tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39123087149248658242024-03-17T01:00:17.270-07:00Robert's Vasona Branch BlogSan Jose history, as seen from the railroad tracks.Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.comBlogger431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-51237477562234401142024-02-24T00:09:00.000-08:002024-02-24T00:21:08.976-08:00Getting Way Too Excited About Terminal Strips <div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhll23zDbW32W5n2ZsCJrz0L98X-VLy3r6GJ8rVqyLGLFd_w_Pa_fUzpd0f9jRUMN83mAP8o8IPTJBcvF_bWTGnbesBelSC2j3IKOnXjet1hQePwZiszla3aB-52gHXYML_glO9-4btMg6Fd2gHHJXSwS7tGa9NiWLmVSkQVmb1mfqTGtTs_IhDRatQS948/s1267/terminal_strip.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhll23zDbW32W5n2ZsCJrz0L98X-VLy3r6GJ8rVqyLGLFd_w_Pa_fUzpd0f9jRUMN83mAP8o8IPTJBcvF_bWTGnbesBelSC2j3IKOnXjet1hQePwZiszla3aB-52gHXYML_glO9-4btMg6Fd2gHHJXSwS7tGa9NiWLmVSkQVmb1mfqTGtTs_IhDRatQS948/s320/terminal_strip.jpeg"/></a>
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<p>
In my last post about <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2024/02/big-changes-at-signal-gulch.html">replacing the Vasona Branch's signal controller</a>, you might have spotted those odd terminal strips in the pictures of the new signal controller. These are the Dinkle modular terminal strips (the 2.5N size) intended for professional use on industrial controllers and electrical panels. As someone who grew up using the vintage Molex black terminal "barrier" strips from Radio Shack, the terminal strips definitely feel like I’m in a new century of wiring practice. The individual terminals in multiple colors clip together onto a DIN rail, a common mounting bracket for electrical equipment like controllers and circuit breakers.
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I found them great for model railroads (as compared with the traditional terminal blocks) for a few reasons:
<ul>
<li> packs more terminals in the same space - about 3/16" per terminal</li>
<li> multiple colors so easy to identify terminals and polarity</li>
<li> inset test points for safer testing with voltmeter</li>
<li> supports adding jumpers for wire-free connections between strips, and two jumpers allowed on any terminal.</li>
<li> terminals are covered, so loose wire less likely to touch others.</li>
<li> able to reconfigure as wiring changes - possible to pop terminals out of the middle to change colors, or move end clamp blocks to add terminals.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWeaVLFdk20IBZWUHSgvrTF9ugE4Felqdief__nM79sbm73vOCmgE1ZQruPQEX9mdMqIIyOEMJmsLnpO_nat-FOaYGTDvm9Q0qrpCJ3kCOhTNbTw6s9CKM3v7eFh-jAnd_2ftOxt74y0gj8jpZHlQQRBJ6I0CwvBJ9cnPhYat2twmydKjkNtPDNhSJsn0/s4032/terminals.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWeaVLFdk20IBZWUHSgvrTF9ugE4Felqdief__nM79sbm73vOCmgE1ZQruPQEX9mdMqIIyOEMJmsLnpO_nat-FOaYGTDvm9Q0qrpCJ3kCOhTNbTw6s9CKM3v7eFh-jAnd_2ftOxt74y0gj8jpZHlQQRBJ6I0CwvBJ9cnPhYat2twmydKjkNtPDNhSJsn0/s320/terminals.jpeg"/></a>
<p>
Close-up of the Dinkle 2.5DN terminals showing how they're wired and attached. Terminals are 3/16" wide, wire is 22 gauge.</p>
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The price is a bit more than terminal strips from Amazon; they work out to about 30c a terminal compared to 12c a terminal for the classic terminal strips. (They're all a deal compared to $4 each at Radio Shack back in the 1980's!) The other challenge is that getting an assortment of colors requires buying a box of 100 terminals at a time - that’s $30. Getting a good assortment (red, black, green, yellow, blue, white, and brown) requires spending about the same as a plastic locomotive. You’ll also need some of the DIN rail, and some of the end clamp blocks for securing a row of terminals. (For our low voltage uses, you don’t need the thin plastic endcaps to cover the last terminal in a row.) I’m planning on using all I need then selling off spare terminals to someone else if I've got enough unused terminals. I could also imagine having a group of modelers team up and share an assortment.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJ6LWV-hjPZA4tVw9wS7wvV2VmlKW0vaxgVBb-dhrUCRwujOB9sEVfiAXWEvvqJs1MwT2K2LXREXUx-7olcKZLr7HxXE874o76MkfG1JhJ_kyNfXzmCZbyfTRXr82GKvuDHZNFnhvpcQGsy5cBxNlhIOE3510xLgpMA14N_TeKO-fr-huk4NBHR5K5YqM/s2009/modified_jumper.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="2009" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJ6LWV-hjPZA4tVw9wS7wvV2VmlKW0vaxgVBb-dhrUCRwujOB9sEVfiAXWEvvqJs1MwT2K2LXREXUx-7olcKZLr7HxXE874o76MkfG1JhJ_kyNfXzmCZbyfTRXr82GKvuDHZNFnhvpcQGsy5cBxNlhIOE3510xLgpMA14N_TeKO-fr-huk4NBHR5K5YqM/s320/modified_jumper.jpeg"/></a>
<p>Jumper with every other pin cut. With these, I could line up a row of alternating green and white terminals for the different switch machine power feeds, then use two jumper barss to connect all to power coming in from a single pair of terminals.</p>
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<p>
The colored terminals are particularly nice for documenting the wiring. I use different colors for DCC supply vs terminals going out to the tracks (red/white vs red/black), and could color code for signals easily (red/brown and green/brown terminals for “upper” and “lower” signal lights at same location. Sets of terminals can be connected together using jumper bars that fit into the top (and don't interfere with the screw terminals.) 10 terminal jumper bars are available, and can be cut shorter to gang several adjacent terminals together. For the switch motor power, I ended up cutting every other pin from a pair of the jumper bars so that I could feed in the two wires for power to one set of terminals, and have power distributed to all the other pairs simultaneously.
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<p>
The color coding and labeling also helps me double-check wiring and remember how things are connected years later. When I rewired my DCC track connections using the new terminal strips, I realized I’d mis-connected power from multiple boosters to different stretches of track, probably because I lost track of which terminals were for which section of the railroad. That mistake caused me to melt at least one locomotive when it shorted against a switch but was still getting power from a different booster.
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<p>
Drawbacks? I needed to use a smaller screwdriver to fit the protected holes for the screw terminals - I couldn’t grab any random home repair screwdriver to turn huge screw heads. The terminals also bent a little bit when pulled by larger wires like solid 12 gauge DCC buses, but work fine for smaller wiring.
