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| Steaming Days - Sat/Sun May 4/5 | |
 Norm Makin out with his electric engine |
The first steaming days of the year turned out to be a success in spite of the strange weather this spring. The Saturday Club day was cool but the clear skies helped to keep everyone from freezing. Several members took advantage of the extra track time to get their engines in good working order before the Public day on Sunday.
Harry Savile was also available for boiler testing. He was able to complete tests for some of those who couldn't make it to the boiler test day in March but there are still several engines still to be tested. |
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| The finishing touches were completed to the rebuilt ground track from after the sewer construction. The final ballast work and super-elevation adjustments were made. Michael Guy was the first out on the ground track with his refurbished Romulus.
Norm Makin was the first out this year on the elevated track with his electric box cab engine. It was no contest as to being first out when you don't have to raise steam. Frank Dely was also out getting some extra track time with his 3-1/2" Pacific. Frank has worked out most of the bugs since first running the engine last fall and is now getting some more experience in preparation for this years OMLET. |
 Michael Guy (right) giving Kai Pindal some final instructions on running his engine |
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 Bob McDowall enjoying a turn at the throttle of Michael Guy's 7-1/4" Romulus |
Other members were kept busy getting the track lights working, riding cars serviced, general clean up and just making sure everything would be ready for the Public day on Sunday.
It wasn't all work though, there was still time to take a turn at running Michael Guy's Romulus. Bob McDowall and Kai Pindal were able to take a turn behind the throttle of Michael's great running engine. Michael also had his new riding gondola cars out for a test run. The beautifully finished cars worked great and will be a great addition to the rolling stock at the track this year. |
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| The Public steaming day on Sunday turned out to be a beautiful spring day. Harry Savile had his 7-1/4" Consolidation out running after some emergency repairs to the throttle were completed with the help of Bob Intini's workshop facilities at Hamilton Stamping Ltd. Michael Guy was back again with his 7-1/4" Romulus and Ron McKinley was out with his 7-1/4" Hercules.
Rick Intini, Fred Eagle and Barry Graham had their current locomotive construction projects out for display. This gave a chance for some Show and Tell and to see the progress that has been made over the winter. |
 Jack McJannett at the throttle of Ted's 3-1/2" Pacific with Hank Verhoeve as conductor |
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 Frank Dely and his 3-1/2" Pacific headed up the hill with some young steam fans |
There was a good turnout of club members to help with the various chores involved with giving rides on the elevated track, unfortunately there was a rather small turnout of engines. The elevated track turned out to be the battle of the Pacific's, as all of the engines running were Pacific's. Tom Stewart had his 4-3/4" Pacific out with several club members taking turns at the throttle while giving rides to the public. Rick Intini and Peter Masefield did most of the engineering chores with various other members taking turns as conductor. Ted McJannett had his 3-1/2" Pacific out with Ted and Jack taking turns working the throttle.
Frank Dely had his 3-1/2" Pacific out again and was giving rides to the public for the first time. Frank started out slowly with some problems keeping a good fire going but by the end of the day he had his Pacific working great and ended up being the last engine running after giving may rides to the public. Thanks to all the members who came out to help and hopefully there will be more engines out at the next steaming day. |
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| Steam Fan Trip - Friday May 24 | |
| This year's field trip was a one-day whirlwind tour of some operating steam attractions in Southern Ontario. The first stop was to visit the steam powered cruise ship Segwun at Gravenhurst. The Segwun, which was built in 1887 and is North America's oldest passenger steam ship, was still undergoing renovations prior to its summer excursion schedule. We were allowed completed access to the engine room with a personal tour by one of the engineers. The Segwun has two beautifully maintained double compound vertical engines, each driving a separate propeller. The coal fired hand-stoked boiler, which operates at 140 psi, was already fired up and will remain under steam for the remainder of the summer excursion season. |  The Segwun double compound vertical steam engines |
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 Portage Flyer No. 2 awaiting a new steam chest gasket |
The next stop was at the Huntsville Heritage Museum to take a ride on the Huntsville and Lake of Bays narrow gauge (3ft 6in) 0-4-0 Portage Flyer No. 2. We were disappointed to discover that No. 2 would not be operating due to a bad steam leak. The defective steam chest gasket was discovered when they tried to raise steam in preparation for our visit. Despite our offers to help with the work, the repairs could not be made in time to get the engine operating while we were there. However, this allowed everyone lots of time to get a good close look at the engine and talk to the people who maintain and operate it. The engine is used to give rides on the short line tourist railway which re-creates one of the original portage railways. We were able to take a ride behind their standby diesel powered locomotive and were invited to come back for another ride when No. 2 has been repaired and is operating again. |
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| The last stop of the day was at the South Simcoe Railway in Totenham to see what engines they will be operating this season. The 4-4-0 No.136 has been disassembled, with the smoke box piping and super heater tubing removed in preparation for a boiler overhaul. A portable steam generator was warming the Ten Wheeler No. 1057 in preparation for the weekend excursion schedule. The maintenance crew on hand allowed us access to the engine shed to get a close look at the former Canadian Pacific class G10h 4-6-0 built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in December 1912. |  Bob McDowall enjoying the view from the engineer's seat |
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 Don Intini watching the switching operations at the end of the line |
As we drove past the Halton County Radial Railway Museum on the way home, we decided that visit would have to wait for another day, this was after all a steam fan trip.
