Diesel Servicing Facility


Hi all. I posted thm in wpf, but for anyone interested, here's the sanding tower and Rix tank... I built the tank to 29' so it doesn't overpower the scene. The sander still needs some fine tuning...

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Sand Reservoirs

Thanks much for the detailed info! :cool:

Speaking of reservoirs, do you ever remember seeing air reservoirs that were charged with train air to boost sand into the sanding tower? Jim Hedger makes mention of such an arraingement in his article. I was thinking that for a small time servicing facility the trackside air reservoir might be cool to model.

The sand arangement in Brewster, NY was some type of apparatus that attached under a hopper car of sand. The sand was then pumped up to the sanding tower by the yards compressed air. I never really took a close look at it but I know that's how it worked. The air was almost always pushing up sand. There were about 100 or so passenger cars in the yard at night. They were on the yard's compressed air to keep the brakes charged. They were also on the yard's steam to keep them from freezing up in the winter.

NYC_George
 
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It sounds like all I'd need is a small compressor building, a pipe/hose from the house to the track (hopper) and maybe an air reservoir for a believable set up. Am I missing anything?
 
Brewster Sand

It sounds like all I'd need is a small compressor building, a pipe/hose from the house to the track (hopper) and maybe an air reservoir for a believable set up. Am I missing anything?

This is the best I could do Grand Man. I made a fast model of what I remember about the unit that pumped the sand to the tower in Brewster. I walked by it for 12 years and never once looked at it in any detail. It must have been movable though because it was under the hopper car. It did have a rubber hose that connected to the steel pipe that fed sand to the tower. There was a small wooden structure about 10 feet away. It must of housed something for the unit. I never looked inside I was thinking about golf back then, railroading was only a job. The hopper's door was slightly cracked and I thought it had some sort of crank attached. That's the best I could do for you. If you use this method Good Luck.

I still play a lot of golf.

NYC_George

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This is the best I could do Grand Man. I made a fast model of what I remember about the unit that pumped the sand to the tower in Brewster. I walked by it for 12 years and never once looked at it in any detail. It must have been movable though because it was under the hopper car. It did have a rubber hose that connected to the steel pipe that fed sand to the tower. There was a small wooden structure about 10 feet away. It must of housed something for the unit. I never looked inside I was thinking about golf back then, railroading was only a job. The hopper's door was slightly cracked and I thought it had some sort of crank attached. That's the best I could do for you. If you use this method Good Luck.

I still play a lot of golf.

NYC_George

Fantastic. I'll go for something similar. Could the wooden structure have housed the compressor? I'm planning to do a small compressor building out of styrene.

On another subject, I just noticed a photo of the fueling rack at Grand Junction in the early 80s. There was no concrete pad/walkway...:eek: I'm thinking that we'll have one though, it would simply look better. :eek:
 
Check out Bill Kosandas fuel rack on his website when you get a chance. It is pretty nice....
 
Eric, if you can remember my steam service area, there is a dryer/compressor house alongside the sand bin. Along with this was the pipe leading from this building to the included sanding tower. This was described as the air converyor used to move the dried sand. This was Walthers.
 
What you need are a couple of two-wheeled box/drum on a cart; that's to empty out the toilet in the locos....

:D

Kennedy (Honey Wagon, MI)
 
Alcomotive, I looked thru Bill's pics and couldn't find the loco terminal. It's a great idea though because I've always been a huge fan of Bill's work. Maybe he can post a pic here.

Hey Rex. I'm going to go for an operation that would date a little later and will use a hopper for the sand supply. The theory would be the same on conveying the sand up to the tower with air pressure. I'm leaning toward a scratched compressor house but an air reservoir charged by locomotive air is still a possibility too. The tower has the fill line. It goes into the base, so an air line coming out of the compressor house or reservoir into the ground is called for.

I love how the Walthers kits give prototype background info.

Kennedy, The honey wagon is a great idea. There are some crappy jobs in this world. :D
 
Grande man ~
I am sorry I was thinking of another layout...Bill does great work too but check this guy out here on our forum...go to his profile and pick his photo album...SWISSENGINEER

He has numerous shots of his facilities...great stuff
 
Eric NYC- George is right about a steam line running through the compressor bulding for heat .Up North when temps. run below freezing we had steam heating up the air compressors to keep them for freezing up !!!!
 
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Covered hopper cars & sand

It'll be a little while but I'll post pics. I've got to get started on the kits and be on the lookout for the new Peco turnout.

Hi Grand Man
I was just looking at the new issue of Model Railroad Craftsman. They have an article on train cars used as structures. In three of the photos covered hopper cars with the wheels off were used as sand storage. In one of the photos the car was cut in half and welded shut. They all seem to have some type of expansion tank next to the car. Maybe an expansion tank was in the wooden building at Brewster. I think a hopper car cut in half supported by some I beam steel is much more interesting model to create.


NYC_George

NYC_George
 
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Hi Grand Man
I was just looking at the new issue of Model Railroad Craftsman. They have an article on train cars used as structures. In three of the photos covered hopper cars with the wheels off were used as sand storage. In one of the photos the car was cut in half and welded shut. They all seem to have some type of expansion tank next to the car. Maybe an expansion tank was in the wooden building at Brewster. I think a hopper car cut in half supported by some I beam steel is much more interesting model to create.


NYC_George

NYC_George

I saw that article too...certainly would make for an interesting model, especially since I have a few covered hopper shells in the scrap bin :D

The one that surprised me the most though was the box car bridge :eek:
 
Hi Grand Man
I was just looking at the new issue of Model Railroad Craftsman. They have an article on train cars used as structures. In three of the photos covered hopper cars with the wheels off were used as sand storage. In one of the photos the car was cut in half and welded shut. They all seem to have some type of expansion tank next to the car. Maybe an expansion tank was in the wooden building at Brewster. I think a hopper car cut in half supported by some I beam steel is much more interesting model to create.


NYC_George

NYC_George

I'll have to take a look at the article. It sounds interesting. I think we'll probably go with a hopper unloading track like you posted earlier though.

Paul, Thanks for the info. Ya'll are making this project more interesting and fun.
 
Covered hopper sand car

I'll have to take a look at the article. It sounds interesting. I think we'll probably go with a hopper unloading track like you posted earlier though.

Paul, Thanks for the info. Ya'll are making this project more interesting and fun.

After seeing that artical I almost bet the sand car in Brewster never moved. I didn't see it move in the 12 year's I was there. It was at the end of a dead end track by the sanding tower. They must of brought in sand from an outside source. That's why the unit was under the car because the car didn't move. They just didn't take off the trucks like the other railroads did. Do hopper car's have compartments in side? I bet only half the car was used because the unit under the car never moved to another door. Like I said I was more interested in sand traps back then and I only spotted engines to be sanded. The engine house personal took care of every thing else. There was a fireman nicked named HO Cole because he was heavy into model rairoading. I some times see him at train shows. The next time I see him I'll ask about it. I bet he know's every thing about it. I started modeling a inspection pit some time ago and never finished, I guess I'll finish it now. I'm also going to add the cut in half hopper car for the sand supply. It will be interesting to see how every one goes about this project.

NYC_George
 
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If it's a regular covered hopper, then probably it has compartments inside. If it was originally an open-topped that they covered up, then no, but during that conversion, the shop coulda welded a plate inside to partition it off.

I probably have the RMC, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Kennedy
 



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