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<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Jfu4Kp84QWr6mT4C9Myv3E9BL3NZdRjrzrwkv-rDM3rWd6Y2-K1lxTrZBuvXLk2K0Jc-Bu0vOYYa42Qpep4_0qyjsBsOdm-BLaUp98dbIOnr5lURKGyxQHohK5Yv1ecr06dcxToUr05Hq2t_jwOxFu66RdkZC8cEDqwMShqlGgEE2NlX1XBXSrJoiJO_/s4032/small.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Jfu4Kp84QWr6mT4C9Myv3E9BL3NZdRjrzrwkv-rDM3rWd6Y2-K1lxTrZBuvXLk2K0Jc-Bu0vOYYa42Qpep4_0qyjsBsOdm-BLaUp98dbIOnr5lURKGyxQHohK5Yv1ecr06dcxToUr05Hq2t_jwOxFu66RdkZC8cEDqwMShqlGgEE2NlX1XBXSrJoiJO_/s320/small.JPG"/></a>
<p>One of the rewired panels. It's much easier to understand now!</p>
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I’m slowly going around the layout, cleaning up wiring, adding labels, and adding the new terminal strips. I’m very, very happy with these - the terminal strips make it easier for me to understand the wiring even years after I’ve done it, and they make the underside of the layout look neat and organized. I suspect I'll love the terminal strips even more in ten years when I need to figure out a rewiring I did in the distant past.
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<i>
If you're interested in checking these terminal strips out: I got my Dinkle terminal strip parts from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dinkle+DN2.5">Amazon.com</a> - search for "Dinkle 2.5N". Some sellers offer the components - separate purchases for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dinkle-DK2-5N-RD-Rail-Terminal-Blocks/dp/B01D5M3B14/ref=sr_1_3">boxes of 100 of each color terminal</a>, for the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dinkle-SS2-Terminal-Block-Bracket/dp/B00R1WTZ56/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2">end brackets which hold the terminals in place</a>, the DIN rail, and the jumpers. Others offer assortments of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dinkle-Assembly-Jumpers-Terminal-Blocks/dp/B07TN3RLYZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa">20 terminals of specific colors</a> for common electrical projects such as solar panel controllers. The little assortment was a good way for me to decide the terminal strips were for me. I cut my initial cost when buying full boxes of connectors by just getting a few colors of terminals that I needed for some specific tasks such as re-wiring switch machine power. (I was using just green, white, and yellow for wiring connected to the switch machines.) I later got boxes of the other terminal colors as I rewired areas with other wire colors.
</i>
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<i>
You can also see the terminal strips in use on the layout - the Vasona Branch will be open for tours at the NMRA Pacific Coast Region's <a href="https://www.pcrnmra.net/conv2024/">2024 Convention</a> April 24-28, 2024 in San Jose.
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</p>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-10667540430455108982024-02-23T23:38:00.000-08:002024-02-23T23:40:29.097-08:00Big Changes At Signal Gulch<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4c_IrLm6Ro0ozGZ9Ohl1Kq0TzcyzneeY77ebPkzibWBT7Q1UGPy8KRvJEKCGKjao0SJ0Qukf4jlESnEY-cRtJVi8oRYWiOHvlqNtk2QIccjbZFMnGobdiOCkNXz6q1zgsL2UZ896TwYciUq1XBq_lQ_B4YoYg8UokGuASPpuYSV1zGuhwR5qQ9cS0llW/s3008/glenwood_signals.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1742" data-original-width="3008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4c_IrLm6Ro0ozGZ9Ohl1Kq0TzcyzneeY77ebPkzibWBT7Q1UGPy8KRvJEKCGKjao0SJ0Qukf4jlESnEY-cRtJVi8oRYWiOHvlqNtk2QIccjbZFMnGobdiOCkNXz6q1zgsL2UZ896TwYciUq1XBq_lQ_B4YoYg8UokGuASPpuYSV1zGuhwR5qQ9cS0llW/s320/glenwood_signals.JPG"/></a><p>Semaphores at the east end of Glenwood siding.</p></div>
<p>
When is a model railroad “done”? Some might say it’s when it’s complete - when every scene is detailed and when the trains are running well. Some might say that a model railroad is always being changed, so it’s only “done” when it’s being torn down. I’ll throw out another option - our model railroad is “done” when we’ve confirmed that it’s the right design, when we’ve built enough to know “this is what it’s going to stay like”, and when we’re satisfied with the condition. One easy way to know when we’re satisfied is when we move from building new stuff to having to make big infrastructure changes - replacing a command control system, or changing control panels, or fixing other normally-invisible bits of the layout. If we’ve decided to do some wholesale replacement of some invisible aspect of the layout, that must mean the layout’s lasted long enough for us to need to do big repairs and that we’re happy enough with the layout to do the improvement instead of tearing down and starting a new one.
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<p>
In my case, replacing the signal system suggests that I’ve done pretty good with this layout.
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<p>
One of the pain points for my Vasona Branch layout over the last few years has been the signaling system. The real Los Gatos - Santa Cruz branch had automatic block signals (ABS) installed when the line was reconstructed after the 1906 earthquake. (Read Carsten Lundsten’s explanation of SP’s ABS signals <a href="http://www.lundsten.dk/us_signaling/abs_st_sp/index.html">here</a> to learn what automatic block signals mean, and how the SP operated them.) The SP assumed the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz line was going to need increased capacity for future San Francisco - Santa Cruz traffic. As they upgraded the line from narrow gauge to standard gauge, they also added the automatic signals to minimize the effort of running trains over the mountains. In the narrow gauge days, keeping two trains off the same track required staffs and other physical tokens, or required explicit train orders to carefully control movements. Having multiple trains follow each other in the same direction was tedious and slow. The automatic block signals got rid of some of this work, allowing railroad crews to know the track ahead was safe to occupy. Note that ABS signals only provide <i>protection</i>, rather than authority. A green signal means that the track ahead is clear, not that your train is allowed to occupy that track. Those train order operators at the stations along the line are still needed to let trains know when they're safe to go.
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<p>
On the model, the signaling system consists of a bunch of signals placed at intervals along the track, and a signal controller hidden underneath the layout. The controller keeps track of which tracks are occupied using detector circuits and notes which switches might be thrown away from the main line, and sets the ABS signals accordingly. Soon after I’d laid the track on the upper level of the Vasona Branch, I bought a pair of signal controllers - <a href="https://www.teamdigital1.com/prod_catalogue/sic24_product/sic24.html">SIC24 (“Signal and Indicator Controllers”)</a>
from <a href="http://www.teamdigital1.com">Team Digital</a>. The SIC24 is a small circuit board with a programmable chip on it; using a DCC programmer (or LocoNet), I could program in signal logic so that if a particular track detector indicated a train was present, or if the switch on either end of a single track was thrown wrong, a signal would go red. The Team Digital boards could also be connected together so that an input on one board could affect a signal output on the other. I used two boards for the needed 16 inputs and 48 outputs. All the signals were within about 10 feet of the SIC24 boards, so I connected all the signals with twisted-pair code 26 phone wire - no need for scattering electronics around the layout.
