Fred and his crew from the Ottawa Valley Garden Railroad Society enjoy operating sessions every Saturday from May through September.

Trains start at either end of the railroad and switch cars along the way before terminating at the opposite end.   Since there are a number of trains running, a dispatcher controls traffic.   Two way radios are used for communications and to get permission to proceed to the next stop.

A typical Saturday session lasts about 2 hours and probably has eight to ten trains.

Two person crews are the norm.   For this session, Doug was the conductor and I was the engineer.    The conductor is responsible for making sure that cars are switched correctly, while the engineer “drives” the train.   On the IPP&W, there is no track power; all the engines are powered with battery and use remote controllers to set speed and direction.