More layout modifications

 When I removed the backdrop over the east-end helix, it provided an opportunity to include East Main St. on the layout. I was pretty happy to be able to do that, since one interesting aspect of New Britain are the large number of crossings at grade. For a long time it had looked like only Main and Elm Streets would be on the layout, eliminating that aspect.

This would, however, require a turnout in the middle of the street. Not a big deal, I've done it before, but when I looked at it more closely, I found that moving a single turnout eliminated this issue.

This required some of the modifications I make on the Microengineering turnouts to make them fit.

For this I removed all of the ties except one just beyond the frog. I also removed the throwbar that extended beyond the rail when switched toward the other track, plus the ends of a number of the ties, leaving just the portion with the tie plate/spikes to keep it in gauge. You can see that the other switch on the diverging route had the same modifications.

This allows me to move the points to this turnout to just past the frog of the mainline turnout. The spikes on the single tie I left in place will also ensure that the track stays in gauge.

This moves the points far enough out of where I'll be running East Main St. I used a spare piece of masonite as a guide.

Ballast will hide the partial ties and disguise the modifications. I also rearranged the industry tracks a bit since they needed to move too:

This will help separate the Hardware City Fuel tracks form the track for the City of New Britain storeyard, so that's a bonus. Now I just need to solder the straight rail to attach the two turnouts together, and add a strip of styrene to glue the other rail to the frog plus ensure there won't be a short. I don't solder joints on the track often, but it's essential for modifications like this to ensure smooth running and electrical conductivity.

Another bonus was that these two tracks were the only two still connected to the electrical bus in this section of the layout. Why is that a bonus? There is a location above the second desk where the bus, for some reason I don't recall, ran underneath a support beam when it clearly should have run above it. Since all of the other feeders need to be redone, this meant I could also pull the bus out to that point and route it properly. Of course, I could have just done that to start, but I was being lazy and using the feeders as an excuse not to do it. So the whole east side will get new feeders too.

In the photo can also see another turnout on the right sitting on top of Track 5. Right now there is a Walthers turnout as a (maybe permanent) stand-in, because the geometry needed couldn't be accomplished with the Microengineering turnouts (a curved switch with the outer radius at 24"). But, since this allows me to move East Main St. over at least 6 inches, the industry track can move too. Which means I will be able to use a Microengineering turnout there, which I greatly prefer.

You also may notice that that turnout on the westbound mainline for Track 5 is also a Walthers turnout. I am going to replace that with a handlaid turnout, and I'll do a detailed post and maybe a clinic on how I handlay turnouts, along with the installation of a Fast Tracks Diamond Line crossing.

Still More Commodities

The top four states of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and New Jersey accounted for 51% of rail traffic to CT.  Looking at states that shipped 5,000 to 9,999 cars, we find six states plus Canada that total another 23%, bringing us up to 74% of all commodities shipped to CT.

• West Virginia - 8,825
• Massachusetts - 8,575
• Canada - 8,033
• Illinois - 6,700
• Vermont - 5,575
• Maine - 5,400
• Michigan - 5,275

The majority of the traffic from West Virginia is 305 Bituminous Coal (5,875).

No commodity from Massachusetts totals 1,000 or more cars. 329 Crushed Stone is 900 cars, and many of those may be from Lane's Quarry in Westfield. 

The largest blocks from Canada are 657 Newsprint Paper (2,400) and 411 Lumber, Shingles and Lath (2,400).

No commodity dominates Illinois.

In Vermont, 4,400 cars are of 773 Feed Animal and Poultry, NOS, or 79% of all of their shipments to CT.

Not surprisingly, the only commodity totaling 1,000 cars is 085 Potatoes, not sweet (1,375).

It's also not surprising to see that nearly half of Michigan's shipments (2,525) consist of 613 Automobiles, Passenger.

