A small but signature structure on the layout will be Embassy Diner. It's located next to the tracks on Main St. and is right at the front of the scene. It's a typical 'railroad car style' design, but there isn't a commercial model that will work here.
Despite its location, I don't have all that many pictures of the diner:
This is from 1930:
I think this one is from a little later (it's from a very low resolution photo):
They aren't great, but they are from a different angle than I have for others, and the second one shows the relationship to the crossing gate very well.
The next photo I have is from 1960. I don't know when the lettering on the side changed but I'll probably use this style.
It's the best photo I have. Like the station, there's a shoeshine set up, but this conveniently has a cover so it will be pretty easy to model.
I don't have a date for this later photo, but the coloring has changed:
Although the crossing gates aren't visible, I'm pretty sure this is the last paint scheme it had based on this photo after it is abandoned:
Again, I don't have a date, but it's past my era regardless. I don't know who the photographers were for any of the pictures.
Using the rough dimensions (40' x 10-12') from the Sanborn map, I decided to put together a sketch drawn to scale. I estimated other dimensions based on an 80" tall door on the side.
I thought the windows looked too square (and still do), so the ones on the right are 1mm narrower than the ones on the left. I then decided to play around with the trick of drawing an 'x' on the original drawing and this one. Although the perspective is different, the points where the lines cross will be in line on either.
Despite my imprecision, the cross points pretty much line up where they should, which means my sketch should be pretty close to correct. Looking at the larger version of this picture, the bottom of the windows should be about shoulder height based on the figure walking in the door on the end. The 1930 photo shows the windows to be more square than they might look, but they still look like they should be a little narrower to my eye.
I estimated the windows to be the same width as the door, or perhaps slightly narrower. I made the door on the side 28" wide. Narrowing the windows 1mm more might make it look a little better and I may do that.
Based on the door height, it appears that the set of windows next to it is 80" wide. Also using that 80" measurement, I got an estimate of about 4.4" for each strip in the awning. That gives me an overall dimension of almost 11', which is a good match to the 10'-12' estimate I had based on the Sanborn Map.
So that's my sketch so far. It will be pretty easy to construct the basic building of styrene, although I may have one or two of my architectural experts double-check my math first. Although this is one of those situations where I may just eyeball some tweaks to make the windows more rectangular and the end a little wider. In theory, though, this should be pretty accurate. In the absence of other evidence, I'll probably put four windows on the far end (or make a blind end and one with windows). I think I may try the photographic paper for the cinder block foundation as well.
Now I just need to figure out what the colors were...so I asked on one of the New Britain Facebook groups. Naturally I got a bunch of answers. Pale yellow with red lettering or a variation was mentioned by several. A couple mentioned green lettering. White and Blue. Maroon and yellow.
Then I remembered it would probably show up in a Kent Cochrane video, c1953-6:
It's the only color reference I have and clearly a maroon red in color. While I don't have the exact date that the automatic gates with flashing lights were installed, the photo dated 1960 has them, and this is the older manual gates so this is clearly earlier.
Because of the photos of the building abandoned, I thought the darker color scheme was the last one.
A little more digging shows that in the 1955 Thomas Airviews photo it is a lighter color:
That would indicate that the Cochrane video was earlier than 1955, and this is correct through at least 1950. Because the Cochrane video was filmed from an RDC, it must have been sometime between late '52 (probably early '53) and before it was repainted c1955.
So it looks like this is the best photo I have for the appearance in my era:
This is a picture I took while throwing the iron on the CNZR. I was in the area, and Dale said they were coming back to switch out Home Depot a second time when they finished switching out the Armory Line. It had been a busy day, so before I get to my part, here's what they had done already that day. Jeremy had just backed up onto the runaround to pick up a group of loads to take down to Depot.
The CNZR services one industry on the old New Haven Griffins line. The end of the line, just north of Day Hill Rd, is their engine servicing. Just south of Day Hill Rd is a runaround track:
A little less than a mile south is the Home Depot distribution center:
There is a storage track across the main, plus a box car track and a flat car track. They also service a single industry on the old Armory line, which is not connected to this line at all.
They interchange with Pan Am and Connecticut Southern (CSO) in Hartford.
There is a long runaround that serves as the interchange track for CSO.
Off of the northern track is a side track for Hartford Lumber (I don't think this is in service, or if it is, it's not served by CNZR).
Off of the southern track is the 'station track.' previously the Highland mainline, now a stub-end track that serves as the interchange track with Pan Am.
