Locomotive assembly plants

[Anonymous]

I have been invited to build a module for the local clubs bring a train to school program.I really wanted to do something different does anybody have any info on the type of buildings that would be involved in the assembly process of steam loco's and early first gen.diesel..I figured on boiler house and mach shop.any other info would be appr.

[Anonymous]

I think a local club could model a locomotive assembly plant using all their modules.

There's a good picture of the early Alco plant in Schenectady, NY that gives an idea of the scale. http://www.wmht.org/TV/ironhorse/pro_desc_ih.htm

Here's a photo of the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio: http://academic.marion.ohio-state.edu/osumedu/janet/shopsindex.html

Do a google search for locomotive builders. There's also lot of info on the Baldwin company.

Wayne

[johncolley]

Also a lot of info through the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Altoona, PA. where they home built a lot of the Pennsy Locos.

[Anonymous]

thank you appr the links

[tatans]

Aren't loco builders eg: Lima , Baldwin, etc. housed in massive plants covering hundreds of acres, Some of these early loco builders were housed in some of the largest factories in the U.S. I would think these plants would be monstrous, or are you thinking of a loco shop where maintenance is done, usually a large shed or big building that can accomodate 2 or 3 locos where they are maintained. This could make a big difference on your project, unless you have 2 years that you have nothing to do.

[Anonymous]

well it was just an idea i really didn't know how big the facitities were,after looking at some web sites maybe a freelanced loco builder with limited prod.capabilities you could probably fill half a gym trying to accuratly model something like lima or the others.I was just looking for something that was different to maybe spark the interest of some of the kids espically in the junior high age group. I appr all the replies.thnks

[ericsp]

Trains had an article about GE's(?) assembly plant in one of its issues in late 2002, or 1998. Check the magazine index (link at top of page).

[Dough]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp

Trains had an article about GE's(?) assembly plant in one of its issues in late 2002, or 1998. Check the magazine index (link at top of page).

I was just about to say that. It was the GE factory up in Eire, PA. I actually had the opportuntity to tour that place a few years ago, and yes it is enormous. If you have any trouble finding it let me know, and I'll look it up.

My one impression is that everyting is huge there. From the drill presses to the cranes everything is supersized to deal with the massive engines.

Also, you may want to look around for small builders or rebuilders. I know of at least two here in GA that rebuild engines. I'm sure that something similar must have existed in the time period that you are using. As was mentioned, you could seriously use up every one of the modules trying to replicate the GE facility. And on a side not woudn't that be an awsome model. Especially if you did it durring the steam era!

[Jetrock]

The Central Pacific/Southern Pacific "Sacramento Locomotive Works" built locomotives on a somewhat smaller scale than the big Eastern firms but was still pretty sizeable--the whole complex was still pretty large (like 240 acres) but that included a sizeable division yard.

You could simulate such a complex with a few large buildings, ideally cutaway ones, but it would be a heck of a detail project. Such places were an absolute maze of heavy equipment and men (the Sacramento shops, as I mentioned, smaller than most Eastern facilities, was the biggest single employer west of the Rockies for a long time--something like 2000 employees.) A transfer table would generally be used to shuttle engines around the bays of the shop buildings--like a big linear turntable. You'd have several buildings for different purposes--a boiler shop, an erecting shop, a paint shop, woodworking areas, etcetera--even a small locomotive manufacturer would be huge.

On the other hand, a lot of electric lines and small logging lines built their own locomotives out of spare parts and anything that wasn't tied down, but most people probably wouldn't really relate to that, and these were generally "homebrewed" equipment intended for use by the railroad that built it, rather than as a commercial product. Such shops buildings would be relatively small--just the space of a couple city blocks.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the great replies I went down stairs and found the issue that you spoke of and i am trying to figure out a way to condense the whole scene into something that wouldn't kill the realism yet have enough detail to be believeable and still progect the enormous size of these plants.Since i don't think all the modules will have backdrops installed I am not sure as to how to do this yet.But with the help of the wisdom of guys like you that have replied i am sure someone will have some more great ideas.

[Anonymous]

RailGuyHO ...... just within the last few months, Trains magazine showed, through panaramic photo and diagram, the entire city of Altoona. It showed the Altoona yards and engine facilities, and the engine manufacturing area, with the individual buildings identified, if I remember right. It was all PRR of course. It would tell you the name and purpose of each building of a steam engine building facility, if you didn't get all that info from somewhere else already.