What this is starting to show is that once we get past the shipments of the largest states, it will probably be easier to go back to individual commodities. Looking at 613 Automobiles, Passenger we can easily determine where most of those loads will originate:

613 Automobile, Passenger (3,775)

• 2,525 - Michigan (Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge, Ford, GM, Hudson, Kaiser-Frazer, Packard)
• 875 - Indiana (Crosley, in Marion and Richmond; Studebaker, in South Bend)
• 300 - Wisconsin (Nash, in Kenosha)
• 75 - Ohio (Chevrolet, in Norwood)

There is a Willys-Overland dealer in New Britain, and they would have received Jeeps, etc. from their California plant, highlighting a flaw in the 1% waybill study. However, since an operating session covers one day, it's reasonable to consider those an exception rather than a rule, and I can decide if/when to include such a shipment in a session. In fact, odds are that if automobiles are delivered during a session, it will be 1-2 carloads from Detroit, as would be expected.

Commodity Classifications

I noted in an earlier post here, that the railroads used various classifications for commodities for waybills as noted in the AAR Freight Commodity Classification book. These classifications were important, because they were required by the ICC to report quarterly and annually the movement of such commodities in carloads and tons. You'll find this data in all sorts of industry and government studies and reports.

Does this matter to model railroaders?

Well, not really. No.

Unless you want it to. Then yes.

What my non-committal answer is really saying is that it matters only if it matters to you.

In my case, since I enjoy the historical and research aspects of the hobby, combined with the fact that I am creating waybills for the operation of the railroad, I'd like to gather as much prototypical-type information as I can for that purpose. Since I haven't been able to find a stack of actual waybills for New Britain in my era, I'll need to create that data.

I have data from averaged from the 1950-1954 1% waybill study for commodity traffic originating and terminating in CT. These use commodity classifications, including a number assigned to that commodity. 

I have several freight classification books, like this tattered one is from October 25, 1943:

The first one I purchased was a Photo-Reduction Edition from October 1, 1934. This is more 'pocket sized' version, and you can see how much smaller it is than the full version:

I had these before I got the 1% waybill study data, and found I had trouble reconciling the data. In the 1934 version, the commodities don't have any numbers assigned to them. By 1943, each commodity was assigned a number, but they didn't match the numbers listed in the waybill study data.

Then I found a copy of the AAR Freight Commodity Classifications:

These commodities matched those listed in the 1% waybill study.

In the forward it notes that, "It cancels and supersedes the R.A.O.A. Commodity Classification, 1928 Edition. 

You'll note that the bottom of the AAR Freight Classification also notes that it's published by the Accounting Division of the AAR. It divides commodities into seven major categories:

I. Products of Agriculture (C.L.)

II. Animals and Products (C.L.)

III. Products of Mines (C.L.)

IV. Products of Forests (C.L.)

V. Manufactures and Miscellaneous (C.L.)

VI. Forwarder Traffic (C.L.)

VII. All L.C.L Freight

These are divided into a total of 262 classes for reporting purposes. As I noted, when doing your research these are the commodity classes that you'll find in reports. I find them interesting from the standpoint that you can see what was shipped by rail frequently enough to warrant being identified in a classification. Here's the list:

It appears that the Consolidated Freight Classification books serve a different purpose. There are a number of rules relating to bills of lading, and also with the manufacture of shipping containers (bags, boxes, etc.) where a manufacturer can stamp an identification on their packaging that it conforms to the Consolidated Freight Classifications. I think that these, in conjunction with the freight tariff books, were used by the freight agents for calculating shipping prices. They also note that bills of lading should conform to the descriptions. The bill of lading/freight bill/waybill on a railroad was usually a multipart form so it was typed up only once. 

The Accounting Department would have had to reconcile the detailed commodity information on the waybills and condense it down to the AAR classifications for the government reporting purposes. 

Combined, they are useful in better understanding the various reports and data from the era, and will be useful in creating waybills. One option is to use these AAR commodity classes as is. It would be easy enough to compile a spreadsheet of the ones needed for a given layout, and use that to generate waybills. Although not prototypical, it would be more than enough for a model railroad, and most layouts need only a small number of them.

