We had our last run on the NeverDone Railway last Sunday evening. Brian is selling his house so will soon be dismantling the layout (if it isn’t already). I’m sure Brian will build a new one some day, but until then we will miss the third layout in our operating group. Hopefully you find someplace with a basement real soon, Brian!
Since it was such an historical event the photographers were out in full force. There was even a guy there from the Headache Corner Telegraph (local paper). The angle he was taking with his story was that it was the end of an era for the region. No more will townsfolk hear the clanking of couplers and blare of diesel horns. “We might all get a good night’s sleep for change!”, he said. He was only half kidding since he is a train fan. He said he will definitely miss the railway.
The evening started off as usual, but we were short a couple operators. Again, fitting since Brian was pressed into service in the yard. Like most of our layouts the owner rarely operates, but this was Brian’s last operating night on the NDR so he should get to operate. Anyway, since I don’t think I’ve ever run the Island job, and I was the first to arrive, I chose it. The Island is was a very interesting job with lots of switching and some interesting puzzles. Fortunately for me it was a relatively slow day for freight on the Island so I was able to partake in the festivities celebrating the last run (and take some photos).
As I mentioned, Brian ran the yard. He did a pretty good job of keeping ahead of things, but he really should operate more. He’s a little out of practice. HA!
Here he is switching a cut of cars onto the barge for the trip across the great divide to the Island. His barge is was a terrific idea to solve a problem. He originally had a section of layout on the other side of the doorway (to the right in this photo) but it was built over his oil tank. The grade to get to it was pretty steep so he dismantled it. Then we visited a layout that had a static barge. A light went on and within a couple weeks the Island was born with barge service from the yard. It adds added almost two jobs to the layout – one local job on the Island and a barge operator.
Greg chose the Farside job. Farside is at the far end of the layout (hence the name) and has lots of interesting switching requiring plenty of run-around moves. The grain elevator and power plant are were both very active industries. Four other businesses add added to the hectic pace. The transfer shed, a new industry to the area, is was shaping up to be another busy spot.
It was no wonder why Greg was the last to arrive in the yard to pick up his cars for the return run to Farside. He made pretty quick work of putting everything away. Of course he had plenty of time to perform all his car moves since Derwin had the yard blocked up for quite a while. Hmmm… was it Derwin or the inexperienced yard guy. Naw, it’s always Derwin’s fault!
Derwin was stuck in Headache Corner. The town gets got it’s name appropriately. The only run-around track in town is was only one or two cars long and the 8 industrial tracks are were split evenly between east and west facing. Add to that the fact that 4 of them are were in the town proper, well away from the run-around tracks, and you really have had to have your act together when operating there.
Jim McMahon will love this picture. It shows why Derwin and Jim like each other so much. They are each the Demerit Kings of their respective operating groups. I think Derwin got 50,000 demerits for this faux-pas! HA!
After the operating was done it was time to get serious. Since the rails were going to be torn up any day we had to pull all the freight cars back into the yard for storage and distribution around the world outside NeverDone. A crowd gathered at the wharf to welcome the last of the freight cars and the switcher locomotives from the Island. It was quite a momentous occassion and more than a few tears were shed as the crews said goodbye to their equipment, their friends and their neighbours! <sniff!>
Goodbye NeverDone Railway! Until the rebuilding….
Scott
