OVAR Presentation, June 2023

Back in March of this year, I was contacted by Angus Palmer, the program director for the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders (OVAR) to speak at an upcoming meeting in Ottawa. At the time I was hesitant as we emerged from pandemic precautions, but later agreed to attend in person at their June meeting. I had previously presented at OVAR in June 2015, and was firmly of the opinion that OVAR did things right! 

An enjoyable part of my Hanley Spur journey has been sharing my research and modelling with fellow enthusiasts across Canada. Each presentation is a unique PowerPoint slide deck of 60-100 slides, tailored to the wants and interests of each group. Here's a list of the ZOOM remote presentations I've been invited to present on prototype or modelling aspects of the industrial/railway history of Kingston's waterfront.

Associated Railroaders of Kingston: "Smoke on the Waterfront" - November, 2020

Toronto Railway Supper Club: "Kingston's Hanley Spur An Industrial Approach" - February, 2021

Winnipeg Slide Night: "Smoke on the Waterfront" - April, 2021

Canadian Association of Railway Modellers: "Kingston's Hanley Spur What Makes My Layout Unique" - January, 2023 (two dates)

National Model Railroad Association, St Lawrence Division: "Kingston's Hanley Spur Modelling Inside and Outisde the Layout Room" - March, 2023

Railway Modellers Meet of British Columbia: "Kingston's Hanley Spur Blog! Paper! Scribblers!" -  May, 2023 

Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders: "Kingston's Hanley Spur An Industrial Approach" refreshed and updated - June, 2023 as publicized in their excellent group newsletter "The Interchange":

This past Tuesday found my wife and me heading east for the nation's Capital at the crack of mid-morning. We were soon ensconced in the cultural milieu of Ottawa, visiting some sites of local importance: the Tanger Outlets and IKEA. But I digress. Tuesday night I was fighting the desperate deconstruction of the Ottawa work-day (that means traffic!) and wending my way along Prince of Wales Drive (perhaps to soon be renamed the King Charles Freeway?) to the Hellenic Centre. Social hour was at 1730, dinner at 1830 and my presentation at 2000 hours. 

I soon met Angus Palmer as the technical troubles of combining PowerPoint, live audience, remote audience and Zoom technology were being overcome. To help out, I headed to the bar. Returning with my new friend Stella, I was soon filling my valise with years-old copies of Model Railroader, donation to to the ongoing work of the C. Robert Craig Memorial Library. 

OVAR is a mix of prototype enthusiasts and modellers, so sharing recent model projects is a focus of each meeting. Each modeller fills out a card accompanying their model, and each is presented after dinner with the accompanying card read out. Not noted on my card - but as Kyle the commentator notably mentioned - my wise choice of X2F couplers for all my models!

The theme for displays was 'End of Train'. For my three contributed cars, I went to the head-end of the train, where one might find a CN auxiliary and idler cleaning up a derailment, or a CP snowplow clearing drifts. Stuffed and mounted (below):

McEwen cars and O-scale:

CLC mini-plate and support for Ukraine boxcar:

Mike Hamer's modules:

In the September issue of OVAR's excellent Interchange, this photo was published. All the displayed monthly models are meticulously photographed and captioned. A great way to encourage members to share and have their efforts preserved for posterity!

I got to meet an chat with OVAR members Mike Christopher, Mike Hamer, David Jeanes, Normand Levert, John Soehmer, Greg Stubbings, Malcolm Vant, Mark Walton and many, many more. Seated at the 'head table' with the irrepressible 'Father' Fred Mills, Angus, VP Gerry Berrigan and within sight of the Greek salad, pasta and chicken, plus two kinds of dessert (it was a dessert storm!) I enjoyed talking about vacationing in Scandinavia, riding the Amtrak Empire Builder, and hearing about CN No 589 heading to Arnprior. After dinner there was some business, some more business, banter, more banter, then the annual presentation of the 56th McEwen Car to the volunteer of the year (at centre of trio below), Bernie Goodman:

Angus is speaking to the in-house crowd as well as the Zoom crowd via the screen. Fred's dinner bell used to make announcements and to designate the next table to go to the buffet! Though Fred is not in the photo, if you saw him you'd recognize him. His face rings a bell! A short bar break later, it was presentation time!

Then I was dangerously handed the microphone and projector remote! Time to lighten up the crowd that Angus had already termed 'spirited' with some humour. Well, turns out I didn't have any humour, but I had packed a couple of Dad jokes - remember, there are no bad jokes, just Dad jokes! The presentation went well, and questions followed. Always the tail-twister, Angus opened the questions with David Jeanes, asking him to specifically ask a question regarding Kingston railway stations, their detailed history and exact dates. David parried by wondering aloud who had $1.6 million to buy the former 'Hanley Station'?!

As a hybrid meeting, I estimated over 80 attendees and up to another 10 or more by ZOOM. I left the hall several copies of my 'Smoke and Stories' books lighter, including two donated copies for the night's door-prize draw. I got the honour of drawing the winning ticket then presenting the pair of books to the winner. It was none other than Canadian Trackside Guide expert Earl Roberts. Earl lives near uberVIAphile and book contributor Jakob Mueller, and used to live on the next street over from us in Lachine. Those copies gone, I was more than re-ballasted with my new-to-me back issues of MR. Thanks to Angus and all members of OVAR for their invitation, their generosity, warm welcome and hospitality, their attentiveness and their good questions!

The next morning, we departed Colonel By's fair burg, noting a couple of Oil Well Supply hi-rail trucks in a nearby hotel's parking lot!

A stop at the Brockville Michaels store netted two options for Hanley Spur layout groundccover, both 60% off! Astro-turf that I intend to trim down (poor man's static grass, perhaps?) and a 'fairy mat'. Also available is a large roll of the later material about 48 inches long for those hard-to-cover areas on the layout! I will be using both projects for some inspired micro-scenic elements!

Running extra...

After opening the small shelf we bought at IKEA, I realized its product name was  MALMBACK (including two little dots over the first 'A' for any Swedish-speakers out there who might be enjoying a Danish as they read this, although sometimes Danishes are un-afjordable). Related products (sorry, no little dots) are Mosslanda, Mellosa, and Maleras. Sounds like a Swedish law firm!

What you hear when you arrive for your job interview at IKEA. "Good morning, please make a chair and take a seat." I asked a sales clerk if they actually had a sofa named FARTFUL and received a strange look...which reminds me of a joke: This guy gets a new job at Wal-Mart and was telling his friend about it - "Yeah, I'm a monback!" -  he explained excitedly. His friend seemed non-plussed, replying "What's a monback?". "Oh, I stand behind the trucks at the unloading dock, I wave my hand and I tell them " ''mon back, 'mon back!"

A former colleague named George and I once decided we could hold an entire conversation using just punch-lines. Just as my Mom and I decided we could hold an entire conversation using just song lyrics. Punch-lines preceding my presentation were: "Oshawa", "One of these times, that train is just bound to be late", and "BUR - GER - KING".