Wow, what a great time! The OVGRS really outdid themselves this time and it was obvious that a LOT of work went into this successful event. Jean and I showed up Friday morning and immediately started socializing and running trains. Here’s Ken setting up his first steam run while Doug advises:
Friday was the day of THE barbeque, but a lot of work had to be done to get this ready as there was not only a whole lamb, but also a large chunk of beef. Mike was the main cook!
Doug and Ric ran a long string of hoppers behind double headed live steam Shays.
It had just made it up the hill (slowly!) when it was ready to cross the bridge. (That’s Ric, Doug, and Ken egging it on!)
Fred also basted and kept the fire fueled.
But that didn’t keep him from pontificating under his new canopy. Dave McCurdy listens patiently, while my wife Jean seems a bit distracted. Will (Bob’s son) seemed to have a great day running the trains!
Of course we couldn’t hold out until the MAIN barbeque, so we had hot dogs, hamburgers and shrimp for lunch.
Meanwhile, the real food was looking better all the time.
It was quite an effort to remove it from the spit without anything ending on the ground.
The butcher also dropped in to see how it was cooking. Here he talks to Gaetan and Mike while Fred discusses the upcoming dinner with Nicole.
Paul Norton’s table became THE wine tasting table.
All in all, it was a great day for food, drink, and socializing. But of course the REAL event 
was the operations session on Saturday. Each visitor was provided with a fancy brochure that contained basic information about the IPP&W and the RP&M railroads. It provided some basic guidelines for operations.
But, before we could operate, we had the dedication ceremony for the new post office!
Visitors were given a ceremonial cover to honor the occasion.
I teamed up with Jean to run train #451, a through freight. Jean was the engineer and REALLY enjoyed herself.
Later that night, we headed over to a Chinese buffet to wrap up the weekend. On Sunday, Jean and I visited Doug’s place along with Gaetan and Nicole. Doug has made a lot of progress on both his garden and his railroad.
It’s a long drive to Ottawa, but the OVGRS really made it all worthwhile and we look forward to doing it again! THANKS!
