What is this structure and what does it do?

[SpaceMouse]

I'm restoring this thing for the club. It was a hideous gosh awful orange. Anyway, I'm a little unsure what to paint it (and how to weather it) because I don't rally know what it does. I have a couple of guesses, but I'd rather be sure. Sorry about the black color, but If I knew what color to paint it so you could see it, I wouldn't be making the post.



There are four pieces of equipment I would also like to identify. From left to right.

1) This is the base of a crane. What does it move?

2) This is some sort of chute that empties into a wheelbarrow. What comes out of here?

3) This one looks like a funnel from which out of the center comes a vent that goes through the roof and empties about 8 feet above the awning. I have no clue about this.

4) This looks like some kind of radiator that sits on a pedestal like a swivel chair. The front facing the funnel thingy has a grill. No obvious power source.



There's not enough relief in the black to show you the rest. Maybe you have the model and just know.

On the other side is what looks like a compressor a storage tank then another oval looking tank that is attached too the wooden part of the building. Any ideas what that is?

Next to a bunch of 55 gallon drums is a pair of electrical motors that attach to some sort of sealed pressure pot. Any ideas what that would be?

[BentnoseWillie]

It's a sandhouse.

The bin on the right (at ground level) holds undried sand. It's dried in the structure to the left and then placed in the overhead bin for delivery to locomotives by gravity. I don't know offhand what the sand-drying apparatus itself looked like.

More modern versions use a taller steel tower with a smaller bin, and the sand is delivered to the bin (and thence to the locomotive) with air pressure. There also is not usually a drying house, since sand is more often delivered dry. Some older sandhouses were retrofitted with pneumatics to move the sand to the tower.

[jrbernier]

Sand House. 'Green' sand is kept in the bin on the right. It is loaded into a wheel barrow from that 'port' on the front and dumped into the 'heater' that is outside under the cover. A fire dries the sand and it is 'blown' via compressed air into the elevated bin above the green sand storage area. Compressed air is used again to move the dry sand from the tower to the engine via the pivoting hose in the center of the picture. The dark part of the structure is either an office or hold the air compressor equipment.

Jim Bernier

[SpaceMouse]

Okay, that explains the compressor looking goody in the back. The electric pumps and the pressure tanks must be fuel for the heaters.

There are two hoses that are the size of fire hoses but rigid. What would they be for?

[waltersrails]

it looks like 3 things to me a ranger staion, old rail frieght station. or a blacksmiths shop.

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by waltersrails

it looks like 3 things to me a ranger staion, old rail frieght station. or a blacksmiths shop.

I was thinking a tower for square water. A still and a tobacco shop.

[Piedsou]

Just a side note. This is a sandtower which was first made by Revell in the 1950's. At the time, it was one of the most detailed and state of the art structures available. It, along with their enginehouse, switch tower, crossing tower and old farmhouse appeared on many a layout.

Dale Latham

[DavidGSmith]

Its definately a Revel sand house as already noted. They probably are fire hoses. A dirty med. brown would work as a colour. Ive used those old types. Retired firefighter. If you want to get really detailed colour the nozzles (old brass), brown. The age of the building that would be the type of nozzle material used. I had one of these kits and could not identify all of the parts. Figured they were just junk and placed there as a conveinient place ot put them. Stuff just appears in yards. Empty barrels etc.

[cwclark]

yes..it's the revel sanding tower meant to add sand to a bin in the locomotive for traction sanders located in front of the locomotives' wheels..i have one on my layout but will soon retire it when i build a new state of the art sanding tower (someday)...i've had it on my layout for many, many, years...chuck

[ndbprr]

I would paint it so it looked unpainted wood. Most of these were used not maintained on the outside. Then I would spray it with india ink in alcohol to represent years of grime.

[edkowal]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BentnoseWillie

It's a sandhouse.

...I don't know offhand what the sand-drying apparatus itself looked like.

The sand-drying apparatus very often resembled a cast iron stove with a large shallow tray on top of it. Wet "green" sand would be placed in the tray to dry it, then scooped out by hand.

In Spacemouse's picture, it's directly under the smoke jack on the right front.

-Ed