Stanley S1

While continuing to work on the new version of the website, I decided it was time to finally pick up Porter Steam Locomotives published by the NMRA.

This is a reprint of a 1930 catalog, plus a complete roster. I was also able to find a reprint of a later catalog as supporting material. This is, of course, to acquire whatever additional information for the Stanley locomotive:

I was able to compile quite a bit of useful information between these sources, verified against the measurements I took in July, 2020.

Stanley No. 1

The Stanley Works rostered a 45-ton 0-4-0F (fireless) steam locomotive, the Stanley S1.

HK Porter no. 7230 built in September, 1936.

• Cylinders - 22" Diameter, 18" Stroke
• Drivers - 36"
• Wheelbase - 6' 3"
• Length (over bumpers) - 23' 0"
• Height - 12' 8"
• Weight - 90,000
• Advised radius of operation - 60 feet
• Sharpest radius of operation - 35 feet

That works out to ~8" or ~5" in HO(!) unless my math is wrong...

They are rated to haul 1,420 tons on level track, the equivalent of ~twenty-eight 50-ton cars. Even as much as 170 tons up a 3% grade.

It was sold (donated?) to the Connecticut Trolley Museum at Warehouse Point c1970.

A fireless steam locomotive has no firebox or smokebox. Instead of burning coal or wood to heat the water in the boiler and generate steam, the locomotive is connected to a steam line at the factory. Only a 5th of the tank is filled with steam, the rest is water. Each charge can run for two to five hours. Recharging takes about 15 minutes.

The Connecticut Trolley Museum sold the locomotive to Railstar who, to the best of my knowledge, intended to put it back in service. On July 2, 2005 a 12- and two 13-year old girls started a fire that burned the warehouse where it was being stored. The locomotive was damaged significantly and moved outside where it has remained.

There were eleven other locomotives built with the same specifications. They did have a streamlined version (that looks a lot like an I-5). I haven't found photos of these 11 units, so I'm not sure which, if any, were streamlined.

Operations - Paperwork for Stanley Works

 As I've been working on operations, one question has been what sort of paperwork, if any, would I be using for Stanley Works? They won't have waybills, since those are created by the railroad and must go to the Freight Agent when delivered.

Since I have switching lists for the New Haven, I figured I'd use something similar for Stanley. I recently found something on eBay that shows I'm on the right track.

This is a booklet of Conductor Car Reports from an industry -  The New Jersey Zinc Co (of PA).

The booklet also had a time card:

In the lower right of the time card it notes S&M Department Railroad Division. Presumably, based on the paperwork, this company has their own locomotives.

The New Jersey Zinc Co (of PA)

As this Sanborn map shows, the NJ Zinc Co was located along the Chestnut Ridge and Lehigh & New England Railroads. The CNJ (presumably the CRP in most of my era) looks like it may have served a plant at the other side of town. The Lehigh Valley was also across the river from this plant.

Here's a picture of part of the west plant:

The town of Palmerton was a company town, built by the NJ Zinc Co (of PA) and named after it's president at the time (who apparently didn't like that).

The company was apparently the largest producer of zinc in my era, which is useful since Stanley Works has a galvanizing building at their main plant in New Britain. I can believe that, here's an aerial view of the west plant from 1931, looking east:

From what I understand, they had from 2 to 4 Alco S-2 switchers, which replaced earlier steam switchers. I believe they acquired them at the same time the Chestnut Ridge Railway received theirs. 

It's clear that the west plant has a yard at the west end of this plant. The LNE has a direct connection to the east plant. In addition, the Chestnut Ridge Railway has connections to both.

Chestnut Ridge Railway

This was a small short line that, according to a newspaper article, hauled 4 million tons of freight in 1947 and 1948. Their primary (only?) customer by that time was the NJ Zinc Co (of PA). It clearly connects to the LNE at the east plant in Palmerton. Another article notes that it was originally built with a connection to the CNJ for passenger, mail, and the primary freight commodity of bricks before the Zinc plant was built. Passenger service, as on so many branch lines, ended in the '30s.

Zinc and zinc products for New Britain can come via CRP/CNJ then by carfloat to the NH and to New Britain via Cedar Hill. A more direct routing would be LNE to Maybrook to New Britain.

In the aerial photo above, you can see the LV (lower tracks) and LNE (upper tracks) on the other side of the Lehigh River. 

The Chestnut Ridge Railway crosses over the CNJ/CRP (on a bridge) in the upper left. Although not on the Sanborn map, I believe the tracks that come down the berm to the yard to the left of the CNJ Main is also the Chestnut Ridge Railway. The CNJ station is tucked up against the curve in that berm.

Right along the top edge of the photo you can see the LNE branch that's heading to the east plant. 

Operational Paperwork

It certainly looks like an interesting place to model, but what is of most interest to me is the paperwork.

The pages are perforated, several are missing, and it was clearly used because I may be able to figure out some info from the prior form since they had written with a heavy hand.

It would make sense that a company large enough to have their own locomotives would have their own railroad department. They would not only have to have an engineer, but also a yard foreman (conductor) and most likely a brakeman. In addition, they would needed a shop and crew to maintain their locomotive(s).  I don't know think they would fall under railroad union rules, but they would probably have operated much like any small railroad. 