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<div class="singlepic"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_9zPHcW_kpt55hIfYnbozi948xa-n6iwFj0DBofskhpesj3JK6ak92uaNz54V8wqL6jAk6E6y-ErlW7i72ANz0OGDSQQrzIEhNtTUCPy0WNszdLAJsaR5OW1i5yKPjyAhr4dqHJdx2DNRVk-UsdIy9Y86w4XYPNSu94Syzl_ofm_zgTzrWgFzCm69Gl4/s4032/old_controller.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_9zPHcW_kpt55hIfYnbozi948xa-n6iwFj0DBofskhpesj3JK6ak92uaNz54V8wqL6jAk6E6y-ErlW7i72ANz0OGDSQQrzIEhNtTUCPy0WNszdLAJsaR5OW1i5yKPjyAhr4dqHJdx2DNRVk-UsdIy9Y86w4XYPNSu94Syzl_ofm_zgTzrWgFzCm69Gl4/s320/old_controller.jpeg"/></a><p>Old signal controller. Not my best work, but it worked for more than ten years.<p></div>
<p>
The photos shows one of the two SIC24 boards, and the phone cable providing the connection to the other board. This wasn't my neatest job, but it worked. You can see the signal power (large green wires with suitcase connector taps), inputs are yellow wires to the left, and signals are green/white and red/white wires below. I'd realized it was easier to put resistors on all the inputs and outputs here, so they're soldered onto the wires leading to the terminal strips. The odd shape of the plywood is because it's a scrap left over from cutting roadbed for curved track. I was unsure enough about whether the signals would be interesting that I didn't bother to build for good appearances.
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<p>
The SIC24 boards generally worked well. They “just worked” when the power came on, they had sufficient smarts to run ABS, they were configurable enough to handle a couple of non-standard layouts on the place, and they didn’t require having a computer in the garage with the layout. Over the years, though, the SIC24 boards did start showing problems. One problem is that there’s no way to debug what’s going on; if the indications weren’t making sense, it was hard to diagnose exactly what was happening without attaching a voltmeter to inputs and trying to remember how I’d programmed the boards several years before. I ended up building a little circuit using an Arduino microcontroller board that could listen to the two cards talking and show on a tiny screen which inputs were changing, but that was clunky to use, requiring me to crouch under the layout, plug in the device, and look at a tiny 2" screen to understand what inputs were seen. Over the years, there were also times where it seemed that bits of the signal programming were getting lost. Because I don’t have any Digitrax equipment, reprogramming the cards meant detaching them from the layout, carrying them to a programming track, and attempting to reprogram the whole card from JMRI. I’d then have to reattach the card and see whether the change took - whether the signals now worked correctly. If they didn’t, I had to guess whether I’d mis-programmed the card or if the card was having problems. The several minute delay between making a change and seeing if it worked wasn’t fun, and caused me to give up on several bad signal problem.
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<p>
I’d finally gotten frustrated enough to decide to replace the fifteen year old signal system a couple years ago. There’s plenty of choices out there, both commercial and home-made. The current <A HREF="https://www.nmra.org/lcc">NMRA Layout Command Control (LCC)</a> standard defines how to build interoperable signal systems without a central computer. The LCC boards are expected to be scattered around the layout near the signals, then connected via a common bus to communicate. <A HREF="http://www.rr-cirkits.com">RR-CirKits</a> is selling its Signal LCC and Tower LCC boards that work a lot like the SIC24s I’m currently using. However, they’ve still got the problem that debugging what’s going on requires a computer in the garage, increasing the work required for debugging. It also required me to get up to speed on a new technology, and I’d found some of the online manuals cryptic. Another possibility would be to go in the direction of Bruce Chubb’s centralized CMRI (Computer Model Railroad Interface). CMRI systems have a computer program control the signals, and defines how the different boards scattered under the layout all talk to the central computer.
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<p>
Both of these are a bit of overkill for me. CMRI seems intended a larger and more complex layout than I have, and has expectations about having a desktop computer present running specific software. LCC has the decentralized and hardcoded logic that I liked from the SIC24, but has similar problems with monitoring and debugging problems, and required me to come up to speed on how LCC worked.
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<p>
Unfortunately, my day job is as a software engineer, and so whenever I come across “do I buy something to make this happen, or do I just roll my own?”, I’ll often decide to go and build it. That’s often seen as a wasteful choice - why rebuild something that’s already available on the open market? However, for a small home layout, building my own makes more sense. I’ll know the design, know how to debug it when it breaks, and won’t be forced to do upgrades.
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<p>
In a perfect world, I’d have a tiny Linux computer under the layout controlling the signals, I’d be able to write my own code for controlling the signals, and I’d be able to run a little web server to show the current status of the signals. That’s not a hard thing to do these days; I can buy a Raspberry Pi single board computer for $50. The only question was how to control the signals.
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<p>
To keep my “no computers in the garage” rule, I chose to build from the Raspberry Pi. This is a little computer that’s the size of a deck of cards, but runs the UNIX operating system and can be logged into and programmed just like a larger computer. It’s easy to hide away, starts up within a minute, and is infinitely configurable. To handle the inputs from sensors on the layout and to power the LEDs for the signals, I chose <a href="https://www.modelrailroadcontrolsystems.com/iox32-version-2-3-32-line-i-o-expander/">Model Railroad Control System’s IOX32 boards</a>, small boards with 32 inputs or outputs that can connect to a computer. The IOX boards are built for CMRI based layouts, but the way they talk to the computer, using the standard I2C wiring that lets different devices in a single computer talk, means they can be connected to the Raspberry Pi directly. I ended up getting a Raspberry Pi “hat” - an add-on circuit board that attaches to an expansion port on the Raspberry Pi - to provide the I2C connections. Finally, to help debugging, I bought a small two line display from one of the online electronics companies. This board also talks to the Raspberry Pi using I2C, and can be told to display short messages to help debugging.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNn3Wr8uqPJFNgvKfjLHyl_MBTD541XXyUP0qniFW6G2xfYNgN48XyWsIYScgN2-VySD_8a6R5bim5dv1iAfDvBzc_zmWNJq-X8jM2vOeKxW5jVt6we4DAiSq3Moe47Yl2knWN_tgdC_Ej88zqSYlMnXSo1PQyR_vzW19TBsfS0Vs_rj2BR-IBb0dQwxV/s3321/new_controller.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2041" data-original-width="3321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkNn3Wr8uqPJFNgvKfjLHyl_MBTD541XXyUP0qniFW6G2xfYNgN48XyWsIYScgN2-VySD_8a6R5bim5dv1iAfDvBzc_zmWNJq-X8jM2vOeKxW5jVt6we4DAiSq3Moe47Yl2knWN_tgdC_Ej88zqSYlMnXSo1PQyR_vzW19TBsfS0Vs_rj2BR-IBb0dQwxV/s320/new_controller.jpeg"/><p>Photo of new controller on the benchtop. I worked on the programming by logging into the Raspberry Pi over WiFi.</p></a>
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<p>
This photo shows the new signal controller mounted on plywood. The terminal strips for power, inputs, and outputs is at the top. The Raspberry Pi is the box with the red board in the lower left. The IOX32 boards are to the right of the Raspberry Pi, and the display and 5 volt voltage converter for the IOX32s is to the left of the Raspberry Pi. The crossing wires were needed to match the layout of the terminals on the old and new boards.
