Thoughts on Modeling Prototype Trains

Industrial Research – Part 4: Choosing Industries from Maps

Posted on by jkdummler
Seen several years ago at Trainfest in Milwaukee, this small industrial switching layout starts to provide some idea of what the upper deck on my layout is emerging to look like.

My project to research and design the layout space based on the N&W line into Cincinnati (Norwood), OH, has once again made some progress, and the focus continues to become sharper, in my mind.

As I think I may have mentioned before, this whole layout needs to be able to move in the future.  With that in mind,  and allowing for the idea that the layout “could” or maybe I should say “should” be designed to at a minimum fit in a truck that isn’t a full-on shipping container, I obtained the inside dimensions of a U-Haul truck.  Assuming that either a 20 or 26 foot long U-Haul truck was employed to move, I need to plan for less than 19’ long, and for about 6’ at a maximum “deep” on the ends of any protrusions.  Ok, so that makes for a really nicely sized “U” shape.  While I know the overall target has adjusted several times, bringing the HOW of moving a layout into focus early in this process means I have a narrowed focus.  Even if the layout eventually moves with a moving company, this size should be movable for them in a moving truck.

With that out of the way, it’s important to also keep in mind that eventually there needs to be a way to go from one deck to the other on this layout.  We’ve been discussing just that here, and decided on a temporary helix for our location now, with the idea that later on, when we have landed in 8 or 10 years in our permanent location, that we may add a larger helix and expand this whole layout.  For now, a smaller helix, and running point to point with fiddle-staging at the other end of the runs, is pretty much where we need to go right now.

Now, some actual information on what will be on the upper deck of the layout in Cincinnati, OH.

The area selected to model has the following companies along the stretch of the railroad:

Unnamed Coal Bins. – Coal / Coke

2nd Unnamed Coal Bins  – Coal / Coke / Ice

The Cook Paint & Varnish Co.  – Paint & Varnish

The A.M. Lewin Lumber Co.  – Lumber and Hardware

The H.W. Roos Co. – Metal Parts and Shores Mfg.

The Cincinnati Cement Products Co.  – Cement blocks

The Union Gas & Electric Co.  –  Electric motors

The A.S. Boyles Co. – Paint & Varnish

The Wet Wash Laundry Co.  – Washing Machines

Cincinnati Sewer Pipe Co.  – Sewer Pipe

The Ault & Wiborg Varnish Co. – Paint & Varnish

The Rebhun Last Co.  – Shoe lasts

The Ulland Coal Co.  – Coal / Coke

Victor Safe & Lock Co.  – Safes and office furniture.

The J.P. Humphries Co.  – Road building materials

Norfolk & Western Freight House – General merchandise

In addition, I want to add some kind of connection to the Ohio River, but that will come in another post.

It’s safe to say in the space I have, fitting all of those companies in, even just from this list of 16, might be difficult.  Some consolidation will most likely be necessary.

Norfolk & Western Historical Society track diagram for the Victor Safe & Lock Co.  The top track on the drawing reaches a coal bin, the middle track goes into the building for what I am assuming from the Sanborn map indication of an overhead crane in this area is unloading of materials for making the safes, and to the left is a shipping and receiving track.
Late 1800’s advertising for the Victor Safe & Lock Co gives some, but not great, indication of what the industry looked like.
Norfolk & Western Historical Society track diagram showing how the railroad intended to reach the Rebhun Last Co through another industry track.

I have yet to locate any really good photos of just about any of these industries.  I have found some advertising materials for the Victor Safe & Lock Co, along with the N&W track diagrams and the Sanborn maps for that location.  I also have the N&W track drawing for how they served the Rebhun company through the Ault & Wiborg Varnish track along with those Sanborn maps. I’ve been able to locate some items for sale online that were made by several of the locations in the list, but not anything showing their buildings or any part of the area.  I did finally just recently find a photo of the N&W freight station.  Locating what these places actually looked like has been a challenge.

At this point, I’ve mostly concluded that finding actual structure photos may not happen.  I don’t know that there were many photos that would have been taken in the area anyway, as it’s not a particularly tourest-oriented area.  That seems to be reserved for Mt. Adams in Cincinnati and the inclines that operated there.  However, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  There are photos of Cincinnati from M. Adams that can instruct on what the businesses might have looked like, and the Sanborn maps indicate the materials, so the two combined can start to really paint a picture of what this portion of the layout will look like as I being to doodle track plans.