The day started with:
4 loaded flat cars (from Pan Am) on the runaround track.
5 empty flats on the flat car track.
1 loaded flat on the flat car lead.
5 empty flats on the box car lead, fouling the flat car lead.
9 empty box cars on the boxcar track.
The morning was spent switching out Home Depot:
Pick up the four loads from the runaround.
Pull five empty flats from the boxcar lead (they were fouling the flat car lead).
Drop the five empties and the 4 loads on the main.
Pick up the load on the flat car lead, then the 4 loads from the main. This ensures that the oldest car (the one that was on the flat car lead) will be at the front of the cut when spotted.
Pull the 5 empty flats. This takes a few moves, because of the way the flat car track is spotted. There are 4 cars at the end of the track, then a driveway, then the fifth car at the front of the track.
The first car of every cut has a skate (chock) in front of the leading wheel so the car cannot roll toward the main.
Single cars have their handbrake set, the cut of flats have three of the four handbrakes set.
There is a blue flag on the flat car lead.
Lower the blue flag. This is often done by a Home Depot employee.
Back the train onto the flat.
Connect the air (all moves are made with the air connected).
Release the handbrake on the single flat.
Push the car off of the skate (if it didn't when coupling to the car).
Remove the skate.
Back the train into the second cut of flats.
Connect the air.
Release the three handbrakes.
Pull the cut of flats.
Drop the cut of empty flats on the main.
Spot the flats on the flat car track, setting three handbrakes and one skate on the cut of four cars, and the handbrake and another skate on the single car.
Raise the blue flag.
They then pulled the 9 empty box cars. Each car is on a skate, with the handbrake set, and about 3 feet between the cars. So they have to go through that process for each box car.
Hook up the empty box cars to the 10 empty flats on the main and connect the air.
Dale walks the train giving the car numbers to Jeremy, and does a brake test by verifying the brakes set and release on the rear car.
Haul the train to Hartford.
In Hartford CSO has left 3 loaded box cars and 3 flat cars for them to pick up.
There are 5 empties for Pan Am to pick up on the station track (an interchange track for Pan Am).
The 19 empties they have brought down are all for CSO.
They left the train north of Garden St because they only have one working locomotive today, they won't have the space to runaround the train plus the new cars. There is a side track for Hartford Lumber that holds 5 flats, but the box cars are 13' shorter, and 3 of each will fit (Dale did the math to make sure).
They shove the new cars into Hartford Lumber, and Dale set 3 handbrakes on the far end so the slack doesn't run out when pushing the cars on the wheel stops, leaving about 15' to the clearance point painted on the rail.
Dale stayed at the Garden St switch (the north end of the runaround) to let Jeremy know when he clears the switch so they can get back out.
He sets handbrakes on the cut of 19 cars and uncouples the locomotive when he gets to that. This cut is fouling the Pan Am interchange, so if they get there before CSO they will have to shove the cars up the track to get to their cars.
They pick up the cars from Hartford Lumber, then return to the end of the line.
Home Depot wants them to bring them 5 more loaded flats that are on the runaround. There is a 6th loaded flat there, with a James Hardie load (the 2nd or 3rd car of the cut). They only want the Irving Lumber loads, not the Hardie load.
They considered going to lunch, then switching after that, but Depot wants it switched after 4:00 pm.
They head over to the Armory Line instead, to switch out the an empty there. Only the 25-tonner is working on that line today.
This was when I met them at Griffins. We needed to:
Block the flats so the Hardie Load is on the front of the cut.
Take the four loads down to Home Depot.
Pull the five empty flats and move them to the box car track.
Spot the 5 new flats.
Leave the flat with the Hardie load on the flat car lead for switching later.
Dale walked over 5 miles that day. This was a long day. Consider on a model railroad how long it often takes us to:
Pull 19 empties (on two tracks).
Deliver 5 loads on one track.
Deliver 19 empties to the interchange.
Pick up 6 loads from the interchange.
Switch out 1 empty and deliver to the interchange.
Pull 5 empties and deliver 5 loads to the same track.
In many cases we do this very quickly because we don't consider the amount of work it takes on the ground to make those moves. We might pull the 5 flats and the 9 box cars at once, shoving the box cars together then immediately pulling them without any delay. Then pull the remaining flats, and spot the new ones, and then assemble our train and be ready to head to Hartford in less than 15 minutes of model railroading.
Once again I'll point out that people will say that fast clocks are problematic with a lot of switching because switching is 'real time.' But the reality is, it took us about 1 1/2 hours to deliver the 5 cars when I was there. For Jeremy and Dale it was at least a 10 hour day.
