Hashing out a Freelance Road

[Matthew Roberts]

Yeah, that was just an example Doug.  ;D

I was looking through available N-scale station kits and came up with some I liked, even though some are eastern prototype...

C&O Standard #1

C&O Standard #2

For some reason I really like this one: Quinnimont Cabin

Santa Fe Standard #3

Gerald, MO Rock Island Depot

Boston, MO Missouri Pacific Depot

Barnsboro Depot

Or the Pella Depot

Any of those a no-go?

[wm3798]

I really like the looks of the Rock Island depot.  Very "standard" looking, easy to dress up for show, or dress down for a utilitarian use like a signal dept. or MOW depot.

Lee

[Matthew Roberts]

Yeah, Lee, I really do like the roof on that one. And it doesn't look like one particular road's "standard", that's the problem with a lot of the Santa Fe ones, they're too identifiable.

The Quinnimont Cabin is still one of my favorites though, but I don't don't know how right it'd look in a more flat land situation...

[Bob Bufkin]

I kinda like this one.  Small enough to fit almost anywhere and could easily modified.

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/wrr/wrr2607.htm

[Matthew Roberts]

Yeah, but I almost think it's a bit too small for my tastes Bob, though I guess I could bash two together and get a nice depot...

[squirrelhunter]

Personally, I would pick the RI, MP or one of the C&O standard depots. They look special enough to not be totally generic but not so specific as to be clearly designed for use on one road.

[Matthew Roberts]

Is that the long way of saying that the Quinnimont Cabin doesn't look right, squirrelhunter ;D?

[3rdrail]

Well, I'll say it. Quinnimont Cabin is a combination station/block tower of the type found on Eastern railroads in the 19th century. They were pretty much replaced by separate facilities (station, block tower) by 1920, except on the C&O, which may have had to do with the mountainous terrain limiting the space for separate structures. Beyond the Chicago commuter zone, I cannot think of any railroad in the West that operated with block towers at any time. These are only found on multiple track lines and controlled crossovers and sidings in the pre-CTC era.

So it would definitely look out of place in Texas. But it's your railroad.

[Matthew Roberts]

Okay thanks Gregg. I thought something like that about the whole combination thing. Isn't there something like that at the Harpers Ferry B&O station? ???

That helps a lot. I still really like it though. ;D

[DKS]

Isn't there something like that at the Harpers Ferry B&O station?

You mean this?

[Matthew Roberts]

Yessir David, is that a block tower/depot combo, too?

[Virginia Atlantic]

Wow, I post once a year, and somehow this thread is still on the front page. 

Epic.

[Matthew Roberts]

Wow thanks. I've never had a thread called "epic" before.

[wm3798]

The Harpers Ferry station has a long and interesting history...  It was originally located near the 1898 bridge and yes, it had the control tower there to handle movements between the main line and the Winchester Branch.  In 1936, the new bridge was constructed, and the station was relocated to it's present position.  I can't recall if the tower was removed at that point or if it was later, but by the 1970's it was gone, and the station was left to moulder as a backwater stop for Amtrak. 

Later, in the early 80's, MARC commuter service began between Washington and Martinsburg, so the station became a bit busier as a regular stop.  Basically this resulted in it deteriorating faster due to use!

A couple of years ago the restoration of the station to it's Victorian age appearance was begun, leaving the station as you see it in the above photo.  I'm not sure who was responsible for the improvements, whether it was MARC, Amtrak, the Park Service or the state of West Virginia... Probably an amalgam of all three.  Either way, it's good to see it looking so nice.

For those of you taking notes at home, the baggage car-now-Deli in the background of Johnston's shot is a former WM car...  hearkens back to the days of the Chicago Limited (1913-1918)

Lee

[squirrelhunter]

It sounds like you want something like this-

http://www.towers.txrrhistory.com/056/056.htm

or this

http://www.towers.txrrhistory.com/050/050.htm

But you would need a junction near the tower to make it work.