A portion of a widely distributed photo taken from Mt. Adams in 1908.  This photo starts to instruct on the general architecture and style of industries in Cincinnati of the early 20th century, and can be used to help in designing the industries to be modeled.

In the interest of keeping things interesting on the layout too, a few things will probably be left off.  Their shipping will move to the N&W Freight House, and the companies will be used as off-line receivers of shipments instead of on-line and modeled.  While it pains me to cut down on the number of industries, as I’ve already discarded many that would have been absolutely fascinating to model, as with any model railroad, space limitations are a ruling factor.

When deciding what to include, I’ve taken my pruning scissors, as it were, to things that feel somewhat redundant to me.  If you look at the list above, you will see that there are 3 paint and varnish companies, 3 coal / coke companies, essentially 3 building materials locations with a concrete block, sewer pipe, and road materials companies, on the list.  Simply cutting 2 from each of those lists we cut the numbers by 6.  The reality of layout space, and also the added reality of train length and sheer number of cars, makes some of those choices for me.

Pairing the list, I’ve arrived at the following set of 10 industries to model.  You’ll see here, too, some of my notes on shared trackage.

Victor Safe & Lock Co. (Multi-track)

(These 2 industries share 1 siding)

Ulland Coal Co

Cement Warehouse (Some maps list a “Coney Co” at this location)

(These 2 industries share 1 siding)

Rebhun Last Co

A.S. Boyle Co (Wax & Hardwood Finishes)

(These 3 industries share 1 siding)

Union Gas & Electric Co

Cincinnati Cement Products Co. (Cement Blocks)

H.W. Roos Co (Adjustable Shores)

A.M. Lewin Lumber Co (2 tracks)

N&W Freight House

Take into account my previous post about interchange, and add connecting to the CCC&STL, PRR, and B&O here, and this is still a very busy part of the layout.  

With that, it’s now time to draw.

-JD

Industrial Research: Part 3 – Drilling Down With More Maps

Posted on by jkdummler

As time allows, I am continuing to research and refine the focus of the Cincinnati portion of our layout plans.  In recent days, I’ve been looking at what is in the area that I have Sanborn maps for, and getting down to even reading the trackage markings for ownership.

I’ve narrowed the scope of the modeled area of Cincinnati to essentially one stretch of track running through Hyde Park and Evanston.  Some friends have been quite helpful in providing links to other sites that have started to help me fill in the picture of where this section of track actually sits, and for that hep, I am grateful.

A map or Cincinnati with individual railroads drawn in different colors.

The overall map above was helpful in causing me to take a 2nd look at some of the Sanborn maps I posted in the last part of this series.  After doing so, I cut out several portions and some industries, that I was considering adding, as they fall on either PRR or B&O trackage.  More on that another time.

To help orient this map piece, black trackage is N&W, red is PRR, blue is B&O, and green is CCC&STL.   The master map comes from this site:  http://www.cincinnativiews.net/Railroads.htm

Important things to note are that the N&W enters from the East, runs essentially straight through into Idlewild, then turns North and connects just past where the label for Berry Yard is to the CCC&STL with B&O and PRR interchanges scattered around.

The further I refine this research, the more I start seeing where the model railroad will sit.  

This map shows the area that I am narrowing my modeling focus to.

This second map shows the area that I have really good Sanborn maps for.  It focuses on the industrial area that runs East/West just before the N&W turns North.

Industry wise, starting in Hyde Park, there is a nice mixture of large and small industries, starting with the RK LeBlond Machine Tool Co. and the Hyde Park Lumber sitting “far” to the East, and then entering a stretch that includes no fewer than 16 industries (by my count) that should provide the bulk of our modeled area.  

This aerial view of the RK LeBlond plant show just how big this industry that was in Hyde Park is. Figuring out if this will be included in the end will be something to take into consideration as I choose industries to model.

As we move now into some serious focused research and planning, the two large industries in Hyde Park may wind up dropping off as I can in my minds eye where everything is starting to present as a model railroad.  Along this stretch, the ‘operator’ would stand to the North side and face South toward this line of industries.

