Hi,

This is my first contribution to the Big Blue Train forum.

I normally model Belgian prototype however, a couple of months back, I started this minimal space layout as a side project to be able to run my 2 Santa Fe zebra stripe locomotives (my all time favorite US livery) in a suitable environment. Inspiration came from a series of articles on PFE operations published many years ago in Railroad Model Craftsman and from this interesting website on fruit packing sheds in California <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.coastdaylight.com">http://www.coastdaylight.com</a><!-- m -->. The overall size of the module is 50” x 20”. A detachable fiddle yard with 5 track traverser (22” x 20”) is still to be built.

The main theme is fruit traffic in Central California in the early 60ies. The ice house with platform following a (standard?) PFE design forms the center piece. I used MDF covered with filler for the concrete walls; the platform is made of balsa.



No ice house without a fruit packing shed. This one, still work in process, is a highly compressed version of Youngstown Grape Distributor in Reedley, CA (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://coastdaylight.com/esl/vid/cncph_vid_reedly.html">http://coastdaylight.com/esl/vid/cncph_vid_reedly.html</a><!-- m -->). The building hides the transition between layout and fiddle yard and features a covered loading platform, which provides for some interesting openness on the front side. I may leave part of the roof carpentry visible.



Wileman Bros. & Elliott is a backdrop building, non railway served and based on the former fruit packing plant in Cutler, CA (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://coastdaylight.com/esl/vid/cncph_vid_cutler.html">http://coastdaylight.com/esl/vid/cncph_vid_cutler.html</a><!-- m -->). This concrete and brick construction was converted into a grain storage facility in later years, hence the addition of the bucket elevator. I re-positioned the elevator due to a lack of space in front of the building but also to cover the vertical seam between building and backdrop. The small tank on the left side of the building (thought to be holding fuel for grain drying) serves the same purpose.



Finally, the fuel and sand facility is the excuse for a guest locomotive to make an appearance (an F-unit with cat whiskers is on my wish list). This is more or less a copy of the one Bob Smaus built for his layout. I added an impression of a fuel pump and filter next to the small shed.



Operations are obviously rather limited and include pre-icing a couple of reefers, loading them at the fruit packing house and then returning them to the ice platform for additional icing. Furthermore the packing house occasionally receives a box car with new fruit crates and the tank car at the fuel facility needs to be switched from time to time. All in all, around 25 movements.

Finally, here is a view of the total layout (a roof will be needed to avoid the shadows on the backdrop).



Looking forward to the comments of the forum experts.

Gino

Here's my only comment:



That is an AMAZING looking layout!

Welcome and very very well done

Gino,

After looking at your references, your layout is very believable and realistically done. You have done a great job in capturing the look of the buildings in your modeling. Nicely done

Bruce

Inspirational work! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Very nice. :mrgreen:

Very impressed with your layout. The heading"Visalia District" caught my eye as live about 20 miles from Visalia and the other towns with packing houses are within 25 to 30 miles and are towns that I have been to. Most all the packing houses that are still running are all truck served. As I am sure you know, both the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific ran their tracks almost parallel from each other from Fresno south through the east side of the San Joaquin Valley and served so many packing houses. Today, as a lot of the Santa Fe track was ripped up, the San Joaquin Valley Railroad use some track from both railroads to serve the companies that need rail service. One interesting point now is there is still street running in downtown Visalia. Fun to watch as the train blows the horn to cross a street every block for about 3/4 of a mile. Here in Hanford, we have an old packing house about an 1/8 of a mile from my house that was used for grape shipments but is now used as a dance hall. Not a thing of beauty and not something as nice as the building you modeled. We also have one of the two ice house downtown left and it has been repurposed. Again wonderful job building the layout. Thanks for posting.
Al Jones

Gino,

Excellent job. Not too overly detailed which makes it a creditable scene.

Larry

Thanks for the kind comments. Glad to learn the model is somewhat reminding of the prototype (I have been in many states in the US but have not made it to California yet so on site data gathering is still lacking at this point).

Work continues on the Youngstown packing shed. The roof is almost finished and awaits more dust. I decided against the visible carpentry as it made the building look shorter. The 2 LEDs under the roof unfortunately produce too much spotlight effect. Not sure how to remedy this with the roof firmly glued to the walls …



The covered platform will allow for some interesting scenes, once completed.



Furthermore, the installation of the electricity poles is being prepared. I still had some Rix Products examples in stock but will make my own from real wood next time. I have a couple of questions on the pole in the following picture. Firstly, I know utility poles also served as mileposts but I am not sure whether this applied to any pole next to the tracks or merely to the telegraph poles along the mainline? Since the Santa Fe most probably did not own this electricity pole, is it plausible that it was used as a milepost? Or is it safer in this case to just foresee a generic pole plus a separate milepost? Secondly, the layout represents the end of line so the mileage should start here at zero. Is there actually a milepost displaying “0” or is the first milepost the one with “1”? Any feedback much appreciated.



Finally, the layout sign is attached (always a rewarding moment).



Gino

A couple of things should be clarified, especially for non-US modelers. Utility poles and railroad "telegraph" poles are two different things. A utility pole is owned by an electrical utility company and typically carries higher-voltage 3-phase AC power. Here is a typical utility pole, near a California packing shed, in fact:

[attachment=19281]

It is taller than a typical railroad "telegraph" pole, has fewer crossarms, and has insulators in groups of three for three-phase power. Here is a typical railroad "telegraph" pole:

[attachment=19280]

It is shorter than a typical utility pole and has more crossarms and insulators, although this depends on the specific railroad location and use. It carries railroad power, telephone, and signal code lines.

Utility poles often parallel public streets and highways. Railroad code lines are on railroad right of way and parallel the track. (Obviously there are exceptions to every rule here.)

A railroad would not put a milepost marker on a utility pole, since a utility pole is the property of the utility, not the railroad. In addition, while the UP and SP did put milepost markers on their code line poles, the Santa Fe didn't do this. The Santa Fe had separate milepost markers, which you can see in the foreground here:

[attachment=19279]

Also, mile marker were put fairly low down, not up at the top.

A little switching branch might not have any markers -- I'm not totally sure about this.

Visalia was MP 24.8 on the line between Corcoran and Fresno. If you want to include a milepost, it should probably be 25.

Thanks for the info. I will restrict myself to plain electricity poles.
I did not realize there was a big difference in height between the electricity and telegraph poles. That explains why mile markers on code line poles are rather close to the cross arms and still at the correct height for the engineer.
In the Trackside Details booklet by MR I have at home, the Santa Fe is mentioned as one of the railroads using telegraph poles as mileposts (at least in the 50ies). Could this be a practice that was discontinued in the course of time?
Gino

Several things -- the MR and Kalmbach books aren't the most reliable. I would take photographic evidence before I took the word of some writer. Here's another Santa Fe milepost:

[attachment=19314]

Also, the Santa Fe Coast Lines (i.e., in California) did do things somewhat differently. But I've railfanned the ATSF from Chicago to California since the 1960s and have seen only the milepost style in the photo.

I found a couple of shots of the real Visalia that I took about 1993. This would have been at the end of the Santa Fe and around the time both the Santa Fe and SP lines went to the San Joaquin Valley railroad. Two important things would be the Santa Fe style station sign and the reddish Santa Fe ballast.

[attachment=19316]

[attachment=19315]