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<p>
As can be seen from the photos, the signal system has a lot of wires going in and out. In order to make the replacement go smoothly, I set up the new system on a plywood board with terminal strips for all the connections, then wrote the software to control the signals and tested it on the bench. This also helped me confirm that the IOX32s could correctly drive the LEDs I use for signaling. More importantly, I made sure the terminal strips roughly matched the layout of the existing board so I could disconnect the old board, detach the old wires, put in the new board with controller, and reattach. I also made a few very good choices to help installation - painting the board with the electronics white for easier viewing under the dark layout, printing up very clear labels indicating the purpose of each terminal, and making sure I had good terminal strips for attaching the connections.
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<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rTs5FgK7KBECl17DDv7VtkZbB9SIkNTVsdMQxvhFwNlPOQ_4mq75GB-CPvWtvRt4s9IN-0PZEQuBC-gNWTjHllmLs4Cs-iX8x8SEAn0xIBsQq9iwGC5UEgSIlV3BVUDWDuR6rTf__kAGjx8zGRilSTSlSLiLW5fzPvcsmYLUjTbAqXsSUYs5OkKniH47/s3363/new_controller_in_place.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2021" data-original-width="3363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5rTs5FgK7KBECl17DDv7VtkZbB9SIkNTVsdMQxvhFwNlPOQ_4mq75GB-CPvWtvRt4s9IN-0PZEQuBC-gNWTjHllmLs4Cs-iX8x8SEAn0xIBsQq9iwGC5UEgSIlV3BVUDWDuR6rTf__kAGjx8zGRilSTSlSLiLW5fzPvcsmYLUjTbAqXsSUYs5OkKniH47/s320/new_controller_in_place.jpeg"/></a><p>New signal controller in use. LEDs are for signals that aren't yet connected - I've added LEDs on the terminal strip to check their state.</p></div>
<p>
Finally, I took a deep breath, detached and marked the existing cables, pulled out the old controller, and put in the new one. The new system required a bunch of manual work - soldering extensions on too-short wires, changing how some of the detector circuits were powered to ensure a safe common ground between equipment around the layout, and slowly reattached and tested that the signals still worked. This all happened within a couple long days, but it went well with no surprises.
</p>
<p>
The Raspberry Pi did make it easier to debug. Checking out the existing signals, I found one of my long-lived problems was an incorrectly-attached input for one of the switch positions. I also found some incorrect assumptions in my signal programming, and with a few lines of programming changes was able to get the signals working like the real thing. Debugging is, for now, looking at text logs spewing from a computer program, but I’m looking forward to writing some code to show the layout state on a web page next. I even added a lamp test action at start that flashes all the signals - this makes it easy to double-check that all LEDs are connected and are working.
</p>
<p>
The biggest drawbacks? The Raspberry Pi does have more complexity. It's a full fledged computer with a boot disk (stored in these modern times on a MicroSD flash memory card.) If the boot drive gets corrupted, then the signals won't work. I’ll need to keep a backup SD card just in case things break.
</p>
<p>
I must be happy with the Vasona Branch, because I’ve done a big wholesale replacement of the signal system. It took several weeks to get the home-brewed signal controller ready, but all the planning and preparation made swapping the old for the new an incredibly pleasant exercise. I now have much better control over the signal systems, can better understand why it misbehaves, and can quickly fix it so it works correctly in a prototype manner. There’s still lots to do before the layout is fully scenicked, Being willing to do this wholesale fix, though, reminds me how happy I am with the current layout, and how far I’ve come.
</p>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-42021273410533628782024-01-01T02:24:00.000-08:002024-01-01T02:29:02.084-08:00Bay Area Layout Design and Operations Meet: Feb 2-4 2024<p>
My favorite model railroad event, the Bay Area Layout Design and Operations meet, will be in Santa Rosa this year on the weekend of Feb 2-4, 2024. If you've got any interest in designing model railroads, railroad history, or operating a model railroad in a realistic manner, you'll find this to be a great event!
</p>
<p>
As in past years, it'll have an activity on Friday (visit the Northwestern Pacific archives), and dinner on Friday night to meet with other attendees, presentations on Saturday, tours of local layouts on Saturday night, and operating sessions on local layouts on Sunday. The presentations will be in-person at the Finley Community Center, but virtual admission will let folks watch the presentations online.
</p>
<p>
I love this event for so many reasons. It pulls together a bunch of other modelers interested in recreating realistic historical locations. I'll get chances to share notes with others doing research on railroads. I also love that local layout owners give folks interested in operations a chance to operate on a variety of model railroads. I'll have some great conversations. I also got my introduction to operations at this event, and really appreciate the hosts opening their layouts.
</p>
<p>
If you'd like to join in, get tickets at <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-layout-design-operations-weekend-tickets-778606672517?aff=oddtdtcreator">EventBrite</a>.
</p>
<p>
See you in Santa Rosa!
</p>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-67104782840465426032023-02-13T10:15:00.004-08:002023-02-13T10:17:02.107-08:00Bay Area PCR Layout Design and Operations Meet: Full videoEvery year, the Bay Area has a model railroad meet dedicated to model railroad layout design and operations. As I've said many times, this is my favorite event. It's got a mix of interesting talks, layout tours, and chances for folks to participate in operating sessions on local layouts.
<p>
This year, as in previous years, TSG Multimedia handled simulcasting the show to remote participants, and shared the video on YouTube. If you're curious what sort of talks happen at a meet, check it out!
<p>
<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VRlKhbPSg_U" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
(Or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/VRlKhbPSg_U?feature=share">view on YouTube</a>.)Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-88860962967257809282023-02-13T10:12:00.002-08:002023-02-13T10:16:20.267-08:00Movie Night XXIX: The Santa Cruz Mountains Come DownWinter was a hard time for the railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The region can get a lot of rain, often at biblical levels. The area's unstable geology also ensures that the mountains really want to get to the beach as soon as possible. Every season will have some mudslides, washed away roads, and hillsides moving in ways that hillsides aren't supposed to move. However, in the bad years - the year of the Santa Cruz line's closure in 1940, the winter of 1982, and several other instances - the Santa Cruz Mountains won't get back to normal for months... if ever.
<p>
This winter has been a wet winter - worse than most, but luckily not quite to the level of 1982 or 1940. The recent fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains don't help for ground or tree cover though. As a reminder of how bad this winter was, and how much the Santa Cruz Mountains don't want to continue being mountains, we can look at this "Tour de Disaster video by Larry Rairden. Larry biked around the Santa Cruz Mountains last month to check out the damage, and his photos and videos highlight last year's damage and hint at why the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz branch of the SP isn't around any more.
<p>
<iframe width="420" height="236" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M_dd2fzA2bk" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>
When you're watched that, check out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pcdl5RbsVNI">this video</a> from a PG&E lineman watching a full sized redwood tree <i>and</i> hillside moving in ways neither should move.
