Layout Tour - Middletown

(This is the 3rd part of the tour - Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here)

After leaving "Hartford" (staging, actually in Middletown behind the backdrop) and heading south through Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Dividend & Cromwell, The Valley Local finally reaches Middletown - epicenter of railroading in the Connecticut River Valley.

Two mainlines cross here (well, they're both branchlines, but you get the idea): the Air Line comes up from New Haven and crosses the Valley Line at grade before heading over the Connecticut River to Portland & Colchester.  In earlier days, it went all the way to Boston and - appropriate for the season - was the route of the famous Ghost Train, an all-whitewashed limited passenger train between New York and Boston that ran for only a few years in the 1890s.

A third line came into Middletown from Berlin (see yesterday's "ghost post"), but by 1947 that line had been cut back to East Berlin to serve some brickyards and a paint factory.  However, the "Berlin line" - or at least its right-of-way - was even more useful as the location of the Middletown yard and the interchange between the Air Line local and the Valley local.

With all the local industries, not to mention the interchange, Middletown was still a busy place in the late 1940s and there was still a lot of track spread out over a fairly large area (at least by CT Valley standards).  Consequently, Middletown was where I had to make the most compromises.

Let's see how I did...

As you come into Middletown from the north, you pass the entrance to Middletown yard before you cross over Hartford Avenue (Bridge Street) and the Air Line diamond.  See the Sanborn maps below:

Cromwell is to the right (north), Berlin branch heads off the north end of the yard, mainline crosses Hartford Ave. on an overpass (lower left).  Incidentally, the train in my first "Wordless Wednesday" was southbound at Miller Street, which you see in the lower right area of the map.

Industries here include Meech & Stoddard feed & grain (at the top center), bulk track (off that track to the right) and the 2-track freight house (just "down" (east) of Meech & Stoddard).  There's even a scale track since carloads of bricks came through here off the Berlin line.  Middletown yard was actually two yards - there was another double-ended yard to the north of the one you see above - but I could only fit in one, so I chose to model the "south" yard - the one with the most diverse stuff going on.

This map is just to the left of the previous map - see Hartford Ave at upper right.  This map is from 1924.  By 1947, the only tracks left are the two mainlines and the quadrant track.  The passing & other sidings and all the track down by the river are gone by the end of the 1930s.

I should have mentioned this earlier, but hopefully it's become apparent by now: all of the Sanborn maps are oriented so the "aisle" (where you'd be standing) is at the bottom.

So here's my treatment of Middletown yard:

Schematic showing all the modeled track.

And here it is IRL (in real life) - Cromwell off to the right, AirLine/Valley diamond & quadrant track to the left.  Rightmost cars on Airline interchange track; cars at center of photo are spotted at the freighthouse.  Meech & Stoddard will be behind the freighthouse along the wall; bulk track will be "north" (right" of there).

This area is, by far, the most compressed area of the whole layout - but I think, given the space I had to work with, it came out pretty well.  All the "representative" tracks are included in some fashion and (maybe not so) surprisingly, it operates much like the prototype.  I say "much like" since most of the switching/classifying of cars was done by the Valley local in the "north" yard, which I couldn't include.  But as long as the Valley local is doing its switching from the "north" end of the yard I do have, it's out of the way when the Air Line local gets in.  All in all, it works very well.

Continuing south of the diamond, you get to the siding for the Davis lumber yard:

Davis Lumber is that siding heading "up" ("southwest") off the main.  Again, this map is from 1924 - the passing track and the "east" siding are gone by 1947.

 Turning 90 degrees left of the previous photo, this is what you see:

Diamond at right, Davis Lumber siding further away at center, curve past Middletown Packing in the far distance.  Turnback track along wall will be hidden under Middletown and continue under the yard and into the other room to East Haddam.

And here's a closer view of Davis Lumber (the building is just a stand-in)

If there's a second-most-compressed area, it's the area from the diamond to Davis Lumber.  On the prototype, it's about 1/2-3/4 mile; on my layout, it's about 2 feet.

BUT - and here's the key: <begin sidebar>
Like Middletown yard, despite the compression, it still operates like the prototype.  That's really the point of the compression being selective (i.e. "selective compression," at the risk of being obvious :^).  All the main (i.e. operationally critical) prototype elements are included; the fact that they aren't as far apart as on the prototype doesn't matter operationally.  Aesthetically, yeah, you don't want to crowd things any more than absolutely necessary.  That wouldn't look right.  But if it works operationally, then you should be fine.  The more space you have to space things out is just gravy.

This whole idea of "selective compression" has implications for choosing one's era as well.  I hope to flesh this out in a future post, so just a quick example for now.  Check out the Sanborn map above and note the long passing siding.  That was necessary up to the 1930s to accomodate passenger trains.  By WWII, the siding is gone.  So, I didn't have to include it in my 1947 version of Middletown.  Good thing - that sucker would have eaten up GOBS of space (at least a train length).  But in 1947, you don't miss it.  In fact, it's more prototypical NOT to have it.

