With my roundhouse being close to completion I am looking to add the exterior details. Being a Canadian Pacific guy I took this photo that the Vancouver Archives has really done a great job on and started zooming in to view the details.
I was doing some zoomed in screenshots to post but alas my old mac is not cooperating. So I have some questions about what I see when zooming in and I would bet many have the answers.
Here is the link. Click many times to get real close.
http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/view-of-east-false-creek-showing-c-p-r-drake-street-roundhouse-and-coal-trestle-and-cambie-street-bridge
1. On the right, there are a lot of barrels and large spools. What would have been in the large Barrels? I suspect the spools had telegraph cable on them but I stand to be corrected.
2. On the close end of the RH there is a block and tackle set up. Before the Archives improved the quality of the photo, I thought it was a tender parked there. Zooming in, it is obvious it is something else, any guesses?
3. On one of the RH tracks there appear to be some (spoked) wheelsets. What engines had spoked leading trucks. My BS 4-4-0 has them, what others used them?
4. There is a MOW car parked along the way that has "Vancouver Auxiliary Block Car" written on the side, what is a block car?
5. Along the front of the coaling tower there is "5 tons/7tons" written on the front, would this be the amount of coal in the silo? Depending how much coal you needed would determine what pump you pulled up to.
5. Finally, this one is for Bear. Knowing that he can never let these things go. There is a Tug tied up at what appears to be a barge. I have been going through British Columbia Maritime records and just when I think I have it, my wife comes in and tells me why it is "not that one".
With all those wheels and engine tires laying around the RH, I would like to get some for mine. Does anyone make them?
We could play "I spy" all day long, however, I am awaiting answers from the brainer ones among you. Let today's lesson begin. Supposition welcomed. And thanks.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Hi, Brent.
Neat stuff here, for sure!
I can only take a guess at some of your items in question.
1) Small kegs: Track spikes; track bolts (fish plate). Larger kegs, could be any thing of lighter density. Pipe fittings? Sheet metal parts (lanterns?). Where I worked we had lots of ceramic parts shipped in large kegs like that, all packed in excelsior.
I remember hearing about sets of dishes and coffee cups and the like being shipped in kegs. They were a pretty common type of container for hardware and the like.
2) Were there any oil burners in the area? It could be an oil tank that "dropped in" to the coal bunker to convert the engine to oil? Look at the tank on the 2520 near the Block Car.
3) I can't say for CPR but there are several examples of spoked pilot wheels in US practice. My B&O P7 Pacific has them.
4) Block as in Block & Tackle or Block as in oak blocking for cribbing and jacking uses. Around here the maintenance trucks that Penn Central used were loaded with all kinds of jacks and timbers and they were refered to as "Block Trucks".
5) 5 ton / 7 ton? That's interesting. Note the spacing of each chute. The 5 ton bunks are more closely spaced. Many railroads were very picky about coal consumption. I wonder if a record was kept as to how much coal was dumped in to particular locomotives. They were always looking for things to keep the clerks and accountants busy, too!
CPR_coaldock by Edmund, on Flickr
It looks like the two far right bunks are even larger yet. 10 or 12 ton?
[I'll try to crop and enhance more portions of the photo as the thread continues, and as time permits ]
(6) I'll defer to Bear!
Tires, I do have some that I got years ago. They may have been Selly? [edit] Keystone Locomotive Works. I'll get back to you on that. IIRC they were part of a package of Steam Detail junk and they also had a package of Diesel Detail Junk.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Keystone-HO-Steam-Engine-House-Junk-2-Kits-White-Metal-Kit/282825466439?hash=item41d9b62247:g:VrkAAOSwuShabXih
I love seeing the fenced-in "gardens" Look at the one behind the sand tower and the smaller one with one tall plant in it (hops ?) . I have an article on the PRR roundhouse in Crestline, Ohio and the employees made beautiful gardens around the property. Vegetable (Victory?) gardens, too! Fresh tomatoes with lunch!