More about Commodities

Still digging into the 1% waybill study, this time by state. As always, we are dealing with the average number of cars between 1950 and 1954, with 1% of all waybills providing the data. 

Let's start with states that originated more than 10,000 cars to CT annually:

• Pennsylvania 53,475
• New York 33,050
• Ohio 11,850
• New Jersey 11,600

These four states account for more than 50% of all rail shipments to CT of 214,825 cars. Note that this doesn't mean that 50%+ of all loads to New Britain will match this mix. It's possible that they may be over- or under-represented in a single city, but lets dig a little deeper.

Pennsylvania Commodities shipped to CT

Starting at the highest level, here are the numbers:

• 920 Products of Mines - 27,175
• 940 Manufactures and Misc. - 25,925
• 900 Products of Agriculture - 225
• 930 Products of Forests - 125
• 910 Animals and Products of Animals - 25

So, no surprises here with 305 Bituminous Coal (15,700) and 303 Anthracite (10,900) accounting for almost all of the products of mines. The remaining 575 cars are split among 323 Clay and Bentonite (25), 327 Gravel and Sand (50), 329 Stone, Crushed (150),  339 Asphalt (75), and 399 Products of Mines NOS (275).

Manufactures and Misc, covers a wide range of commodities, including 583 Manufacturerd I and S (3,900) and 633 Cement, Portland (7,425), the two largest blocks. 

The very small quantities of Products of Agriculture, Forests, and Animals are such a small percentage of each of them, it's not likely I'll need to worry about them unless there's a specific known movement.

New York Commodities shipped to CT

• 940 Manufacturers and Misc. - 27,825
• 900 Products of Agriculture - 2,700
• 920 Products of Mines - 1,725
• 910 Animals and Products of Animals - 425
• 930 Products of Forests - 375

The largest parts of the first category is 773 Feed, Animal and Poultry, NOS (9,525), 655 Scrap Paper and Rags (2,150), 583 Manufactured Iron and Steel (1,625), 763 Food Products NOS (1,000). The largest commodity of agriculture is 015 Flour Wheat (1,350). Of the 1,725 cars of 920 Products of Mines, 1,275 of them are of 341 Salt.

Ohio Commodities shipped to CT

940 Manufactures and Misc. (10,575)

This accounts for almost 90% of the traffic from Ohio. 583 Manufactured Iron and Steel (1,975) is the only commodity from Ohio that is more than 1,000 cars annually. 

New Jersey Commodities shipped to CT

Of the 11,600 cars, 9,800 are 940 Manufactures and Misc., and 1,350 cars of 920 Products of Mines. However, none of this is coal. Instead it's 900 cars of 325 Sand, 200 cars of 327 Gravel and Sand, NOS., and 200 cars of 343 Phosphate Rock.

Of the 940 Manufactures and Misc., 1,450 cars are Food Products, NOS, and 1,275 cars of 559 Copper Ingot, Etc., with the rest made up of smaller quantities of dozens of commodities.

What about other states?

I'll dig more into the other states in a later post. But I want to look at one of the commodities here a little more. 920 Products of Mines totaled 41,350 cars, of which these four states only account for 73% of it. We've already seen that 305 Bituminous Coal is the largest commodity delivered to CT. So where is the rest of it coming from?

• Kentucky - 75
• Maryland - 150
• West Virginia - 5,875

This accounts for another 15% of the total, or nearly 90% of 920 Products of Mines.

There's also 1,025 carloads from CT, which would have come by water. Around 1950 some 60% of bituminous came via water, so it would appear the bulk of that stayed where it was delivered.

All of the anthracite comes from Pennsylvania, of course.

YN-3 in Simsbury

 Bob Belletzkie, creator/curator/maintainer of the excellent Tyler City Station site that covers CT railroad stations in great detail, came across this photo:

What a pleasant surprise! This is, of course, YN-3 in Simsbury, c1948-51. The freight house is still there, now as Plan B Burger Bar. (Excellent burgers, too!)

