July 23rd, 2006
Following most of a week at Ottawa Linux Symposium, my parents came up to Ottawa and took us on an HCW steam excursion for my birthday.
Gatineau, Quebec
(map) Immediately across the border from Ottawa, Gatineau contains the formerly independent city of Hull and houses the Quebec-Gatineau Railway (QGRY) and Hull, Chelsea, and Wakefield (HCW) scenic steam railway.
Wakefield, Quebec
(map) 35 km north of Hull (Gatineau) is the small tourist town of Wakefield, the end of the line for the Hull, Chelsea, and Wakefield steam excursion line, which runs Swedish railway equipment up to Wakefield and back every Sunday through the summer months, among other runs.
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2-8-0 HCW 909 turns on the manually operated turntable in Wakefield.
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HCW 909 attaches on to its diesel assist engine by the restaurant where we had our lunch.
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The HCW excursion train returns to pick us up at the secondary platform. The train spent half an hour trying to work its way by a car parked too close to the tracks as the passengers watched from the distance, wondering what it was up to.
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The HCW excursion train pulls up to the second platform for loading.
Gatineau, Quebec
(map) Immediately across the border from Ottawa, Gatineau contains the formerly independent city of Hull and houses the Quebec-Gatineau Railway (QGRY) and Hull, Chelsea, and Wakefield (HCW) scenic steam railway.
video
Swedish diesel loco HCW 244 parks in its enginehouse as HCW 909 disappears out of sight to turn on the turntable behind the rest of the equipment.