Shore River's SW1500 1125 switches the All State Paper Company.

Bruce

   

   

I incorrectly called it the 'Santa Fe' train station. It was actually a UP station in LA,...LAUPT station. I want a model of this station on the upper level of my layout to represent the 'west coast' of my trans-continental rr.


A few days ago I was working on ideas for my container scene that is going to set adjacent to this station. I wanted to get a general idea of how large this station was going to be. I got out the 'footprint' images of Walthers and tried to approx the missing dimensions.

I started with those large windows/skylights,..



Then cut up up some scrap foam board I had,..














That tag of paper near the corner of the room is a small photo of the outdoor park area that will likely be made into some sort of view blocker for that curved track in the background.

The only height dimension I had to work with was that of the tower given by Walthers. I then had to guesstimate the roof height of the building itself. I think I got it too tall?

I threw in that extra window in the end of the building, feeling it was kind of missing something in that big blank end.

I'm also debating with myself as to whether to represent this side of the building as the back or the front?....working on those thoughts.

Electrifying, but I sense something's up. A bit of sleuthing might just give us a clue.

Container Loading Cranes

I've been looking thru LOTS of container crane images recently,...specifically HO scale, and specifically railroad car loading ones. I have some specific requirements I am seeking for my two container handling areas, but I thought it might be interesting to see what other models (commercially available, kit-bashed, custom built) might be presented, and the reasons for those preferences.

Heljan model
I'll start out with one of my favorites, the Heljan model.
https://www.hattons.co.uk/11688/hel...o_gauge_dc_ac_dcc_operation_/stockdetail.aspx





This is an expensive one, and it appears as though it is ONLY available as a fully operational model. I find it almost surprising that neither Heljan has offered a non-operating model, or perhaps some other manufacturer??

It does appear as though they have copied a real existing crane, but I find it to be so wide as to be limited to pretty large container handling scenes. It spans so many tracks. I like the idea that it services a track (or two ?) outside of its inner span.

I would like to have a crane that spans only 2 or 3 tracks, with the capability to service one track outside its inner span. My container facility will possible be just barely wide enough to support this size crane.

Here's a look at trains running along part of the main line at the Livingston Model Railroad Club located in the basement of the old Northern Pacific depot in Livingston, MT. The depot is now a railroad museum and the club is considered part of the museum and we pay no rent or utilities, but are open to the public during operating sessions.

I apologize for how jerky the video is. I believe that it may have something to do with the video editing program as the original video is smooth. The video does start part way through so please go to the beginning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvXXDzw6mLU&t=218s

Conrail GP10 7561 leads WPMA-40 down Division Street on a beautiful September day in 1995.

Bruce

   

The T class was assigned road numbers 4000-4732 for the 2-10-2 Santa Fe types.The class totalled 93 locomotives ten of which came from the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1928.Originally numbered in the 4200's they were renumbered in 1957 to 4100's.These locomotives were extensively altered adding many CNR features including the Elesco Feedwater Heater and enclosed cabs to name just a few.Here's T3A #4193 which is in existence today on the Leetown Division.This locomotive was created by Wayne Toth and is one of my favourite models.

   

For anyone interested, here's a LINK to the original model and its re-build into the locomotive shown above.

Track Close Along a Wall Behind a Viewblock
 
I was contemplating how close to the side wall of my layout I could place a long straight track that would sit behind a viewblock to disguise the train traveling behind the viewblock? Being a straight track I figured it could be as close as 1” to the centerline of the track, then another 1” to the viewblock.

But if long steam engines etc are going to be using that track, then clearances need to be allowed for the overhang swing of those engines as they entered and exited that track. I went back looking at my experiments with a number of locomotives, and discovered several that needed as much as 1+3/8” clearances,....like this Bachmann 4-8-4 Northern. (and the Big Boy & the PRR GG1, etc)
https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/32599?page=6
https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/32599?page=7

So my thoughts turned to whether I might make just the entrance and exit points have 1.5” clearance while the remainder had the 1” clearance? I decided to get out that engine and perform a little mock-up test on my outdoor work table.



(that white piece of plastic is 28.5" radius)
 
One end of that 'hidden track' was going to have a Peco large radius turnout on it. I took notice that the loco did NOT have that big 'tail swinging out motion' when utilizing this turnout!! In fact it was very little. I attributed that to the very large radius of the Peco turnout itself. It was acting like a very good 'easement'

Wow, could I disregard providing the full 1.5” wall clearance if I utilized this Peco turnout on the one end of the hidden track, and provided a corresponding easement on the other end??   I think so.








Here is that large radius Peco coupled up with a fixed curve 24” radius and still no problem with the tail swing of that long loco. (BTW I don't intend to utilize that tight of a curve following the Peco large,...just experimented) Its made me a big believer in using as large of a radius Peco as I can anywhere on the layout.

 
Does anyone see a problem with my analysis here?

Thought I would share my progress.  I'm building a new engine for the layout.
The wooden, bass wood, deck is 9" long and 4-1/4in wide.
The undercarriage will be hidden with a skirt of wood later.

Attached Files

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I have located a couple collections not easily found and I think we need a place to send us so we can spend hours researching all kinds of interesting railroad items. 
Here is one of the links 
http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/se...rder/title

and here is another vast collection in the Denver Public Library.
http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/sea...tle/ad/asc

If anyone knows or finds others please share. I find less and less on google anymore.
Charlie