Jersey City Industrial Railroad Micro-Layout

[luis_lopes]

I think that is going one awsome layout.

I am loving it alreaady, even with out scenery and just with the main walls of the buildings!

[DKS]

Hi, I have just joined in order to ask if you intend to model the pacific avenue apartments as dumbell apartments as in the reference picture?
Also, will you be using the Imagine That El kits?
I must say I find the 'prevailing boring' vernacular is a real positive that adds realism and sets the scene.
I will be following with great interest.

Welcome, 'Ghost' and thanks for your interest in my little project here. I think the answer to Question 1 is yes, although I've not seen that nickname before.

I won't be using the Imagine That kits for the el; I've already begun accumulating the materials to kitbash it. Having said that, anything could happen...

Was wondering if you have any problems with the #5 turnouts? Last time I bought some I remember the frog flange ways being tight.

I haven't run anything yet, so I can't say if there are any issues with the #5s. I now consider myself forewarned, however.

[Chris333]

After trying to find some code 55 in stock I decided to:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/HopelessProjects#5894831584841061634
Still have to add the points.

[DKS]

Several more structures are shaping up. Rearden has the last two major buildings:





This building will be a little different: it will have a collapsed roof and trees growing inside. The walls have been bashed to feature stone surfaces inside and out.



The furniture factory is taking shape--



as is the freight depot.



In their unpainted form, you can get a sense of what went into them in terms of kit cross-pollination.

[peteski]

I like it!  What kit is that stone-wall building?  Some European model?  It is nice how the paired windows match on both, the stone wall and on the brick addition!

[DKS]

That's the old Pola stone two-stall enginehouse. Long out of production; I've been accumulating them for years--it took four kits to do those two buildings.

[luis_lopes]

This is awsome!!! really awsome!!!

[Chris333]

The saw tooth building on top of the stone building. Did you find that as a kit?  I have it as MP US customs, but I could only find it as a pre-built and it was a pain to de-assemble.

[peteski]

The saw tooth building on top of the stone building. Did you find that as a kit?  I have it as MP US customs, but I could only find it as a pre-built and it was a pain to de-assemble.

I believe that it is also made by Pola (and sold in US by Model Power).  This kit and few others (like the burning GE building and others I can't recall now) were an early attempt (probably unintentional) of modular kit construction.  That made those buildings excellent fodder for kitbashing all sorts of industrial structures.

The sawtooth parts were included IIRC in an engine house and maybe a bakery kit.

Here is a kitbash I did combining part of the sawtooth structure and part of the taller GE building.
Click on the image to get a more detailed view.

[DKS]

Peteski is sort of correct. The old quasi-modular brick building kits are originally from Faller. I've been stockpiling them over the years to have a supply on hand for occasions such as this. The brickwork is way oversize, but with careful arrangement and judicious weathering, you can create some good effects. I agree that they probably didn't intend to create a modular product line per se, but it sort of turned out that way, and in some respects what they did is better than products that were later purposely developed as modular.

For the sawtooth building, the stone is from the old Pola enginehouse (I love that kit), and the rest is a combination of Faller's dual industry kit (part of which became Model Power's bizarrely-named US Customs kit), with a few scraps from some other kits tossed in.

[peteski]

So those Model Power kits were re-branded Faller models?  For some reason I thought they were Pola.  I'm not sure why.  Thanks DKS - now I know the real origin of those kits.  I also accumulated several of these because their unintended modularity makes them great for kitbashing old industral buildings and mills of the Northeastern US.

I also seem to recall that there was also a (2-stall?) diesel service facility using that sawtooth roof.  I remember it being sold under Model Power name,

[Chris333]

There was a building just like that I saw when I was a kid. It is being torn down now, but a small part is still there. I'm having problems with Bing maps where I can't find a link to exactly what I see on the screen...

EDIT: Guess I can still do a screen capture:

[Chris333]

There was a building just like that I saw when I was a kid. It is being torn down now, but a small part is still there. I'm having problems with Bing maps where I can't find a link to exactly what I see on the screen...

EDIT: Guess I can still do a screen capture:

This might work:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=youngstown+ohio&hl=en&ll=41.118575,-80.633037&spn=0.002293,0.002405&sll=40.365277,-82.669252&sspn=5.30673,12.469482&t=h&hnear=Youngstown,+Mahoning,+Ohio&deg=270&z=19

[DKS]

That worked, Chris. What a great industry to study.

I'm still not satisfied with my sawtooth building, and it may get redesigned. The rest of the complex is OK, though.

[Chris333]

Here is the same area in 1950:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ErieChris333/Misc#5895378335594185570
The building I showed is in red, but the actual buildings I remember (right up against the road) are in yellow (now gone)