The new Missouri Valley Western

[Specter3]

Nope. Until you pointed it out I just thought it was a really well focused shot. On the phone I view this on I cant see the different pics.

[MVW]

The general theme of the layout has undergone a subtle change that will help add a more prototypical flavor to operations.

The layout was originally intended to portray a fictional bridge route (the Missouri Valley Western) between the C&NW and UP in southwestern Iowa. Although I intended to lean heavily on the “proto” portion of “proto-lance” and closely follow C&NW practices, I didn't want to be restricted to reality in terms of online industries. And I was more than a little intrigued with developing my fictional line's history, color scheme, etc.

Well, the fictional concept is pretty much out the window at this point. I've discovered I'm content with mirroring the C&NW as closely as possible in my make-believe setting.

My major city of Cedricsburg was originally envisioned as being about midway between Omaha/Council Bluffs and C&NW's division point of Boone, Iowa. Instead, it's become easier to just have Cedricsburg take the place of Boone.

Cedricsburg's design is not dissimilar from C&NW's plant in Boone. The freight yard is located on the edge of town, while the passenger and freight stations are located mid-town, with most rail-served industries clustered close by along the mainline.

Here's C&NW track chart for Boone from 1959: (I model 1955.)



And here's a schematic for Cedricsburg:



So, with room for 2-3 more industries downtown (in the area across the main from the freight house), I've decided to take a page from the book of reality in filling those vacancies. We'll look at the types of industries the C&NW served around Boone, and choose a few to round out the industrial base. Then we'll look at the C&NW's mainline traffic patterns from the mid-'50s and see how those trains will interplay with our local traffic.

Things have changed, yet remain the same.

Jim

[MVW]

A question: How was transportation of gasoline at the local level carried out in the 1950s?

C&NW's “Directory of Industries” from 1952 lists 39 industries for Boone, one-third of which were receiving “oil and oil products.” This includes local distributors like Boone Oil Co. and Square Deal Oil Co., but mostly service station chains: Champlin, Imperial, Mid-Continent, Phillips, Skelly, Standard, Sinclair, Texas Co. and Western.

So would a tanker typically be routed to a team track, where its contents would be offloaded to a truck (or trucks)? Is it likely some of this may have been LCL freight? I think the latest Sanborn maps of Boone I've seen are from 1916 (more on that in a bit), but I doubt if all (or any) of the chains listed above had local rail-served facilities in later years.

I already planned to have West Cedricsburg Farmers Elevator receive petroleum products by rail. Just wondering if I should consider reserving space for another similar facility, or take advantage of team tracks.

Thoughts?

Jim

[wcfn100]

Most of my research of Waterloo Iowa shows various places with storage tanks to offload gas, oil and/or kerosene.  This is a Texaco location.

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Here's a Shell location from Sanborn Maps.

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I assume is was then loaded to the local fuel trucks.



Jason

[MVW]

Thanks, Jason. I hoped you'd weigh in.

Here's a composite of Sanborn maps for downtown Boone. Unfortunately, it's from 1916, and so likely pre-dates the service station boom.



Several places to deliver coal, but no noticeable petroleum storage.

Not a big deal, since I'm not modeling Boone per se. But I would like to handle freight movement in a prototypical manner, and Jason's top photo is very helpful in that regard. Besides, I have an "Al's Victory Service" kit on hand that was eventually going to make it onto the layout somewhere, and it might look good with a row of storage tanks behind it ... 

Jim

[CRL]

Here’s a Sanborn map of Safford, Arizona circa 1941-42. It shows a couple of rail served bulk oil distributors that also appear to have gasoline tanks on premises.

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[CRL]

Here’s a close-up of the bulk facility.

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[wcfn100]

Several places to deliver coal, but no noticeable petroleum storage.

One thing about Iowa is it was VERY friendly with the Interurban lines.  In Waterloo , the WCFN handled the majority of the in-city traffic.