From a modeling standpoint, how can we address this? I think it's just a matter of keeping in mind that you have somebody on the ground doing the work. I don't think it's necessary to use a fixed amount of time for each move, nor do I think we'd want to do it at the speed the prototype actually does.
But remember to drop off your ground crew at the switch stand, and slow to pick them up when you're done. Remember to pause when hooking up the air, and releasing or setting handbrakes. Especially when modeling a modern era where the actual number of cars switched can be lower, it still takes a decent amount of time to do the switching. Sound-equipped locomotives enhances the experience, and I find makes it easier to move the locomotive more prototypically. I'm also a huge fan of the ProtoThrottle for this, and will be switching to those over time.
Another thing that I always notice is that they figure out exactly what their moves will be before they head out to do the work. As model railroaders we often wing it when working a local freight, as we go from town to town. Instead, if you're the conductor, take the time to go through your paperwork, and walk the line (if you're not that familiar with it) to figure out what your moves will be. In earlier eras you might not know if there's additional work at each town, but you will at least know what might be there and have plans for how you'll handle any additional work.
Something else that has become evident is that the industries have a lot of say over when and how they want their work completed. This has been a consistent theme whenever I look at the work on the CNZR and also my buddy Joseph at the Pioneer Valley Railroad. We can simulate this by providing additional work or instructions during our sessions, just like it happens on the prototype.
It also highlights how much railroading you could fit in a very small space, considering how much work it is to service a single industry if you're operating closer to the prototype.
The trick, of course, is also to keep it fun. We aren't actually going to work for the railroad, and we don't want it be work. My focus on operations is on creating an immersive experience. The idea is that you'll feel like you're actually working on the real railroad, without having to deal with what makes a job actual work.
We often spend a considerable amount of time making our models look as realistic as possible. With sound we enhance that experience even more, drawing us into the illusion. For decades we've worked with momentum to make it seem like the model is actually a massive locomotive hauling hundreds of tons of goods. That illusion is only enhanced by operating the trains themselves closer to the prototype. I also find that other aspects, like prototypical paperwork also add to the effect.
Another thing I'm adding to my list? More sound. I know I'll be adding resistors to my wheelsets for signaling purposes. Now I want to add other sounds that are missing from my miniature world:
I was hoping to finish these off this week but got tied up with some other projects. So I'm continuing to finish up the small details after looking through the pictures again. First, I can confirm that the unknown commenter was correct, those little things on the walkway are oil cups.
I went over to CNZR with my buddy Dale so he could show me some on the ex-NH RS-1 they have. In this case they are below the walkway, just above the truck and apparently lubricate the center pin of the trucks.
One of these days they'll get this running again...I hope!
You can also see a small pipe in the upper right corner of this photo, which is a lot of what I've been finishing up on the models. Initially I was just using styrene rod, but I decided to see if I could do something about the interesting pipes above the truck on the RS-2s:
It looks like a pipe-within-a-pipe. It doesn't show up in many photos, and it's another detail that nobody is likely to see unless I point it out to them. But it lets me experiment with something different, and hone some more scratch building skills.
So I started with the largest styrene rod I had which is 3/16", or 0.047", or which is more relevant, 1.2mm, and drilled out the end with the .7mm bit:
You need to be careful to keep it centered, since you'll have a wall of .25mm. I then used a reamer to flare it slightly to widen the hole as much as I could:
If you're paying attention, you'll see a small yellow piece in the picture above. That's the insulation stripped off of a 23 AWG wire. I glued that inside the tube. Here are a couple that have been completed:
Here it is installed:
I also drilled out the end of a 0.020" rod and bent the end for the drain pipe next to the water tank. I then added the diagonal wire for the pipe that's there too.
I also noticed a pipe I hadn't added yet to one of the models. Instead of the styrene rod I used wire insulation again.
To make it easier to see the other details, I decided to weather the chassis again.
I painted all of the unpainted parts black first. Once that's dried, I used a paint pen to apply wet paint to the truck sideframes, the battery boxes, and the air tanks. Basically all the parts that are likely to be handled. I then applied black Pan Pastels to those parts while wet, hoping that will help it adhere a little better.
I then use gray and burnt sienna to add brake/road dust and rust. The effect should be close to the RS-1 truck above. Here are a number of shots of both sides. The approach makes those tiny details pop:
With luck these will be finished by next week. You may notice I decided to add the ESU Power Pack (keep-alive) to these, since I had them anyway. They fit above the short-hood truck without a problem.
