Friday Fun - Hartford's State Theatre

One of the best "side benefits" of modeling a particular time and place is opportunity to really get into and absorb that time and place - everything from the music, to the movies, the cars, what going on in the world at the time. In fact, I embrace this aspect of the hobby explicitly when I share what I've learned in the Crew Calls I send out before my operating sessions.

It really creates the closest thing to a time machine that I can imagine - and it's a great way to get my operators to join me on my journey into the past.

The only downside I can imagine is that there's no "new" old stuff being created - it's all back there in the past, and not being added to. But some of it is still waiting to be (re)discovered - and every once in a while, just when you think you know everything there is to know about your chosen era, you discover something new.

That happened to me this week.

I was listening to Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall recording of Sing, Sing, Sing for about the millionth time, and was mesmerized my Jess Stacy's piano solo toward the end. That sent me down a rabbit hole to learn more about Jess Stacy (which is a really interesting story, btw) and the BG band of the late 1930s.

Other than the time traveling aspect, what does all this have to do with the Valley Local? Well, this site isn't just about the model railroad I'm building in my basement - it's as much about the time and place that sets the stage. And while it predates my chosen era by about 10 years, for one brief, shining moment, the famous Benny Goodman Band played at the State Theater in Hartford, CT - only a few blocks from the Valley Line - and BG even performed a special song for the occasion called The Hartford Stomp.

Here's the full broadcast:

And you can hear The Hartford Stomp below:

Another fun find down that rabbit hole was a series of programs broadcast by Hartford's WTIC radio that focuses on that golden era. Click here for that. And for more about Hartford's State Theater (which, at the time, was New England's largest theater, with almost 4,000 seats), click here. If you want to learn more about the Big Bands that used to perform in Connecticut, click here.

As you can probably tell, these little research rabbit trails can be an especially enjoyable part of this great hobby. I thought I had heard everything that Benny Goodman ever recorded, and now - thanks to following one of those trails - I've discovered a lot of new music that will provide the perfect background and soundtrack for a day operating on the Valley Line.

The Crew Call - Another Opportunity for Realism

To me, prototype modeling is even more than modeling the equipment and scenes prototypically. If I'm doing things right, it's the closest thing I can imagine to a time machine. And the research required to do things right is a huge part of the fun.

Case in point - my crew call. In addition to the prototypical paperwork I hand out (Clearance Forms, Train Orders, Bulletin Orders, Switchlists), I've started to let my crews know beforehand what day they're on-duty and what's going on in the world, including the weather forecast - all thoroughly researched and perfectly prototypical. I got the idea for doing this from operating on Dave Ramos' New York Harbor railroad and really liked how it set the mood for the session.

This year - 2014 - it just so happens that the days fall exactly as they did in 1947. So I couldn't resist the extra added bit of realism. Here's my crew call for tomorrow's operating session:

"It looks like our two extra freights now have full crews and will be operating tomorrow, Wednesday, October 29, 1947.

Here's what's going on in the world on that day:

Weather forecast: temps in the lower to mid 60s; fog in the morning, drizzle throughout the day.

The Thomas Committee on Un-American Activities in Washington is investigating the film industry.

Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" premiered on ABC radio on Monday, October 27.

Trial of famous art forger Han van Meegeren begins in Amsterdam.

But none of that bothers our crews all that much - other than the weather, which - while not too raw - could be a bit nicer.  The engineers will have to keep their drivers from spinning on the wet rails, made all the more slick by the fallen leaves.  Be sure your sand dome is filled up before you leave the yard!"

If you want to try adding this extra bit of realism to your sessions, check out the Farmers Almanac online (Ben Franklin would be proud). There's a historical weather section where you can enter the zipcode of the locale you're modeling and the date corresponding to your era. Presto! a forecast for the day of your ops session.

Also, "this day in history" type sites are good for getting an overall feel for the day. I googled "this day in history october 29, 1947" and got links to a bunch of sites with good information. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that happened exactly on this day - so I had to fudge a little, e.g. by mentioning Groucho's show that started earlier in the week. I also checked out Eleanor Roosevelt's diary for the day - pretty helpful for folks modeling the late '40s.

I find that adding this level of authenticity really puts the railroad in context, literally. No longer are you just running trains on a layout (not that there's anything wrong with that), but you're participating in the history of the line & towns your modeling and playing some role in keeping those memories alive.

If you try this out, I'd love to hear about it. The cool thing about a time machine is that you can go anywhere in time that strikes your fancy - and it'd be fun to add your era to the list of places to visit!

A Few Words on Wordless Wednesday #30

This is not the Valley Local.  It's PDX-2, the New London-Cedar Hill (Shoreline) local at Rocky Neck (East Lyme, CT).  The date & photographer are unknown, though I suspect the photographer may be Kent Cochrane and the date is likely c. 1947. I include the photo here since PDX-2 during this time served the lower end of the Valley Line, swung off the Shoreline at Old Saybrook and headed up the Valley through Essex & Deep River to interchange cars with the Valley Local at East Haddam.

K-1d #363 is doing the honors on what looks like a beautiful summer day, hauling a relatively short - but interesting - train of 6(?) cars.  First car is a reefer of some sort, then a wagontop boxcar, outside-braced boxcar, looks like 2 gondolas, unknown boxcar (PRR X-29?) and caboose - most likely an NE-4 wood caboose (which was built on a shorty boxcar frame in the late 1920s).

