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Small trackside structures?

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  • Member since
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  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
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Posted by BATMAN on Friday, October 12, 2012 8:42 PM

I like the outhouse idea. I see them in larger rail yards when looking at the old photo's in our Provincial and City Archives. You don't usually see that modeled. Yard men gotta go too ya know and it can be a long way back to the office.

Kanamodels makes a two outhouse set for $9.00. But then they would be an easy scratchbuild.

BrentCowboy

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, October 12, 2012 5:03 PM

Thanks for your kind words, Mike.  I have some of the coal bins (Tichy) but haven't got around to placing them on the layout, yet. Zzz


Wayne

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Posted by mlehman on Friday, October 12, 2012 1:50 PM

Lots of ideas and Doc Wayne's post is almost encyclopaedic. Nice stuff!

One type of small structure that hasn't been mentioned and is often found close to the tracks is the small coal shed or bin. This was often, but not always, a separate structure from a nearby RR building with a stove. It was close to the tracks, because that's where the coal came from and you didn't want your employees hauling it hither and yon.

Another application is to place it so that cabooses - and passenger cars, if you don't have steam heat yet - can fill their coal bins. Again, close to the tracks.Crystal River Products lists a Rio Grande prototype one as a "coal house," for instance, which could be used for either purpose.

Mike Lehman

Urbana, IL

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Posted by narrow gauge nuclear on Friday, October 12, 2012 1:24 PM

I am still working on my narrow gauge layout and plan a lot of small trackside structures out in the boonies.  Supply and tool sheds in remote areas as well as handcar shanties were common on the narrow gauge.  I assume that the 10X10 you refer to is after full clearance has been allowed for on both sides of the tracks.   Tool and supply sheds are best located near tricky curves or high mountain areas where derailments and some manual snow removal materials might be in order.  In short, the building should make sense based on its location.

The RGS had goose and gander privy's installed near water towers or other remote, scenic overlook stopping areas back in their waning tourist traffic days.

Richard

Richard

If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed

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Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, October 3, 2012 3:48 AM

Railroads had sheds everywhere, for all sorts of purposes.  Many were built to standard plans, so you might see similar structures anywhere along the line.  The standard plan could often be built in different sizes, too.
Here are a few examples from my layout:

Tool shed:


Another tool and supply shed:

Tool and supply shed from old boxcar:




Speeder shed:


Double speeder shed:


Double speeder shed on a different railroad:


Agent's office at a small town team track:


Agent's office at a city team track:


Water tower and pumphouse:


Another pumphouse, with MoW crew shed and water tower in the background:


Track gang shed:


Crossing tender's shanty:


Elevated crossing shanty:


Outhouse:


Fire hose and hydrant shed:


...or perhaps just a pile of spare rail:


Wayne





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Posted by tomikawaTT on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 7:11 PM

Around 1950, the New York Central had little speeder shanties every few miles along their four track Hudson River main line.  I'd guesstimate they were about 8 feet deep, ten or twelve feet parallel to the rails, with a double swinging door (total about 6 feet wide) on the right end (when facing away from the tracks) and a window (filthy, IIRC) in each end.  The 'garage door' lined up with speeder rails to the tracks.  Very simple board-and-batten structure, shed roof with high edge facing the tracks.  Can't recall if there was a smoke jack.

When I was trying to model the NYC, I built one out of cardstock.  Like the 1:1 scale versions, it has long since vanished into history.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

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Posted by Ron High on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 12:22 PM

Many railroads had  lots of shantys ,sheds , shelters or telephone structures. I remember walking around Worcester Mass New Haven yards in the early PC era ,1970 time frame.. I was amazed at the number of structures like this in what was not a huge but a busy yard in NH days. A small yard office a single story with a couple of small additions.  A storage shed for the speeder cars for the hump riders ( hump closed late 1940s I think). There were small sheds for track  tools .Storage for car parts and tools , a shed with all the parts for the kerosene switch lanterns and the oil ,telephone shelters even a few shelters with bench and a  place for crews to handle paper work out of the weather .

Even into the 1970s on the Maine Central Mountain Division  had section crews every so many miles with  1 or more sheds for track gangs and their tools and office.

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Posted by Trynn_Allen2 on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 9:22 AM

Pump house,  either for a stand pipe or for ground use.  Caboose coaling facility. 

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Posted by Beach Bill on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 8:15 AM

That's not a lot of space to work with, and would be too small for even a handcar shed.  It was not uncommon for the railroad to have their own wooden phone booth, with a wire drop from a nearby pole.  The train crew could stop and have a direct line to the central office or dispatcher, with the door usually protected by a standard swith lock.  

I'm not completely sure if such a phone booth is what is depicted in this N&W photo, but it's clearly a structure of the appropriate size in the left of the photo:

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/F1/NS3945.JPG

Bill

With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost. William Lloyd Garrison
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Small trackside structures?
Posted by Ray Dunakin on Monday, October 1, 2012 8:30 PM

I have a spot on my layout for a very small structure between two tracks, and I'm trying to decide what to put there. The maximum footprint is 10'x10'. 

What kind of small, rundown structures might logically be found close to the tracks? (It's a narrow gauge layout, so there wouldn't be any block signal circuit boxes, etc.) I could just do a shed but it might be nice to do something less "generic" and/or less frequently modeled.

 Visit www.raydunakin.com to see pics of the rugged and rocky In-ko-pah Railroad!

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