Friday 24 May - Requiem for the Beachburg Subdivision

Today Henk and I drove to Fitzroy and Portage du Fort to see the two bridges over the Ottawa River on the soon to be abandoned CNR line.  We then went on to Beachburg where the rails are already being lifted. We went to Fitzroy first.

 

 It was a blustery day and the river was running very swiftly.  We came into conversation with Lorne Clark who lives close to the Fitzroy bridge.  Lorne's wife Gail, has taken several pictures of the bridge over the years and shared the following ones with us.

Fitzroy Bridge in winter taken by Gail Clark. Not to be copied without permission.

Fitzroy Bridge taken by Gail Clark. Not to be copied without permission.

A train of military vehicles on the Fitzroy Bridge taken by Gail Clark. Not to be copied without permission.

From Fitzroy we took the ferry across to Quebec and went to Portage du Fort.  To get to see the bridge it was necessary to walk in.

A 1967 date nail firmly embedded in the tie,  We found several of these 46 year-old ties in the track.

 

At Beachburg the rails in the plain track have been lifted leaving just the switches to be lifted.

The rail train was stabled between Beachburg and Foresters Falls for the weekend.

Saturday 11 May - Hobby House 60th and getting ready for the trip

Hobby House celebrated its 60th anniversary today.  Larry Lanctot took these pictures of the celebrations.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/larrys_model_railway/sets/72157633456788749/

We leave for the UK on Friday May 31 and Mary is beginning to pack her bag already.  Twenty days to go - I think this must be a record.

Monday May 6 - The Tulips and other Interesting Things.

Mary and I took the 85 bus to Dows Lake to see the tulips at Commissioners Park.  They are late this year but several varieties were well in bloom.  There were not too may people here on a Monday but I expect it was crowded over the weekend.

Daffodils mixed in with the tulips made a pleasant effect.

 We came back on the same ticket with our Presto cards

This sculpture had been reinvigorated and now stands outside the Union Station (Government Conference Centre)

The Fair Jeanne spends the winter in one of the locks where it can be worked on.  I caught it on its way back to spend the summer at Dows lake.

May 1 - The Benefits of Eyelid Surgery

Just under a week after my surgery I had a little time to spare before catching the bus.  I was sitting on a bench in City Hall opposite the Inquiry Desk at which sat a pretty young thing.  My eyes were tired and I found it soothing to close one for a little while then close the other etc.  After a couple of minutes I realized that the girl was smiling at me.  It was time to leave and I walked over to apologize but there was a couple asking complicated directions so we never got to speak.