Household Fuel Part II: Operations

So I've established that the primary supplier for Household Fuel is the Glen Alden Coal Company of Ashley, PA, with locations in several other Pennsylvania towns. The largest breaker of the company is serviced by the CNJ, and the others by DL&W.

The CNJ and DL&W have two primary entry points to the New Haven via established routes. Specific trains vary by year.

By Car Float via Oak Point
CNJ at Jersey City > car float > NH at Oak Point

• GN-4 > Bridgeport > EA-2 > New Britain
• HN-2 > Cedar Hill > NY-2 > New Britain
• HN-4 > Cedar Hill > NY-2 > New Britain
• HN-2 > Cedar Hill > NY-4 > New Britain
• HN-4 > Cedar Hill > NY-4 > New Britain

By Rail via Maybrook
DL&W > NYO&W > NH at Maybrook
CNJ > L&H > NH at Maybrook
DL&W > L&H > NH at Maybrook

• OA-2 > New Britain
• OA-4 > New Britain
• OA-6 > New Britain 

Hoppers
Car service rules indicate that when an empty car is requested, that all attempts should be made to load a car from the destination road, or a road that is along or beyond that route and will share in the revenue. But I think hoppers are a unique class. The New Haven had 993 hoppers in 1950. I believe most of these stayed on home rails. Something like 60% of bituminous coal entered CT by water. Much of this was for railroad use. But many industries relied on this coal as well, and I believe the coal that came in by water was delivered to such businesses in NH hoppers.

On the other hand, anthracite was shipped to the NH almost entirely by rail.

The New Haven didn't originate any coal, and other commodities like trap rock were heavy and tended to not be shipped very far. So I think that the chances that there were empty NH hoppers on the DL&W or CNJ is low.

While one could make a case the B&O, NYC, or PRR had plenty of free roaming hoppers and could be loaded, none of these roads were in the established routes from any of the Glen Alden collieries. So my guess is that most of these loads would be delivered in CNJ or DL&W hoppers, depending on their source. Furthermore, in pictures of collieries, the cars waiting to be loaded (or with loads ready to ship) tend to be primarily those of the home road.

So on the New Haven, there is a good supply of hoppers from other roads, especially the B&O, CNJ,  NYC, PRR, RDG, and others, and I think they would primarily be in hoppers form the home road where the colliery is located.

That being the case (accurately or not), for Household Fuel I'm looking for CNJ, CRP, and DL&W hoppers. Other industries and coal dealers will receive hoppers from other roads, depending on their origination.

So the 1947 rosters with suggested models are:

CNJ
62000-62999 1905 Common Design (812) (Bowser is close)
63000-64999 9-Panel Hoppers (1198) (F&C)
65000-65499 USRA Hoppers (345) (Accurail, MTH, Tichy)
66000-66999 9-Panel Hoppers (640) (F&C)
67000-67999 Welded Fishbelly Hoppers (765) (Bowser/ex-Stewart with modifications)

I'll be building two 9-panel hoppers (one from each series), and a welded fishbelly hopper (along with some Reading hoppers of the same design).

CRP
10001-10500 AAR Standard 50-ton Hopper (500) (Kadee undec with wine door locks)
62500-62999 1905 Common Design (174) (Bowser is close)
63000-64999 9-Panel Hoppers (771) (F&C)
65040-65499 USRA Hoppers (150) (Accurail, MTH, Tichy)
66000-66999 9-Panel Hoppers (349) (F&C)
67000-67999 Welded Fishbelly Hoppers (232) (Bowser/ex-Stewart with modifications)

I'm planning on an AAR Standard hopper, and have a USRA hopper. I might do a 9-panel hopper as well.

DL&W
The DL&W fleet is a little harder to model, unfortunately. Any help is appreciated!
76000-77599 (69 + 23) Standard Steel 1903 Design Twin Hopper (similar) (modified Westerfield)
78100-78599 (299 + 62) 10-panel Standard Steel Twin Hopper
78600-79949 (847 + 199) 12-panel Standard Steel Twin Hopper
79950-80949 (20) (?)
81000-81799 USRA Twin Hopper (704) (Accurail, MTH, Tichy)
81800-83299 (1249 + 234) 10-Panel Standard Steel Twin Hopper
83300-83799 (498) Enterprise-Design Twin Hopper
84082-84949 (821) Enterprise-Design Triple Hopper
85000-85499 (499) Enterprise-Design Twin Hopper
85500-86499 (500) PS-3 Welded 50-ton Twin Hopper (built 1947) (Train-Miniatures, now Walthers)

I'll need to figure out more options, but I'll start with a USRA hopper.

