Visiting my brothers in Canada.
#1
Hello Blue


My writing abilities are at the bottom of the scale but I wanted to tell you about my recent visit with Wayne and Ed.(CNnutbar).


I left home at 4:30 AM on Tuesday hoping to make it by noon, and I did arrive at the hotel in Grimsby at 11:30


I took my grip to the room and headed for Doctor Wayne's. We spent several hours visiting over a cup of coffee, and a trip to the train layout provided more time to tell lies and I got time to admire the extensive second layer addition Wayne has done in the last 8 years.
                   




Wayne followed me to the hotel and we went to supper and I called for an early quit to rest for the next day.
The accommodations at the hotel were quite nice and I did enjoy the time relaxing and I caught up on some needed rest.


The following morning we went to CNnutbar's and he became the chauffeur for the day. We made a brief stop at the Kinnear yard and saw a trio of locomotives there. 
       


The next stop was at the parking lot for the Royal Botanical Garden for some train watching from the pedestrian walkway over the tracks. We didn't linger there but we did manage several photos of a GO (Government Ontario) train

       


From there we went off to God's country to visit with Wayne and Ed's friend Gord.
Gord models the 1920/30's era and has some beautiful models of trains and a great model of a ship. Sadly I got so busy listening to these guys very interesting conversation I got very few photos of his layout.
           


From Gord's, we went to dinner then on to Ed's house. I got to see his great model of the Leetown Division. He claims it is more a diorama because there are too many trains to run. I feel the pain as my layout is cluttered with too many trains. Here are some of my photos for your pleasure, though not near as great as the ones that Ed posts.
                                       
 He does have an option for a second layer which he is considering and I wish I had that option but I don't think I have the design to do it.


Wayne delivered me back to the hotel and visited for a brief time and we said our goodbyes.


Thursday I left the hotel before 11 AM and went to Fort Erie to take one of the ladies on our Samoyed rescue group to lunch. She lived in Hamilton when I visited in 2014 and supplied accommodations for my stay then but I cut my visit short before I got to take her to dinner. She recently moved to Fort Erie and her little place has a balcony that you can see trains crossing the Niagara River. I did take her to lunch and then I hightailed it across the border and beat the 3 foot snow storm that hit Buffalo later Thursday. Even at that by the time I got to the NY/PA border Interstate 90 was closed west of the Ohio State Line. I always go south on Interstate 79 at Erie so it didn't cause me any delays and the roads were clear even after a brief whiteout south of Erie.
Charlie
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#2
Might as well get Ed's and Gord's mugs  into the picture, too...

   

Wayne
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#3
Great trip, great people and great model railroads. Fine summary of your trip, Charlie! Makes me think about a trip to the great white north - I don't think my wife's ever been there and I've always thought a trip to Alberta was going to be on my bucket list.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows
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#4
OMG, those guys are inhuman. Instead of winners of a sports contest saying, "I'm going to Disneyland", the should say, "I'm going to visit Wayne and Ed". That was a dream trip Charlie, I thank you so much for your posting what you did.
Don (ezdays) Day
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founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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#5
Sounds like a fun trip.
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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#6
I'm truly blessed with the friendships I've made through a common interest in trains---it was great to have Charlie visit and share some good times with his Canadian brothers in the Great White North.
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#7
One of Charlie's pictures taken on Gord's layout reminded me of a lost friend and a tribute that was initiated by Doctor Wayne to remember Bil---the LS&W lives on in the Leetown Division.

   

   
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#8
Charlie B,
I am envious.  My son and I took a recent trip from Indiana to Niagara (via Port Huron, London, Hamilton, and Toronto).  I contacted Dr. Wayne before the trip in the hopes of meeting him and seeing the layout but alas, I inadvertently planned our trip around the very weekend in September that is evidently Canadian Thanksgiving.  Dr. Wayne replied that he was going to have a houseful of family and due to covid concerns, it probably was not a good time to meet. 

From conversations way back, I thought I remembered him mentioning that he lived somewhere between Hamilton and Niagara but since the meetup wasn't going to happen, there was no point in discussing where he lived.  Then, at the top of your post, you mentioned that you stayed in Grimsby.  I drove right past Grimsby!  Oh so close but yet so far! Icon_rolleyes

My wife very much wants to go to Niagara as well so perhaps there might still be another chance!
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#9
How I missed this thread, I have no clue, but it just slap made my night Applause Icon_e_biggrin . So glad for you guys, thanks for posting and all the great pics Charlie Applause . I was really glad to see more of Ed's layout, really had no idea what it looked like from a bigger view.
[Image: sig2.jpg]-Deano
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