<p>
Read more about Larry's adventures in the <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/02/13/video-shows-major-storm-damage-to-roads-in-the-santa-cruz-mountains/">San Jose Mercury News's article about his adventures.
<p>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-67342281995615427832023-01-14T22:40:00.004-08:002023-01-15T11:25:03.323-08:00Tech Bros and Orchards<div class="bannerpic">
<A href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNc713jKbFU68l5qDkk_FTOBUjFdk5IaMteFzqS8dGJg3aNrPJWQfrVRvNVvWiBfpyBtSqw6rDXcWT7yfGcK1eIjww4ZIHhjUCJ8QEVuyLZyuCrGYM3-QqPrOuTcWxMjGNeVjycpk-L8mV_KmRKtLBgw58uNsDX1iGRbFmh_bQxg9Pei5ULxlaUJE28Q/s3634/banner.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1785" data-original-width="3634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNc713jKbFU68l5qDkk_FTOBUjFdk5IaMteFzqS8dGJg3aNrPJWQfrVRvNVvWiBfpyBtSqw6rDXcWT7yfGcK1eIjww4ZIHhjUCJ8QEVuyLZyuCrGYM3-QqPrOuTcWxMjGNeVjycpk-L8mV_KmRKtLBgw58uNsDX1iGRbFmh_bQxg9Pei5ULxlaUJE28Q/s320/banner.jpeg"/></a></div>
It’s Christmas, so it’s time for another anachronistic, inappropriate model!
<p>
If you’ve been in the San Francisco or Silicon Valley area in the last several years, you’ve seen long chains of large, unmarked buses during rush hour on our local freeways. These buses are the private buses for tech companies. Many of the large employers provide these buses as a way for their workers to commute. They’re especially important for convincing younger employees who want to live in San Francisco to come down to suburban office parks in the Santa Clara Valley. Facebook, Apple, Genentech, Salesforce, and others effectively run their own regional bus lines. The official term is usually “corporate shuttle”, but folks generically refer to these as “Google Buses” for the first company to run the buses.
</p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpe0esOh6eKQv3HIeTzwTBedrz80EKICBybZ9zvQBoojz9LVFdosZYfo1uKNk28v5YBa4-6chVWxqeGLtcd6L6_ihOXB8BCpF15O7yFWm1Oqa_dnH5FOJyCT4jtzS1KIQHmNiy62ecL9jaF99EnuIqDAdN3dR7d5F2criyuieeY7s5NpM89z3P5CFi-w/s640/RS8537_IMG_9782-scr-e1405355033607-1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpe0esOh6eKQv3HIeTzwTBedrz80EKICBybZ9zvQBoojz9LVFdosZYfo1uKNk28v5YBa4-6chVWxqeGLtcd6L6_ihOXB8BCpF15O7yFWm1Oqa_dnH5FOJyCT4jtzS1KIQHmNiy62ecL9jaF99EnuIqDAdN3dR7d5F2criyuieeY7s5NpM89z3P5CFi-w/s320/RS8537_IMG_9782-scr-e1405355033607-1.jpg"/></a><p>Tech workers board a shuttle bus in San Francisco. From <A HREF="https://www.kqed.org/news/11328302/s-f-agency-votes-to-make-google-bus-program-permanent">KQED article</a>.</div>
<p>
The “Google buses” are an interesting operation. They provide a way to get employees into offices that might be hard to reach because of the region's notoriously bad traffic congestion, allows the companies to fill the offices beyond what the parking lots or local roads can handle, and gives employees a nicer commute experience by giving them a way to work during the commute, minimize transfers, and be able to have confidential conversations without a competitor’s employee overhearing.
</p>
<p>
The buses are also a band-aid on Silicon Valley’s suburban growth. Because many of the tech campuses were built in former industrial areas far away from existing public transportation, the buses let employers use older buildings rather than fighting to develop large campuses near existing Caltrain, light rail, or BART, and allows them to recruit employees living in suburban areas that don’t have easy access to existing public transportation. The buses also cause conflicts in neighborhoods. Residents get frustrated by the large buses on previously-quiet streets, the buses often block traffic and city buses when waiting to start a route, and there have been many reports of rents going up in San Francisco neighborhoods when a corporate shuttle route arrives. Although there's less buses around post-pandemic, <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/google-buses-are-back-as-tech-returns-to-the-office/article_fae2ffa2-11ca-11ed-aa67-fb2bbebd522e.htm">the corporate shuttles are still running</a>.
</p>
<p>
Even though the corporate shuttles are much different than your typical city bus,
the problems faced by corporate shuttles are the same problems faced by public transit providers. The companies need to create departments to decide on routes, negotiate for potential stops with parking, hire contractors to operate the bus, and negotiate with the cities when they complain about the new traffic. Employees get unhappy with route changes if a particular site refuses to keep providing parking and a bus stop, complain about the infrequent runs, and yell loudly when the Internet connection on the bus isn’t perfect when crossing a mountain range. Riding the buses can teach riders a lot about running a rapid transit service - factoring in the time between arrival at the destination and time needed to get back to the start for the next run, planning capacity and driver hours when most riders want only one or two preferred times, and noticing how most of the time for the route was spent on the surfaces streets before and after the freeway miles. The corporate shuttles also need to plan for disaster - handling broken-down buses, or re-routing buses. Google's bus system melted down one Friday when a concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater clogged traffic so much that the Google buses from the first campus stop couldn’t reach the rest of campus.
</p>
<p>
It’s hard not to see the buses around here during commute hours. You’ll see the white, silver, blue, and black buses on the carpool lanes, dashing around the streets near the offices, and clustered in parking lots during the day as they wait for the trips home. The buses started out as smaller 24 seat buses back in 2005 or so, but by 2010 most of the company was using full-size (and sometime double-deck) bus coaches. Back in 2012, some San Franciscans got curious about the big white buses going down their neighborhood streets, and started mapping the buses. They ended up drawing an <A href="https://www.investsf.com/map-reveals-corporate-bus-routes-tech-workers-take/">unauthorized route map of the buses used by the different companies</a>.
</p>
<p>
I spent several years working for one of those Silicon Valley tech companies with a corporate shuttle system, and most of my commutes to and from work was on a “Google Bus”. For the bus spotters among you, most of the routes I was on had the 2012-vintage Van Hool buses that a certain tech company had made to order, mostly single level but I occasionally was on routes served by the double-deck buses. Other routes and companies used the Prevost or even the Turkish-made Temsa. (All three companies are European; I’m sad that the Bay Area’s own Gillig never got into the Google bus business.) When my parents came to a “Bring your parents to work” event one year, they got to tool around between my company’s buildings on one of those same Google buses that I rode every day.
</p>
<p>
But, of course, I model the 1930’s, so a 2010-era bus carrying tech bros to former orchards and truck farm land in Mountain View isn’t quite my setting.
</p>
<p>
I’d known there were folks making model buses, but I didn’t know there were folks making accurate modern buses until <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8l0Z-3VoLQ">YouTuber Interurban Era showed off one of <a href="https://www.iconic-replicas.com/buses">Iconic Replica’s</a> 1960’s era Flxable bus in Alameda County’s own A/C Transit colors. I’d seen these buses whenever we went to visit grandparents, so the models caught my interest. “I wonder if they have more modern buses?”