Modeling Notes
For the USRA hoppers, I have settled on the MTH model. The dimensions are accurate (unlike the Tichy model) and they have separately applied details (unlike the Accurail model). They all have K-series brakes, despite the review in Model Railroader years ago, and either horizontal (stemwinder) handbrakes, or the USRA lever-style.

I've refitted a CRP hopper with AB brakes and an Ajax handbrake to experiment. I'll need to do the same for the NH hoppers, and a CNJ one as it appears based on the ORER the CNJ cars had geared handbrakes. Most of them I'll leave with the K-series brakes to make things simpler. Accurail and Tichy detail parts are both available

The downside to the MTH models is that either the paint schemes are too early for my era, or they don't have the correct schemes. So I'm stripping and redecorating them. I've disassembled one to do this, but I'm going to try leaving the next one intact other than removing the trucks and couplers.

Builder's photo from the 1940 Cyclopedia

The DL&W Enteprise-Design Twin Hopper is similar to the later AAR Standard twin, but about a foot longer. Several other roads had hoppers built to this design in the '20s and '30s. I might use one of Resin Car Works models for this, or perhaps I can convince Frank to do this earlier, larger version.

Pictures of the DL&W 10-panel and 12-panel hoppers are in Martin Robert Karig III's Coal Cars: The First Three Hundred Years. I am not aware of any models of these, even though they are the largest classes on the road in 1947. Perhaps I can persuade Steve Funaro to make them...

The DL&W Enterprise-Design Triple Hopper is another tough one. I don't know if it's an ARA triple or just similar yet. It has the "chisel taper" like the other cars of this design. There isn't a good model for this that I'm aware of. MDC/Roundhouse and Athearn both have cars that superficially resemble it, but the ends, sideframes and number of posts are wrong. The Accurail and Bowser cars have a different taper and are of different cars altogether.

What it really comes down to is that the DL&W had an unusual hopper fleet, either unique, or of less common designs that only resemble the much more commonly built cars. So I'll have to settle for the USRA cars for now.

I-1 #1001 Eastbound c1946-7

This photo of I-1 #1001 leaving the station is the only photo I have from this perspective. Another Kent Cochrane photo, the date is unknown but c1946-7.

The first car behind the locomotive is a coach converted from the Besler steam train. It was a streamlined trainset that consisted of a combine power car and a coach. Some amazing footage is available on YouTube.

Frequent mechanical failures resulted in the railcar being converted to a combine and the coach in 1943. Crown Custom imported the railcar along with the ex-Besler combine and coach. I have the coach.

Although the second head-end car looks more like a baggage car than an RPO and #472 is the only one that I'm aware of that would be hauling a second one, I don't think it's that train as it arrived in New Britain at 8:24 PM, picked up the storage mail for the day, and left at 8:30 PM. This would be the wrong place to be taking a photo at that time of the evening, and the shadows are all wrong.

The heavyweight looks like one of the classes that is a match for the NKP brass coach identified as an O&W coach.

This is probably the best photo that includes the crane assigned to New Britain, and is enough to confirm that it's the same type as seen in a Shoreliner article on Fall River. More on that later.

The gondola is an older class of 6,500 hopper-bottom gondolas built for the New Haven between 1906 and 1911, and rebuilt in the mid-twenties. A nice picture of a group of these rebuilt cars in May 1925 is on pg. 541 of New Haven Power. It appears the hoppers have been removed.

I can't make out any detail on the two freight cars, unfortunately.

Note the line poles, most of the water column is hidden behind the speed limit sign. Also, the two-story gateman's shanty is entirely out of view behind the train. There's also a very tall light post that I've never noticed before near the station. I'll need to look into that a bit more. These will probably be the only signals on the layout as well, although I'd like to make them operational.

There are a few automobiles in the photo, maybe an expert in pre-50 autos can identify them for me? I wonder if the one to the right of the train was Kent Cochrane's?

Household Fuel Part I: The Prototype

So Dick and I took a trip out to check out Household Fuel to get some rough measurements to start a model.

