Dual-era for the N scale PRR - planning for structures

[wm3798]

Sounds cool.  I think for the door layout, the track plan needn't change.  I mean, it's a friggin' loop on a door.  A double track main will allow you to run more period trains to reinforce the concept.  An Amtrak F-40 in Ph 2 pulling some Amtoobs on the inner, and 3 paint-outs pulling a Trailvan on the outer, and you've got your CR jollies.

I'd take the manufacturing building out entirely, and leave either a weed grown foundation with a shopping cart and some other post-industrial debris, or, create a panel that can drop in with some tank trucks or bulk grain trucks and do one of Conrail's ubiquitous Flexi-Flo terminals.  After the consolidation, Conrail had more covered hoppers than any other railroad on the planet... you should have an excuse to park some on the layout.  In killing off the ancillary structures around the passenger depot, definitely keep the foundation in place.  It takes money to pull up old concrete!  Unless it was really in the way, it stayed.

As for the roads and signs, I spent a good deal of time cruising the rail hotspots of central PA in the early 80's, I can vouch for the presence of more than a few yellow stop signs, and I know there are roads up there that haven't seen fresh asphalt since at least the 1960's!

I've got a Life Like Pizza Hut that is out of bounds for my era, I'd be proud to contribute it to the cause.  Spent many happy hours in Pizza Huts along the Middle Div.  Does anyone have any vintage photos of a Sheetz circa 1980?  You know, one with Sean's mom throwing a soaked diaper at the wall?

Lee

[Dave V]

Great idea on the bulk grain transfer!  I may take you up on that Pizza Hut too!

[Dave V]

Lee,

Tell me more about this grain loading facility you mentioned.  It sounds pretty simple.  Any photos?  Also, were these common in central PA?

The other commodity I know CR (and its predecessors) loaded a lot of in covered hoppers is cement.  All over central and northeastern PA, cement and lime/limestone were really big deals.  But a cement plant would look out of place in Lewisport.

Perhaps a cement plant on "the big one" someday would be a great source of traffic.  Heck, cement's what kept the LNE alive for a few more years after the anthracite market went belly-up.

[Wlal13again]

How about a new Cement Readi mix plant? Quite a bit of those popped up in the 70`s. you could drop off a few covered hoppers, and Athearn makes the Mack R Model mixer that would be perfect for that era..

[wm3798]

A flexi flo terminal handles all kinds of bulk materials.  Fertilizers, flour, dry chemicals, plastic pellets etc.  If it rides in a covered hopper, it would be handled at a Flexi Flo.  It was basically a team track for bulk stuff to serve customers that didn't have their own siding.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qjkh7q8mdxzz&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=7159104&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
Here's the one in Baltimore just north of Penn Station on the old Northern Central.  This used to be the location of a grocery terminal, removed in the 1950's, I believe.  (There was an NMRA convention in Baltimore in the mid-50's that used this site as a display area for locomotives and cars, after the buildings were removed, and before the M&P scrapped it's ten wheelers).

You could make yours a smaller facility, using the siding that's in place for the manufacturer, and just use a piece of foam core to make a paved lot, get a couple of mobile bulk conveyors, maybe a tank transfer rig, and be able to handle 4 or 5 cars at a time.

A cement terminal would also be good, and compact.  Here's the one I scratched out for an old layout that has seen service on several others, including the current one...




It's basically a covered unloading shed next to a small terminal building with two storage bins.  It's built from Evergreen siding and strip, and the bins are 3/4" PVC.  If I decide to keep it there, I'll add some more details like some out door aggregate storage and what not.

Lee

[SecretWeapon]

Dave,
  The pictures of your layout are magnificent. I couldn't believe my eyes looking at your station. I want to do the exact thing. Even bought the Atlas fencing last year.

[3rdrail]

Lee, the Pennsylvania Produce Terminal off North Ave. in Baltimore was still very much active in the middle 1960's, as it was part of my sales territory. I played a part in its demise as when asked by HQ for ideas as to stem losses on perishable traffic I found that rents had never been raised since the terminal opened in 1931, so suggested they be trebled. They were.  

New York Central's Flexi-Flo and B&O's TBS (ThruBulkService) terminals handled both liquid and dry commodities in covered hoppers and tank cars. Those two started the trend. All that is needed is a paved area, unloading pumps and conveyors, a truck scale, and an office-laboratory to handle paperwork and test purity. They are usually fenced as well.

[BOK]

Dave:

You might retain the manufacturing plant and turn it into a plastics plant as happened to many older buildings as the plastic industry grew in the 1960/80s. The addition of a couple/few storage silos for resin, and a bit of basic piping/ hoses would work. If inclined to have outbound business, one Amoco foam plant I switched used large auto parts box cars for shipping plastic plates,cups etc.

Another thought would be to replace/add to your oil bulk plant, a simple version of an Walthers LPG gas facility using one tank vs. the two in the kit. This would support the change in home/commercial heating fuels fom coal/oil to gas. Some of these facilities continued to use the smaller tank cars late in the 70s/80s before using the larger tank cars too.

Like wise freight houses were sometimes used as beverage distributors after their use as railroad sturctures with 50' RBL insulated being spotted for unloading where LCL was originally handled.The mty cars often returned the mty bottles to the brewery.

Just some ideas where minor changes of buildings, signs and vehicles can help with change in eras.

Enjoy,

Barry

[Dave V]

Wow!  Lots of great ideas here.  Thanks!

A plastics plant might still demand covered hoppers and so might make life easier for me to add that traffic without too much modification.  If I'm not mistaken, up until the 1980s, the Strasburg RR still brought covered hoppers in full of plastic pellets to a customer in Strasburg.

I like the idea of expanding the fuel dealer.  I may need to modify that area some, but overall that might be a good option.  The coal trestle will remain, but probably not see any more service.  Many coal trestles were still intact but out of service by 1980.  A few still did receive inbound hoppers, but not many.

I had also thought about a beer distributers...  But then I realized a lumber/building supply company could receive a more diverse set of cars, such as early centerbeam flats, bulkhead flats, and boxcars.

Cool!  One option is to use the plastics plant sign replacement option in the short term with a long-term goal of replacing that factory.  The factory itself is a slightly modified DPM kit that shows up on every N Trak layout I've ever seen, sometimes in multiple copies...  so I may end up permanently replacing it with something more unique.  Or even a cement plant.

Lee, I love seeing photos of your layout.  Nice plant; scratchbuilding isn't just for HO anymore!

SecretWeapon; thanks!

[FrankCampagna]

In the town where I live, the old D&H and NYC stations are restaurants (about a mile apart).  The D&H freight house, adjacent to the station, is an apartment building. CP just got around to tearing up the tracks to the old car shops. They have been closed around two decades.

Frank