Workday Wednesday and Old Black & White Pics

Workday Wednesday and Old Black & White Photos

A smaller handful of folks made it out to the WDWD session this morning.

The two Dougs, Bernie & Pat joined Fred & me.

I arrived shortly after 7:00 AM after dropping my daughter off at the high school where she teaches.

She is heading off to Algonquin Park on a three-day "Outdoor Ed" canoe excursion with thirty Grade Ten students and six teachers.

Oh...to be young again!!!  😀😄😄

When I arrived, there were a ton of large pine cones lying around St. Helens.

I had already raked many of them up from the ground but had to remove these ones by hand over the trackwork here.

  I didn't want to blow these ones onto the ground with the blower seeing as I had just raked the area beneath the benchwork.

I also didn't want to damage the trackwork with the tongs of the rake.

Cones and cattle!

Our main focus on the day was fixing up issues with the trestle.

Here I am using a small 'level' to determine the angle of the tracks and the roadbed.

We removed a section of track that was too long and was adding pressure to the rails on either side - the trestle rails to the right and the turnout to the left.

Bernie used his Dremel tool to cut a small segment off both rails.

I then put it back in place and the pressure that was released eliminated a vertical kink in the track work.

I used a crowbar to lift the entire roadbed area along both sidings and tucked rocks in underneath.

This brought the entire section of the sidings up to the same level as the trestle.

A view from the other side.

Doug helped supervise the leveling process.

The three of us cleaned out the area at Goodies Gulch to offer a clear space for our future bridge related work in this location.

Those stones are heavy critters so the dolly is put to good use!

We miss you Dolly Parton!  

For now the stones are piled up against the foundation of Fred's house.

Pat arrived with the most precious of commodities - the beer for the fridge!  👌

I didn't get an image of Doug C. but he was here as well.

Doug took the doodlebug and the RDC home with him to work on them some more.

Hey Robin...Lisa & I had the canopy you offered me set up in under ten minutes by just the two of us!

Please thank your daughter for this lovely gift.

It will come in handy whenever my band has to play outdoors!

Lisa even ordered a special carrying case on rollers for it!

Just after 7:00 AM, Fred & I sat on the back patio looking at these old black & white photos he uncovered recently along with some colour images.

Here is the dispatch cabin as it appeared in the location of the property now known as 'The Corners' along the southeast corner of his lot.

This is the station that once lived at the present day Peter's Pond location on the railway.

Fred tells me that the pond would have been just behind the depot.

Note the one leg of the wye to the left that is no longer in existence here.

The locomotive is one of the original LGB offerings.

Fred mentioned that the late Ray Irving eventually modernized the loco for him.

We see a young Father Fred with his dear friend; the late Ray Irving.

Here we have another look of the southeast leg of the original wye at Peter's Pond.

Same location - just a different angle.

Once again...we see Peter's Pond off to the right with the town slightly to the north.

The box with cables controls the wiring to the track.

You've got to remember that this was the time before 'remote control'.

In back hidden is the pump for the pond.

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to check up on this blog entry.

I'm smiling because I'm having a great time at OVAR.

A segment video of the band playing the Monkees song, "Last Train to Clarksville".

This was recorded on Dilip' cell phone.

Alas...as always...the sound was much better in person...but it gives you an idea of the band.

We always find that the sound 'in person' is better than the recordings...no matter how great the cell phone is.

We really do appreciate Dilip for snagging these fun videos though!

Thanks to Fred for hosting!

We had a smaller crew today...but they worked in a big way!

Every day is 'train day' in Fred's backyard.

We are the Workday Wednesday crew of the OVGRS in our great sovereign Nation of Canada