The Conductor's paperwork is simpler than the railroad's. All of the traffic to/from Stanley Works interchanges with the New Haven. The Agent will also serve as the Stanley Yardmaster. I'll create a similar Yard Check paper for Stanley Works. I'll also need some method to release those cars through the session, as they won't all be ready to pull at the start of the session.

These forms can be used as they are designed, and issued to the Stanley switching crew as needed, just as the New Haven switch lists are given to the crews throughout the session.

What else am I working on? Stanley S-1

No, it's not an Alco S-1, it's the road number for their HK Porter 0-6-0F (fireless) steam locomotive.

About a month ago I had a coworker test positive for Covid-19. Since I had worked with them, I needed to get tested and it would take 4-5 days for the results. In the meantime, I had to isolate myself from the rest of the family, and since several of Emily's nurses wouldn't come in until the results were back, Laura was on Emily duty 24-hours a day for that time. I tested negative, and fortunately I didn't have to wait another 14 days to take a second test (and the 4-5 day wait after that). 

But on one of those days in isolation in the basement (it's never as much fun when you have to be down there...) and I was thinking of what sort of things I needed to do so I could get out of the house and away from the family, it occurred to me that I could take a road trip. To Watertown, NY, where the old Stanley locomotive is sitting outside after being damaged in a fire. 

So I took the 4 1/2 hour drive (starting about 1:00 pm), finding out it was near Amish country, and also the second largest wind farm in the country (Maple Ridge) with 195 turbines spread over 22,000 acres. 

It looks like the entire property is abandoned, but I knew I planned on staying away from everybody (since I had been exposed), and just taking pictures and measurements. I've been planning this for years.

I got my photos and measurements, made a quick sketch, and started reworking my mockup using a Mantua chassis.

Lots of work (and decisions to make). The tank car tank is the correct diameter, and I had used it as a mockup for years. The S-1 has ~35"ish drivers, and the Mantua is 50". But I don't have to figure out how to make the valve gear with the Mantua chassis. Also, even though I know the tank car tank matches the dimensions, it looks small, although that could be because of the size of the drivers and the current height above the frame. The cylinders are pretty close to the correct size. 

I think the feel is more important than being exactly correct, and my current plan is to work with the Mantua chassis to get a completed locomotive operational, and then work on scratchbuilding a more accurate one. 

Stanley Works Modifications

Wow, my last post was over a month ago. I've been trying to keep that from happening...

So, after the prototype meet I ripped up the entire west end of the layout to relay. Chris and John (Drake) have been helping out, and in the process I have been able to much more closely model the actual track arrangement.

This is where Stanley Works used to be. The initial goal was to fill in some space to allow more room for buildings behind the trackwork itself. As you can see, we left a hole open for access, and also to make it easier for anybody who needs to access the helix. At least, that was the theory....

In the original (well, second or third original arrangement), the rolling mill was flush against the wall, and the tracks stub-ended, with additional tracks going to the shelf beside it. This was a compromise because I didn't think I could actually run the tracks through it like the prototype. The white piece of paper is a template I'm using for roads to see if I might actually be able to fit Curtis Street. 

In the process, I drove around the plant again and realized how much of a hill there is:

This is where the track passes through the rolling mill over Burritt St., and there's a pretty significant grade.

This is the track on the other side of Burritt St. and a look at the building where one track goes inside. That's the same building that was there in my era. What's even more interesting to me, though, is how they've used rail for maintaining the flangeways in the switch, even around the points. Something I intend to model.

Instead of the rolling mill being against the wall, I found I'm able to angle it to allow me to model Burritt St. (which will be on a hill) going into the tracks across the street. The switch will be encased in asphalt.

While the arrangement past Burritt St. won't be exact, this has the track in the building (on the right), and one against another building, with pavement between them, as on the prototoype. In later years a track running alongside the building on the right would lead to additional buildings. But the best I can tell, these weren't in place in my era. In any event, they won't fit.

While the arrangement may not appear to be that different through here, it is operationally. The box is a stand-in for a building right now, as are all of the buildings except the rolling mill. On the prototype, there are two low buildings, with the two sidings between them as there is now on the model. Then there is an open paved area between the second building and the main Stanley Works building, with pipes connecting them. The main building is on a hill, so the side facing Myrtle St. is a full story above this side. I'll be building the hill , and the building will dominate the back of the scene, well above eye level, and all of the structures along that back portion will end up covering the hole we left above the helix. So much for the access! But it will look amazing, and is just buildings.

This is a look up Curtis St. There will be trucks at the end of the building on the left, and to the right will be the Power Plant (and I'll be shortening the coal tracks there). Curtis St. will go up a pretty steep grade just past the siding, all the way to the corner of the wall. The corner itself will be fairly well hidden by structures. Note that in addition to the box car to the right of Curtis St., based on photos there will be additional spotting locations to the right of that turnout. Which essentially eliminates the runaround and greatly alters operations.

The small Fafnir Bearings building (from Ed O'Keefe who was once modeling New Britain and recently passed away), is a stand-in for the much larger building that will be there eventually.

Operationally, I'm still working out the details. There are about 30 spotting locations in Stanley Works alone, not including the coal tracks, and unlike my prior arrangements, is entirely prototypical, if compressed. Without any real storage tracks, they will need to rely on the NH switchers to clear space and bring new cars throughout the day. I've got a better understanding about that process now due to some new finds, but that's for a later post...