The Company: Household Fuel Co., 24 Dwight Ct, New Britain, CT.
With a little additional research on forums dedicated to finding inexpensive coal for home heating in the present day I learned that Household Fuel (aka Household Coal and Oil Co.) was started c1918 (other reports state 1929), and continued until c2012 when the elevator finally gave out and it was too expensive to repair it.

The elevator was facing the track, now a busway, and the elevator was removed during the construction of the busway, so I'm not sure the business could have continued regardless. I'm still trying to track down the owner, as I've heard they live in West Hartford. I'm hoping they may have some memories of when they were served by rail or, even better, photographs and/or records from my era. It would be interesting to see how close our estimated dimensions are too if they have access to the original plans, or are at least willing to provide access to the property.

The Supplier: Glen Alden Coal Co., Ashley, PA.
My research uncovered ads for Household Fuel that indicated they sold Blue Coal. The Glen Alden Coal Co. was formed in 1921 after an antitrust suit against the DL&W forced them to divest the coal operations.  The company is famous for the Huber Breaker, among the largest and most modern of its time, and Blue Coal. They had several collieries:

• Ashley, PA (Huber Breaker), served by the CNJ (and the LV, I think);
• Nanticoke, PA (Loomis Breaker), served by the DL&W;
• Hannover Township, PA (Truesdale Breaker), served by the DL&W; and 
• Scranton, PA (Diamond Breaker), served by the DL&W

As a marketing strategy, they spray dyed the coal blue. I've seen it described as similar to the color of a chalk line or pool cue chalk and the few pictures I've seen of present day samples reflect that. Although it's certainly possible that they would have received other brands of anthracite, because they were advertising Blue Coal specifically, I'm going to assume that's primarily, if not entirely, what they received.

All of this information will be useful when preparing waybills for the layout.

The Builder: Nicholson Co., 247 Park Ave, New York, NY.
The silo capacities are 250 tons each. Signs on the structure indicate it was designed and erected by Nicholson, located at 247 Park Avenue, New York (City, presumably).

I found a few references in Saward's Journal: A Progressive Coal Trade Weekly, Volume 11, Issues 27-52 (1928):

"In our recent article describing the new plant of the Hudson Feed Co. at Yonkers N.Y., the name of the builder was inadvertently omitted. This plant, which will be one of the most modern and up-to-date in the Hudson River Valley, was designed and is being erected by the Nicholson Co. of 247 Park avenue, New York."

"Thousands of Nicholson Coal Pockets are daily performing their task of handling and storing coal at a minimum of cost. An indication of their economic value and superior construction lies in the fact..."

"It proves why owners of Nicholson pockets, when they build again, always "repeat." They are satisfied as to value, specification, and performance. It proves why over 39% of all Nicholson contracts are repeat contracts.

The illustrated coal pocket for their advertisement for repeat customers is the fourth for the Dependable Coal Corporation, and is the coal pocket for Babylon, L.I. plant. I could only get snippets due to copyright restrictions.

It also appears that some of the facilities at the Virginian Railway's Tidewater Coal Terminal were built by Nicholson.

So it would appear that they erected a lot of coal pockets, I'd be interested in seeing if there were any of the same basic design here. Trainsarefun.com has a partial picture of the Dependable Coal Co. pocket in Babylon in 1950.

The Coal Pocket
Our estimate is that the structure is 76 ft. long, 55 ft. tall, but we still needed to determine the diameter of the silos since they overlapped a bit. Dick and I used different approaches, but ended up with the same estimate of 16 feet. I don't recall Dick's more sophisticated approach, but I simply divided the 76 feet by 5 (silos) and came up with 15.2 ft. I then figured 16 feet gives a bit of overlap and is a nice round number to work with.

The chutes are labeled for the size of coal, in order of smallest to largest: stove, nut (aka chestnut), pea, buck (aka buckwheat #1), rice (aka buckwheat #2).

And now for something completely different!

Not trains, but cool!

Last night Joseph told me about an oversized load that would be coming through Canton (pretty much out my back door).

From what I recall, this is a turbine/generator for a new power plant in Oxford. This is the first of 6 such moves, although the last 3 or 4 turbines might be a little smaller. The move started by rail to Windsor Locks, CT. Then it was loaded onto this rig that brought it down to Simsbury (stopping at the old Wagner Ford property. Last night it went from there to Collinsville Antiques in New Hartford. It moves about 12 miles or so each night.

