I just installed a new house track on my HO scale layout where the local switching job will be based. The engine and caboose will "tie up for the night" there. I want to put a simple crew house/yard office adjacent to this track. Real estate is limited, as it is between two tracks; it is approximately 2 1/2" x 10" in that area. I intend to build a a simple wooden structure, with board and batten siding, and either a peaked or a lean-to roof. Any ideas? pictures of typical designs? Thanks.
I just did a search for "railroad yard office" and got lots and lots of pictures. More than enough for your purposes, I think.
I once scratchbuilt a yard office for a friend. I just made it up. I thought about what I figured happens in a yard office, and built a building for the purpose.
This is what my yardoffice contained: a locker room, a bathroom, an office. I designed it towards the small end, for a small yard. For example, no more than 2 desks in the office.
With 2 1/2" by 10", you can easily fit something that size in, with room to spare. You might consider a small storage building, maybe containing brake shoes, tools, cans of stuff--tools of the trade for a small yard.
Ed
That 2 1/2" space is pretty narrow, and I am not sure if you want to scratch build or just purchase a kit.
If you Google 'ho scale yard office', a lot of results pop up for HO scale kits.
Rich
Alton Junction
If the office is 12' square, and the locker room is 12' square, and you add a bathroom and closet, you get 12' x 27'. Allowing for a roof overhang gets it up to maybe 16' x 30'.
Or 2 1/4" x 4 1/8" in HO.
Fitting adequately into 2 1/2" x 10".
A local yard near me used an old wooden boxcar, with its trucks removed, and on some sort of foundation - perhaps ties or cement blocks. When they needed to increase its size, they added another. This arrangement lasted well into the '90s, I think, and a more modern set-up could use a steel boxcar.Remove the car's doors and block the openings as required, then add man-doors wherever appropriate, along with windows, perhaps some awnings over the latter, a porch at the doorways, smoke jacks, toilet vents, an oil tank, some tool lockers outside...the list of details is as endless as your imagination. Tichy offers a variety of suitable door and window castings.
Wayne
I like DoctorWayne's idea. I did something similar years ago for the MR&T, only I used an old-fashioned clerestory-roof wood combine. Tools on one side, offices on the other. Added a scratchbuilt dock, some vents, an air conditioner mounted through the walls, and cribbed ties in place of the trucks.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
I was about to say the same thing as DoctorWayne and Steve, except that I would suggest a caboose. The Kendallville Railway uses a bay window caboose for its office.
__________________________________________________________________
Mike Kieran
Port Able Railway
I just do what the majority of the voices in my head vote on.
Hmm, in the modern era I think either a repurposed container or an office trailer would be more likely, if not as "railroady" as a reused boxcar. A short (20ft) container could serve as the storage shed for either.
Steven OtteI like DoctorWayne's idea. I did something similar years ago for the MR&T, only I used an old-fashioned clerestory-roof wood combine.
Brings to mind the old Revell Yardmaster's Office or Engine Crew Shanty!
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I plan on doing this for my Port Able Railway switching layout.
I was thinking of all of the above options. BTW, I model the '70s, so a not-so-modern looking structure is what I have in mind. Even though cabooses were still used in the 70's, the older ones were either repurposed or scrapped. Right now, I don't have any wooden sheathed cabooses. Anyway, I was thinking some sort of shed. All the other railroad-owned structures are/will be of wood construction with board-and-batten siding (even the paint is the same), so I'm thinking scratchbuild. I figure if I need to cut holes in a boxcar for windows and doors I may as well make it easy on myself and do that prior to assembling a scratchbuilt structure instead. I do believe I'll go the search engine route and find something that suits my fancy, or a variation of it.
Thank you all for the replies.
E-L man tom Anyway, I was thinking some sort of shed.
Anyway, I was thinking some sort of shed.
Don't let your crews think you built them a "shed". Small, OK. Cozy, OK. Fairly weathertight, OK. A heater inside, OK.
PS: Show us a picture when it's done, if it's convenient. I'm curious what it'll look like.
model railroader some years back had the plans for just what your looking for i built it and now it sits in the what to do with box its 12 by 25 board and batten with wood shingle roof will look for the plans.