It’s amazing how this is all starting to feel like it’s nearly designing itself.  I still have a lot of work to do finding structure photos if they exist, and fitting things into the layout space, but the Sanborn and other maps make that so much easier.  

The overall Sanborn map of the area I am looking at modeling has been further trimmed thanks to the other map seen above.

It’s probably time to start looking now at individual industries and deciding what is screaming to be modeled and what is begging to be left off.

-JD

Planning for Interchange: Part 1

Posted on by jkdummler

This photo, taken in Cincinnati, OH in 1935, shows a CCC&STL 0-6-0 that would be appropriate as an interchange locomotive to model. (Jeremy Dummler Collection)

How many railroads do you model?  That thought has been bouncing around in my head for a few weeks as I continue researching the Norfolk & Western in Cincinnati, OH.  

The maps show numerous railroads reaching Cincinnati…. The N&W, PRR, CCC&STL, B&O, just to name a few. Then there are the interurban lines in the city.  (As a side note here, I was recently sent a link to a great website that has information on the interurban lines of Cincinnati.  That can be found here:  http://jjakucyk.com/transit/?fbclid=IwAR22WTdqvZinge4hOsOpCE06GcmUC35u0iIj8fY4fxJVzp8qipfUMPUJquM)

On a layout, part of the fun in my mind is not only switching the industries, but having a place for cars to come and go, not just off the layout, but also into some kind of staging that represents connections to other railroads.  In a city, that kind of interaction is a logical place, and figuring out how to include that will my layout planning is something I am putting a little energy toward.

Of interest there, then, becomes thinking about powering interchange trains.  Do I hunt for an appropriate locomotive for all those railroads, do I simply include a track for interchange and have the N&W locomotives push and pull cars from and to there?  

In my mind, as I work out designing for operation on this layout, the answer is both of the above.  Power for some, tracks for others, is where I lean.

Imagine this with me.  One of the “big” railroads has a track that represents the N&W interchange with them.  A switcher positioned in that track, with a cut of cars, arrives at some point during an operating session to exchange cars with the N&W.  The interchange train picks up it’s cars, and might drop some cars to head East on the N&W, or for industries on the modeled portion of Cincinnati.  Then it leaves.  Elsehwere, the N&W switcher takes cars to an interchange and picks up cars from that interchange, without there needing to be a locomotive from the foreign roads.  That could even be done with 1 staging track then representing multiple interchange partners.  Traffic, however, moves, cars come and go, and there is the feeling that the layout is part of a system, not just standing on it’s own.

Aesthetically, I tend toward smaller power, and the CCC&STL 0-6-0’s in the form of B-10 or B-11 switchers would be size-appropriate to the size of the layout and could be the interchange line that comes and goes.  Meanwhile, the PRR and B&O would be served by the N&W trains going into and returning from staging tracks.

So, is it one railroad, the N&W, two, the N&W and CCDC&STL, four, adding the PRR and B&O, or is there really an answer, because the freight car fleet means I am modeling each of those railroads too?  I’m not sure there is an answer, but a change of the question is probably what makes me feel best.  How many railroads do you interchange with on your layout?

-JD

Industrial Research: Part 3 – Cincinnati Sanborn Maps

Posted on by jkdummler

Finding time in late November and December to do much modeling is always a challenge. There are many other things, important things, that involve family and friends spending time together that can take our hobby time away, or in our case, occupy the space that the workshop often occupies with a Christmas tree and other decorations.  

It isn’t, however, impossible to do anything.  Often I find myself with a few minutes in the evening with time to do some research, and I’ve spent that time the last week or so looking at Sanborn maps of Cincinnati.  I found a set of maps from 1922 with 1927 updates at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County website. (http://digital.cincinnatilibrary.org/digital/).

Coming into Cincinnati from the East, this area shows a massive machine company and a lumber company that were both serviced by the N&W.

Using the map I had previously gotten from the Norfolk & Western Historical Society, I homed in on really the heart of the N&W industrial switching operations in the city.  After printing the maps that I downloaded, I used a cutting mat, straight edge, and hobby knife to cut and stitch together a larger version of the N&W map.  With everything pieced together, I then cut away with scissors to make a focused almost aerial view of the railroad, I believe in 1927 or close to.

