Final Session of the Season in Colorado!

Stan, Bill and I were a tad late arriving Bill's place on account of us momentarily stopping at Stanley's place of work. While Stan parked the car and scurried inside, I heard the distinctive sound of a train approaching. I quickly jumped out of the car to capture this shot of the northbound O-Train arriving the University station stop. Moments before, it had crossed the span over the Rideau River.



I knew that the Carleton University station stop was the only location along this north-south corridor where there is a passing siding. As I turned around to see the train pull to a stop, I realized that the southbound had been waiting in the station all this time. It was great getting the chance to capture a "meet" of these two trains!

As soon as Bill began offering up jobs on the railroad, Rob and I jumped at the opportunity to snap up a train. Two other crews were already well underway on the busier trains but that was okay. Kaz and I were assigned train 600/601, the turn from Telluride to Vance Jct. This was only a short hop, so we were afforded the opportunity to do some railfanning along the route! After bringing in some six cars to Vance Jct. our orders show that there is only a single lift on this day. The photo above indicates that we have run around our train and will shortly begin our climb up to Telluride located at 8756 feet above sea level.

We are well on our way out of Vance Jct. climbing the grade past Illium at 8120 feet. An ardent railfan managed to frame this image nicely between the tall timbers. Note too, the timbers on the trestle! Bill Sn3 Scobie's layout is a joy to behold. The track is all handlaid, the scenery is spectacular and now Bill is utilizing a computer software package which generates his work orders for each session saving him countless hours of work in the process! That must be why we always see Bill with a great big smile on his face!

The town of Ridgeway at 7002 feet above sea level is the lowest location Bill models and all other destination distances along the line are defined from this point of origin. With the immense station, water tower and expansive yard off in the distance, this can be a very busy location along the line.

Yes, that's one immense yard at Ridgeway. Bill tells me that there are just over 230 cars on the railroad. I would've imagined that on a layout some 60x25 or so you would think there would be more...but we have to remember that it's the operations that dictate the car numbers.

This wonderful scene is located at the end of the peninsula which houses the huge industry at Vanadium. We are near the location known as Deep Creek at an elevation 7723 feet and some 35 miles out of Ridgeway.





Stan and Bob are manning this train as they pass the station platform at Placerville. Bill's locomotives run like a charm and look magnificent!

This train is hugging the cliffs as it descends downgrade into Ophir. There is a long passing siding before the town and this train quite likely will have some switching to do when it reaches Ophir.

The roundhouse and turntable outside Ridgeway are a-buzz with activity providing railfans with numerous subjects for their shutters. Bill certainly has a wonderful stable of horses on the layout!

Well, one would think that perhaps a sighting of a Yeti or Sasquatch might be in order in the high hills of Colorado...so what might these creatures be, we ask?

Why, no need to worry...just two locals who have escaped incarceration. We are quite confident that the authorities will have them captured by nightfall and they'll once again prove no harm to society! (Happy Birthday Peter!)

You always meet great people at Bill's train sessions and his buddy (Dan or Don) from Rochester, New York is no different...a wonderful fellow. Thanks for sharing your fine stories with the boys of the Friday Night Group!

Here he is...the man of the house! Bill, you're looking great laddie! Thanks so much for sharing your truly remarkable layout with the Friday Nighters. We always look forward to a visit to your Sn3 layout!

Lounge Lizards and Layout Wizards

Eleven lads descended upon Bill's place for a fine session of train operations last night. Train running, however, was not the only thing we were celebrating. That's Bob crooning the "Happy Birthday" song to our hirsute friend, Chris, who is all smiles as his dear wife let him share the occasion with his beloved train nuts...I mean, friends. Bob did one better, though...for this night was his wedding anniversary!
John, not to be outdone, leads a chorus of the birthday song while Fred and Jim on his flanks try to figure out which key John is leading them in. One thing is for sure...the squeals on the flanges in the train room sounded better than this choral ensemble!
Joel is ecstatic that Bill has the actual track plans for the rolling mill which which Bill has modelled on the layout that he is oblivious to all the noise around him. You see, Joel also wants to emulate Ottawa Central's operations, so these maps provided to Bill from the company are a gold mine, although Joel will most likely model something different along the OCR than L'Orignal.
Rick, sitting on the stairs, is wondering to himself how he can make a fast exit from the choir rehearsal and Mike, on the right, is trying to tell Joel that this is not always what happens on a Friday night. Joel simply wonders what he got himself into seeing as he is a recent member!
As for Bill, he's got it right. For he's pointing to the train room, the true reason we came to his place this evening. Yes, he's all smiles as his crew lounge and layout can easily accomodate the eleven operators with room to spare. Train ops began promptly at 8:00 PM and continued to well after 11:00 PM. It was just after midnight when the lads departed having enjoyed a wonderful evening. Enjoy the pics!

The first call went out at 8:00 PM and Joel and I jumped at the opportunity to run a train. Our first job on the evening would be as the OLOR crew up in Hawksbury aboard the leased CN unit 3219. Our task on this day would be to lift two loaded cars of shingles from the shingle plant (against the wall in the picture) and to procure two loaded gons of coil and four empties from the Rolling Mill.
With our train assembled and air brakes checked we began to roll downgrade from Hawksbury on a slow order toward the Glen. Our train was spotted below the highway overpass just south of town as we began the hour-long trip down to Glen Robertson. Check out the heavy equipment on the old dirt road beneath the bridge!
We know we're near the Glen when we spot the familiar landmark...an old wooden road overpass. In a few moments we will arrive the wye at Glen Robertson where we'll wait for the mainline CN train up from Coteau.
In no time at all, the CN mainline freight arrives with interchange traffic and after a swift exchange, both trains will be on their way back to their destination of origin. That orange Sclair car on the siding above the tracks certainly adds colour to the scene!
A little used siding in Glen Robertson serves as a storage/team track for now. Eventually, a plant is planned for this location which should equate to greater traffic on the spur.

With the acquisition of new freight cars, the OLOR is parking some of its equipment in sidings away from Coteau and rumour has it that some tankcars from other lines are stored at Walkley Yard in Ottawa. Bill, seeing as how we have to reach cars on the siding in behind the backdrop on the layout, you should consider extending the "lead" on the far left near the entrance to the furnace room to allow greater flexibility for switching in this area.
Sure, there's no scenery here at Coteau in staging, but switching this yard is still a blast! Rick seems to be really enjoying himself as he is partnered with the Mikey Man on this job!

Some recent developments on the layout include Bill painting all light surfaces with black paint. This little trick has worked to tie in all the scenes and make the layout in this area seem more complete than it actually is.
We all love Bill's scratchbuild of the white farm house located at the junction in the Glen. It's got great roof lines and curves. For those who are concerned about windows affecting the scenery, there's no need to worry here. When the trains run through beautiful scenes like Bill has and when operators are focussed on their car cards, switch lists and train orders, they lose sight of the fact that windows are there above the scene.
Indeed, this is one fine layout Bill has on the go. He has created a superb depiction of the operations of trains to the east of Ottawa, an area great for railfanning and for stimulating layout building!