.

Bill drew a perfect line and Bernie made a perfect cut!

With the one end angled in nice and snug, Bill proceeds to draw the new angle for the other end of the plank.

Bill is ambidextrous...he can smile and carry a pencil atop his ear all at the same time!

And...to top it all off...he's a 'tree hugger' as well!

But we love his 'narrow minded' approach to things!

(That's an inside joke that only true railroaders will understand!)  😎😍😎

Bernie makes the final cut with me standing safely away atop the end of the board hidden at the bottom of the image.

Mary and Ted arrive to take Fred out for lunch.

Is skipper Fred "out to lunch"...we think not!  😋😁😋

Why...it's a perfect fit!

Of course, Bill & Bernie live by that age old adage, "Measure Twice, Cut Once"!

A look from the other end.

Looking real good there lads!

Indeed, the "workday Wednesday" crew is one heckuva hard-working bunch!

See what I mean!

Ditto for Steve & Seanna as Henk takes a much needed nap after his hard work!

But he re-awakens to offer greetings to Fred's brother, Ted!

Meanwhile Chris tends to the weeds in the rust garden.

Time to pack up...

...then we all can take a much-deserved break in the crew lounge.

And we enjoy the tales Henk offers from his recent visit back to his home in The Netherlands.

I couldn't think of a nicer way to spend my birthday than with my railroad friends in the morning and then with my family and my little puppy dog for the rest of the day.

My singer in my band, Corinne, sent this birthday greeting my way.

I have now traveled around our golden sun 68 times in my life...yikes!

My band is supposed to be playing at Fred's Patio Party Friday night at 7:00 PM but the weather forecast for that evening is rather foreboding.

 We may very well have to postpone until another weekend when Pete is still in town with his saxophone!

Hey one thing great about being born on the 27th day of a month is the fact that the number 27 is a perfect cube (3x3x3) and if you take the digits from 2 to 7 (2+3+4+5+6+7) what number do you arrive at?  Yes...27!

Our good mate, Fred, is a happy camper as things are progressing nicely around the railroad.

We look forward to a highly successful season of train running out in the backyard.

Thanks to all who made it out today to conduct some much needed maintenance, even if there are still many projects left on the plate to be considered and dealt with.

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