</p>
<p>
Yup. Iconic Replicas made models of <A href="https://www.iconic-replicas.com/buses/p/187-prevost-x3-45-coach-greyhound-military-tribute-special-edition-87-0396">Prevost coaches</a> in HO in a variety of paint schemes, as well as the <A href="https://www.iconic-replicas.com/buses/p/187-van-hool-tx-45-coach-contiki-tours-87-0069">two level Van Hool buses</a>. The buses aren’t perfect for a rivet counter; the single-level coaches lack the second exit door halfway down the sides seen on most corporate shuttles, and the models mostly tend to be available in eye-catching paint schemes. It looks like the company has made white buses occasionally, but they’re collectible and rare. They certainly haven't done the other colors often seen on Facebook and Apple shuttles.
</p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfh8vltPOm3R_7wbpmxh-frOpDFvw_otkJVDVcaz_3SUWvVZq8VkhgYXcKsEocg6ZD-9ZLE7rLmspET-xa6xAqvtYDhjTdRuVPy-whHK8DJ9A4r5TRNewGn7f73eaeEbxUSnZNdwDRnnLZAcrpilkKpgHMX9sQ7m6h58whVRMk2CJ0Iwcv7M5NgjK_g/s4032/IMG_0900.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2476" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfh8vltPOm3R_7wbpmxh-frOpDFvw_otkJVDVcaz_3SUWvVZq8VkhgYXcKsEocg6ZD-9ZLE7rLmspET-xa6xAqvtYDhjTdRuVPy-whHK8DJ9A4r5TRNewGn7f73eaeEbxUSnZNdwDRnnLZAcrpilkKpgHMX9sQ7m6h58whVRMk2CJ0Iwcv7M5NgjK_g/s320/IMG_0900.jpeg"/></a></div>
<p>
Once I saw the models, I knew the layout needed some Google buses, regardless of how anachronistic they are.
</p>
<p>
I managed to find a pair of these models - the Prevost model in a Greyhound paint scheme, and a double-deck in a bright green “Tornado” paint scheme, and decided I’d try to convert these to Google buses.
</p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zsaIfLW9BY8Q8sJB6r8t8WdA2J-vj78q9_bps1I4ysMAwxhe4SbkuzayJrGKdJ5uY1jgmxe1LyHw-7jPAHtk6bo62SgYWbDogaDn6RYg9TWpdx8o9tcNMkTEEhRAFh_pXlHlTZJjGl7tmP8gptXEC4CgM5HV-El4gLy1vPbyodXl7GHhccfuQ6rxsQ/s4032/IMG_0886.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2411" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2zsaIfLW9BY8Q8sJB6r8t8WdA2J-vj78q9_bps1I4ysMAwxhe4SbkuzayJrGKdJ5uY1jgmxe1LyHw-7jPAHtk6bo62SgYWbDogaDn6RYg9TWpdx8o9tcNMkTEEhRAFh_pXlHlTZJjGl7tmP8gptXEC4CgM5HV-El4gLy1vPbyodXl7GHhccfuQ6rxsQ/s320/IMG_0886.jpeg"/></a>
</div>
<p>
The first challenge was disassembling. For the single-level model, there were screws on the bottom, and the clear plastic used for windows hinted that the model was actually a lower metal chassis with the upper half printed onto clear plastic. Unscrewing the screws wasn’t enough; it required a little bit of force to pull the two halves apart. The disassembled photo shows the latches holding the clear window section into the body.
</p>
<p>
Next challenge: how would I paint these? I tried several ways to remove the paint (alcohol, paint thinner, Dio-sol) and none moved any of the factory paint. I considered getting some real paint stripper and “doing the job right”, but decided this was a silly enough project that perfection wasn’t essential. I ended up masking both the chassis and windows carefully, primed with Tamiya primer, and painted with a gloss white from a Testor’s rattle can.
</p>
<p>
The final step was detailing. Most of the Google buses you see are stark white with a small reporting marks on the right side near the front door. (One common is "WEDRIVEU", referring to the contractor operating many of the buses.) I'd thought of pulling out the inkjet printer decal paper to make some custom, tiny decals, but decided anything I'd print wouldn't be readable. Instead, I grabbed some random text from a sheet of freight car info decals. Some black plastic parts (cargo hatches) break the monotony. I ended up dotting black paint on the model as appropriate, put some orange dots on the running lights I’d painted over, and called it a day. My spray can paint job didn’t hit the nose of the bus, so there’s still a Greyhound logo if you look carefully. I also couldn’t figure out how to strip the paint on the clear plastic, so my bus is going to “NEW YORK NY” instead of the more appropriate and cryptic “MPK” (Facebook) or “MTV” (Google). That's going to be a long commute from Campbell!
</p>
<p>
My Google Bus isn't my best modeling, but it was a fun project over Christmas. It's also reflects nicely on how Silicon Valley's changed from the 1930's to modern day, and highlights one of the iconic scenes seen in modern day Silicon Valley. I've still got a double-deck bus to do, but need to figure out how to strip the paint off the clear plastic safely first.
</p>
<p>
I’ll be interested to see whether I’ve modeled a Santa Clara valley detail which is just a reminder of the busy 2010’s, or a sight that future kids will immediately recognize. Although the corporate shuttles have returned to the Silicon Valley, they’re not to the volume of Before Times. Most of the tech companies are having trouble getting employees away from working-from-home and back into the crowded offices. There have also been plans to move tech offices closer to traditional public transportation. Former shopping centers near Sunnyvale’s train station were torn down and converted to office towers for tech companies. Facebook <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/business/facebook-dumbarton-rail-bridge.html">put in considerable effort to help rebuild the Dumbarton railroad bridge from Redwood City to Newark</a>. They’d hoped the line could bring employees from San Francisco straight to their offices via the existing Caltrain line, or bring employees from Pleasanton, Newark, and Fremont across the bay. Google has been working actively on their <a href="https://sanjosespotlight.com/google-refreshes-san-jose-residents-on-downtown-west-plans-development-redevelopment-tech-campus-diridon-station/">Downton West</a> plan for West San Jose, buying up properties and preparing for several blocks of offices near the Caltrain station. If I was redoing my layout to model 2020, I’d need to put in some Google office towers. All those projects could allow employees to use existing public transit, and make the Google Buses disappear just like the orchards did.
