Asphalt shingle manufacturer

[sirenwerks]

I don't know if I'd consider it small, it is taking up to 10 cars being delivered there, 3 or so of each type. Maybe add a story or two and some depth to the "freight house" and some more chemical/tank car are details and you'd have a pretty good sized model. I would expand the footprint of the supporting buildings but the general layout is what you'd want as it's relatively straight, like the one Lee mentioned, and would still give operating interest especially if tank cars aren't "unloaded" by the time the local the next day comes in (i.e., next ops session),

Phil

I guess the Afton model presents, IMO, more as a wholesaler than a production site. What provides me the sense of aesthetic 'smallness' is that what's pictured is a series of unconnected components where it's left to the viewer to fill in the blanks - the physical connections between tank, silo, and structure groupings that imply a cohesive raw materials in/product out process. It's a personal observation and I know not every modeler's going to be as concerned as I about how architectural density and connection creates an impression of linear industrial flow that railroads are related to. I also respect the model may be in an unfinished state. The picture supplied just lacked what I consider unified element that represent the industrial plant that I'm used to - I had a more Dean Freytag - Rube Goldberg effort in mind.

[Dave Schneider]

Bryan,

Here is the Baltimore plant circa 1966. Not the greatest resolution, but the price is right! You can right click and View Image to see it bigger.



Best wishes, Dave

[DKS]

You can right click and View Image to see it bigger.

I just noticed that the forum software upgrade has a cool new feature--if an image is larger than the standard maximum (800px), you can just click on the image to see it full size right in place.

[sirenwerks]

Hmmm, learn something new everyday. Look at the 895 on-ramp off of Ponca. I wonder when that went away. 'Would make things a lot easier than going up into Greektown.

[Dave Schneider]

Hmmm, learn something new everyday. Look at the 895 on-ramp off of Ponca. I wonder when that went away. 'Would make things a lot easier than going up into Greektown.

Too funny. I was kinda hoping that this photo would be useful in modeling the shingle plant, but I understand that you guys on the East Coast are always thinking about the best way to drive from Point A to Point B. 

Best wishes, Dave

[sirenwerks]

Too funny. I was kinda hoping that this photo would be useful in modeling the shingle plant, but I understand that you guys on the East Coast are always thinking about the best way to drive from Point A to Point B. 

Best wishes, Dave

I do appreciate the visual, Dave, very much. It definitely helps. I can see the original brick structure's layout more and am able to visually strip away a lot of the modern plumbing, making it easier to develop a model of the older industrial site, as well as the 1960s Lever Bros. (P&G) plant.

It's just that the on-ramp is no longer there and I couldn't help but wonder aloud why. Possibly because so much of the area's industries, like the old Broening Highway GM plant, and the pre-BWI airport are now gone and the need for egress is greater up around Johns Hopkins' Bayview Medical Center east of Greektown, where a newer access point has been built. It speaks to the changing of Baltimore's shifting economy away from industry, one Baltimore has had trouble keeping up with. The ramp is kind of like the hat at the beginning of Milan Kundera's Book of Laughter and Forgetting, if you're into that kind of thing.

[wm3798]

The Ponca Street ramp came out in the early 80's, around the same time that the Lombard Street ramp became available to traffic from both directions.   I think it had more to do with the tight cloverleaf and minimal visability of entering traffic due to the steep climb the ramp made.  Plus it's just a short distance to the tunnel entrance, creating more entanglements as traffic tried to merge in the final yards before plunging beneath the harbor.

By the time I was working in Highlandtown, around 1986, the ramp was closed and largely removed.

Lee