Selective compression also has implications for how & what you operate.  I'm operating two local freights.  I have no passenger trains.  True to prototype, I'm using TT/TO, but trains don't have to "meet" or pass each other - not on these branchlines; not in 1947.  So the relative lack of linear run between/within towns doesn't matter operationally.  As long as it doesn't look wrong, it's fine.  And, fortunately, this area of the world is fairly compressed in real life - an added bonus! <end sidebar ;^)>

Finally, after a sweeping eastward curve along the river, we get to the south end of town where you'll find Middletown Packing Co.  Here it is on the Sanborn map:



Map from 1924 - first two facing point sidings from right on west (south) side of main gone by 1947.  Facing point siding further south on east (north) side of main also gone.  Only track remaining in '47 is siding for Middletown Packing itself.

The northern-most siding that had been removed by '47 had served a coal dump facility.  The siding in the center there (also removed) had curved sharply to the west (south) to serve the side of the buildings there when they had been Middletown Plating Co.  All that remained by 1947 was the short siding serving Middletown Packing at the lower left.

Here's how this area looks on the layout:

 

In what's become a theme, especially wrt Middletown, there's a little compression going on here too, and tracks that were there in 1924 (Sanborn map) aren't around in 1947.  So, operationally, this area works fine too.

 

However, you may be wondering how these facing point sidings (Davis lumber, Middletown Packing) are served, there being no run-around track.  Well, recall that there IS a run-around track, back north in Middletown yard.  The Valley Local would have to put cars on the locomotive's pilot before serving the industries at the south end of town.  Turns out, that's exactly how the real thing operated.  How cool is that?



Middletown, looking "north" from Middletown Packing back toward the diamond and yard.  Mainline south to East Haddam goes along wall and under yard to other room.

Wow - if you've read this far, congratulations/condolences!  Hopefully I won't have many long posts like this - they're tough on writer and reader alike - but as you can see, even a severely-compressed Middletown uses up a lot of space, in the blogpost as well as in the model(!).

As I get to fleshing things out with scenery and buildings, I'll revisit each town in more detail going over what was there - especially industry-wise - and how I'm modeling it.  There'll also be prototype photos where possible.  Unfortunately, despite my access to some of the most comprehensive Valley Line collections extant, there are still industries and areas for which I have no photos at all (e.g. no photos of Davis lumber; no good photos of Meech & Stoddard, still looking for photos of Wethersfield Lumber and Ballantines).  That's where hopefully some of you will come in and rescue me.  If you have - or know where I can get - Valley line related pics, please let me know.  As I continue this project, those priceless pics will be SO VERY MUCH appreciated!

 

So that's it for the "pure prototype" portion of the model railroad - and that's it for this room.  Next up - the "other" room and the (freelanced) Air Line!

Layout Tour - Rocky Hill, Dividend, Cromwell

(This is the 2nd part of the tour - Part 1 is here)

Rocky Hill is the next town south from Wethersfield.  As you 'round the curve heading southbound, this is what you would have seen Back In The Day:

Rocky Hill looking south - CT river to the left, freight house at center, station past that in the distance.

Here's what you see as you 'round the curve on my layout:

No buildings yet, but the cars are spotted where the freight house will be.  The station will be just beyond.

Here's the Sanborn map:

Rocky Hill - North is to the right.

Rocky Hill was another place where I'd made the mistake of building my trackwork based on the Sanborn Map.  Like all of these maps, this one dated from the 1920s - when there was still passenger service.  Consequently, I had a nice long passing siding.  But John Wallace recalled a crossover in the middle of the siding that allowed for bulk track service from the southwest part of the siding, and house track service from the northeast part of the siding.  Yes, as you may have guessed, that meant that the "main" actually was always routed through the crossover - northwest to southeast.  So, out came the track, in went two more Micro-Engineering turnouts.  But no regrets - it became evident pretty quickly that operations would work much more prototypically with the more prototypical arrangement (well, duh!)

Foreground boxcars on house track, crossover just beyond, Dividend in distance (those cars spotted at Billings & Spencer)

Next operations area south is a place called "Dividend."  Actually part of Rocky Hill, this area was the location of the largest customer on the line - Hartford Rayon.  Here's the Sanborn map, but as you'll see, it wasn't really all that helpful:

Dividend - north to the right.  Hartford Rayon main plant to the south of Belamose Ave.  Old Billings & Spencer building (used as rayon warehouse in 1947) to the north of Belamose Ave.  Switchback not shown on this early map.

Dividend, looking southwest.  Cars are on the old Billings & Spencer tail track.  You can see the switchback in the distance.

As you can see, if I followed the circa 1924 Sanborn map, my track layout would be all wrong for 1947.  John described the switchback operations at Dividend in his Shoreliner article and confirmed this layout when he saw it in person.  During WW2, there was a bulk oil distributor further north on the tailtrack.  But that business went back to barges after the war.  To the left (south) end, you see the "tank" track curving off to the southeast.  On the prototype, there was another track there and you can (barely?) see that I have a loose turnout placed there to see if I can fit it in.

