Weekend Report: Part 1 - A busy, busy weekend at the Roundhouse!
Click on each image for a closer look! . There was a lot going on this past Saturday on many, many fronts. To give you some idea of what was accomplished here are two reports from the front lines. James Rasor reports that:
We managed to get the hardware storage module 95% complete, painted, and hardware stored away - all it needs is a door.
We completely cleaned out the Green Tool bin (a very daunting task!), scoured tables, nooks and crannies, and got all our nuts, bolts, screws, and other fasteners sorted on the lunch table and managed to even get them into the module.
The small tool module was given a good coat of paint and Wilson placed the first complete set of screwdrivers into it.
The TH&B Caboose #70's left conductor platform was stripped of rotten wood and rebuilt - it is looking really great!
The caboose's left structure under the copula was sketched out including metal tie rods in preparation for the new work to begin next week.
The caboose's work area was laid out. Articles waiting to be repaired and cleaned was all finally brought into one location where we will be working on them for the next two months.
The forklift was brought back into the stalls from the machine shop and charged up for more heavy lifting - healthier for us!
One of our youngest fans and a frequent visitor, Bennett, came to visit with his mother, Carolyn who fortified us all with cake! And we finished that too!
Michael guy also reports that "another crew worked the entire day on the Pyke Crane’s electrical wiring. There seem to be numerous issues with it. It didn't help that the schematic in our book seemed to be no more than a general guide to the builders intent rather than an exact road map. By days end the fog was starting to clear and we were making progress." . And we haven’t even covered the work that was going on to build additional passenger cars for the miniature railway and to renovate the newly acquired flat car. We cover progress on these projects in part 2 of this weekend report. . Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by James Rasor .
Historic Note: UCRS visits CNR roundhouse to pick a steam engine - Feb 27, 1960!
Click on the image for a closer look! . Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
February 27, 1960: . The Locomotive Preservation Committee of the Upper Canada Railway Society visits the Canadian National Railway Spadina roundhouse for the purpose of choosing a steam locomotive suitable for preservation and presentation to the City of Toronto. The committee picked U-2-g 4-8-4 No. 6213 and it was presented to the city in August 1960. It was subsequently moved to the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds, where it was mounted adjacent to the old Stanley Barracks, then being used as the Marine Museum of Upper Canada. The locomotive was maintained by the UCRS for several years, later by members of the Toronto Locomotive Preservation Society. In June 2009, the locomotive was moved to Roundhouse Park for incorporation into the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre. In 2010, cab visits to 6213 were the second most popular attraction at the TRHC after rides on the miniature railway. . If you wish to read the daily postings from Derek and learn from the discussions that result, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here. . Posting by Russ Milland; Photo by Lance Gleich .
Historic Note: February 24, 1945 - Model Railroad Club of Toronto
Click on each image for a closer look! . Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
February 24, 1945:The Globe & Mail devotes almost an entire page to a profile of the Model Railroad Club of Toronto located in Union Station. The O-gauge layout featured 1300 feet of track and was located in Room 470, a 16 by 165 foot space located on the north side of the Ticket Lobby on the fourth floor and completely hidden from view in the Great Hall. The club had begun building the layout in 1938 and, amazingly, given the lack of manpower and materials during World War II, was well advanced by this time in 1945. . The club was evicted from Union Station at the end of the year and moved to its current location two miles to the west at 37 Hannah Street in a munitions factory no longer needed for the war effort. Some structures on the current layout date back to the Union Station tenancy. The space that the club occupied in Union Station is about to be taken over by GO Transit for their new headquarters. . The Model Railroad Club of Toronto is holding the last in a series of February Open Houses this coming Sunday, February 27th from 12:00 to 4:30 p.m. For more information on their open house, visit their excellent website by clicking here or download their brochure for the event by clicking here. The Model Railroad Club of Toronto was also featured in a previous posting announcing a past series of Open Houses which you can read by clicking here. . If you wish to read the daily postings from Derek, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here. . Story by Russ Milland; Pictures from the Model Railroad Club of Toronto Website. .
