North Dover Struck By Earthquake

The Friday Night Crew were thirty minutes into last evening's operating session when a large boom was heard (and felt) as the entire house shook. Indeed, North Dover was struck by an earthquake. Operators Mike Mueller and Bill Meek were startled to see all buildings sway and cars pushed off the road in the brief duration the tremor was felt.

In reality, the entire Ottawa region was struck by a quake of magnitude 4.5 on the Richter Scale. The eerie aspect of this story is the fact that the previous week's train operations at Tommy Hood's layout felt a "fictitious" earthquake...which was written about in the previous posting! Last night's tremor was no fraud...it was the real thing! In fact, some of the operators' wives called my home to see if we heard and felt the earth move as they did from their homes!

Being a school teacher in the throes of report cards, my railfanning on this day is limited and I am able to capture three trains, the North Turn, a Maine Central hotshot and a B&M passenger train hauling milk to market. I was standing precariously on a hillside outside North Dover snapping shots of train D5, "The North Turn" when I felt some movement below my feet. Little did I know that the minor rumblings would be an advanced warning of a larger magnitude tremor that would hit town in short order.

From my elevated position I am able to capture the North Turn departing town. (1st image) It has finished its exchange in North Dover and is spotted departing yard limits at Boundary Road in an outbound direction.

My railfan buddies, Stan and Jim, later met up with the turn as it crossed Stanley Bridge spanning the Salmon River. The train is departing New Hampshire and entering Maine with its consist seen above the curved stone arches of this magnificent bridge. (2nd image)

Shortly the train reaches the interlocking with the Maine Central where Jim managed to obtain a photograph of the tail end of a lengthy MEC mainline train. The Maine Central is the inferior railroad here and typically it has to await the arrival of any B&M traffic. Why it was granted permission to cross the diamond ahead of the superior B&M local is a mystery...but nothing surprises we railfans!

I understand that Rick Craig and Don Leger make up the crew on "The Turn" this day.

I return to my car to chase the North Turn and I finally catch it at the northern terminus of the line. (On my layout, the staging tracks at the duckunder serve as both northern (Rigby Yard) and southern (Lowell Jct.) classification areas. Here we spot the 1223 sidling up beside a big brother, FT 4217.

A passenger train is spotted in care of a large contingent of milk traffic. I am thrilled to capture this shot of a Hood milk car and two Borden's cars. Unfortunately my blasted camera ran out of film just as two rather unique rail cars passed by...yes, two red "butterdish" milk cars hidden in amidst a bevy of milk carrying cousins. Hopefully I will be able to capture these cars sometime in the near future.
Sixteen visitors arrived for train ops...a larger group than the typical dozen who attend. For those who don't know my basement setup, the crew lounge is at least three times larger than the actual layout allowing my home to support a greater crowd. Typically four operators run the layout at any given time with the odd occasion of six operators when the Conley Lumber and Coal engine comes to life. The other operators await their call in the spacious and comfortable crew lounge I've created thanks to inspiration from my wife, Lisa...and the handiwork of my good buddy, Mike Mueller. VHS and DVD movies play continuously throughout the evening and the Friday Night fellas bring plenty of books and new magazines to share.

Operations last for two hours from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM followed by food and drink until near midnight. (Friday night means most fellas don't have to set alarms the next morning for work.) Following trains ops we typically watch more videos or we settle in for terrific slide presentations from members of the group.

Look closely at the first image and you'll spot the layout room off in the distance and a bunch of the boys immersed in railroad conversations or checking out books and magazines.

This just in! The true cause of the tremor officially has been determined. Apparently Mr. Leger (kneeling) was grumbling to Pope Howard (standing) that his own layout was not receiving the press coverage that the Pope's was...so the Pope's anger was sparked. (Pope Howard's layout appeared in MR recently and was selected to be one of the few layouts chosen for a Kalmbach Trainplayer game.)

In begging forgiveness, Mr. Leger was shaken to the soul by the Pope's tremulous response. As the Pope admonished Archbishop Leger, the ground shook...and the vibrations were felt as far away as the CN mainline to the south of the Ottawa region as evidenced in the attached photograph!

Lesson here...never covet thy neighbour's layout!

Indeed, model railroading is fun when you get to share your layout with a bunch of great friends!
Cheers, Mike