CP Scarborough Harbor Branch Line - HO Scale

[tetters]

Hi tetters.
Who deals in Homasote?
When we were camped by the Mississippi we watched tugs shoving major fleets of barges. One we counted was 4 wide and 6 long, with the tug at the back -- it looked as if it were inside, replacing a barge in the rear rank. Common was 2 in a row with tug behind.

Hey David,

For Homasote look no further then here...
http://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1CHMG_...od+toronto

Commonwealth Plywood. According to them they are one of the only dealers in Ontario that carry it. 2 sheets cost me $50 bucks and will make me a ton of roadbed...which isn't bad considering that is what you would pay for two sheets of 3/4 ply.

Thanks for the tip about tug placement. I have seen pics of it at the side though, so that is what I am sticking with when I finally get around to its placement on my layout.

[Russ Bellinis]

Tug placement will be determined in large part by where your model location is. I used to service a fleet of refrigerated trailers that were put on barges and sent to Santa Catalina Island. You know the song:"Twenty six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is the island for me..." Anyway, every trip involves 26 miles across open ocean, so they use one barge per tug. If the water gets rough on the way out or back, trying to handle more than one barge might be difficult. I'm not sure how barges are handled on the Great Lakes, but I've heard storms can make the water there almost as bad as the ocean. With a river like the Mississippi, the main obstacle is the current, so I can see where they can handle a lot of barges with a single tug.

[Ralph]

That's a terrific pic of a car float and tug Tetters!
Ralph

[tetters]

Thanks for the comments Russ, and for all the comments in general.

That is good to know and very true about the Great Lakes and how choppy they can get during a good storm.

Despite, how they do it in the real world, I may play with the placement until I get something that is both interesting / appealing to look at, as well as close to the real thing.

It's like I said, I'm just playing around right now just to get a feel for it all. Although, like the pic, I may move it further towards the back keeping it on the side.

P.S. I wish I could take credit for the photo but I cannot, I found it and several others on railpictures.net when I typed in NYNJ.
http://railpictures.net/showphotos.php?r...20Railroad

I like this one with the loco on the float.

[bdw9535]

Just some thoughts on your carfloat operation pertaining to loading and unloading. I have two carfloats on my layout and to slow things done during an ops session the operators have to follow these guidelines. When loading the carfloat the center track is loaded as one move, then the track closes to the tug gets one car, the outside track then gets two cars, tug side then gets two cars, continue till float is loaded. To unload, one car from furthest track from tug, two from inside track, two from outside track, continue till tracks empty, center track then pulled. I have the Walthers carfloats and aprons so idler flats are used to reach onto the apron and float.
If you can find or borrow here are several books that you might find interesting , Brooklyn's Waterfront Railways by Jay Bendersky( mine is 21 Years old don't believe its still in print),New York Harbor Railroads by Thomas Flagg vols 1 and 2. Volume 2 has a section on docking and loading/unloading the carfloat. Where Rails Meet the Sea by Michael Krieger and Walthers Railroading Along the Waterfront, Eli Rantanes. The Walthers book is where I got the info on loading the carfloat. Kind of got a little long but maybe this will give you some additional info.

Bruce

[tetters]

Thanks Bruce. I've seen rules for loading a float somewhere else before that also mentioned the center track was always done first in order to avoid capsizing the float.

A quick search through the library database turns up nothing and of the books listed on-line at Amazon lists "Where Rail Meets Sea" as the only affordable one. The ones are out of print, and the Walther's one starts at $75.00 for a used copy while its is listed at over 300.00 new??? Just crazy.

[Trucklover]

Thanks Bruce. I've seen rules for loading a float somewhere else before that also mentioned the center track was always done first in order to avoid capsizing the float.

A quick search through the library database turns up nothing and of the books listed on-line at Amazon lists "Where Rail Meets Sea" as the only affordable one. The ones are out of print, and the Walther's one starts at $75.00 for a used copy while its is listed at over 300.00 new??? Just crazy.

Those are some ridiculous prices for books, its just sickening how a book can be listed for such an outrageous amount of money for paper and information. Its like the steel mill books, just sickening! lol

[bdw9535]

tetters, Morning Sun Books still has NY Harbor RR's vol 2 listed on their site, vol 1 is out of print. Also located a Walthers book for $55 from a book store in Washington. Can't believe that some places are asking $404 for this book.

