John Colombo's NKP Layout

[jdcolombo]

Found it:
http://web.ulib.csuohio.edu/speccoll/bccc/bccc30b.jpg

I was just curious. The arch bridge just to the south of it has history as well:
http://www.historic-structures.com/oh/rocky_river/rocky_river_bridge3.php
http://www.lakeshorerailmaps.com/rockyriver.html
http://www.lakeshorerailmaps.com/lse/rocky%20river/images/1950%20aerial%20labels.jpg

Wow - that looks pretty . . . spindly . . . no wonder the NKP rebuilt it.  The NS pulled out one of the two tracks over the viaduct; it's now just a single track (the north track; the south one was the one removed). 

The arch bridge is more famous than the NKP bridge; it's in a lot of "great bridge" photo collections.  But I'm pretty happy with my version of the NKP bridge - since the rest of the layout is pretty much just flatlands, this scene is an immediate eye-catcher.

John C.

[Cajonpassfan]

(Attachment Link)

John C.

John, the engineer in me's first reaction was there was something odd about the bridge design, with the two main spans and a short middle span
But now that I see the proto pics, with the island splitting the river and its flows, it makes perfect sense (good thing I kept my mouth shut). I'd suggest modeling some shallows in the middle, with perhaps exposed sand and rock under the short middle span, and a suggestion of an island on the backdrop with the confluence of two bodies of water? Remainder of the original pier in the middle would clinch the deal...
A very interesting bridge indeed.
Otto K.

[jmarley76]

Been working on the Viaduct scene . . .

Very nice! 

[jdcolombo]

Hi everyone.

Time for a bit of an update.

The last major area of the layout that needs work is the National Carbon scene at Fostoria.  As you know from my previous posts, the layout doesn't try to copy actual prototype buildings or the exact track layout in my towns, but rather is more of a "look and feel" approach.  I originally intended to adopt this same "look and feel" approach for National Carbon, and had thrown together some kits that I would put in various spots in the available layout space.  Here's a photo of where this saga starts:

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And that's where things would have stayed, but for a visit from OldEastRR, who used to live in Champaign, IL before moving out west and who had operated on my old basement NKP layout many years ago.  He suggested that maybe in this one spot I should try to be more faithful to the prototype - an idea that I dismissed at first, then began thinking more seriously about. 

The first step in going down that road was some additional research.  When I was building the layout, a fellow NKP modeler in Ohio was kind enough to send me a copy of the Sanborn Insurance Map from the 1950's for the plant that showed the building layout and the various rail spurs that served the plant.  Sanborn maps are invaluable tools for modeling prototype scenes, since they accurately list the footprints of all buildings and their relative locations to each other, as well as some notes on building construction (e.g., brick walls, concrete floor, etc.).  At that time, of course, I wasn't going to try to copy any of the buildings, but I did use the map to lay out four spurs for the plant to keep my local train operators busy, so I already had a start on at least part of a real prototype scene: the track was mostly there (although I would later need to relocate the spurs a bit).

Armed with this information, my next step was to use Google Earth to get an overview of the plant site from the air and see what might fit on my layout.  To my dismay, I realized that many of the buildings on the south end of the plant that would be part of a 1950's scene on my layout had been torn down.  You could vaguely make out where they had been and even see evidence of the former rail spurs that served the plant in its heyday, but that wouldn't help much in trying to recreate the plant's buildings.  So I did two additional things - I scoured the Internet for possible photos of the plant and I wrote to Morgan Advanced Materials in the U.K. (which now owns National Carbon), asking if they had photos of the plant during my time frame that they would be willing to scan and send to me.

The Internet search turned up some old postcards with images of the plant, but these were all dated around 1910 - they certainly helped, because they showed many of the buildings that were now torn down, but I needed a more realistic arial overview.  That came from a photo that was available from the web site of the Fostoria Historical Society (later, the company sent me a copy of the original photo, which was much higher in resolution and helped fill in the details).

Armed with this info, I could decide what part of the plant I would try to recreate in the available space on the layout:

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One of the old postcards had some useful views (not a photograph, but rather a painting) of some of these buildings:

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And soon after, a gentleman at the plant e-mailed me with photos of the plant taken in the 40's, 50's and late 70's that helped enormously.  [Aside: I never really expected to hear from the plant's management about my photo request.  One moral of this story is that if you're going to try to recreate a prototype industry, contact the industry about old photos.  You never know - your request might end up in the hands of a model railroader . . .]

There was just one problem.  All these buildings would have to be scratchbuilt (or heavily kitbashed), and I'm just not very good at that sort of thing.  But OldEastRR is VERY good at it (he is responsible for the Oxygen Furnace building on the steel mill scene, which he kitbashed from several Walthers HO-scale steel mill buildings).  So I contacted him by e-mail and asked if he would be interested in helping with this project, and he agreed to do so.