Click on each image for a closer look! . The city of York in the U.K. is synonymous with Britain’s railways. Roughly half-way between London and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line, York became an important crew change and refueling point. Today, the National Railway Museum and one of the busiest stations in the North-East mean that York is still an important railway city. . York joined the railway in 1839 and within a year, the city was connected to London by rail. George Hudson, one of Britain’s most famous (or infamous) railway executives came from the York area and made much of his fortune on projects to connect York to the railway. After some shady business practices were exposed, Hudson fell from grace and the principal railway man in York became George Leeman, who became head of the North Eastern Railway. . In 1877, the new York station opened to passengers. Its magnificent curved roof stretches for 800 feet and is 42 feet high. This structure truly is a temple to the supreme power of the railways in the Victorian period. Such an extravagant building was fitting as by the 1880s, the North Eastern Railway was the main employer in York. Today, the station has 11 platforms and at peak times, sees a departure every three minutes. The building is a Grade II-listed structure, meaning that it has been granted heritage protection. A combination of opposition from the City Council and the listed status recently prevented ticket barriers from being installed on the platforms. . York is also renowned for its carriage works, which opened in 1884. York remained an important centre of rolling stock manufacturing until 1995, when the Holgate Road ABB works closed. In the midst of privatisation, no more orders had been placed for the Class 465 EMUs, meaning that there was nothing for the York works to do. The ABB works were the last in the country capable of building an entire train in one facility. Various companies, including Thrall and Siemens, have occupied the works since, but the general trend is towards a complete loss of manual jobs related to the railway in York. The national infrastructure operator, Network Rail, currently uses the site as a maintenance base. In the early 1900s, there were up to 10,000 skilled railway workers in York, today the number is thought to be no more than a few hundred. . Despite the loss of these jobs, York remains an important railway administration centre. Near the station, many of the office buildings house train operating companies such as Grand Central and Northern Rail. Network Rail also has extensive office facilities, including in the aptly-named George Stephenson House. . Apart from the station and the National Railway museum, there are several locations of note in the city for the railway fan to see. Beside the station is the Grade II-listed Royal York Hotel, built in 1878. Near the station, there is a statue of George Leeman. Just inside the city walls is the enormous war memorial dedicated to workers of the North Eastern Railway killed during the two World Wars. . Despite the decline in manufacturing, York remains an important railway centre. Thanks to the National Railway Museum, the city is also a Mecca for railway enthusiasts and trainspotters can always be found on the station platforms. . The photos above show some of York’s railway history:
The statue of George Leeman, near the railway station.
The North Eastern Railway war memorial.
The Royal York Hotel, a more modest structure than the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto.
The photos below are of the York railway station. From the street, York’s station is quite unimposing. However, once inside the magnificent roof is a sight to behold. The metal arches are a recognisable landmark, day or night. . York is easily reached by rail. Click here to find more information about the railway history of York. . Posting and pictures by Thomas Blampied .
Weekend Report: Classes & more equipment moves completed!
Click on each image for a closer look! . Sunday morning found the class room sessions for our steam locomotive driver's course wrapping up with an examination. Congratulations to the seven volunteers who all passed their steam locomotive theory exam with flying colours. The class will move on to practical studies as soon as the weather permits us to move into Roundhouse Park and practice what we have learned. . On Sunday afternoon, we had a large audience of visitors with small children as we shuffled rail cars once again. It seemed appropriate given the number of people around to allow escorted visits inside the three stalls. So several of our volunteers rose to the occasion and did just that. . Thanks also to everyone who participated in the moves. Again, we had a good sized crew with enough bodies to guard open fence locations and protect the moving train. At the end of the day the boxcar was parked outside stall 15, the flat car and engine #1 are inside stall 17 and Jackman remains parked on the turntable. . Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by Ryan Ho .
Weekend Report: Another busy Saturday in the Roundhouse!
Click on each image for a closer look! . This past Saturday found our crew of volunteers busy at numerous project s throughout the three stalls. Projects addressed included:
Refinishing of the TH&B Caboose’s Conductor's left cupola bench
Stripping the rotten wood off the flat car
Making more platforms to cover the pits for safety reasons
Cleaning out of the boxcar in preparation for moving it
An additional storage module for all our bits, bolts, screws, and pieces
Posting by Russ Milland; Photos by James Rasor & Richard White .
to foster fellowship among railway modellers throughout Canada.
to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and skills between railway modellers.
to promote the hobby of railway modelling in Canada.
to be inclusive of all scales and interests.
to work in co-operation with other organizations.
Each year, CARM host a small train show just west of Hamilton and north of Highway 403 in Copetown, Ontario. The show is focused on:
Operating Canadian prototype layouts
Displays by model craftsmen
Railway Special Interest Groups
Canadian Model Manufacturers Displays and Sales
Photo Vendors
In the pictures above and below from past shows, we find Jason Shron of Rapido Trains, one of the participating vendors, showing off his instant telephone pole product and a number of images of the fine modelling work on display at past shows.