Overview of Dividend/Rocky Hill looking north

Next stop south of Dividend/Rocky Hill is the small hamlet of Cromwell.  Here's what it looks like on the Sanborn:

Station in center - note Main Street (aka Middlesex Turnpike).  Coal Co. not shown, but would be at end of siding.

And here's what it looks like on the layout:

Great (and lucky) photo mockup of Main Street crossing looking north, and in my era!  Siding on the left - station will be between siding and mainline.

There's not much to Cromwell - just a siding/house track and Lee & Sons Coal Co. will be at the end of the siding.  The coolest thing will be if I can replicate Main Street fairly faithfully based on that great photo - especially the diner with the octagon windows!

Lastly (for now anyway), here's another shot of Cromwell showing the siding and the track in the background going through the backdrop.  See the "inset" on the trackplan for the track arrangement back there, but suffice it to say that there are two tracks - the closer one is the line from "Hartford" staging (i.e. Middletown) to Wethersfield.  The further line next to the wall goes from Middletown to East Berlin (not yet modeled).  If you saw yesterday's post on Wethersfield, the train you see here is the same one that was heading "northbound under the Rt. 15 overpass."

All in all, I like how the Rocky Hill/Dividend/Cromwell section came out.  I didn't have to make any significant compromises, other than compressing the linear run.  But even on the prototype, these towns are pretty close together.  And, thankfully, the prototype operations are such that you don't end up having too much - or usually any - of the rest of your train in a different town than your loco when you're switching.  With the backdrop dividing the scenes so effectively, you still get a real sense of "going somewhere" when you're operating.  Given my space limitations, that's pretty much the best I could hope for.

So we've made it so far from Wethersfield to Cromwell.  Next stop, Middletown....

Modeling Monday: Layout Tour - Wethersfield

Usually for "Modeling Monday" I'll be highlighting particular models I've built, but considering I just posted the trackplan, I figured it'd be fun to show modeling on a "macro" scale.  So, for the next few days (so as not to bog down you or your computer with too much at once) I'll be touring the layout as it was as of October 27, 2013.  If you want to follow along on the trackplan, we'll be starting in Wethersfield and heading south to Middletown.  Then from "New Haven" through Somerset & Mill Hollow to Middletown.

First stop: Wethersfield

Here's the Sanborn map to help orient you (as always, you can click on the image to "embiggen"):



In this early view, the siding to Ballantine's hasn't been built yet, but you see where Rt. 15 crosses over ("steel & conc bridge"), Jordan Lane & Wethersfield Lumber

Rt. 15 overpass (stand-in mockup) that hides the hole in the backdrop.  The train is heading northbound "under" the bridge.  Switch to Ballantine's Beer Distributors in the foreground.

Overview of north end of Wethersfield.  Rt. 15 in the background, reefers on Ballantine's siding, and GN boxcar at Wethersfield lumber, Jordan Lane will run between the ends of the sidings.  I don't have ANY photos of either Ballantine's or the lumber co.  So if you have - or know where I can get - some, please let me know.

Overview of Wethersfield looking south.  Wethersfield lumber in right foreground, house track off mainline to left, bulk track and Gra-Rock bottlers beyond (and Valley Coal in far background).  Up til the 1930s, there had been a long passing track here.  Following the Sanborn map of the area, I included it - then John Wallace informed me that it was gone by 1947.  Consequently, I ripped out the passing track and built additional support for the new bulk track.  The extra work to make it prototypically/era accurate was worth it.

 Here's the Sanborn map of the station area:

Note long passing siding, station, Church St., Gra-Rock

Wethersfield station area: Station to the right & Gra-Rock (stand-in photo mockup) to the left.  Church Street runs (will run) between.  You can also see one of the "scene setting" photos on the fascia (subject of a previous post).  Both buildings still exist.

 Finally, here's the Sanborn for Wells Rd., where Valley Coal once did business:

Valley Coal, including office.  Wells Rd to the south.

Valley Coal, just north of Wells Road.  The photo/mockup/stand-in works particularly well here, being almost the right scale (and it's the only known photo of this industry).

Overview of Wethersfield looking north

I'm very glad I was able to model Wethersfield so faithfully.  The only major compromise was that I had to fairly severely compress the linear run between Wethersfield Lumber and the station.  On the prototype, they're seperated by about a mile, but here the turnouts actually overlap.  But that's the art - and challenge - of prototype modeling.  Sometimes it's much more impressionist than photorealistic.  However, if you do it well, what's missing isn't missed.

The ultimate test is when somebody familiar with the area recognizes it as such.  My effort here passed John Wallace's scrutiny.  He grew up in the area and lives there still.  But having such a resource so close can be a double-edged sword.  After I "completed" Wethersfield the first time, he noted the passing siding was long gone by 1947.  So, to be as accurate as possible, out it came and up went some more benchwork & track (re)arranging.

Of course, the other critical test is that the layout owner/artist is satisfied with the result.  I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it came out.  Especially after I made the modifications based on John's recollections.  That siding (the bulk track) that swings way out from the station, looks just like that in real life.  Having that feature replicated on my railroad goes a long way to making Wethersfield as realistic as possible, at least to my eye.

Whattaya think?

Next stop - Rocky Hill/Dividend...