There's a tendency for utility buildings for a railroad to have a family resemblance. So, if you have several such buildings on your layout that have, say, a standing seam roof at a certain slope, your new yard office might very well have the same roof type and roof slope. For example. And, of course, paint scheme.
E-L man tom:
I think that it's great that you are willing to scratch build your yard office, but I'm going question why you need a specific plan to work from. I'm pretty sure you already have a picture in your mind so why not just go with that? Do a sketch on paper and go from there.
You can use lots of different materials but the easiest to work with would be styrene. Real wood is also a possibility but it is a bit prone to warping so you need to do your homework on how to work with it first. Both materials will benefit from some internal bracing.
Evergreen Scale models sells styrene HO scale board and batten siding in a couple of different sizes (i.e. spaces between the battens):
http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Sheets.htm#Board & Batten
They also sell standing seam metal roofing, or you can just use a flat styrene sheet and glue strips of heavy paper (like a manila envelope) to the roof and paint the strips black.
Just a suggestion.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter E-L man tom: I think that it's great that you are willing to scratch build your yard office, but I'm going question why you need a specific plan to work from. I'm pretty sure you already have a picture in your mind so why not just go with that? Do a sketch on paper and go from there. You can use lots of different materials but the easiest to work with would be styrene. Real wood is also a possibility but it is a bit prone to warping so you need to do your homework on how to work with it first. Both materials will benefit from some internal bracing. Evergreen Scale models sells styrene HO scale board and batten siding in a couple of different sizes (i.e. spaces between the battens): http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/Sheets.htm#Board & Batten They also sell standing seam metal roofing, or you can just use a flat styrene sheet and glue strips of heavy paper (like a manila envelope) to the roof and paint the strips black. Just a suggestion. Cheers!! Dave
Dave, I already have plenty of the Evergreen board-and-batten on hand (and probably enough wood board-and-batten to do this small structure. But, to answer your question, you're right, I do have a basic structure in mind. I just want to find out about the more typical things that go with it, such as peaked roof vs. lean-to, should it have a platform, what kind of configuration for doors and windows, non-building details, etc. I already have a scratchbuilt motor car shed that will be on that same house track, if I can fit it in that piece of real estate, so I will make it with the same wooden shingles and siding, as well as paint job.
I may be mistaken but wouldn't crews spend their nights at a local hotel or some other place like that? In a that case all you'd need is a place for a company vehicle to pick up the crew, make a loop and head off to the crew quarters (I've seen similar 'taxi' service at CSX's Rougemere yard).
Another possibility might be for the crew to overnight in 'their' caboose. Wasn't there an article where the railroad provided a coaxial cable drop so the crew could plug their tv into it while they stayed in their 'hotel on wheels'? I know back in the 60's some crews would personalize their caboose with ornamentation (favorite college colors, license plates, etc) to make 'their' caboose stand out in a string of them. I got that last bit of information from the C&O Steel Caboose book...they said the railroad probably didn't give official permission to customize their caboose, but it probably happened anyway (especially if the boss rooted for the same team!).
The only structure really 'needed' might be a shed to store consumable supplies for the caboose and loco, like water, cups, fusees, torpedoes, toilet paper, fuel for the stove, spare bulbs, etc. Bigger replacement parts might be stored at an engine terminal or repair facility.
If you're set on a building of some kind, a boxcar, ex-MOW, passenger/baggage or even an old caboose would be easy for the railroad to put on a flatcar and drop wherever it was needed. I would think any structure or shed would look just like other railroad buildings, but maybe add windows, A/C unit, smoke jack, tv antenna and telephone pole to carry communication and power lines.
Sounds like a fun project! I'm designing a yard too and have been looking at prototype photos for inspiration and reading as much about the subject as I can find. You might want to check your railroad's historical website for ideas. The COHS is free to search through the archives and there are plenty of books, pamphlets and drawings to buy too.
http://delray1967.shutterfly.com/pictures/5
SEMI Free-Mo@groups.io
I was thinking of yard offices in towns/cities, where workers might live at home and go off to work. Thus the locker room.
A yard office is "needed" if you have a yard clerk. And/or a need for a place to do paperwork. This needs to be done out of the weather, if only because piles of paper do not take kindly to rain. After that, there's a tendency to add heat, because a guy sitting at a desk can get awful cold awful quick. And that heat brings in outdoor workers who have a minute or two to warm up. And maybe use the "facilities" that might be there, too.