This year, the show will be held this coming Sunday as follows:
Date: Sunday February 20th, 2011
Location:
Copetown And District Community Centre, 1950 Governor’s Road, just east of Hwy. 52 Copetown, ON
Time: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Admission cost: $5.00. Refreshments will be on sale at the site and the The Copetown Centre is wheelchair accessible.
Historic Note: CP launches heritage website on February 16th, 2001
Click on the images for a closer look!
Derek Boles, TRHA's historian, publishes a daily posting on the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List. These postings document major railway oriented events that happened on that day of the year. One of today's items is as follows:
February 16, 2001:
Canadian Pacific commemorates its 120th anniversary by launching a website devoted to displaying images of the history of the company drawn from the CPR Archives. The site at www.cprheritage.com displays hundreds of photographs and graphic art from one of the largest privately-owned archival collections in Canada. Images from the CP archives have also appeared in several books, most notably J.F. Garden's "Nicholas Morant's Canadian Pacific" in 1991. In 2006, the CPR published "Portraits of Canada: Photographic Treasures of the CPR."
The images shown here are from the CPR archives and they and many others can be found on CP's fine reference site.
If you wish to read these daily postings from Derek, simply join the Toronto Railway Heritage Yahoo Group List by clicking here.
Click on each image for a closer look! . We had a full and eventful Sunday culminating in success! Everything we had planned for the weekend is now complete. After the steam locomotive drivers' class this morning, we got right back into it at 12:30 and finally completed the equipment shuffle planned for Saturday. We were able to complete the installation of the remaining four bearing bearings on the flat car and then moved everything as follows:
The boxcar and flat are now in stall 17,
#4803 is on track 34 (inside the fence)
The Jackman is on the turntable.
The fight to get the last four bearings into place on the flat car was no easier today than the first four were yesterday. To get clearance to insert the brasses, the truck side frames had to be both jacked up and pulled sideways. This took a chain hoist and some rigging. It also took the use of the oxygen-propane cutting torch to warm up the axleboxes to partly defrost the solidly-frozen journal-packs. Once we had all eight brasses in place the car rolled nicely. Even though we still need to fit the proper wedges the car is mobile and safely usable for the slow speeds we use at TRHC. . Our portable diesel simulator control stands had originally been packed for shipping in wooden crates with small plastic wheeled casters to facilitate loading and unloading them on their trip last year from the developer. However when we tried to use the crates for moving the simulator to the Christmas train Show, the casters were not up to the job. So two of us spent Sunday rebuilding one of the crates with a much more robust floor and with much larger rubber casters. Next weekend we will be taking this simulator to the Copetown Train Show and use it to promote the TRHA and the museum. . Posting by Michael Guy & Russ Milland; Pictures by Stephen Gardiner & Russ Milland .
Weekend Report: A busy Saturday in wintry conditions!
Click on each image for a closer look! . We had a great turn out of people today (Saturday) If I try and list everyone I will certainly miss someone so I won't but would like to welcome a new volunteer, Dan, and thank all of our volunteers for coming out. . It was certainly a mixed bag of projects and results and gold stars to everyone for sticking it out all day. Briefly it went like this:
Our "indoor team" made great progress on setting up a new office and lunch corner
We tried to start locomotive #1
We unpacked a second batch of new tools from Home Depot.
We cleared paths through the snow for our planned equipment moves
We tackled replacing the brasses in our flat car to make it movable
We failed miserably to get #1 going because the batteries were flat. Much scrambling with a rigged-up charger and extra batteries went on all day and saw us eventually able to just barely turn one engine over without being able to start it. As a consequence, nothing moved all day and the Jackman passenger is still in stall 17. . Meanwhile another crew were wading through a foot of snow with shovels and a snow-blower generously lent to us by Steam Whistle Brewery. In anticipation that we would be able to move equipment at some point they cleared paths across the patio, much of track 40 and over to the flat car on track 34. Well done chaps, it was a lot of work.
The flat car crew's job was to install the eight "new" bearing brasses in the truck journals. This was a mechanically uncooperative fight that went on all day. Some of the journal boxes were contaminated with water which was frozen (naturally) making life difficult as the journal oil packs were solid instead of soft and pliable. To cut a long story short, it took nearly six hours to install four of the eight bearings. . #1's battery charger will be working all night so after lunch tomorrow (Sunday) we are going to try again to get it started and hopefully make the equipment moves we had planned for today. . Once again, thank you all, it was a challenging day but enjoyable too if you don't mind lying in the snow under old railway cars! . Thanks also to Dave Wetherald for a handsome donation of even more new tools. . Posting by Michael Guy; Pictures by James Rasor .
Click on each image for a closer look!