The “Heart of the Matter”. There are a lot of industries crammed into this area of the map. The top of the photo is North. With this view it’s possible to start imagining where an operator would stand on a layout.

It’s fascinating to start putting some physical buildings with the simple track line-drawing that I started with, and to see everything starting to have some scale.  The information has started to paint a picture for me that will influence the track plan that I develop in the next few weeks.

As I started piecing this all together, I found myself starting to orient where an operator of this as a model railroad would stand, what the view would be, and what kind of compression would be necessary for modeling this part of the N&W.  I’m still working that out, but the operating potential here is obvious to me.

This section is North of the 2nd section, so the tail to the lower left connects to the upper right of the last photo.

Many of the larger industries seen in the maps have coal deliveries being made for furnaces or power plants.  Many of the smaller industries are somewhat unique.  A shoe Last company, soap companies, lumber…. But the sheer size of the massive metal working facilities is what catches my eye immediately.

I’m just getting started with digging into the industries, to see if I can find photos of any of them, but even representational versions would make operating the Cincinnati area of our layout something that would keep a crew busy for a while.

With the Sanborn maps now assembled, it’s probably time to start sketching out some track plan ideas.  That’ll be fun.  In our house, that means more paper, cutting, folding, tape, and full size mockups to move things around.  

Stay tuned!

-JD

Industrial Research Part 2: Fertilizer

Posted on by jkdummler

On the map of Cincinnati, OH from 1921 that I got from the Norfolk & Western Historical Society, I find myself starting to dig into research on specific industries and how their particular traffic might impact my choices in modeling and planning.

One of the first industries that caught my eye appears to have been located on, or reached by trackage on, the CCC&STL (Big 4, part of the New York Central Lines), and that is the Bowker Fertilizer Plant.

Bowker Fertilizer Works, Cincinnati, OH (1921)

I hadn’t ever thought about a fertilizer plant being located in what I would consider to be an “urban” setting, but the traffic location in Cincinnati, with a potential shipping reach for supplies to make and material to sell, being able to traverse the CCC&STL, N&W, PRR, B&O and other railroads fairly quickly.  Researching the Bowker company, I find it interesting that records of them as an independent company appear to end in the earlier part of the 1900’s in an embezzlement scandal that seems more 2018 than 1910.  The fact that the plant still exists to be called out with track on a 1921 map is interesting to me.

A listing of Bowker Fertilizer Products from an early fertilizer catalog.

Bowker was apparently fairly important in the late 1800’s in New England, and the Cincinnati plant was, from what I’ve been able to find so far, most likely their furthest reach to the West.

While researching the Bowker plant, I stumbled on and secured a copy of a photo from a different fertilizer company located in Columbus, OH.  The Independent Fertilizer Packing Company appears in records from 1906 until at least 1919.  The photo of the plant from 1906, supposedly along the CCC&STL (according to the source I got the photo from) shows many interesting details, including the building, the box cars ob piously behind the fence, the wooden fence, and the train over to the right.

The Independent Fertilizer Packing Co, Columbus, OH circa 1906. (Jeremy Dummler collection)

I’m still working on selecting industries to model, but a fertilizer company would provide something interesting, especially in an urban setting.  Without yet finding a photo of the Bowker plant, but having discussed operation of these kinds of industries recently with some friends, it appears that many of the buildings were similar in design from Ohio to North Carolina and on to other states.  That makes me think that a ‘generic’ building, based on the IFPC plant, and labeled for Bowker, could be modeled and provide a sizable amount of traffic to model, along with a plant that would probably want sure-spots for cars to be spotted.

Along the way, I’m learning more and more about life in the 1920’s and the important industries of the time. Imagine my surprise when I discussed layout plans with another friend who models 60 or so years later in the 1900’s, to find that his prototype in the 1980’s also was still serving a fertilizer company.

I never thought I’d be modeling THAT.  Now, knowing it’s a huge source of traffic, can I leave it, or the traffic to and from it, off?

-JD

Perspective: Planning to Plan

Posted on by jkdummler

I’ve done all these exercises before, but it’s worth doing again as circumstances are different.