It is so heavy (I saw a reference to over 1,000,000 pounds including the rig), they install plates over some of the bridges. These span the bridge altogether avoiding any impact on the bridge. A large crane placed the two plates here. Apparently in Simsbury the bridge was a much larger span and used larger plates comprised of 6 or 8 pieces.

It's moving at 3-5 mph, by remote control. In the video you can see two men with remotes, I think each end is under separate control. The rig itself was reported at about 210-feet long, and 21-feet wide on 28 axles with 8 wheels per axle. So the bill included 224 tires. The total cost for moving them is $19 million.

J Supor and Son is the same company that moved the "Miracle on the Hudson" plane after it's emergency landing. Obviously they specialize in very large loads.

I-2 #1324 at the Station c1947

Another Kent Cochrane photo c1947. Of interest is the heavyweight cars with the taller windows, the old NKP brass O&W coaches are a match for some of these cars. Still working on digging a few of them up. Note the baggage car at the end of the train. Once again the wooden baggage car produced by Bethlehem Car Works. They didn't turn the trains in Waterbury, so you can easily spot eastbound trains on the Highland in photos because of this.

Although I haven't mentioned it in the earlier photos, the I-2 was produced in brass by Crown Custom. It's a beautiful locomotive, and veteran New Haven modeler, steam aficionado and very early NHRHTA member John Pryke's favorite brass NH locomotive (other than his scratch-built R-3-a, of course). Both very accurate in its execution and very smooth running, the model was released both with the cab control box, seen on the pilot in this photo, and without. Since the Highland Line did not have a cab control system installed, so both variations are appropriate on the layout. I have one of each and haven't settled on the road numbers to use just yet. The I-2 class was the primary steam locomotive in passenger service on the Highland Line. The smaller I-1 class (which has never been produced as a model), was the second most common, with the I-4 (produced by Crown Custom in brass and, more recently, Broadway Limited) more common as other locomotives were retired. Photos of both to come. All were replaced in passenger service on the Highland by spring 1948 by DERS-1b class (ALCo RS-1) locomotives.

Unlike most of the other steam, this model needs virtually no modifications as the New Haven made very few modifications to this class over their lifetime. A few details stand out under closer scrutiny when compared to the photo of #1300 here. This locomotive has a pilot plow applied, where #1300 did not at the time of that photo. These seem to have been installed as needed, and photos of the same locomotive over time can have it with or without. Also the number board on #1324 has been replaced with a simple painted one, as opposed to the original cast bronze (?) one seen on #1300. Most likely it was stolen. 

Behind the train are Wabash and T&NO single sheathed automobile cars. No road number is visible on the Wabash one, but the Murphy ends place it in one of seven series: 40000-40999, 45000-45399, 45400-45999, 46000-46001, 46002-46699, 46700-46999, 74600-46999; although two of those series (45400-, and 46000-series) had at least some cars delivered with steel doors.

Speedwitch Media had a single-sheathed Wabash automobile car, I don't recall which specific details. I have the F&C version which has the correct Murphy ends for this car. One of the nice things about the Speedwitch version was the etched metal towing staples that are very difficult to see in photos of the cars and were missed by the F&C kits. They'll be easy enough to fabricate, though. 

The T&NO car is also easy to model. It's a Speedwitch Media model of that series of cars, the A-50-4 class built in 1921.

These cars are most likely sitting in the yard waiting to be added to a Hartford to Maybrook freight that evening. The Whiting Street Yard had a concrete unloading ramp suitable for unloading autos, and these would have been unloaded there before being brought up to New Britain Yard as pictured here.

One of the reasons I love this picture, though, is the Dad with his kid looking at the locomotive, next to his tricycle. From when I first saw this picture, I decided that was a perfect scene to model, only to find after an extensive search that there is no HO-scale tricycle available. I was telling a couple of friends about the picture, and Bob mentioned that his daughter Karen would be able to make one. She wasn't a model railroader, but she had picked up a hobby modifying and painting the people on his layout. Several weeks later when I went over to help with the layout, he had a small package for me:

I'm sorry to say that Karen has since passed away, so this scene on the layout will have a more personal connection than just the father and son moment in the photo. Thanks Karen!