Trains of Thought
82 http://www.ModelRailroader.comBy Tony KoesterLittle things can mean a lot
I often write about the
potential of scale model rail-
roading from a point of view
that presumes good modeling
and realistic operation go
hand in hand. Not everyone
who builds great models
enjoys realistic operation, of
course, just as many serious
operators champion the cause
of the Plywood Pacific. But
the only way I can think of to
realize the full potential of
our hobby is to do both: build
accurate scale models and
operate them in an equally
realistic manner.
Thinking this way leads to
some interesting realizations.
We’ve all enjoyed seeing a
model scene detailed to the
nines; a backwoods engine-
house with full interior
detailing comes readily to
mind. But there are some
details that do more to “earn
their keep” than others. That
is, they play both scenic and
operational roles.A photo that Clark Propst
shared with me, above, makes
my point. The freight car
folks will see opportunities to
add details such as torn-off
instruction cards on the door
tag boards and streaks of
weathering. The vehicle and
scenery folks will see an
opportunity to detail a tractor
with a front-end loader and
to pile some scrap lumber on
the ground.
From an operational per-
spective, however, everything
in the scene comes together.
The boxcar is alongside a
grain elevator. That tractor is
probably used to shove a
loaded car out of the way to
make room for an empty.
And the piles of “scrap lum-
ber” are actually grain doors,
each typically three boards
high, several of which you
can see already nailed to the
inside of the boxcar door
opening. They’ll eventuallyreach almost to the roof on
both sides, leaving just
enough room for a skinny
hammer wielder to slide out
over the top.What has this got to do
with operation? Until some-
one figures out how to motor-
ize a small-scale tractor, that
part of the action will remain
moot. And I doubt we’re
going to fasten grain doors to
the inside of boxcar doors
during an operating session.
The question we need to
ask is, where did those grain
doors come from? Were they
nailed together on site using
boards from a local lumber-
yard? No, a closer look at
the grain doors would show
signs of prior use. They’ve
probably made quite a few
trips between elevators and
mills where they were pried
loose a few at a time to enable
cars to be unloaded.
Since the doors had value –
indeed, they were often sten-
ciled with the reporting marks
of the owning railroad – the
railroads wanted them back.
If they went off line, their
costs were added to waybillcharges and credited when
they were returned to the rail-
road’s materials department.
For those of you modeling
the time before covered hop-
pers became the norm for
grain shipments, this adds yet
another task for the yardmas-
ter: switch a grain-door-filled
boxcar into today’s local. And
for the local’s crew: spot the
boxcar at the depot or on a
team track for unloading.
Professional yardmaster
and modeler Dan Holbrook
has given talks
about grain load-
ing at railroad
prototype model-
ing meets. He
notes that as of
1912, the standard
grain door was
20" to 24" high
and 7 feet long. In
1938, this was
changed to 10" to
20" high and 7 to
9 feet long.
Owning railroad
initials were 1.5"
to 4" high.
The material
(stores) depart-
ment shippedbetween 200 and 400-plus
grain doors in company box-
cars. Each local agent, who
had to keep a tally of doors
used annually by each eleva-
tor, would have a section crew
unload the appropriate num-
ber of doors by the depot or
team track. The elevator
could pick up what they were
allocated there.Thus, a simple scenic detail- stacks of three-board grain
doors – and maybe a well-
detailed and
weathered boxcar
with a door slid
open to reveal a
grain door,
expand beyond
modeling projects
to become opera-
tional assets.
Our railroads
are small by any
measure. Making
scenic details do
double-duty as
operational
enhancements
is a good way to
double the return
on our invest-
ment.
Grain doors are being nailed to the inside of this Chicago Great Western 40-foot boxcar.
Additional three-plank “doors” are lying nearby. Sidney Wheeler photo, Ernie Valentine collectionTHERE ARE
SOME DETAILS
THAT DO MORE
TO ‘EARN THEIR
KEEP’ THAN
OTHERS. THAT
IS, THEY PLAY
BOTH SCENIC
AND OPERA-
TIONAL ROLES.- TONY