Putting the Railway to Bed

Putting the Railway to Bed

A number of us gathered at Fred's this Thursday morning to put the railway to bed.

It is now well tucked in for its long winter's nap!

Thanks to all those who were able to make it out to assist in the effort.

It's 7:00 AM and Father Fred is wide awake with the coffee & tea on!

Bernie & I arrived at the same time!

Bernie had already moved many of the structures over to the our Northland Ore Dock the day before to free up space over Craig Leigh so that we could determine the best placement of the structures when we assembled as a larger group.

Many ended up inside the engine house at Craig Leigh.

We will have to remember this fact when we get next season's train running started.

Earlier this year for about two weeks we couldn't find some of the buildings and other details.

Yup...they were a-hiding in the engine house!  👍👀👍

Bernie has covered the engine house at Nelson Yard and is continuing with his weight training!

Meanwhile, our good friend, John Soehner, has given Father Fred his railway calendar for next year.

John is an avid railfan.

He snapped this image of Ray Farand and the late Bob Heathorn railfaining at the road crossing in Smith's Falls.

Quite the consist John captured!

And...here is John at a recent OVAR meeting.

Not only is he a renowned rail photographer, he is an excellent modeler to boot!

Back in Fred's backyard Chris prepares the stepladder to take down the lights hanging from the canopy supports as Fred looks on.

Indeed, we are all bundled up as the temps at this time of the morning are in the single digits.

Chris snips the plastic strips taking care not to snip the electrical cord.

Mike reaches up on tippy toes to unscrew the lightbulb in the incandescent fixture.

Father Fred is rather solemn knowing that the railway must now hibernate for nearly seven months!

Bernie & Mike lugged the refrigerator into the dispatch cabin.

Mike was happy that he didn't tear his jacket like he did two years ago performing the same task!

"Safety first" is our motto.

Bernie, Chris & Mike fold the canopy after its removal from its metal web.

She folds down into an eventual neat rectangle to be wrapped in a carrying sack.

While packing up...Fred dug out an early version of Joel Racine's schematic of the railway.

Many more additions to the two lines have happened since this version was produced back in 2012.

Pat arrived and sang "O Canada" with the Canadian flag flying proudly in the background.

Mark arrived and joined in the chorus!

Before we knew it the entire neighbourhood was singing along!

Apparently Mike is in need of neurosurgery, so Pat begins the operation.

Hmmm...wouldn't we want a more sterile environment, Paddy!

Following his surgery, Mike got onto the operation of covering up Craig Leigh with all of its structural contents.

Mark offered a great assist!

Pat did the math and triangulated things in order for us to meet with success.

The crew is dedicated for sure!

We're getting there.

Bernie checks Lottery Canada to see if he won the 90 Million dollars!

("Bernie...the draw is on the weekend!" we tell him.)

Hey...I wouldn't mind hibernating in that cool looking fort for the winter...

...rather than bundling up in the narrow gauge shed...

...or even the standard gauge one!

Seanna & Steve arrived and got right down to business.

Seanna is a wise lady...wearing her protective glasses!

Mark hums the final lines of 'O Canada'.

Seanna helps lift the canopy into place with supports near the top tucked in between the two layers of material.

We support our Canadian Air Force...

...and Bill sure does as well!

Why...it's a scene from "Fiddler on the Roof"!!!  😎😁😎

Bob arrived to help out!

Great seeing ya Bob...but there's no more ore train to run this season!

It's a car party at Fred's!

And...he sure is one happy camper!

Which month are we in again?

Oh yeah...the month of All Hallow's Eve!

Still a couple of weeks to go though!

These next batch of pics come our way from Bernie's camera.

A bundled up Mark is all smiles.

Mike handles the lower areas requiring screws.

The crew continues with the labour at hand.

Pat is waiting for someone to hold up the board for him!

You go Paddy!

Mike photo bombs Bernie's pic of Pat.

The ends are just as important as the means!

See what I mean!

Seanna & Steve tuck the material in before adhering strips along the fascia.

Mike drills the strip in place as Seanna continues down the length of Craig Leigh.

There's our 'fiddler' who was on the roof!

He is a social climber!

We're getting there.

Bernie also snapped images inside the storage sheds.

Yup, we managed to get all structures under cover for the coming months.

Partner work in tandem together beautifully.

No more dispatching for a few months!

The crew holds a huddle to keep warm.

Bob comes prepared!

Lovely work - crew!

We'll be good until spring.

More car storage bins will reside beneath Bell.

Thanks for all of these pics Bernie!

As for me, later that day my band performed at the Dementia Society of Ottawa-Renfrew.

We'll be kept busy throughout the fall and winter months with numerous performances in the offing.

Many of our OVGRS members will re-unite each month at OVAR.

Over 85 folks interested in railroading meet for dinner once a month.

Here we see a locomotive pair Bernie brought out for the display at our most recent dinner meeting.

These locomotives ran along the route of the Roberval & Saguenay Railway in the province of Quebec.

Matt Gendron has done some lovely weathering on this SOO unit.

His dad, Charls, brought a number of Matt's locomotives out for the display.

Yet another amazing job done by Matt.

Kyle Cuthbert is busy dreaming up his own railway line with its own livery.

Bruce Leckie showcased some great interior detailing on a South River Modelworks model he brought out for the structures table.

OVGRS member Malcolm Vant did an amazing job on this Tichy kitbash of a Maintenance of Way steam generator car.

I brought along a diorama I created to showcase the Grain Elevator I built for our very own Mark Christopher.

Bill Scobie did the decalng!

Here are Bernie and Stéphane offering warm smiles of invitation to join us at our future OVAR meetings in the off season!

On behalf of Father Fred, we bid "fare thee well" for the time being.

We will re-unite over the long weekend in the month of May of 2027.

That will be when the snows have melted away and the flowers begin to bloom up in our nation's capital.

Until then...we are the OVGRS of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

and we are ever so proud to be Canadians through and through! 👍👍

Image courtesy of VIA Rail Canada