There's very little touch-up left to do. A few things on the shell, the final application of the ATC boxes and step, a couple of air hoses, and maybe one or two things I'm forgetting.
The one that has the biggest chance of something going wrong is renumbering the second 0503 to 0502. I've already removed the '2s' and have the decals, so we'll see how it goes!
Here's a Kent Cochrane photo of I-4 class 1383 on Train 131 in New Britain. I have an original print with Tom McNamara's handwritten notes on the back. It's dated March, 1948.
The problem? I-4 1383 derailed due to excessive speed in Boston, 1/27/48. It was not repaired or put back into service.
Here's another Cochrane photo of 1383 on 131 just past Main St taken in October 1947.
Note the RPO (only on 131/136 on the Highland), and the full skirts on the Pullman-Bradley coach.
There's another clue that helps narrow the date. In both photos, it has a W-10-E tender. In 1945/6 1383 was assigned a W-7-C tender. Between June 1946 and September 1947, sixteen I-4 locomotives that had W-10-E tenders had been retired (1354, 1359, 1362, 1365, 1367, 1368, 1369, 1370, 1384, 1385, 1386, 1391, 1393, 1394, 1395, and 1397). By 1949 there was only one of the locomotives that had received W-7-C tenders (1380) still in service, and it too had received a W-10-E by then.
So it can't be earlier than about June '46, and is clearly not early January 1948. With the second picture dated October 1947, and the fact that I-4s weren't regularly assigned power on the Highland Line, it is likely that both of these photos are from the same October day. The specific day was not recorded. The shadows and foliage (what little there is in the photos) is also similar.
I've heard that Tom had commented that Kent didn't keep great records, and it's possible that Tom's notations were added later. But it is fun working through these sorts of puzzles as I dig up more information (in this case while researching tenders for another project). I don't have engine assignments for 1947, but I know I-2 1331 was the final steam locomotive assigned to 131/136 in 1948. The I-4 is most likely filling in while the regular I-2 that is most likely assigned is in for repairs.
On a recent trip to Plainville I was there at just the right time to catch the Pan Am train on the old Highland Line:
I decided to head to Forestville to see if I could catch it there. I didn't, because it parked a little before it got there for some reason. However, thinking about it this would be the train that would interchange cars in Plainville, not work the industries on the Highland and lower Canal Line. So for whatever reason they just weren't ready to do their work. They would be on the other end of the train if they were done, to head back to the Springfield Line in Berlin. As it turns out, Jess and I saw a much longer one a a couple of days later sitting at Cook's Quarry on the border of New Britain and Plainville. It was also just waiting there at the time. Being a single-train, single track main it's odd that it was waiting there. If it needed clearance for the Springfield Line I would expect it to be waiting right at the wye.
In any event, in Forestville I was looking at a stretch of track and took a few pictures for reference for ballasting:
I took a closer look at the darker material and found flecks of coal. It's actual cinder ballast!
So I looked around and found a discarded bucket and brought some home:
Here are a couple of experiments with it after I sifted it:
And another section just between the rails with a bit of a different mix:
In addition to trying to develop a mix for cinders and dirt I like, I also think I need to mix some different sizes for a less uniform look than my earlier experiments. Especially along the edge where the maintained stone ballast meets cinders and dirt. Another issue is combating the fact that the material darkens when glued, which tends to make cinders by themselves too dark.
Another thing I'll work on adding are dried leaves in some areas, since I'm modeling early November.
A little later I also stopped by Tilcon to replenish my supply of stone ballast. The process is simple. I got a set of 5 stacking screens, with 120, 130, 150, 170, and 1100 holes per inch. They fit a standard 5-gallon bucket. You put the one with the smallest holes (1100) on the bottom, and progressively larger holes on top of that. I put a small shovel full of material in the top one, then shake the bucket to screen the material. As I fill containers, I label them with the two screens, such as 130/150, meaning the material passed through the 130 screen, but not the 150.
Here's the set up at Tilcon:
At Tilcon, you drive in and weigh your vehicle. I then go to the screenings, and start sifting. I spent about an hour today, and refilled my supply pretty well.
The cost?
$1.41 for 5 sizes of material. The screenings that go through the 1100 screen is basically dust and is fantastic for dirt and cinders in HO. For ballast my primary size is the 130/150. For some reason the size that is always the least that I get is 170/1100, but I don't seem to need much of that either.
