The Potomac & Patuxent Railroad Washington DC We make the Connections!

This is the story of three US model railroaders who were entertained by a host of wonderful Canadian model railroaders during the first weekend in May, 2002. Art Selby made the arrangements for the trip working with Don Eastman, MMR, of Blenheim, Ontario, and representatives of three model railroad clubs: Aberfoyle Junction, London Model Railroad Group, and the Model Railroad Club of Toronto.

The planning began in mid-winter and, originally, was to include members of the Harrisburg O Scale Club. At one time, as many as ten model railroaders were on the list and Art was scrambling to find two vans to carry the group and their luggage. For one reason or another, when we crossed the border on May 2, there were only three of us: Art Selby of Fairfield PA, Bob Johnson of Seat Pleasant MD, and me, Ken Nesper, resident of Washington DC. Art and I are O scale, standard gauge modelers; Bob was an O traction modeler who now dabbles in HO.

We met our trusty tour guides, Don Eastman and Ed Haydon, also an MMR, at Niagara Hobbies in St. Catharines on Thursday afternoon. Ed is an HO modeler who lives in Chatham. We spent about an hour examining the O scale, and HO scale, merchandise, but even with the favorable exchange rates, the purchases were limited. There were no killings on buying brass with US dollars. After a stop for sandwiches and drinks, we headed for our hotel in Guelph.

On the outskirts of Hamilton, Ed showed us a great railfan location. A pedestrian bridge was built over the shared CN/CP rail line just east of Bayview Junction to connect a parking lot with the Royal Botanical Gardens Centre. This provides the rail fan with a parking lot, an elevated vantage point, and restrooms. In our one hour stay, we caught an east-bound CN freight and a west-bound VIA passenger train.

	Bayview Jct., May 2, 2002, Late Afternoon
The junction with signals showing red.	CN freight entering the junction from the west.	Closeup of lead locomotive on CN freight.	CN freight headed east under pedestrian bridge.

The folks at Aberfoyle Junction graciously openned their railroad for us that evening. A description of the railroad is available at the club's website, www.aberfoylejunction.com. I was fascinated by the operating 3-track bridge in Westport, the industrial trackwork, and the dusk-to-dawn lighting sequence. Our hosts ran the lighting sequence for us twice. A couple of us were escorted into the elevated operating tower in the middle of the room to see how the railroad is operated. It was a busy night for the Aberfoyle Junction folks since they were also entertaining NMRA President Allen Pollock and Niagara Frontier Region Trustee Clark Kooning. (It turns out that the Niagara Frontier was holding a regional convention in Kitchener.)

	Aberfoyle Jct., May 2, 2002
The operating bridge at Westport.	An industrial spur at Westport.	Trains at Aberfoyle Junction.	City of Wellington and Union Station.

After a late supper, we returned to our hotel tired, but very pleased with our first day's adventure.