I suspect the details of yard office use change over time and location.
Back in the day, crew lodging was frequently done fairly close to the workplace. IIRC, this changed in the '70's or '80's when it was required to provide lodging a certain distance away from the rail yard (over 1 mile sticks in my mind) with a place to eat that was open during times when crews went on or off duty.
Yard offices could be fairly small affairs but need to accomodate yard clerks, yard masters and maybe even a crew caller. Locomotive crews in the steam or transition era may have actually gone on duty at the roundhouse in many cases. Many labour agreements called for lockers and showers at any on duty point.
The idea of using repurposed rail equipment (freight or passenger) for both yard offices or bunk houses is a good one. I've seen photos of a lot of old baggage cars, box cars, coaches etc. being used for this. The size should fit the scale of your operation.
Sorry, the rest of the message didn't go through. I'm just putting in another post instead of editing.
I think that Tom's local switcher crew is going to work out of the yard office.
You could use the caboose that's assigned to the crew as an office or you could try the Atlas Trackside Shanty:
or the AM Models Williamsburg Yard Office:
They're easy kits.
Here's the AM Models yard office.. Since this photo was taken I added a chimney and a fuel oil tank.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Great work Brakie. That's the shed that you mentioned on the other forum?
Tom, btw, The NYCH and Port Jersey Railroads used Northeastern Cabooses in the 1970's.
Mike Kieran I was about to say the same thing as DoctorWayne and Steve, except that I would suggest a caboose. The Kendallville Railway uses a bay window caboose for its office.
On my layout, it's an old wood caboose.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
Mike, Thank you! I did the weathering by hand..I forgot to mention I also added glass made from clear notebook divider.
Yes,that the same one..Those AM Models yard offices has several uses.
Mine serves as a locker/break room for the crew.
Tom,
I see that a few of the guys have posted photos of their own simple office buildings as suggestions. I couldn't resist showing you what I have done on my layout.
The office building shown below is a kit made by American Model Builders LASERkit and is part of AMB's Express Series line of affordable, quick and easy to assemble wood kits. The first two photos are from the AMB catalog.
Kit #795 Grand Avenue Yard Office
Office building as built by me and used at Johnson's Junk Yard.
Footprint is 3.5" x 2.5"
Here are a couple of simple trackside buildings built from scratch using the picture in my mind only:
Like I said in my earlier post, I think you can get the design right from your own imagination. There are some basic size ratios that need to be kept in mind. For example, the exterior walls would only be a foot or two taller than an entrance door, and the bottom of a window would normally be somewhere around three feet above the floor, although that can vary a lot. Roofs can be any slope you want, but the simpler the structure the shallower the slope is likely to be. A common ratio is 1:5. In other words, the roof will rise 1' for every 5' in width. Heavy snow areas might be steeper.
These roofs are made from strips of manila envelopes over .040" flat styrene.
This one was always my favorite. Price kinda high, though. I bought one in the '60's, still have it but never finished it. Gotta straighten it out, as it warped over time.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JV-Models-HO-HOn3-Yard-Office-3040-/262318927168?hash=item3d136d2d40:g:JEkAAOSwhglTyCMV
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
Mike KieranI, for one, can't wait to see what Tom decides. I am a big fan of his layout. Tom is the TEC a one horse railroad or are you modeling an industrial switcher based at your location (I want to say that your layout is in Toledo).
Mike, Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, this is a "one horse" railroad, doing switching jobs for servicing an industrial corridor. Cars are interchanged with the Chessie System and the Erie Lackawanna. The yard office and general offices for the railroad are based in the fictional town of West Sandusky. The general offices are based in the old West Sandusky depot. To clarify, the switching crew parks their engine and loco on this house track. The "local crew" are also local people who go home at the end of their shifts. There will be a small pool of locomotives and cabooses, but they reside in the neighboring town of Troubridge; there's a small engine house and a caboose track there. This fictional small region is several miles south of Lake Erie between Toledo and Sandusky, Ohio.
BTW, thanks also for the pictorial suggestions to Brakie, hon3critter, JOHN C TORANTO and Guy. All great designs; nice weathering jobs too!