Nelson Yard, in the center of Ironwood Peter’s Pond & Western Railway, is also the eastern interchange point with the Rat Portage & Mattawa Railway. In the left of the picture is the IPP&W mainline to Glen Hammond and the eastern lead to Nelson Yard. In the foreground is the Blue Mountain Mine.
RP&M President Gord Bellamy setting out cars in Nelson Yard for a railway operation. The eastern end of the yard is anchored on a series of earth filled retaining walls built of stones and railway ties. The remainder is a deck sitting on 4 x 4 legs in deck blocks on patio stones.
Just beyond Nelson Yard is the Glen Hammond Passenger Station and a warehouse for MacKenzie Lumber. The eastern end of Glen Hammond also sits on a series of earth filled retaining walls built of railway ties.
On the 28th April 2011, winds gusting to 60 mph sent the 70 foot spruce tree in eastern end of Nelson Yard crashing to the ground.
Unfortunately the root ball tore out the retaining wall, lifted the roadbed deck, and dropped the legs outside of their deck blocks.
The crater created by the root ball swallowed the deck block and patio stone that once supported this suspended leg.
In order for a crew to cut and remove the tree trunk and its root ball, all the track and roadbed in this area of the railway had to be lifted from the bridges all the way around to Glen Hammond. This is the debris field east of Nelson Yard after the tree trunk was removed.
Although the tree is now removed in this picture, the root ball and crater still remained next to an abbreviated Nelson Yard.
Once the root ball was gone, re-construction of Nelson Yard began. IPP&W Railway President Fred Mills perched on the edge of the crater cutting away a protruding and very stubborn root.
The retaining walls at the east end of Nelson Yard and Glen Hammond were removed, and the earth used to fill the crater. In the foreground, the stone wall at the back of Nelson Yard was extended. In front of it, the roadbed for the IPP&W mainline up to Lily was cleared of debris. Beyond the wall, new roadbed stained with wood preservative was installed in front of the switch stand. The old Blue Mountain Mine was demolished and its spur lifted.
The deck for the eastern end of Glen Hammond Yard was re-built and the roadbed from the area of the switchstand installed. Pieces of 2 x 8 will be fastened to the plates protruding from under the roadbed to extend the deck next to the Dispatcher’s Office. The extended deck will hold the Glen Hammond Station.
Work progressed re-building the eastern end of Nelson Yard. Now that the old retaining walls are gone and the ground leveled, the 4 x 4 legs of the roadbed decks sit in deck blocks set on leveled patio stones.
Despite the oppressively hot weather, Gord Bellamy continued to work on the road bed deck for Nelson Yard. The long shadows indicate he labored through the extreme afternoon heat until evening.
The deck for Glen Hammond was completed and the station temporarily set in place until the track is added. It appears that vinyl lattice work will replace the old retaining walls at this end of the yard. Perhaps a tunnel portal will be added in it for the mainline up to Lily shown at the bottom right corner of the picture. The metal girder bridge for the mainline will also have to be re-installed where the lumber on the right is presently piled. On the left, the road bed deck for Glen Hammond has been stained. The boards lying on top of the deck are the fascia for Glen Hammond and Nelson Yard. Weather permitting; more pictures will follow as the work on the reconstruction of the yards continues. We are now confident that both railways will be operational before The American Invasion of Ottawa in July.