</p>
<hr>
<i>Got suggestion on how to strip the paint off Iconic Replicas models? Add a note in the comments!</i>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-9937601859478328052023-01-01T11:18:00.004-08:002023-01-01T11:18:47.380-08:00Bay Area Layout Design and Operations Meet: February 3-5, 2023<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3BjvRf1kSQDaN5Drtltx9f82EgeAbnHXJs-IV7HOrgrVnJZlV2xnHzEA-C9HjSTQo95sC5XrvpK3VoGYGBBC3IGzC_i3Er96RcjVOCXfyhSlJa9M4E7vOe8w3AC9HdQTYtj9OPdxxSORQ5o6wyHDHj76FYM5mkxiJm7-j13xJweKxfiRNNMluZYhPA/s6496/IMG_5690.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1775" data-original-width="6496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3BjvRf1kSQDaN5Drtltx9f82EgeAbnHXJs-IV7HOrgrVnJZlV2xnHzEA-C9HjSTQo95sC5XrvpK3VoGYGBBC3IGzC_i3Er96RcjVOCXfyhSlJa9M4E7vOe8w3AC9HdQTYtj9OPdxxSORQ5o6wyHDHj76FYM5mkxiJm7-j13xJweKxfiRNNMluZYhPA/s320/IMG_5690.jpeg"/></a></div>
My favorite model railroad event, the Bay Area Layout Design and Operations meet, is happening this year in Richmond, California, February 3-5, 2023. Like always, the meet's a mix of talks about design and operation, layout visits, and opportunities to try model railroad operations on layouts in the Bay Area. Friday will have a tour of the real Richmond Pacific industrial railroad. Saturday's talks will be at the Golden State Model Railroad Museum at Point Richmond. We'll get to tour layouts in the East Bay on Saturday night. Operating sessions at local model railroads will be on Sunday. Like last year, you can also attend virtually if you're not in the Bay Area or want to enjoy the presentations from your home.
<p>
Get more information at <a href="http://www.bayldops.com">www.bayldops.com</a>. You must get tickets in advance at <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sf-bay-area-layout-design-operations-weekend-2023-tickets-488852419747">EventBrite</a>. In-person tickets include a boxed lunch. Virtual tickets give you access to watch the presentations and ask questions via a Zoom video conference. In-person tickets also include the Zoom link in case you decide not to go up to Richmond.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaonZok2c4qfg32eD3XLqPN3nkRYiGs3cfHmt-6uT0vD0Jpj8mOVNUGUIBM_XmPireHxngr_Fa_HhQGCzkzudjLGotgFR6a3HEnk0HzBwStSmktWLisx6psZDiLQDcfn21VfvmaKy-FqEeSox-gG21PgbpReFfCaCJNrkDut_JrZZ2hWWlN7DnY34PHA/s3008/DSC_0032.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaonZok2c4qfg32eD3XLqPN3nkRYiGs3cfHmt-6uT0vD0Jpj8mOVNUGUIBM_XmPireHxngr_Fa_HhQGCzkzudjLGotgFR6a3HEnk0HzBwStSmktWLisx6psZDiLQDcfn21VfvmaKy-FqEeSox-gG21PgbpReFfCaCJNrkDut_JrZZ2hWWlN7DnY34PHA/s320/DSC_0032.jpeg"/></a>
</div>
I love the Layout Design and Operations meet because it pulls together a fun group of folks: interested in modeling specific locations, railroad history, imitating the real railroads' operating practices, and just interested in understanding what the real railroads were about. It's also a great meet if you're curious about any of these topics. The invites to operate on local model railroads got me interested in model railroad operations, and helped me understand the differences between running trains on my own versus working with a dozen other people to get trains moving on a large layout. Like past years, we'll also offer layout design and operations consulting. If you're considering a new layout, or thinking about operations on an existing layout, you can sign up for time to talk with others about what you're building and what options you might consider.
<p>
I'm planning to have the Vasona Branch open for a Sunday operating session, so if you're interested in visiting and joining in, sign up for the meet and put the Vasona Branch down as one of your choices for an ops session!
<p>
Hope to see you there!Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-45921303133207650992021-07-05T11:48:00.000-07:002021-07-05T11:48:07.172-07:00Visiting the Vasona Branch: NMRA 2021 "Rails By the Bay"
<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yD9LRHfcIJGiIq9oISgzQf97UzfEQpUYEmrDJ6stm8eBoZNp1g37809PIMT-z-KgeMXCF55KM-YehOVszMcqQD-AKMBOCdGe69-7jPA9zXl1OIHZc3jzYC87yB5IMAYlAd-K_IbWkdRr/s2255/DSC_0178.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="2255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yD9LRHfcIJGiIq9oISgzQf97UzfEQpUYEmrDJ6stm8eBoZNp1g37809PIMT-z-KgeMXCF55KM-YehOVszMcqQD-AKMBOCdGe69-7jPA9zXl1OIHZc3jzYC87yB5IMAYlAd-K_IbWkdRr/s320/DSC_0178.jpeg"/></a></div>
<p>
<b>Virtual visitors for the NMRA 2021 “Rails by the Bay”: Welcome to the Vasona Branch!</b>
<p>
<p>
Thanks to the challenges of organizing a national convention during a pandemic, the National Model Railroad Association’s annual in-person convention in Santa Clara was cancelled. However, the local Pacific Coast Region has arranged an all-virtual convention, <a href="http://pcrnmra.org/NMRA2021/">Rails By the Bay"</a> this week, July 6-10, 2021. <a href="http://pcrnmra.org/NMRA2021/registration.html">Sign up</a> to attend (just $49!), watch presentations, ask questions of the presenters, hang out in the meeting rooms, and continue to watch clinics until August 7.
<p>
The Vasona Branch layout is one of the layouts on the “virtual tour”. For all you virtual visitors, here’s a quick good-parts summary of the layout. If you've got questions, ask in the comments below!
<p>
Check out the NMRA Magazine's November 2020 issue for a summary of the layout. (More on <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/08/bring-in-photographers.html">prep for the article</a> and Dan and Doug's photographs of the layout.)
<p>
Layout plans: <a href="http://vasonabranch.com/railroad/resources/Model-Railroad-Pages/Vasona-Branch/Vasona-Track-Plan/vasona-lower-large.jpg">Lower deck</a>, <a href="http://vasonabranch.com/railroad/resources/Model-Railroad-Pages/Vasona-Branch/Vasona-Track-Plan/vasona-upper-large.jpg">Upper deck</a>.
</li>
</p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavbfK-WgLsbKpQXXZdjX_sRx2NQY1aIkhlupYv_N5LQvar2huIrt4-Uz86qXhCd4PuIewguYEoJatr_wEfzZ9tIyCeJOdD9F-XHh0RgUDoxT6V6FQNi1gFhed9jCBCxB5HhxVoMkDHfte/s2048/DSC_0153.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjavbfK-WgLsbKpQXXZdjX_sRx2NQY1aIkhlupYv_N5LQvar2huIrt4-Uz86qXhCd4PuIewguYEoJatr_wEfzZ9tIyCeJOdD9F-XHh0RgUDoxT6V6FQNi1gFhed9jCBCxB5HhxVoMkDHfte/s320/DSC_0153.jpeg"/></a></div>
<p>
Watch videos of the layout:
<ul>
<li> (video) Time lapse of an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g0tlSuFo6A">operating session</a> on the Vasona Branch.
<li> (video) Building the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7s25jew_7g">Wrights Bridge scene</a>. (<A HREF="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2016/12/replacing-wrights-bridge-part-i.html">Read more on the bridge project</a>.)