Bruce

[Ralph]

Great site with the pics Tetters. I have to say that I'm so pleased with the photos you posted because they look like my vision of a car float scene on my layout, all the way down to the green tug!



My float only has two tacks. The float in the pic looks like it only has two as well... I load mine with by pushing only two cars onboard at a time, alternating sides.

Ralph

[tetters]

Gah...so frustrating!

I've been so busy with life and all the last two or three weeks that I cannot sit down to focus on anything. Layout work has stalled, and I haven't even finished milling the Homasote for my roadbed.

Just never enough time during the day.

I keep looking at a glorified 16x15 ft shelf and wondering when I'll be able to finally get some rail down on it? With summer around the corner, I cannot see getting too much done at all over the next few months either. I really like the nice weather and would rather be outside, but this re-build is taking a long time to really get going.

Like last year, this might be the time to take the next few months off and come back to it all in September.


(sigh....) :|

[tetters]

Hey boyos! Did ya miss me? Probably not, or as the missus would say, "Yea, I missed you...with every shot fired so far!" hock:

So...I did get some work done during the last few months. Not a terrible bunch, but some. No pics just yet. I wanna get some track down first. I managed to get my roadbed milled, cut and glued in place. I also painted it and the ply decking a dirt coloured brown. Plus picked up a really dark blue as a base coat for the water area in the harbour. Finally installed the last 8 ft section at the short end of the layout too. Fun stuff. I have placed an order for some supplies, stationary decoders, and other electronic tidbits to get rocking on this as the modelling bug has been nibbling at my heels for a couple of weeks, won't be long before the little biter makes his mark. There is a lot of work to do. In the end I think it will be all worth the effort. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for details and pics.

P.S. I've been lurking and trying to keep up with the summers activities around here. Seeing some nice work by everyone. Time to get re-aquainted again.

Peace!

[ocalicreek]

Glad you're back, and glad the bug is bitin' again. Looking forward to your work. My own layout work has stalled as I have been working on the kitbash summer contest, but it glares at me every time I get out there. If I think about it too much, well, I may actually start working on it again!

Galen

[cnw1961]

Hi Tetters, good to see that you stopped being a lurker . Looking forward to seeing you harbor layout evolve ... hey, but you know, you should post some pics soon to keep us happy, don’t you?

[tetters]

Thanks for the welcome back guys. Actually. I'm looking for a set of drawings. I found this float bridge on the CNJ Blog (A continuing source or inspiration for me!) and Tim mentions the author of the plans as well as the builder of this model which was seen at the last NMRA Convention.

Howe Truss float bridge built by Tom Griffiths


It is really a fantastic model and worth a look. Check out the entire entry here and scroll down past the rail tugs.

http://www.bronx-terminal.com/?p=3492

I think it would fit in nicely with the theme I am trying to achieve with my own layout. If anyone knows of a source where I can get drawings or similar sources that I can find plans for this structure, I'd appreciate it a ton. I've tried searching google and the local library and well...its a hit and miss.

[cnw1961]

That float bridge would look fantastic on your layout. I’ve been searching HABS/HAER for "float bride", though I could not find any plans, here are some pictures that might interest you (if you don’t know them already): <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhphoto&fileName=nj/nj1600/nj1606/photos/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=Greenville%20Yard,%20Transfer%20Bridge%20System,%20Port%20of%20New%20York%2fNew%20Jersey,%20Upper%20New%20York%20Bay,%20Jersey%20City,%20Hudson%20County,%20NJ&displayType=1&itemLink=D?hh:3:./temp/~ammem_LGnX">http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?co ... ammem_LGnX</a><!-- m -->:

In addition I found some plans and pics that might help you to build your pier: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhphoto&fileName=ny/ny1500/ny1595/photos/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=South%20Brooklyn%20Freight%20Terminal,%2029th%20Street%20Pier,%20Opposite%20end%20of%20Twenty-ninth%20Street%20on%20upper%20New%20Y,%20Brooklyn,%20Kings%20County,%20NY&displayType=1&itemLink=D?hh:8:./temp/~ammem_Jl7e:">http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?co ... mmem_Jl7e:</a><!-- m -->:

Did you find this site on floatbridge operations: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/Floatbridge.html">http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloc ... ridge.html</a><!-- m -->. I found it on this site with lots of information about the New York terminal railroads: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/IndustrialLocos.html">http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/IndustrialLocos.html</a><!-- m -->