Photos - The Ironwood, Peter's Pond & Western Railway

The tour begins on the eastern end of the railway at the Craig Leigh Passenger Station.

The rear of the station showing the passenger platforms and baggage handling area.

Looking over the roof of the station at Doug and a guest engineer assembling the morning's first passenger train in the yard.

The rear of the Dominion Post Office building, headquarters of the IPP&W. Just visible over the passenger cars are the arches of the covered mail handling area.

The factory and warehouse of Scobie's Foods, one of the oldest buildings in Craig Leigh.

Brunt's Milling and Malting, distillers of fine Canadian whiskey.

Detailed construction logs of this and the other buildings on the railway can be found in the Modeling Projects Section of the web site.

Looking back at the passenger yard.

The Craig Leigh Freight Yard.

Photos of the construction of this yard are posted in the Photos Section under Trackwork - Craig Leigh Yard.

The wye at Craig Leigh leading to the engine service facilities.

The engine service facilities, proposed site of a three track, double depth engine house.

Note the shortened track on the right.

This is the interchange track for off line locomotives.

Note the end of track devices.

Shown is an RS-3 in a light, intermodal container. The Plexiglas end panel, shown at the right end of the carrier, lifts out to allow battery powered locomotives to drive out onto the interchange track.

A similar facility is found at the other end of the railway.

First stop on the Eastern Division is Mount St. Helens.

The newly constructed freight yard added to the siding.

The Mount St. Helens Passenger Station out on the mainline.

Valley Fuels at the end the freight yard.

Mount St. Helens also serves MacKenzie Lumber and Eastern Ontario Packers.

Down the line is Ironwood Junction. Once a thriving community, it has fallen on hard times.

The official railway photographer was embarrassed to take a front view of the now dilapidated passenger station.

Ironwood's overgrown siding, passenger station and patchwork retaining walls.

Abbreviated team tracks and a humble freight shed made from an obsolete boxcar speak volumes about the down turn in Ironwood's economy.

After the original wooden platform under the freight shed has deteriorated, a new concrete platform was poured. There are more photos of the freight shed in the Photos Section under Buildings.

Leaving Ironwood Junction behind.

Down the line is the thriving community of Spruce.

Unlike Ironwood Junction, the community of Spruce has received a complete makeover with new sidings and freight spurs.

Photos of the construction can be seen in the Photos Section under Trackwork - Spruce.

The MacKenzie Lumber's refurbished shed and the new stone Freight Depot attest to the recent upswing in the economy of Spruce.

The IPP&W's frugal flag stop, an old bobber caboose, provides a dry and heated shelter for passengers.

Another view of the fine stone freight depot.

More photos of MacKenzie Lumber’s refurbished lumber shed can be found in the Photos Section under Buildings.

An aerial shot of the mainline siding and spur at Spruce.

The newly widened curve and retaining wall leaving Spruce.

The new track work and retaining wall at Hill. The grade here forced the removal of the siding.

After a tunnel was excavated, a new ballasted girder bridge and stone retaining wall were constructed at the bottom of the hill.

The track down the line from Hill crosses under two new, through girder bridges which were built after the second tunnel was excavated.

Photos of the construction of this area are posted in the Photos Section under Trackwork – Glen Hammond.

After crossing a new, steel deck girder bridge, we look back at the old burnt out wooden trestle on the left.

Photos of the construction of this area are posted in the Photos Section under Trackwork – Lily.

A view across the dry wash next to Lily, showing the new deck girder bridge in the foreground, the burnt out wooden trestle behind it, the remaining wooden trestle and a new steel, through truss bridge with the realigned mainline.

Another of the IPP&W's frugal flag stops is all that remains at Lily.

The new stone retaining wall, widened curve, realigned mainline and new, steel truss bridge between Lily and the Blue Mountain Mine.

After hearing rumours about an American invasion, the frightened residents of Glen Hammond built this block house. Railway Management convinced the residents that they were better to stock it with beer than powder and shot.