Knowing the heights of decks for multi-deck layouts is important.  Figuring out the math for a helix, and how much space that helix needs, is the main reason why.  Multi-deck?  Yes, I said multi-deck.  I know I’ve talked several times about wanting to build single deck, but as the concept for what I want to build has evolved as I talk with my wife, read, research, and look at photos… really dig into the world of 1927 and the N&W, I’ve become convinced that multi-deck is the best solution as it gives me space to have all the things that really interest me without needing to own a warehouse or quad car garage or basement, to model them in.

The layout needs to share, for now, with the car. The area dotted in for the helix and stacked staging loops will be removable and roll away or lift away to the ceiling.

As I shared recently when starting to talk about research, I’ve become quite interested in the N&W’s reach into Cincinnati, OH, essentially the western-most reach of the railroad.  At the same time, my interest in the coal fields of West Virginia has not waned, and a new book on the N&W in West Virginia has just been published, and I’m anxious to dig into that.

In order to get both locations, I find myself planning a multi-deck layout where the upper deck is based on Cincinnati and the lower deck is based on a yet to be determined branch in West Virginia.  It really is almost planning two railroads, but the logic lies in the fact that the coal coming off the lower deck, and any goods like lumber or glass coming from there, also have customers on the upper deck in coal docks, barges on the Ohio river, and other industries in the city.

Still, I have a limited space here and can’t just declare the garage to be railroad space.  I need to plan for a multi-deck layout that can be expanded.  To that end, this rough drawing helps explain what I’m looking at for the first “phase” of construction.  The layout is 16′ long with two 5′ long arms attached.  A helix with 30′ radius loops and another set of return loops that slot hold staging can be attached opposite the helix.  Both the loops and the helix can be removed and stored separately from the rest of the layout, allowing space for the car to come into the garage.  In the future, the layout footprint can be expanded by adding other sections, moving the helix and the staging loops, and extending both decks.  The first phase should allow for 3 operators to be comfortable in the layout, with a dispatcher / station agent, located elsewhere.

Deciding on deck heights also is part of my preparation for getting this layout idea drawn out.  I already know that I will have 20″ between decks based on the benchwork I started to assemble at the end of the summer.  Doing the math, 20″ with a 30″ radius helix works out to be a 5 turn helix, which isn’t bad, and the grade falls below 2% in the helix as well.  The 30″ helix should also allow for the Z class 2-6-6-2’s to traverse the whole layout easily.

I know too that I like layouts to be in the 50″ high range.  Multi-deck planning is a little bit of a compromise there, though, and I decided it was time to test the heights again.  A really comfortable height for me, if I sit on a stool, is to have the lower deck be at 36″ from the floor.  That’s counter height, so I went to the kitchen and tested that out.  The counters in our kitchen happen to be 36″ high, and setting cars on the counter, sitting on the rolling stool I have, that’s about perfect.  The next task was to figure out then if 56″ from the floor is comfortable for the upper deck, or if I need to go down to 30″, which is table height, for the lower deck.

A car at about 56″ and another at 36″ from the floor demonstrate the deck height differences, and give me an idea of what I’ll be seeing for each layout deck.

 

This is what an operator of my height will see of the cars and trains on the upper deck. I can actually read the car number without having to bend over.

Fortunately, this time of year there are lots of boxes around for holiday shopping deliveries, and I found a box that was 19.75″….. close to my 20″, to test with.  Setting the box on the counter, and cars on the box, I get a really good idea of what the upper deck height will be, and I found it to be comfortable.  Seeing car numbers, especially if there is a yard and lots of individual industries or the team yard I am looking for, is actually easier at the 56″ height.    So now I know, 36″ and 56″ are the heights I’m planning for, and this means too that I can start planning materials for legs, the helix support, the loop supports, and get to drawing track.

More to come!

-JD

Trainfest & NAPM 2018

Posted on by jkdummler

One of the excellent models on display at Trainfest, this station has a detailed interior.

The weekend of the 10th and 11th saw Trainfest, 2018 take place in Milwaukee, WI.  We visited and had a great time as usual.  Some things we brought home I’ll be writing about more soon, especially some of the tools.  However, in the mean time, here is a gallery of photos from Trainfest.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XZ3Zbn7WUDkTMYcL9

A scene on the NAPM layout.

