 |
|
| Steaming Day - Oct 14, 2001
The second to last steaming day of the year almost didn't happen. Under threatening skies, a few members showed up and waited to see what the weather was going to do. Soon, a steady rain had everyone looking for cover but then the spectators started to arrive despite the rain. It was then decided that if the spectators didn't care about the rain then we shouldn't either. Cliff Bartlett was the first to fire up with his 4-3/4" Speedy. Soon he was giving rides in the rain to the many visitors. Harry Savile also fired up his 7-1/4" Consolidation and had several different members out driving it in the rain. |
Cliff Bartlett getting his 4-3/4" Speedy ready to take some spectators for a lap in the rain |
 |
|
 |
After a couple of hours Cliff decided to take a rest and Tom Stewart got his 4-3/4" Pacific going to continue giving rides as the spectators kept coming back for more. There must something about taking a train ride behind a steam locomotive in the rain. But Cliff was soon called back into service when Tom's Pacific suffered a rare mechanical breakdown when a water line fitting on the tender broke. This was the first time in living memory that any of Tom's locomotives were unable to run the whole day. Cliff soon had steam back up in his Speedy and finished out the day giving rides in the rain. An amazing 293 spectators showed up at the museum despite the bad weather. All of the members and museum staff who came out are to be commended for their efforts and especially Cliff Bartlett for running his Speedy all day in the rain. |
| Steaming Day - Oct 28, 2001
The last steaming day of year was held on a cool but dry fall day. After the large spectator turnout of the previous steaming day in bad weather, a large turnout was anticipated again. A large number of club members were on hand to help out. Some were out just for one last run before winter and others were out to help with giving rides to the public. Unfortunately the spectators seemed to dislike the cool weather more than the rain, as there was a disappointing spectator turnout. |
Rick Intini headed down the east loop with plenty of steam in Tom Stewart's 4-3/4" Pacific |
|
|
|
Tom Stewart had his 4-3/4" Pacific repaired and running flawlessly again. Rick Intini worked the throttle on Tom's Pacific all day giving rides to any and all who wanted one. Cliff Bartlett also had his 4-3/4" Speedy out giving rides again. Frank Dely had his new 3-1/2" Pacific out and running with no problems. After a few initial troubles, Frank has quickly worked out the bugs and has it running like a future OMLET contender. Aubre Whitehouse had his 4-3/4" 0-6-0 out for only it's second run and it too was running great. Jim and Keith Pomeroy had their beautiful 3-1/2" CPR Hudson out for the first time this year. Keith was able to make several laps before being sidelined by a leaking water pump fitting. Hope to see Jim and Keith out to the track more often next year. At one point there were four locomotives lined up at Moore's Station waiting to pickup passengers. This presented quite a sight with all of the steam rising in the cool fall air. |
|
|
| Other members were out to display their locomotives. Fran Wilks had his 3-1/2" 2-6-0 out but decided not to run. Fred Eagle, Rick Intini and Barry Graham had their current locomotive projects out for display and to show the progress being made. Russ Milland was out shooting lots of video of the action for the next Tom Stewart video production to be shown at the Toronto Christmas Train Show. Bill Kennedy and Jordan Intini were out running 'G' scale live steam engines on a temporary track to the east of the Savile Trestle. Harry Savile also had several of his 'G' scale live steam logging engines out for display. The proposed portable 'G' scale track in front of the bleachers should be an interesting addition for next year. |
Traffic jam at Moore's Station as Rick Intini, Aubre Whitehouse, Frank Dely and Cliff Bartlett wait their turn to take a lap |
|
|
| The 7-1/4" track saw Harry Savile's Consolidation out running after some emergency repairs to a broken water gauge valve. A full consist of freight and passenger cars kept the Consolidation working hard all day. Several different members took turns at the throttle with Fred Eagle and Cliff Bartlett putting in many laps. The modified passenger riding cars also got a good workout without any problems. Ron McKinley was also out running his 7-1/4" Hercules. The problems Ron experienced earlier this year with keeping up steam in the Hercules have been resolved and he had the Hercules running great all day. Ron also had the honor of being the last one on the track for this year.
The 2001 blowdown meet was a great success. The large member turnout more than made up for the poor spectator count. Hopefully next year we will have steaming days with both large member and public turnouts. |
|
|
|
| Track Work
Three more 7-1/4 steaming bays have been installed for a total of 7. The bay opposite the turntable lead has a 5' extension added to allow more room for the larger locomotives. Two more bays will be added with the 5' extensions. There are also plans for a second turntable lead track so that the turntable is not tied up when people are using the ash pit. The finishing touches have been done to the scissors hoist, with all hydraulics and final painting completed. The painting of the elevated track safety rail was completed in October with the help of Fran Wilks and Barry Graham. |
Keith Pomeroy enjoying one last run of the year behind Jim's beautiful 3-1/2" CPR Hudson |
|
|
Tom Stewart helping Jim and Keith Pomeroy get steam up in the Hudson |
New Members
We have two new members to welcome to the club. Michael Guy from Toronto and Kai Pindal from Oakville. Michael who is member of TLS, has a 7-1/4" Romulus which he has run at the GHLS track several times and Kai is a former member who has been to several steaming days this year has decided to re-join us. |
|
|
Frank Dely and his 3-1/2" Pacific |
|
Jordan Intini running Bill Kennedy's live steam 'G' scale locomotive |
Cliff Bartlett working Harry Savile's Consolidation across the Savile Trestle |
Aubre Whitehouse and his 4-3/4" 0-6-0 |
Fred Eagle at the throttle with Harry Savile testing the riding cars |
|
|
Rick Intini and Bob McDowall giving some young fans their first train ride behind a steam locomotive |
|
|
|
Upcoming Events
|
|
|
|
|
|
|