Friday Convention Posting

2017 Hearst Convention - Officially Day 1

Waking up to a cloudy day that turns quickly into a great sunrise

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Tour of the Cochrane shops

Otter Rapids dome car

Re-building passenger car 650

Passenger car 650 interior

Engines 1603 and 1601

General view of the shop floor

Ever wonder what it takes to keep the maintenance are clean?

After returning to Hearst for dinner, the group got together for a presentation by Bram Bailey and discussion of some group business.  Bram's presentation was about railfanning in cottage country and showed a progression through time of various locations on the ONR, CPR and CN.  Bill Woods also brought some fantastic models that he has built, including the canoe car and a wood chip hopper.  There were several more but these were the only ones I got photos of.  Thanks for sharing Bill.

ONR Convention 2017 - Thursday

After arriving in Englehart yesterday, our plans were to railfan our way to Hearst, arriving just before the dinner with other convention attendees.  So were up early enough to catch the morning lineup, and meet with Peter Ross as he stopped by the station.  Our plan was to see what was moving in Englehart, and get to Cochrane in time to catch the 313 departing for Hearst.

Bill Woods, Bram Bailey and Peter Ross checking out the action in Englehart

Train 214 - departing 0900 for North Bay

The chase begins as 313 departs approximately 1130 for Hearst.  Some quick planning and were off.

Train 313 leaving Cochrane

While there are several great locations to catch 313, we plan our first for Poplar Rapids. Lots of growth at track level so Bram and I make our way through the brush to catch it close to water level.

#313 across the Poplar Rapids bridge

#313 crossing the Groundhog River bridge at Fauquier

#313 at Moonbeam

A little post production by Bram and we get a true flying saucer pacing the 313.  Those two green guys staring out the lower windows were railfanning as well.

New leased switcher at Tembec's Kapuskasing paper mill; ex-ONR 1600

#313 crossing the Kapuskasing River while switching

#313 departing Kapuskasing

         

2017 ONRH&TS Convention Preview

Follow along as the guys from Ohio (plus one Niagara Falls attendee) make the trek to northern Ontario and this years version of the ONRH&TS convention.  This blog will try to keep a running tab on railfanning and convention activities as we go through the week.

The Bailey Prius mobile departs Vermilion at 0001 dark Wednesday and travels eastward to pick me up around 0130 before we head towards the Peace Bridge and hopefully reach Toronto early enough to avoid the daily traffic snarls.  Along the way we will add Bill Woods in Niagara Falls to our Prius seating and depending on what is moving, probably will spend the night in Englehart.  A side trip to Bracebridge along the way may be in order if the weather cooperates, as Bram would like to get some building shots for a potential expansion project to the layout.  But I'l let Bram fill you in on those plans at the convention.  On Thursday we plan to chase our way to Hearst, making our arrival in time for the group dinner.

Current plans are:

Friday - tour the Cochrane shops
Satursday - tour the paper mill at Kap
Sunday/Monday - travel day home (although the OH car will be railfanning along the way so it takes us two days to get back)

So stay tuned to this blog for updates and some photos.  Photo bag is packed and batteries charged.  Extra radio is also in the bag and ready to catch some ONR action.  The weather forecast looks good and I'm really looking forward to touring the paper mill and maybe getting some new ideas so that I can finish my own paper mill modeling project.