On Saturday evening, the 10th, we visited the North American Prototype Modelers layout in Milwaukee.  This massive layout has some incredibly impressive scenes and fantastic modeling.  Here is a gallery of photos from that visit.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/usmxpPxCEKhG42AXA

As usual it was great to connect with friends and to make new ones.  We always look forward to these events not only for the things from vendors and stuff we haven’t seen or the layouts, but because of the people, the friends, who it’s important to connect with and share some good times.

-JD

Industrial Research: Part 1

Posted on by jkdummler

It’s that in-between time of year, that time between RPM Chicagoland and Trainfest in Milwaukee, when not much get’s done.  Yes, freight cars have started, but this year, there’s more going on.

Research has continued on freight cars, but knowing how many cars to build, and hunt for, is always one of the things I am interested in.  To do that, figuring out the industries on the layout is important.

I counted 33 named industries of multiple varieties on this one map. The original can be obtained from the Norfolk & Western Historical Society at: http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=122480

For industry inspiration, I’ve been spending some time researching the Norfolk & Western operations in Cincinnati, Ohio along the Cincinnati Belt.  There are many fascinating industries in the area beyond just the expected freight houses, interchange with the New York Central (CCC&STL) and things I expected to find like the Glob Soap Company (Tangent made a 1917 tank car lettered for the Globe Soap Co of Cincinnati.)

A sample industry I’m considering building and making space for, this company will make shoe lasts.

Let’s look at this sample industry that I’m toying with.  This will most likely wind up being a company that makes shoe lasts, the forms used by cobblers to form shoes over.  (When you model earlier times in history, you learn all about dead industries).  The company has two docks, one inbound and one outbound dock.  In all likelyhood, there will be a split set of loading docks, so operating instructions for a crew will be to deliver a car to the inbound dock or the outbound dock, and there won’t be a specific door spot.  To spite the fact that there are three inbound doors, and 4 outbound dock doors, it’s likely that each dock will support 2 cars spotted there.  That means this industry might be switching 1-4 cars per operating session.  So I know that the top end here is 4 cars.  It could, however, at scale speeds, with paperwork for the crew and the like, time to set and remove flags, etc… have a crew occupied by this industry alone for 20-30 minutes shuffling cars around.  That’s well worth the space to build the industry.

This is the kind of research that I find fascinating.  Learning about industries and what they ship in and out, then telling that story in my models.  With many industries to pick from, from a last company to soap companies to lumber companies and on to fertilizer companies, deciding what to model and what to compress out or leave out is the harder choice.

That brings me to how this all ties together.  The freight cars need a place to run, and the industries on a layout provide that.  Modeling coal is fantastic, but I love my boxcars and other types of equipment, and fitting other industries in has become important to me.  Thus, the decision has been made to spot the layout space (eventual layout space) and model coal and also model some more urban operations based on the Cincinnati Belt.  

See…. Deep down, I know that prototype modeling bug would wake up and sink it’s teeth in some way again.

*** ***

It’s Trainfest weekend in Milwaukee, WI.  I hope to see friends and enjoy the show.  Maybe I’ll come home with some fun things to add to the layout, or the book shelf.  

-JD

Roster Research: Part 1

Posted on by jkdummler

Building a realistic model railroad isn’t only about laying track, building cars, locomotives, or even necessarily about physically building anything.  It involves many hours of research and a good deal of time invested in finding and verifying information that helps build all those things I just listed so that they fit together in a cohesive, visually appropriate manner.

I’ve recently been spending quite a lot of time doing research.  I find the learning part of this whole hobby to be one of the things I enjoy most.  The main topic of my research has been the Norfolk & Western freight and coal fleet in 1927.  I have a copy of a 1926 ORER that I’m working from, and haven’t yet located any 1927 issues, but I can get close with the 1926 date to a picture of what N&W equipment I should be building.

Part of the work has been to translate the ORER data into a spreadsheet that will allow me to add additional pieces of data that I need to model the equipment listed.  It’s handy to have the dimensional data on the cars, the roster number blocks, the ARA car types, and a general description from the ORER, but the work then lies in translating that data into N&W car classes which are not listed in the ORER, and from there into either drawings or photos or both through online and published resources.  Once that is done, identifying a viable model to build if there is one, will be the next step.