Although we didn't get to see any steam engines actually operating, it was still a great trip with the up close access to some of the surviving steam engines in Southern Ontario. Thanks to Bob McDowall for all his work in arranging the trip and we look forward to his next excursion. |
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| News From Other Clubs - Roundhouse Doors Open Sat/Sun May 25/26 |
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| The Toronto CPR John Street Roundhouse was open to the public for the weekend with many thousands of visitors taking the opportunity to view the historic site. The roundhouse, which is slated to become a railway museum, is also the home of The Steam Whistle Brewery which occupies a portion of the roundhouse.
The Toronto Live Steamers and Toronto Society of Model Engineers had elevated and ground level tracks setup to demonstrate live steam engines. The short length of 3-1/2" and 4-3/4" elevated track allowed club members to show the public their engines in operation. They also had some operating stationary and traction engines for display. The 7-1/4" ground level track, which ran around the old turntable pit, was long enough for Michael Guy to operate his Romulus and gondola riding cars. There are plans underway to build a permanent 7-1/4" track at the site in conjunction with the future railway museum in the roundhouse. Good weather, lots of visitors and plenty of local media coverage made for a great event. |
 Russ Milland operating Michael Guy's 7-1/4" Romulus at the Toronto Roundhouse |
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| Track Work | |
| The Amusement Device Permit application for the ground level track has received its engineering approval from the TSSA. A final site inspection is still required and is scheduled to take place in early June. Hopefully, we will be able to give public rides on the ground track during the next public steaming day. Thanks to all who worked hard on this project especially Norm Makin and Peter Georgas for their engineering expertise, Harry Savile and Tom Stewart for their work on the riding cars and Russ Milland in expediting the permit application with the TSSA.
The Saville Trestle has received a new coat of paint thanks to Tom Nugent. Tom was at the track in late May with special low-pressure high volume spray equipment and was able to finish painting the entire trestle in just a few days. The final 7-1/4" steaming bays and extensions have been completed and the turntable support brackets have been installed on all of the steaming bays. |
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| Track Visitor | |
| We had an interesting visitor at the track during the Victoria Day weekend. Kattchan Tanabe from Diamondhead, Mississippi was on vacation in this area and stopped by the track to run his gas fired 4-3/4" Stephensons Rocket.
The unseasonably cold weather created some problems for both man and machine. Some hot water from the museum was needed to get the butane tanks up to working temperature before he was able get steam up in the OS models Rocket. His riding car is designed for ground track operation so our elevated track was a bit of a challenge. He was able to make several laps of the track with the tiny engine, which was able to handle the grades when he could get traction. The Rocket only has two driving wheels so putting the power to the slippery rails was a bit of a problem. He enjoyed the opportunity to run his engine and to add the GHLS track to the list of the many tracks he has visited with the Rocket. |
 Kattchan Tanabe headed up the hill with a full head of steam in the Rocket |
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| New Members | |
| We have three new members to welcome to the club. Peter Georgas from Burlington, Gary Barlow from Hamilton and Gord Mortimer from Cambridge. Peter has been made an honorary member in recognition of his assistance with the engineering aspects of the ground track Amusement Device permit application. Gary is planning to build a 3-1/2" locomotive as his first project. Gord is a pilot and is interested in running live steam engines. | |
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| Boiler Water | |
| Ian Kerr-Wilson would like to remind everyone to collect the water from their air conditioners and de-humidifiers. At the last steaming day, we went through 140 gallons of distilled water. The museum can generate about 30-40 gallons a week and are planning to purchase additional de-humidifiers, which will help to increase water production. Anyway you look at it; we are going to be tight for water in 2002. The museum is able to store over 700 gallons without great difficulty. So save that water and bring it to the museum where it will be stored for future use. | |
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| OMLET 2002 | |
| This year's OMLET is fast approaching (Sunday June 23rd). This year there will be time for several GHLS members to compete. Anyone who is interested in running their locomotive in this years event should contact Barry Graham (905-945-4787, bwgraham@interlynx.net) as soon as possible. Even if you won't be competing, we still need everyone to come out and help. With the planned demonstration OMLET for the 7-1/4" engines taking place on the same day, there will be lots for everyone to do. | |
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| NOTICE: Event Schedule Change | |
| The special events planned for June 9th have been postponed. Because the ground track amusement device permit may not be available by June 9th and the CH TV morning show live demonstration has been postponed to June 27th, the BBQ and Golden Spike ceremonies will be held on the next public steaming day, Monday July 1st. Make plans to attend, as this will be a great way to celebrate Canada Day. | |
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| Recently observed bumper sticker: Old Railfans Never Die…They Just Lose Track | |
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Upcoming Events
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