To read about the Annual American Invasion of Ottawa, see the Events Section of the web site.

The Blue Mountain Mine spur off the old mainline from Lily to Glen Hammond. The old mainline is now the eastern lead to the Nelson Freight Yard.

The green and white building beyond the mine is the IPP&W's Dispatcher's Control Center. IPP&W crews radio the Dispatcher for clearance from point to point on the railway. His responsibilities are to control and expedite the movements of all trains on the railway, with preference given to passenger service, while preventing bottlenecks and corn field meets.

Glen Hammond is the division point between the Eastern and Western Divisions of the IPP&W.

The old Glen Hammond freight yard was always a bottleneck on the IPP&W. To overcome this problem, a bypass with a long passing siding was built around the old yard. Photos of the construction of this area are posted in the Photos Section under Trackwork – Glen Hammond.

A view of the new, brick passenger station with the MacKenzie Lumber freight shed behind it.

Looking back at the top of the bypass showing the MacKenzie Lumber spur, passenger station track, mainline and siding.

Looking back at the Glen Hammond bypass.

The former Glen Hammond Yard has been renamed the Nelson Yard by the IPP&W's new branch line partners the Mattawa and Rat Portage (RP&M) Railway. The RP&M is now responsible for all activities within the Nelson Yard.

Switches have been added between the IPP&W mainline and the eastern lead to Nelson Yard. This will allow westbound IPP&W freight trains terminating in Nelson Yard direct access to the yard.

As the realigned mainline of the IPP&W bypasses the Blue Mountain Mine spur, service to and from the mine is now provided by the RP&M through interchange with the IPP&W.

The eastern leads for Nelson Yard pass over the girder bridges beside the Blue Mountain Mine.

RP&M President, Gord Bellamy, hard at work in the Nelson Yard.

The old wooden freight sheds at the eastern entrance to the yard.

A fuel oil storage facility in the engine service facility.

The Dave Goodson Memorial Turntable in the engine service area.

Rumours of The Old Curmudgeon's (TOC) passing are greatly exaggerated.

A look back on the Nelson Yard.

Larabie Fuels is situated between Glen Hammond and Bellamy and can only be serviced by westbound trains.

Bellamy has the distinction of being serviced by both railways; the IPP&W for passenger service and the RP&M for freight service.

The southern end of Bellamy. The line in the foreground is the western lead of Nelson Yard.

The IPP&W's mainline passes out of view around Larabie Fuels at the bottom left and in front of the Bellamy Passenger Station.

The northern end of Bellamy crossing over the diamond to the two spurs at Rat Portage.

The IPP&W mainline curves through the diamond and heads east towards Peter's Pond. Traffic through the diamond is controlled by the Dispatcher with priority given to IPP&W trains.

The view of the diamond and Bellamy from Rat Portage.

Photos of the construction of this area are posted in the Photos Section under Trackwork – Bellamy.

The serene and very green Peter's Pond, home of the invisible gold fish.

One of the railway's namesakes, Peter's Pond is a quiet community in the woods best known for its fishing.

Even the Station Agent's car appears to match this deep woods setting.

A final look back at Peter's Pond as we begin the long, long climb up to Bell.

One of the railway's most remote communities.

Last half of the long, long climb to Bell.

The yard at Bell. Not exactly bustling with activity, but an area of expected promise.

Definitely room for industry here.

On the bottom, the interchange track with the Algonquin Railway serviced through the yard at Bell.

The IPP&W mainline passes above it heading towards Firgrove Yard.

Firgrove Yard, the Northwestern end of the IPP&W.

The Fir Grove freight yard with several team tracks to service local industries and an interchange track for the Lake Nipissing Railway.

Another view of the Firgrove Freight Yard, ordinarily a very busy spot.

The wye at Firgrove Yard and the end of the line.

The crews quarters with Doug enjoying a Diet Coke and Bud a Stella.

Bud and Ralph taking advantage of the crew's quarters bar fridge.

A comfortable place at any time, with two BBQs for those special events.