I’ve made a dent in the translation of the data, but it is still an ongoing process.  I would imagine that I should have a fairly good idea of what I want or need to build for the N&W within the next couple of weeks.  There are a couple of interesting things that I’ve already noted, just in the initial phase of this research:

  1.  The vast majority of the equipment owned and operated by the N&W in 1926/1927 was still 36′ or shorter in length.  The number of 36′ steel frame wooden boxcars that the line owned was more than double the single class of all steel automobile boxcars that they had built.
  2. There is only one class of steel sided boxcar on the roster of the N&W in 1926, and those are ARA class XA automobile boxcars.  Everything else is either single sheathed or double sheathed wood still.

The ORER also provides a list of connections to other railroads.  That list is invaluable in routing traffic on a layout, and in picking equipment to build as well.  Finding equipment from connecting railroads will be important in the overall scope of the layout as traffic isn’t just generated on the layout but comes from outside.  I’ve been slowly making a list of cars in my “stash” to build, putting them in order of what I want to build first, starting to source parts and decals, and generally putting in place an overall roster plan that should allow me to build, at my current pace, a viable freight and coal fleet within the next couple of years, with many years of building cars ahead.

Why is this important?  I find that I am drawn to the freight cars and could easily have one of everything out there.  I know about myself that working from lists is important and that the lists need to be as complete as possible.  I also know that I can spend my resources, that includes time and financial, in places I consider to be worth while if I have some picture of what I’m focusing on and hunting for.  It makes finding that gem in a bin at a train show, or heading for a hobby shop or swap meet, or searching for something on eBay easier.

As I finish this part of the project, and continue to do research, I’m finding other threads to follow that are leading me to some really interesting ideas and focusing my efforts as well. More to come!

-JD

More Than Coal

Posted on by jkdummler

The N&W system in 1927 spans multiple states, and has massive terminals and connections to other railroads.

The Norfolk & Western was hauling more than just coal.  I know, that’s a given, but it’s hard to find photos of N&W yards that aren’t just one load of coal after another, and maybe a single boxcar somewhere, probably hauling mining equipment.

Outside of the branch lines and the coal conveyor, though, there were freight trains on the N&W.  They actually operated massive freight terminals, and I’ve been reading about some of those recently in an effort to define how that fits in my modeling plans.  A lot of the information comes from researching the Scioto Division of the N&W and the connections in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.  

This link takes you to a description of operations in Columbus.  The timeframe is the 50’s, but it’s not hard to imagine this taking place in 1927, and the interesting moves and freight that would have been happening then too.  The facilities were certainly there in the 1920’s as the N&W had moved several decades earlier.http://columbusrailroads.com/N&W%20freight%20house.htm

What’s the imputes for this research?  It’s the realization that I really enjoy building boxcars.  Strange for someone modeling coal hauling, right?  Well, there are so many interesting prototypes to build from the 1920’s that it’s hard to not want to build them.  Additionally, a conversation with some friends about what cars were appropriate for railroads in certain geographical locations lead me to start looking at what cars I actually want to or should be building beyond just the N&W coal fleet (and I need a lot of coal cars).

My friend Eric Hansmann’s blog includes a fantastic look at a freight terminal in Orange, NJ on the DL&W that was written by our friend, Ray Breyer.  http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/2017/01/06/whats-in-the-yard-2/. The photos are fantastic, and I can envision a similar terminal on the N&W with both inbound and outbound freight houses like existed in Cincinnati, with a similarly fascinating mixture of freight equipment. 

What’s this all mean?  A couple of things.  My layout planning is turning more toward prototype as I was almost sure it would.  It just took some time to find “the” hook on the N&W other than the coal.  My thoughts are that eventually there will be 2 locations on my plan, a city or the outskirts of a city, and a coal company town with tipples.  The other thing it means is that I’ve discovered a way to use, and a reason to build, more boxcars and refrigerator cars that I love researching and building.  As plans move forward, identifying exactly what to build and what to pass on will be the challenge.

-jD