Our next step was figuring out how to fit as much of the prototype scene in the available space as possible.  To do this, I did a series of mockups, first with just cardboard footprints, and then with some 2" foam and copies of potential building sides to give a more 3D look:

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And that's where things sort of stand today - OldEastRR has completed the first set of buildings (the pump room and box-making building on the far left - west - side of the scene) and they are on their way to me for assembly.  So I'll be posting more often over the next few weeks as this scene takes shape, along with photos of the scratch-built "kits" that OldEastRR is sending to me as I put them together, paint and weather them.  It should be a fun ride over the next several months to see how close we can come to the real National Carbon as it existed in the mid-1950's.

John C.

[skytop35]

John,
 
I think you will find that modeling the prototype scene will prove to be tremendously satisfying. Will be following this with interest.

[jdcolombo]

Update.

The first two buildings in this project are the ones at the far west (left) of the prototype scene (see the arial photo in the message above).  According to the Sanborn Map, these two buildings are called the "pump room" (front building) and the "box-making building" (directly behind with saw-tooth roof; I'll call it the BMB for short).  Old East RR figured out how to compress these buildings in order to get them to fit the space on the layout but maintain the prototype look.  He then fashioned "kits" for me to put together.  The pump room "kit" is a kit-bash (really, almost a complete scratchbuild) of the Allied Rail Rebuilders kit, and the BMB was made from Walthers modular walls and pieces glued to the top of those to make the saw-tooth.  The windows are mostly from Tichy Train Group, and even those needed some modification.

Here are two photos of the "kits" after I had done some preliminary work (like painting the walls and installing some of the windows):





And here are some views of the buildings under construction, followed by photos of the completed buildings sitting on a table and then in what ultimately will be their permanent place on the layout:















While there is still a lot of work to be done, I think these initial buildings look great - all due to the talent of Old East RR (no way could I have done this myself).

John C.

[jdcolombo]

An update.

Here's the current state of National Carbon.  We've added the Forcing Mill complex to the scene, along with a mostly-scratchbuilt water tank (Old East RR used a few parts from the Walthers water tank kit, but even those were highly modified) that I had a bit of fun with by adding the Eveready battery logo to.  There's some kind of open flat tank, too (we haven't been able to figure out what this was for, but it's there in the prototype photo.  I've put some thin cork down to raise the buildings relative to the track - since the buildings are a bit smaller than the prototype, this helps the buildings get the proper height with respect to the trackwork.





Next up is the furnace, which goes behind the Forcing Mill; that's actually 3 separate buildings: the original furnace, directly behind the forcing mill; the furnace addition, which will be to the right of the old furnace (and attached to it), and the Coke Conditioning Building, which is a small building at the intersection of the old and new furnace buildings that "juts out" from the furnace wall.

[jdcolombo]

Updated video of layout:

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John C.

[nscaler711]

That plant is starting to look great! I hope when it's all said and "done" you will send a few photos back to that Manager, they may like it.

[seusscaboose]

very nice....

when all the buildings are complete....  what weathering technique are you going to use on them (just curious if you use chalks or airbrush)

also...  were the pics from the Manufacturer (provided) color to use as a guide?  (Kodak started making color film in the 30's... so it is conceivable some publicity shots may have been available in color)

following as usual

Eric

[MK]

Mind blowing greatness! 

[btrain]

That's a very nice video! Are you thinking about adding signals by any chance?

[Cajonpassfan]

Good progress, John. I always enjoy following your work, thank you for sharing the video.
Otto K.

[seusscaboose]

I was just curious. The arch bridge just to the south of it has history as well:
http://www.lakeshorerailmaps.com/lse/rocky%20river/images/1950%20aerial%20labels.jpg

My great grandfather owned Coulter's pharmacy (shown in the above link).  My grandfather had a house on Ednola (the street running North East from the Pharmacy toward the NKP Main) and my dad grew up sitting on the NKP Station platform watching trains throughout his childhood.

I have always loved that particular image.



and

[jdcolombo]

very nice....

when all the buildings are complete....  what weathering technique are you going to use on them (just curious if you use chalks or airbrush)

also...  were the pics from the Manufacturer (provided) color to use as a guide?  (Kodak started making color film in the 30's... so it is conceivable some publicity shots may have been available in color)

following as usual

Eric

I've used a thin wash of Pollyscale concrete to tone down the brick, and will eventually use chalks to further weather.  No color photos from 50's.  Do have color photos from late 60's.

John