Looks like the fireman is dutifully facing forward, as you'd expect. But just a minute ago he probably took advantage of the fact that he was on the outside of the curve (and thus couldn't see much ahead anyway), and on the correct side of the locomotive to check out all the pretty girls on the beach.  You see, Rocky Neck was (and is) a very popular state park with a beautiful beach - and the beach is just out of sight beneath the overpass.

Even if PDX-2 didn't figure in my layout's operating scheme, this would still be a great train to model.  Heck, this could be a great scene to model, given the distinctive overpass in the background and the beautifully manicured double-track Shoreline mainline (are you paying attention PeteL?). If you don't mind the overpass splitting the scene, you could even model the beach - and the bathing beauties, if you were so inclined (though good luck finding period-appropriate figures). It also wouldn't be too difficult to just have the overpass on the left end of the scene and focus your attention on the beach - just like our attentive fireman.

It's photos like these that make prototype modeling (and the time travel that it makes possible) so compelling. Unfortunately, there won't be any room on my layout for any part of this particular scene, but the train itself will definitely play a significant role on the Valley Line.

Who am I? Why am I here?

(with apologies to Admiral Stockdale.  Click on the link for his amazing biography.  I had no idea he was such an incredibly amazing man - a true hero)

Before I go any further with this here blog, I thought it'd be a good time to introduce myself to those who don't know me already or know anything about this project.

Firing with engineer Paul Lewis.  Essex, CT

My name is Chris and I've been a history buff for as long as I can remember.  It started with dinosaurs and progressed through Civil War & WW2 history.  Modeling quickly followed as a way to recreate that history.  I never got into gaming, but my room had its share of B17s, P40s and Corsairs.  Christmas 1982, I got my first computer and my little brother got a train set.  Significantly, my great-grandmother was visiting us and the train set prompted recollections of my great-grandfather's and great-great-grandfather's careers on the railroad.  I found this combination of family history and modeling compelling and the computer faded into the background as my dad & I "helped" my kid brother with his train set.

Five years later, I deferred college for the chance of a lifetime to work on the real thing as one of the youngest full-time steam locomotive firemen in the country (see pic above).  Although I was participating in "living history" at the Valley Railroad, the modeling never really stopped - I was always imagining ways to recreate scenes that had long since disappeared.  Model railroading - starting with that old trainset - provided the perfect catalyst.  What better way to recapture the past than by recreating an industry that permeated every aspect of everyday life?  Of course, all the carpentry, electrical work, and engineering involved in building a layout would be fun - not to mention the research & planning.  All pretty intoxicating to a Type A with OCD tendencies!

But what would be the focus of such a huge endeavor?  I'd first considered modeling the Illinois Central railroad my grandfathers had worked, but I found New England - being right outside my door - much more convenient to research & photograph.  A freelanced "New England-y" railroad with 44 tonners & covered bridges is pretty compelling, but once I discovered what railroad ran near my house (the New York New Haven & Hartford), I flirted with different parts of the system: the Naugatuck line (I lived in Shelton, CT at the time), the Berkshire line (my girlfriend - then wife - and I did many roadtrips up Rt. 7), and even - for a brief time - the old Central New England.  Once we moved to Old Saybrook, CT - just two doors away from the New Haven's Connecticut Valley Line and within earshot of the steam locomotives I'd fired so many years before - the final choice was obvious.

In addition to my personal history with, and - now- proximity to, the CT Valley Line, there are two other reasons to try and recreate this railroad in my basement: John Wallace and Max Miller.  John shared his extensive memories of firing on the Valley Local in a 2 part series in the Shoreliner magazine, produced by the New Haven Railroad Historical & Technical Association (NHRHTA).  His vivid memories and great photos would make anybody want to try and recreate the line somehow.  I first met Max when I fired on the Valley many years ago, and when we got back in touch shortly after I moved back to the area, I discovered he'd been documenting the line for years.  Between these two guys alone, I'd have access to a wealth of material that would help my project - and the fact they come over every week to help with the NHRHTA Photo Library means that suggestions & guidance are never far away.

I hope through my efforts here you'll not only get a sense of what life was like in the lower Connecticut River Valley in the late 1940s, but that you'll get to know some of the folks responsible for delivering the "stuff of life" to the area back then and the equipment they used to do their jobs.  I see model railroading as much more than "playing with trains" (not that there's anything wrong with that); I see it as a virtual time machine that can take you where ever your imagination leads.  My model railroad - if I do it as effectively as I hope to - will take you aboard the Valley Local in the Autumn of 1947.

I hope you'll join me.  And if you do - Welcome Aboard!

Back firing on the Valley RR, Chester, CT.  Photo by John Wallace

The Basic Idea

To capture the time & place of the Valley Local using historic photos as a guide for recreating as many scenes as accurately as possible.

Layout at a Glance

Prototype: Connecticut Valley Branch of the New York New Haven & Hartford

Locale: Hartford, CT to Old Saybrook CT

Period: October, 1947

Scale: HO (1:87.1)

Layout Size (roughly): 13x19 (1st room), 14x18 (2nd room)

Style: Walk-in

Benchwork: Traditional L-girder

Roadbed: Cork

Track: MicoEngineering Code 70 w/#6 turnouts

Mainline Run (approx.): 70' (Wethersfield to Middletown), 25' ("Airline" branch), 65' (East Haddam to Old Saybrook - proposed)

Maximum Grade: 2% (East Haddam to Middletown)

Minimum Radius: 24"

Power & Control: NCE DCC, manual point-thrown turnouts with Tam Valley Depot Frog Juicers

Backdrop: Masonite with vinyl coved corners

Scenery: Cardboard lattice, plaster cloth