August 5th "Workday Wednesday"
The WDWD crew worked diligently once again this morning.
The fruits of their efforts means that the right of way has been shorn of overgrown weeds.
All choke cables have been oiled.
Nelson Yard now has throws on every distant turnout.
Fallentree Mine is now back in operation!
The Lawrence Watkins Trestle has been leveled with the rails adhered with track ties.
We could even work the sidings at Lilly, but alas, I informed our rail master, Steve, that I didn't anticipate its opening for at least another week...thus no trains will traverse the wooden trestle to deliver goods there.
The trestle can now be used as a 'lead' into the mine though...so Bob...feel free to have fun setting out empties and lifting loads from there as you have always done in the past!
"Before"
Another "Before" image.
"After" image 'sans' mine.
"After" image with mine.
When I arrived, Father Fred had the tea and the coffee on in the kitchen.
Freddie's cap!
Shortly thereafter, a deer somehow managed to find its way into the kitchen...perhaps searching for some grub!
Well, it's a dear alright...why, it's "Dear Doug" our dearest dispatcher of the railway!
Then trouble arrived!
Errr...I mean...Bill!
But where is his sidekick?
More trouble!
There he is...all out of focus!
Henk did work hard this morning...but I had no further images of the lad...so here he is on another WDWD assisting Bill with the turnout throws.
Chris kept the weeds at bay across the vast expanse of both railways.
Mark arrived and got down to business right away.
He oiled all of the choke cables around the entire system of both railways.
Bernie also arrived following his appointment with a cute looking dental hygienist but I had no images of him from today...thus this one from several WDWD's ago!
Doug & I discuss how we will deal with the turnouts leading into the two mine spurs.
As things turned out, with the two turnouts placed as you see, we were able to use curved trackage to 'sneak' onto the two boards.
The far track of the mine actually hugs the edge of the board which is fine.
The near track comes closer to the center of its board.
I have placed a straight track atop the nearer curved section to determine where exactly the straight area of rail begins.
I then marked this location on the curved section of track and took the piece over to Fred for cutting.
Father Fred did a masterful job with the cutting of the rail and the filing to ensure a perfect fit!
It will work out well, Freddie!
Here you see me moments later tucking the straight section into the curved one.
For Bob's information, we can fit six ore cars on the front track at the mine and five on the back track.
A perfect fit I say!
And...the Fallentree Mine is happy to be home once again!
Looking good!
While I was busy getting laid at the mine...errr...I mean...laying track at the mine, Bill was occupied over at the western front of Nelson Yard.
Seeing as we used brand new choke cables for the mine reno, Bill 'recycled' the old ones and added distant throws to the other far-off tracks in Nelson Yard.
In the past he used to have to reach a long way to turn the switch or ask someone on the other side of the yard to do so for him...and often times there was nobody on the far side of the yard!
Great job Bill!
In the upcoming video you will see me throw the distant turnout.
The reason Bill is pressing on the choke cable is because we had no more fittings or even staples to hold it down.
In the end...after the video, we improvised with two track nails to handle the job.
Video of the throw action.
Chris snagged these next three shots of me in action spiking down the rails on the Lawrence Watkins Trestle.
The trestle was so solidly built by Lawrence that it can take my full weight as I sit atop it to place the nails alongside the rails.
Here are the tools of the trade.
The two silver metallic templates keep the rails at the perfect distance from each other in parallel as I spike down the rails.
The pliers have a special indent to hold the top of the spikes which I can use to turn the spike heads atop the base of the rail.
No need to hammer anything down...just pressure from the blunt end of the pliers does the trick.
Finally, the hundreds of tiny spikes can be seen inside the plastic container.
A June bug is happily climbing the outer ridge of the wall above the far window as loaded ore cars are awaiting pickup from the mine.
And...the empties will be replenished in short order!
Chris has just lifted the trestle and rested it on some stones to take the 'bow' out it and all is level now!
So Chris & I play a game of "Pitch & Catch" or "Rock & Roll" with the two cars!
Video fun at the Fallentree Mine and the Lawrence Watkins Trestle over to Lilly!
So...from this...
...to this...we are ready to rumble on Saturday at the mine!!! 💪💪👌👌👍👍💪💪
Chris & Mark take a much needed rest in the shade found in the patio area.
And...when I get home I get out my trusty Martin Guitar and play a few tunes as a form of relaxation following a hard day's 'morning' working on the railway!
And Fred heads back indoors to get out of the heat found in the great outdoors.
He is smiling as he sees the railway coming back to form once again.
By the following session after this Saturday's one, we will once again be able to switch out Lilly as well as the Fallentree Mine!
We are the "Workday Wednesday" crew of the OVGRS and we are proud to call Ottawa, Ontario, Canada our home!
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