Altoona, during the heyday of the PRR and stream ........ what a place that must have been!

Dough ...... I didn't think you could tour the GE plant in Erie. Am I wrong, or did you get the tour because of your employment, etc?

Thanks. Jim.

[Dough]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ironmine

Dough ...... I didn't think you could tour the GE plant in Erie. Am I wrong, or did you get the tour because of your employment, etc?

Several years ago they had an open house for one of their anniversaries. They opened the plant up to all the surrounding community in. It his been quite a while, and I can't think of any other time that they have done so...

[Anonymous]

"The weight was very important, and Lima Locomotive Works had its own scale house to weigh the locomotives. The locomotives were weighed in secrecy as the train crews were paid by the weight of the locomotive."

This is from the link to the Locomotive assembly provided here... I fell out of the chair when I read the above... whadda ya mean SECRECY!? HANH?

I never heard of steam crews being paid according to the weight of the engine... can some one enlighten me on pay? I thought it was by number of hours worked.

I think a loco assembly facility can be easily modeled by providing a sort of a backdrop building 6 inches thick with a track in one "Bay" showing people and machinery surrounding a brand new (UNPAINTED) locomotive and perhaps a loco sitting outside with a man on a ladder just finishing the painting of a roadname on the tender while a photographer got ready to snap the picture.

A third track could be run into the next bay closest to the back drop to recieve carloads of parts, supplies etc. A very large "Powerplant" type glass windows can be placed on the structure to allow people to view the interior rather easily with a few panes covered by cardboard close to the bottom and perhaps left "broken and missing" near the top.

I suspect such a facility would take at least 1 by 2 feet of space if not more.
Thanks for any info provided.

[Anonymous]

As to rates of pay for engine crews...

Traditionally, train- and engine-service crews were paid by the mile, not by the hour. Often there were minimum numbers of miles paid for a tour of duty, regardless of actual miles run or hours on duty. A 100 mile minimum was typical in freight service.

The rate paid varied by craft (engineer vs. fireman, for example) and by class of service (yard vs. road freight vs. pasenger, etc.). Also, it was common for engine service pay rates to vary depending on the locomotive's weight on drivers. This was a steam era practice that carried over well into the diesel era.

[Anonymous]

Thanks again for all your replies and ideas.I think if i had been employee of baldwin I would have been secretly hiding out at the secert scale.Wow that was a shocker,so would baldwin and probably other manf. cheat a little on the weight huh the back drop is a definite the module will be end unit so it will be 4x8 so that will help a little Thanks again for all the great replies.

[Virginian]

The N&W built their own steam locos, and the locomotive shop was essentially one large long building where they assembled (erected) the locomotive from the various components. Of course there were car shops around, and the foundry, and the machine shop, but for just locos you could go the one building route, and maybe have some photos of the machine shop and foundry operations, which are "elsewhere". If I remember right, the building was about as long as ten large, say Class A steamers, at one time, sans tenders, and about 6 wide. I think Trains had an aerial view of Roanoke Shops, and the Roanoke yards, not long ago.

[Wdlgln005]

The EMD LaGrange plant has been open off & on for years. You could put together a set of Walthers kits to trepresent the buildings. One building puts together the engine with all the parts. another does the frame. An erecting shop with a heavy crane inside does all the heavy lifting. amother building serves as the paint shop. You could use an older maint building. You also need a test trak outback to be sure everything works before delivery. For some events, they also have some shiny new GM cars to look at. No Mustangs allowed!

[ericsp]

Make sure to watch this.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=26294

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp

Make sure to watch this.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=26294

Thank you i will be sure to, really cool.Talk about good timing.

[Anonymous]

I just went to "Made in America's" web site. The GE show aired last night!?

Man, I would have loved to seen that.

Next week is US Steel.

Jim

WAIT ....now I went to the Travel Guide web site, and they say the GE show will be on Dec 21 and Dec 22. I'm glad I checked.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by railguyho

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp

Make sure to watch this.
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=26294

Thank you i will be sure to, really cool.Talk about good timing.

Thanks again I fell aseep but i did get it recorded last night,with all the great info from the members here,I hopefully will have a module that might spark the interest of some future model railroaders.