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MisterBill
Section Hand
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 Posted - 06/22/2012 : 4:01:16 PM
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This project has been in the works for a while, and I thought it would fit well with this thread. The layout is based around the trackage of the Philadelphia and Reading RR at the intersection of Front & Court streets in Reading Pa. Target date is 1910. That's about the earliest I can go to practically model the area when most of the sidings, most noteably the centerpiece Shindlebeck coal yard were actually in place and operable. The research is a very enjoyable part of the hobby for me. I've spent a good amount of time studying Sanborn maps and city atlases to produce the composite plan below. The only anachronism in it is the junk yard siding, which originally served a grain mill. It was removed sometime before 1904. I'll probably just model the frog and some abandoned rail as a reminder of it.
I've been working on the mock up when I can in my barn loft. I use atlas track, as I have lots of switches that I pick up dirt cheap at shows.
Since starting the mock-up phase I've discovered that the only way to model the 1/4 block (240 feet square)area to scale would be to hand lay a lot, if not all of the track to squeeze it all in. Not gonna happen. i want to see this actually run in the near future.
As builders of miniature reality we all know about the necessity of compressing scenes. Ironically in this case i'll need to selectively expand the block a bit to make it work within reason. These sidings were just downright tiny. While in the midst of summer slowdown, i hope to be able to bring you more updates regularly. -Bill
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/22/2012 : 4:06:34 PM
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This looks like fun, I'll enjoy watching it come together. Are you going to provide staging, a connection to another layout, or is this the whole 9 yards?
dave
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railman28
Fireman
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Posted - 06/22/2012 : 4:25:50 PM
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I'll enjoy following too. Looks like a fun project.
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It's Only Make Believe
Bob Harris |
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MisterBill
Section Hand
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Posted - 06/22/2012 : 4:31:06 PM
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Hey Dave. Yes, The bigger plan is to have 3 staging areas to be able to do lots of run-throughs and switching. Plus there's some more modeled area planned for Front street, south under and past the Penn street bridge. Here's another drawing, flipped over, that shows it.
And a bit of the line above the main area showing a stone yard and another coal dealer. The curve around Willson is for modeling. The line stayed on the same tangent up to 3rd street. There were sidings all over the place along this stretch of the branch.
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Edited by - MisterBill on 09/24/2012 2:38:07 PM |
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dallas_m
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/22/2012 : 11:34:55 PM
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Neat project! Very interesting selection of prototype with loads of scenes within the scene ...
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Country: USA
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jatravia
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/26/2012 : 11:29:45 AM
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This looks like a nice project - I'll be watching for more. HO scale I assume?
Joe <><
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Country: USA
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/26/2012 : 12:22:17 PM
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If you lived within an hour's drive of me (NH seacoast), I'd be happy to discuss some kind of trade where I hand-lay the switches and diamonds necessary to build this to scale size. My preferred era is later, but there were plenty of places like that on the B&M, some of which survived into the 1960s.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 1916 |
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MisterBill
Section Hand
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Posted - 06/28/2012 : 3:49:34 PM
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Thank you for the kind offer JB. As much as I'd like to have custom track someday, this layout doesn't quite warrant it. Though if I do find that I can't live without a certain switch or crossing I hope we can work a deal. I'm down here in Pa. anthracite country BTw. I've followed the eastern route progress for years now, and your trackwork and modelling is really nice.
There are a lot of trackage discrepensies among the various maps I've studied to do my plans. So some selective adjustments will be necessary anyway. I will say that I want this vignette to be as historically correct as possible. Upon further work with the mock up, I think I've just about got it down to an acceptable arrangement. This is an HO scale layout.
Here's a shot of Shindlebeck coal from the 1960's. I'm pretty sure that concrete section was originally stone like the rest of it.
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Edited by - MisterBill on 06/28/2012 4:03:22 PM |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/28/2012 : 4:09:14 PM
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Could the concrete part have been an extension? The other alternative to explain this would have been a collapse of the end section; otherwise why spend the $$ to convert about 30' (guessing here) into concrete?
dave
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Ensign
Fireman
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Posted - 06/28/2012 : 4:42:30 PM
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This historical industrial modeling is right up my alley, Bill!
The maps you have drawn up and showed us are expertly done.
Best of luck with this interesting project!
It will be fun to ride on your time travelling train. 
Greg Shinnie
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Country: Canada
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MisterBill
Section Hand
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Posted - 06/28/2012 : 5:49:55 PM
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Good question Dave. My guess has been that it replaced a cave in. My plan is to model the base all in stone for 1910.
Greg, thanks for the post. I was hoping to generate some interest here on RRline, since the early rail forum got started. It's hard to stay motivated on your own when you're dealing with such a focused topic. I've come to the point in this hobby where only an actual recreation of a real place in the past satisfies my interests.
With that. here's a shot looking north up Front street from the late 1940's. That little stub siding is a conundrum at this point as I've never seen evidence of it in any of the maps, or the one old photo I have of the same spot from about the turn of the century.
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Edited by - MisterBill on 06/30/2012 1:06:13 PM |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/28/2012 : 6:12:22 PM
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I'd guess the spur off to the right was added later. The angle was too sharp to pull it from the spur that was cut off. Neat trackwork to model, if that's your interest!!
dave
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Country: USA
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jbvb
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 06/29/2012 : 12:51:14 PM
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I agree with Dave, and I'll guess further that it was about 1 car length and served Stichter's?? hardware, probably unloading across the sidewalk into a door down towards the corner of the building. It doesn't look like it extended down Front St. where it narrows.
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Country: USA
| Posts: 1916 |
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MisterBill
Section Hand
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Posted - 07/01/2012 : 12:34:58 PM
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Here's the oldest photo I have of the same spot. The major feature here is the Bushong/Reading Paper plant on the left which was destroyed in a huge explosion in 1930. It's neat that the photographer caught the work crew re-building the crossover. Perhaps they were getting ready to install the stub on the right as well. Oh, the days of cheap labor. There looks to be a little streetside shack up on the right in front of the coal yard. The portico on the right hangs off of the row structure that served as the downtown Reading station for both the Berks County and the Wilmington & Northern railroads. Both were controlled and absorbed early in their lives by the Reading system.
While I was battling with the old xp system that my scanner is hooked to, I managed to get this modern shot (1970's) loaded. Just about everything shown here except for the Linette building is now gone.
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Edited by - MisterBill on 07/04/2012 11:34:19 AM |
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deemery
Fireman
Premium Member
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Posted - 07/04/2012 : 10:04:39 AM
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Thanks much for the photographic history, these help a lot to understand how a scene evolved over time.
dave
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Country: USA
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dave1905
Crew Chief
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Posted - 07/05/2012 : 08:28:14 AM
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I model the W&N branch in 1900-1905. Part of the explanation for some of the trackwork might be that in the 1890s the W&N and P&R would have been separate railroads so while they might have used the same right of way, had different spurs to different industries.
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| Modeling the Wilmington & Northern Branch of the Philadelphia & Reading in 1900-1905. Iron men and wooden cars. |
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Country: USA
| Posts: 930 |
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