These are, of course, all guesses on my part. What a fantastic photo!
Good Stuff, Ed
delete
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.
DSchmitt 1. The "large spools" are locomotive tires. The flanged tires an a locomotive are seperate from the wheels.I have seen a video shoiwng them being replaced
1. The "large spools" are locomotive tires. The flanged tires an a locomotive are seperate from the wheels.I have seen a video shoiwng them being replaced
Spools:
CPR_spools by Edmund, on Flickr
Tires:
CPR_tyres by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers! Ed
If those are cable reels over on the right, then the kegs outside likely hold insulators, which don't mind being stored out in the weather.
Ed
Good answers all.
Using kegs for shipping is exactly what they are for. The shipyards use to get rivets in barrels and I have seen dishes being unpacked from them as well.
I also think you are right about the drop in oil tank. Upon a having another look it is sitting on barrels and I did not notice that before.
The block car? I sorta thought that, but......
The garden behind the sanding tower has lots of wreaths in it. 1916 was mid-WWI and I would not be surprised if a wreath was laid for each C.P.employee who had fallen. The C.P.R. had these statues commissioned for some stations across the country.
I like seeing the saw horses on the roof of the RH. They probably went up there to eat their lunch and needed somewhere to sit.
I use to go into the Fed building downtown for meetings and at lunchtime or breaks, we would go up to the roof. It was some 20+ floors higher than the roundhouse. With all the chairs and other things that were taken up there to sit on, I wonder if someone was wondering what was happening to all the furniture.
BATMANI like seeing the saw horses on the roof of the RH. They probably went up there to eat their lunch and needed somewhere to sit.
Brent,
There are other uses for saw horses when You're on lunch.....
Take Care!
Frank
zstripe BATMAN I like seeing the saw horses on the roof of the RH. They probably went up there to eat their lunch and needed somewhere to sit. Brent, There are other uses for saw horses when You're on lunch..... Take Care! Frank
BATMAN I like seeing the saw horses on the roof of the RH. They probably went up there to eat their lunch and needed somewhere to sit.
Frank.
And I thought we civil servants just goofed off.
Look at this photo, you can just see the roundhouse. They completely ruined the area.
More curioser and curiouser —
Any guesses as to the use of the wood tower here?
Wood_tower by Edmund, on Flickr
Now, I'm familiar with the hose drying towers associated with a firehouse. A shot tower would probably be brick... so — I wonder?
Regards, Ed
gmpullmanAny guesses as to the use of the wood tower here?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I'd also think it to be a hose-drying tower. I've added hose/hydrant sheds at several locations around railroad facilities on my layout, although the drying tower is located "elsewhere"...
Ed, I'm curious to know how you managed to save enlagements of the original panoramic view. I broke it down into 18 slightly overlapping images, then re-named each, but when I saved them, I found that they had all reverted to the original panoramic view. There's a wealth of detail in that photo, and that makes the enlargements well-worth saving.
Wayne
In the lower right foreground of the image, there's a stretch of 3-rail track.
doctorwayneEd, I'm curious to know how you managed to save enlagements of the original panoramic view.
Hi, Wayne,
Over the years I have "restored" hundreds of photographs of the GE plant where I had been employed. Some of these were 5 x 7 inch glass negatives, some 35mm slides and many various prints.
I became familiar with Adobe Photoshop Elements (I have version 11).
Since the beautiful panorama shot only has two "zoom" choices, very big or very small, what I had to do with the wood tower scene is make two separate screen captures, one for the top and one for the bottom, using the "Print Screen" key on the keyboard.
In Elements there is a menu item "Open Image From Clipboard" and this brings the image into the workspace. The rest is simply using the crop tool, enhance brightness/contrast and I even did a little spot-cleanup using the scratch and blemish tool.
Finally I used "Photomerge" to blend the two images top-to-bottom and make one taller image.
