Any folks have any drawings or photos of the rather huge 1000 ton concrete coal tower once in Potomac yards near DC? I'm willing to purchase or trade for good information.
Thanks,
HZ
This one isn't great, but it's high enough resolution so that it's pretty zoom-able. It's still useful at 500% zoom.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
carl425This one isn't great,
It's also invisible
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddy carl425 This one isn't great, It's also invisible
carl425 This one isn't great,
After a little snooping I found the link that I believe Carl was trying to post:
http://www.shorpy.com/files/images/32905u_0.jpg
Let's see if this works better.
[edit] Looks like Carl fixed it while I was trying to fix it
Ed
I don't see anything. Shorpy link says no page found.
Mike
My You Tube
mbinsewi I don't see anything. Shorpy link says no page found. Mike
That IS weird. Right after I posted the link I tried it on three different PCs here and the link worked fine AND the photo appeared in Carl's reply, too.
It's like the Cheshire Cat.
Try this one?
http://www.shorpy.com/node/5663
Good Luck, Ed
OK Ed, that link worked, a shot of the Potomac yard with the coaling tower way back in the distance. Thanks.
There is no link in Carl's post, that I can see.
Mike.
You have to always link Shorpy images that way. Those urls with .jpg are temporary from your viewing session and are removed when you close your browser. Once I hit the like with node/5663 in it, the above link with the .jpg worked, as it is ALSO the image URL you get if you click on and enlarge the view. They make it so you can't shortcut the main Shorpy page.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I found on google books that in the Sept 1922 Railway Maintenance Engineer that the Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac RR hired Roberts & Schaefer of Chicago to build 2 1000 ton coaling stations, one in Richmond, one in Alexandria
The historical society website is http://www.rfandp.org/
1/2 down this page http://www.rfandp.org/companystore/ is a book Potomac Yard The Gateway Between the North and the South vol 2
They also have a collection of photos which is not searchable on line. I wouldn't think it would be this hard to find a pic online. But it is. This one is in Richmond
http://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/2016/07/richmond-va-c-coaling-tower-and.html
Alexandria has most of the RF&P's archives at Special Collections on Queen Street. The archivists told me that they haven't fully cataloged everything though. They do list the Pot Yard roundhouse as an item they have logged and listed. It is possible that the tower is in a box somewhere.
What is the purpose of the ventilated door on the Southern boxcar in the lower right corner?
BigDaddy What is the purpose of the ventilated door on the Southern boxcar in the lower right corner?
Well, ventilation.
Back in the old days, Ambroid made a kit for a similar ACL car, and called it a "watermelon" car:
The cars also had regular doors, so they would be more correctly called "watermelon or regular stuff" cars.
If this link works, there is a passable photo here:
https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/thc/5a47000/5a47500/5a47552r.jpg
and a not-so-informative one here:
http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/file.php?2,file=138875,filename=old_target_alex.jpg
Dave Nelson
From "Potomac Yard", by James E. Foley:
built 1922, 35' x 60', height 123', supported by 9 2' square columns at sides and 3' square at center
in WWII, input loading was 25 cars a day
scale drawings are shown on page 562--they do not appear to be "official"--I note all columns drawn same size
there is a nice distant aerial photo, but nothing really good for modeling
The RF&P Yahoo group might yield info.
Folks,
Many thanks for trying. I'm commissioned to build this for an RF&P steam era modeler. I have all of the RF&P books and whatever other information is available, but still this a project of massive guess work. On the off-chance I was hoping some railfan might have a decent photo tucked away. Since this is sort of a commercial project, I'm willing to trade for good information, drawings, and/or photos.
I'm surprised we haven't come up much of anything. The coaling tower was only a few miles from downtown DC.
The builder, Roberts & Schaefer was eventually purchased by KBR.com R&S and Fairbanks Morse were the go to firms if you needed a coaling tower. It's a stretch but maybe they have kept records? I ran across drawings of other coaling towers in google books, but they were not similar.
Thanks Henry...............Not a bad idea! I'm now pretty much along the way with what I have. Any kind or most kinds of architecure are excercises in logic and that thinking seems to be working for now. Next time in this area....stop in and see this monster. It is huge! The customer did not want selective compression. If it were O scale, I'd most likely have to build it in fibreglass.
Howard Zane If it were O scale, I'd most likely have to build it in fibreglass.
If it were O scale, I'd most likely have to build it in fibreglass.
Or maybe concrete? Put in a little rebar, and it would work real well. AND, it would have authentic heft.
Back in the 1990's, when Roberts & Schaefer was still in business, a friend of mine contacted them at their Chicago headquarters and was able to obtain drawings for a coal processing plant that they had built in the 1920's. Now that the Company has changed hands, it's impossible to say whether you will get that level of help., but it's worth a try.
Tom
Couple drawings of the New Haven (NYNH&H) Coaling Tower at Cedar Hill. It was built by Roberts & Schaefer. (there are 2 sheets) Not sure if they will help.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/9977705@N05/7181574125/in/photostream/
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
looks like D Schmidt is a winner