Boone was a much smaller town, but probably not much different in that respect.

Here are two bulk oil stations in Boone on the FDDM&S.

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Jason

[MVW]

Here are two bulk oil stations in Boone on the FDDM&S.

Jason

Ha! Had my blinders on. Never even considered checking along FDDM&S trackage.  Thanks, Jason!

OK, time to decide what goes in the remaining industrial areas in Cedricsburg/West Cedricsburg.

C&NW's "Directory of Industries" from 1952 lists 39 industries for Boone. I've consolidated the categories slightly.

13 – oil and oil products
7 – coal, poles, salt  (includes coal dealers, electric company, electric co-op, telephone company, a wire and iron works, a floral company and a laundry)
6 – lumber, cement, tile, building material
5 – feed, seed, grain and fertilizer (includes seed companies, feed mills and co-op grain elevator)
2 – sugar, feed and household goods
1 – sand and gravel
1 – bottling works
1 – wood products
1 – dressed poultry, eggs and shooks
1 – scrap iron and paper

West Cedricsburg is full up, but I have a short siding that was allocated to a fictional, generic manufacturer. At this point, I'm tempted to turn it into this place (or something like it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoll_Bottling_Works

According to a piece written in 1935 (https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7521&context=etd), it bottled Coke and six other flavors of soda, the latter from syrups prepared on-site. It was producing 40,000 cases a year, and also wholesaling beer (which it did not manufacture). All sales were local, so it would be "ins" only. But hell, sounds like an opportunity to run a beer reefer every now and then. 

Cedricsburg has room for three industries. I had already planned to include a grocery wholesaler, which would fit the "dressed poultry, eggs and shooks" entry in the list above, and is simpatico with "sugar, feed and household goods." There was a business labeled "produce" served by the C&NW on the 1916 Sanborn map. (It's along Story St., on the siding north of the main.) Not sure if that structure survived into the '50s.

A lumber yard is a requirement, since there were 3-4 served by the C&NW in downtown Boone. It will also receive coal.

That leaves room for one more, and there are two good candidates from the 1935 source. Quinn Wire & Iron Works was still rail-served in 1952, a manufacturer of agricultural equipment, mostly related to feeding livestock. There's even an image of the plant online, lifted from one of its sales pieces.



It had its own foundry and machine shop, and 75% of its output moved by rail (in 1935). Unfortunately, I have no room for anything close to this size in Cedricsburg. I'll either model it in another city, or have it "served" via eastern staging.

That leaves Rocho Bros., a coal and ice dealer. According to the 1935 source: "The capacity of the coal yard is about 100 cars or approximately 5,000 tons. About 50% of the coal sold is local and the remainder is eastern coal. The conveyor system for loading and unloading is used." It apparently shipped some ice by rail, and also received shipments requiring cold storage.



This, too, is larger than I was looking for, but it may be workable. It's only served by a single siding, and much of the main structure could be represented by a shallow flat.

Time to settle on a prototype for the lumber yard, then do a little surveying to see exactly what will fit in Cedricsburg.

Jim

[MVW]

Took a break from "kapuscinskiing" -- that's a verb, right?  -- Cedricsburg Yard to play with my cell phone ...



... and discovered these reefers in what Tom Waits once referred to as "a favorable lighting situation."



OK, back to the grout.

Jim

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wait, is that grouting or using my app to make the ca-chunk sounds when you knock off handbrakes?

[MVW]

Wait, is that grouting or using my app to make the ca-chunk sounds when you knock off handbrakes?

Grout. But the other meaning would be cooler. 

Jim

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Grout. But the other meaning would be cooler. 

Jim

Go play! http://traincrew.conrail1285.com/

[Carolina Northern]

Wait a minute, I thought  "kapuscinskiing" had something to do with trees.

[MVW]

Wait a minute, I thought  "kapuscinskiing" had something to do with trees.

Well, I try to grout two feet of track a night. 

Jim