I suppose there are free photo editing programs out there but for my use, I don't mind paying for a well designed and supported program (or, I guess the kids call them "Apps" these days).
Nearly every photo I post here has at least been cropped and slightly enhanced to one degree or another using Photoshop.
It sure is helpful to have so many sites providing these sharp, wonderfully detailed images for us history enthusiasts to peruse and enjoy.
7j43kIn the lower right foreground of the image, there's a stretch of 3-rail track.
I would never have caught that Of course, it only presents more questions
CPR_3rail by Edmund, on Flickr
More oil tanks behind the coal wharf:
CPR_tanks by Edmund, on Flickr
And what's on this roof? It looks like a whole sheaf of papers have been tossed out of a window?
CPR_roof by Edmund, on Flickr
Notice the early solar panels, too
Several types of spoked-wheel pilot trucks here:
http://www.railarchive.net/rlsteam/cpr.htm
Amazing stuff here!
Thank You, Ed
7j43k In the lower right foreground of the image, there's a stretch of 3-rail track. Ed
Boy somebody has sharp eyes. More speculation required.
I have read that the tower is a hose tower and at one time they had there own fire apparatus. The article sounded more like speculation though as it went on to say that there may have been a pump in the building to pressurize standpipes and maybe fill the water towers. I will look for the article.
BATMANI have read that the tower is a hose tower and at one time they had there own fire apparatus.
Hose towers are common in older fire stations, but how often would a a railroad be putting out fires? Were there other uses for hoses? Filling potable water container on passenger trains, etc?
gmpullman And what's on this roof? It looks like a whole sheaf of papers have been tossed out of a window? CPR_roof by Edmund, on Flickr Notice the early solar panels, too
Solar panels are EXACTLY what I thought at first. Creatures of our times, we are.
The papers on the roof are likely personnel files.
BigDaddyHose towers are common in older fire stations, but how often would a a railroad be putting out fires?
Often enough to need one of these:
RR_views_0033 by Edmund, on Flickr
...and this is engine #7!
The B&O roundhouse I used to hang around in had fire hose shantys all over the place.
B_O_hoseshed by Edmund, on Flickr
The lantern shown on the print had already disappeared by the time I got there
Cheers, Ed
I really like that light on top of the coal bunkers.
BATMAN1. On the right, there are a lot of barrels and large spools. What would have been in the large Barrels?
Could be about anything, barrels were a general purpose shipping container.
Its an oil tank from an oil tender. There is a tender over to the left of the coaling tower, CP 2520, coupled into the engine that has one of the oil bunkers in it.
A block car carries rerailing supplies, wood blocks and wedges, rerail frogs and tools.
5. Along the front of the coaling tower there is "5 tons/7tons" written on the front, would this be the amount of coal in the silo?
Probably the capacity of each pocket of the dock. Makes it easy to figure out how much coal you are putting into the tender.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
BATMAN I really like that light on top of the coal bunkers.
And it gives you a good reason to use all those super-bright, bluish-white LEDs that have no other real use on a model railroad since that is an arc lamp.
You would need to make it flicker just a little bit, though.
Still more stuff to look at!
BATMAN5. Finally, this one is for Bear. Knowing that he can never let these things go. There is a Tug tied up at what appears to be a barge. I have been going through British Columbia Maritime records and just when I think I have it, my wife comes in and tells me why it is "not that one".
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Gee Bear, I thought I would have to wait until at least Saturday for an answer when you could enjoy two fingers worth to help with your research. Google answer in 1.0563 seconds, Craig the Bear in .008796 seconds.
There is also two Dredger/piledriver craft out there I will take a peek for down the road. Back in the day, Canadian Pacific seemed to own everything. So along with all the paddle boats in the British Columbia interior that C.P. ran, maybe they also owned some pile drivers.
These trestles cross just up from the RH which is on the right. That house in the foreground is probably worth at least five million bucks now. I knew I should have bought.