I am looking for drawings of a depot in a town in the area where I grew up. It still stands today and I was actually able to take photos of it when I was back there in October of last year. I want to scratchbuild two HO scale copies of it, one for me and one for the local newspaper there in the same town as the depot. There is a lady at the newspaper who was also kind enough to actually go out and take additional photos of the station and email them to me; she also sent me a not-so-good photo of it from some time in the 1920's that they had in their archives.
Background: It is along the old Erie, Erie Lackawanna Delaware Division, between Binghamton and Port Jervis N. Y. The name of the town is Callicoon (N. Y., name means Wild Turkey in Delaware Indian). As far as I can tell, it was built in the early 20th century, probably around 1910.
NOTE: "Phoebe Vet", if you're reading this I know that you are familiar with this station. If you have any information on it could you send me a PM?
If anyone has information on this structure and would be willing to share it with me I would greatly appreciate it.
This is just an observation, and should not be taken as a criticism of the OP. After all, he lives on the other side of a pretty wide country, so he can't just amble down to the depot and do this himself.
It seems that many modern modelers expect to find this kind of information ready-made for them. It's true that some of it does exist in RR historical societies and State and local historical groups; but in most cases the original drawings for old buildings are long gone. In many cases, I've found property owners to be cooperative when I've asked for permission to measure existing buildings in order to create my own drawings. That takes a lot of time and effort, but it can be well worth it.
Since the OP lives so far away, he may have to be more creative. Sometimes the basic dimensions of length and width, plus a few decent photos, can give you enough info to produce a very presentable (if not 100% precise) model. Maybe the lady at the newspaper can do some measuring for you, or find somebody else to do it. Length, width, door & window dimensions & spacing, etc. would give you all you really need. Wall height can sometimes be determined by counting boards of a known dimension. Roof slope angle can be determined from photos if the photo is taken from a suitable angle and distance. Those dimensions might also be obtained from such sources as Sanborn insurance maps or the USRA survey ca. 1918-20, which is maintained at the National Archives. Local plat maps might have it. It's possible that the structure represented a standard design that is documented in the archives of the E-L Society, so I would certainly check with them. Maybe some individual has already documented the structure, which would be a real stroke of luck.
I hope the OP has some luck in finding the drawings. If not, there are other approaches that can yield great results, although they would involve some work.
Tom
Tom,
I have already done some research. The ELHS website doesn't turn up anything. I have do some other web searches too. So far nothing has turned up. I am good at converting scales so I think I can get the dimensions close from the photos. Having drawings, if I can get them, would make life easier on this project though. And, the lady at the newspaper has said that she would go out and measure too, if I needed her to do so. Additionally, I will continue to do web searches as I get the time.
Have you consulted with the local county level library, if such a thing exists? Sometimes such things end up in their hands, if they've gained control of archival documents from local government. For instance, Alexandria VA has a full set of detailed architectural drawings of the local station they inherited at some point.
If you want to work the deep cuts, county inspection and taxation valuations exist somewhere, assuming adequate recording and retrieval.
This website says at the bottom there is a Town Historian. There is a pic of the depot, but not enough to be useful for your purposes. If there is a historian, volunteer or otherwise, they might have better pics.
http://www.callicoononthedelaware.com/erie_railroad_callicoon.html
It looks bigger than I expected on Google maps
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7664621,-75.0582348,3a,75y,344.34h,89.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNezgDlqF1Uvet5hN11AOZA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Henry,
Thanks for the link, but I did look on Google Maps/satellite view and that and other views I have seen. Yes, I believe the structure is probably between 100 and 130 feet long. In addition to passenger/ticketing facilities, it also housed a fairly large freight room and some small MOW equipment as well as a passenger shelter, whch is at the far end in that Google view. It is presently being used for MOW offices and shop. The CP, who now operate the line, either own or lease the structure.
I remember a whole series of books called
"The Next Station Will Be..."
Here are some offerings from the auction site:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xthe+next+station+will+be.TRS0&_nkw=the+next+station+will+be&_sacat=0
Perhaps you will have some luck there? I have not examined the titles to see if your depot is there however, keep in mind that many railroads used "standard Plans" for various-sized depots so a plan for one may be "close enough" to model another.
Good Luck, Ed
Scale drawings are the gold standard for accurate modeling, but it is very rare for a prototype modeler to have genuine scale drawings of a given structure. Even if you have access to ICC valuation records, often the drawings are little more than sketches although some of the ICC valuators did very careful drawing work. You might at least get basic dimensions from the ICC valuation file. The national archives have a complete set but some railroad historical societies have them for their railroad so check there.
Sanborn insurance maps may have "footprint" dimensions and if you have good photos you can often guestimate the vertical dimensions from those.
As posted earlier, even informed guess work from windows and doors in a photo are often as much as a scratchbuilder has available.
I have a 4 foot length of 2x2 in my car, painted in black/white/ black/white , each one foot long.
I place that piece of wood in the structure photo I take so that I have a basis for "scaling" the photographs.
Dave Nelson
The ELHS has a contact section. I'd contact the Diamond Editor to see if he knows of anything. I'm trying to remember from when my dad was a member if there was a distribution list members emailed amongst themselves.
Either way, they are a good method to contact. He may be able to put you in contact with someone at least.
BigDaddy This website says at the bottom there is a Town Historian. There is a pic of the depot, but not enough to be useful for your purposes. If there is a historian, volunteer or otherwise, they might have better pics. http://www.callicoononthedelaware.com/erie_railroad_callicoon.html It looks bigger than I expected on Google maps https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7664621,-75.0582348,3a,75y,344.34h,89.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNezgDlqF1Uvet5hN11AOZA!2e0!7i3328!8i1664!6m1!1e1 Yes, I did look at the Town Historian website. The black and white "historic" photo that is shown, at least I saw, was from 1971, There was a van parked under the shelter on the west end of the station which I also downloaded. If I can figure out how long and high that, what looks to be a Ford Econoline van is, it'll give me a good idea on dimensions.
Hi, I don't have drawings, but the station was built in 1898 with a slate roof. It is a type V frame building. It is a combination freight & passenger station. the passenger end measures 25' x 47' x 18' and the freight end is 25' x 57' 16'. Hope this helps.
This website may be useful:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/
As to the OP's question, I presume this is the picture they are talking about:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Callicoon&co=hh
Great links!
pajrr Hi, I don't have drawings, but the station was built in 1898 with a slate roof. It is a type V frame building. It is a combination freight & passenger station. the passenger end measures 25' x 47' x 18' and the freight end is 25' x 57' 16'. Hope this helps.
pajrr, thanks for the information. I am curious where you got this inforamtion. I am sure, from the pictures I have, however, that the passenger shelter is about half the width of the freight/passenger station (main structure) itself. I don't doubt that the main structure is 25' wide. The length dimension you give verifies that the entire station structure is over 100 ft. I am still doing research on this station. Also, when I was growing up there, I believe that there was a loading dock on the opposite end from the shelter, which has since been removed (?). The reason I remember this is that I would park my car next to the house track (also since removed), where there were a few parking spaces. The local way freight used to park their engine and caboose there over night if there were no revenue cars spotted at the loading dock.