Bob thinks he may have seen a couple other photos from the same sequence, but can't seem to find them right now. So there may be more to come...

--

Interesting NYC box car, too. Unfortunately the photo is too blurry to make out the Lot number. The NYC had two major and one minor class of early steel box cars.

The first group was 6,500 steel auto cars built in 1916. They were later modified into single door box cars starting in 1937. The rebuilt cars are available as resin kits from Westerfield.

There were also 9,500 double sheathed auto cars built in 1916. Many of these were rebuilt 1935-7 into steel auto or box cars. One group of the rebuilt box cars was released in resin by Sunshine.

The NYC also built nearly 30,000 cars to a design produced, but never built, by the USRA. They were as numerous as the Pennsy X29 box cars in this era. These cars were built through the '20s. These cars are also available as resin kits from Westerfield, or in plastic from BLI. The Westerfield models cover the life of the cars, with BLI good for a smaller group.

In addition to these cars, there were also 4,000 auto cars built to this design. These are available from Westerfield.

Which car is this, though? 

The rebuilt double sheathed cars have a side sill that is narrower than the car body itself, like many rebuilds. This isn't evident in this photo.

The 1916-built steel cars have a stiffener below the side sill that runs from bolster to bolster, so that can't be it either. The best I can tell, they also had ladders instead of individual grab irons.

So the USRA design cars would make sense, especially since there were so many of them. The side sill looks like a match, and the (blurry) build date looks like it's from the '20s. But those cars only had 6 grab irons, not the 7 in the photo.

That leaves us with the USRA design auto cars. The 40'7" IL is also visible and matches this group (but not all of the other possibilities). These are lots 417-B, 418-B, and 419-B. 

Although, another look and now I think the blurry lot number might be 414-B. In that case it would be in the 101000-101999 series of box cars, built in 1920 to the basic USRA steel box car design, but with slightly larger dimensions. There isn't an existing model that matches, as it's 1" longer and 6" taller than the other cars built to that general design. This makes some sense since it was built before the 1923 ARA recommended practice (basically the X29 design), since the NYC cars built after that time generally conformed to the ARA recommended dimensions.

Another thing of note is the 5-pointed star under the herald on NYC box cars indicates it is used in grain service. Many of these cars were converted to box cars. They were assigned lots 659-B, 696-B and 718-B. Lot 659-B is available as Westerfield 7951. Note that the model has ladders instead of grab irons. I don't know if any of the double door cars would be in grain service, nor how many of the cars received ladders. I also don't know what industry in Simsbury would have received grain, or if the cars stenciled for grain service were used only in that service.

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The northern part of the Canal Line job is interesting during the postwar period. As I noted in this post, YN-3/NY-4 was eliminated by September 1953. Since this was the "Canal Local," what trains worked the job after that date?

Alternate schedules actually started before that time. In Spring of '52 the job was moved to originate in Hartford as YA-1/AY-2 (with 'A' being the symbol for Hartford, and 'Y' Holyoke). By fall of '52, it was back to originating in New Haven.

In fall of '53 it was handled by NX-28 which was a local that originated in Plainville and operated to Westfield.

But by spring of '54 YN-3/NY-2 was reinstated.

In fall of '56, the through train is NY-2/YN-1, and the local traffic is handled by NX-25. That's the Cedar Hill - Meriden - New Britain local, and operates to Plainville, plus Collinsville and Westfield as needed. 

By fall of '57 NX-28 is now a Hartford to Westfield local, but by fall of the next year NX-28 is gone and Canal Line north freight is being handled by NX-25 again.

In spring of '62 traffic to Simsbury is handled by the (lower) Canal Local, NX-18 at this time, which also handles Collinsville on alternate days. This is the case through at least spring of '65, the latest freight schedule I have.

In this post with several train orders I indicated that I thought the two orders from 1968 were likely for the Holyoke freight. With this new info, I think it was NX-25, or the New Britain local.