S&NY wooden open-platform passenger car #205 is caught in repose on last week’s “WW #89”. I believe the location is Newberry with the enginehouse in the background. Unsure of the date, but 205 still looks to be in pretty good shape, with a nice glossy coat of varnish. #205 is listed in my ORER’s as a PO-class car, which is a coach-observation type . Maybe 205 was kept in good shape for use by company officers? Unfortunately, per Kaseman, the car was burned in the yard at West Williamsport, presumably to make easier recovery of the scrap metal for the war effort.
Wordless Wednesday #89
Author’s Collection
Talky Tuesday #60
I am unsure of the location of last week’s “WW #88”. My guess is “JK” switch east/north of Ellenton and west/south of Wheelerville. The photo appears to have been taken above ground level, likely from the rear platform of one of the S&NY’s cabooses. #118 is displaying the white flags of an extra, and may have just cut off as a helper from the train the photographer is aboard.
Once the fireman throws the switch in the distance, 118 will probably back downgrade to the wye at Ellenton as a light engine move, turn on the wye, and head back to Marsh Hill.
Lots of great modeling detail and atmosphere in this photo. The weathered ties, the cinder ballast, weeds encroaching on the right of way, the engineer leaning out of the cab watching his fireman walk to the switch while the 118 simmers in the sunshine. In a moment or two, the engineer will whistle off and let the engine drift downgrade through the switch. After the fireman climbs back aboard, he’ll let gravity continue to roll the 118 down to Ellenton. He’ll keep the throttle cracked open just enough to work a little steam and keep the cylinders from getting dry, and the fireman will be able to mostly relax on his seatbox and enjoy the mountain scenery glide by…
Wordless Wednesday #88
Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics
Talky Tuesday #59
Last week’s “WW #87” is a nice portrait of the #119, likely at Towanda. The engine looks freshly shopped, possibly from the Lehigh Valley facilities at Sayre. The boiler jacket looks to be painted in an odd color, though this may be a trick of the light and spectral properties of the B&W film used to shoot the photo.
In front of the engine is the head-end crew. I do not know the identity of the fireman on the left. In the center is engineer Eli Chilson, and on the right I believe is brakeman Steve VanGorder.
Building Wheelerville Depot
Spent the last week or so attempting to scratchbuild the Wheelerville station. I do have a couple of views that show the south and east walls, but the configuration of the other sides of the building are a complete mystery, and are educated guesses on the model.
I made the assumption that one batten and one board on the real station probably measure close to one foot. I used that guestimate to count boards and battens to arrive at a rough approximation of the overall dimensions, which worked out to 43′ x 16′. I used a wall height of 13′, arrived at by comparing plans of similar stations in the Model Railroader digital archive. I did fudge the long dimension a foot or two so that the operator’s bay would fit between the battens evenly, and to accommodate the dimensions of the Tichy windows I planned to use. The bay dimensions and the angles of the bay walls were also guestimated by what looked right, the Tichy window dimensions, and measurements of similar depots in the MR archive.
Front view:
Rear view:
Side view:
The hip roof is the trickiest part. I referred to a John Nerich article on building hip roofs in the May 2014 RMC, and I also corresponded with John via Facebook on some of the nuances of construction, particularly regarding the appropriate amount of overhang, which could vary from about 5′ up to 7′ on some stations. The overhang I will end up with will be around 5-6′. The next tricky part will be trimming the bay walls to fit the slope of the overhanging roof. I had to brush up on my high school trigonometry to work out some of the dimensions, and in the end I did simply resort to a little trial-and-error cutting and fitting of the cardboard roof mock-up.
Here is the mocked-up roof compared with the real station:
Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics
Author’s Collection
At first I thought the real station had a more squat appearance than the model, but the more I look at it, I think it will be “close enough” once the roof supports, foundation, and a few other details are added.
To be continued…
Wordless Wednesday #87
Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics
Talky Tuesday #58
Last week’s “WW #86” is a slightly over-exposed view of #119 heading a southbound mixed train, likely Train No. 6. According to S&NY employee timetable No. 47, effective 14 October 1934, No. 6 is due to leave Towanda Washington St. station at 2.05 PM, with an arrival at West Williamsport at 4.35 PM.
The high sun in this view is certainly consistent with a pending early afternoon departure. In the background is bridge across the Susquehanna at (of course) Bridge Street, replaced in 1986 with what is now the Veterans Memorial Bridge at Means Street.
Wordless Wednesday #86
Author’s Collection
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