<li> (video) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRj_fbYAqvg&t=26s">Alma to Wrights in the Santa Cruz Mountains</a>.
</ul>
<br>
I’ve also written lots on the history of the real branch on my <A href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com">Vasona Branch blog</a>. Some sample articles include:
<ul>
<li> (article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2011/11/sunsweet-plant-1-progress.html">Sunsweet Plant #1 in Campbell</a>
<li> (article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-much-would-you-pay-for-this-fine.html">How much would you pay for this fine cannery?</a>
<li> (article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-tomato-paste-land-rush.html">The Tomato Paste Land Rush</a>
</ul>
<br>
I’ve used 3d printers to make lots of freight cars and passenger cars for the layout:
<ul>
<li> (slides) <a href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/resources/Presentations/bakersfield.pdf">Mass Producing Freight Cars at Home</a>. Slides from presentation at 2017 PCR convention in Bakersfield.
<li> (article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2015/02/printing-freight-car-hart-convertible.html">3d Printing Hart Convertible Gondolas</a>
<li> (video) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI-Ln8L6akM">Flat car models using the Form One printer</a>
<li> (article><a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2018/04/3d-printing-crowd-of-passenger-cars.html">3d Printing a Crowd of Passenger Cars: Harriman 60-C-1 cars</a>
<li> (video) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcROBUue14k">3d Printer in Operation</a>
<li> (article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2016/03/3d-printing-trackside-details.html">3d Printing Layout Details</a>
</ul>
<br>
The Vasona Branch models the real crossing with the Western Pacific Railroad, and uses a real interlocking machine from Australia’s Modratec to control the crossing.
<ul>
<li> (video) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0koWgG4agM">Building a Modratec Interlocking Machine for West San Jose</a>
<li> (video) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFf9fjQDKPM">Operating the interlocking machine on the layout</a>
</ul>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDnKsGEYl97Zx21GXQm5FYjksL913EIOUiNf2ubgw9jtR8kKzSjMvN1ysorOAax7N6QWHyzFi223nX7CDufrysttfD_eYMCfem6l58hbF4bKDh1tGd0Q7t6qtMJRbiUPOV00dX9A6U9TU/s2048/DSC_0012.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDnKsGEYl97Zx21GXQm5FYjksL913EIOUiNf2ubgw9jtR8kKzSjMvN1ysorOAax7N6QWHyzFi223nX7CDufrysttfD_eYMCfem6l58hbF4bKDh1tGd0Q7t6qtMJRbiUPOV00dX9A6U9TU/s320/DSC_0012.jpeg"/></a></div>
The Vasona Branch is an layout designed for operations; I invite two two-man crews
operating layout for four hour operating sessions. I use my own <a href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/switchlist.html">switchlist generator</a> for deciding which cars to move; trains move via yard limits and informal train orders.
<ul>
<li> (slides) <a href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/resources/Presentations/ldsig.pdf"> Vasona Branch: What Went Right, What Went Wrong?</a>. Slides from presentation at <a href="http://www.pcrnmra.org/sigs/">2010 Bay Area Layout Design and Operations meet</a>.
<li>(article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2012/04/prorail-success.html">Photos of operations at the 2012 ProRail event</a></li>
<li> (article) <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2011/10/train-orders-on-small-layout-answer.html">Experimenting with train orders on a small layout.</a>
</ul>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-38593067752902025852021-02-15T13:55:00.007-08:002023-05-07T10:00:22.187-07:00A Life of Railroads<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMzTB2uGGxinvOXu7hzSC-RdOLQsjjW88RkwvO1NFt4E6PQrUpN093IAFzVeTeDlRvuMe6O1HeNiyD7Yt8oImGIMtIoKsO1BupCW5Qb7sqSaghIq7PM1nvZwGqvztoBm-GXQ6tqWfbd0-/s1732/dad_key.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGMzTB2uGGxinvOXu7hzSC-RdOLQsjjW88RkwvO1NFt4E6PQrUpN093IAFzVeTeDlRvuMe6O1HeNiyD7Yt8oImGIMtIoKsO1BupCW5Qb7sqSaghIq7PM1nvZwGqvztoBm-GXQ6tqWfbd0-/s320/dad_key.jpeg"/></a><p>Bill Bowdidge</p></div>
<p>
My father, Bill Bowdidge, died a few months ago.
<p>
When my grandfather died, my father stood up at the funeral, remarked that most people there had only seem small aspects of my grandfather’s life, and proceeded to just share the full story of my grandfather - tragedy, immigration, family, work, garden - to assembled friends and family. I remember sitting in the audience and being aware that some day I’d have to do the same.
<p>
I wasn’t able to give that eulogy for my father. COVID restrictions, elderly friends avoiding groups, and a majority of friends who have already passed away meant that we didn’t hold a funeral service for my father, and I wasn’t going to have the opportunity to share about my father’s life.
<p>
There’s a lot of ways I could tell his story outside of a funeral - share stories of his career with friends and co-workers, recount family stories, ask friends for hiking stories. This venue, though, might appreciate the important fact is that my father was a railroader. He worked for the Western Pacific when U.S. railroads were connected to every American business. He was a model railroader. He helped me catch the same bug, getting me interested in railroads, model building, electronics, and computers. If there’s a true story most suitable for this blog, my father’s story story is it.
<p>
<b>The Bay Area, Orchards, and Canneries</b>
<p>
My father was born in the Bay Area, child of a British immigrant and a rule-breaking Irish girl from San Francisco. My grandfather had emigrated from England to New Zealand in the 1920’s, and kept going ‘round the world. He ended up in California, met my grandmother, overstayed his visa, left, returned, and settled down for good in the San Francisco Bay area where he spent his career as a newspaper printer. My father grew up in San Leandro, playing around former orchards as suburbia invaded. My father had been interested in trains from the early days; British relatives got him hooked on trains by sending railway books from the UK and teaching him about the Flying Scotsman, the Great Western Railroad, and remote branch lines. Like many young boys growing up in the 30’s and 40’s, Lionel trains were the best toys to receive. To give him a place to set them up, my grandfather bought some recycled lumber left over from the 1939 Treasure Island World’s Fair and extended the garden shed to make a train room. My father eventually moved on to HO; I’ve got his Varney F7, custom painted and lettered for the Western Pacific.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pnEKw93PCzNGEqUEB2FNHR1nIBp7FKvMETSuLNNpnHlr3MOpaHTYxLRuoQSBtw8e-DLf4vJ56hQBYWV6v7PRaUZa_-E2yYI8msIM3Wqp5aN-szctM4a2NrNQ2-t9H8L43YjfUKiZL2WA/s1382/captain.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pnEKw93PCzNGEqUEB2FNHR1nIBp7FKvMETSuLNNpnHlr3MOpaHTYxLRuoQSBtw8e-DLf4vJ56hQBYWV6v7PRaUZa_-E2yYI8msIM3Wqp5aN-szctM4a2NrNQ2-t9H8L43YjfUKiZL2WA/s320/captain.jpeg"/></a><p>His grandfather, on the ferry boat.</p></div>
<p>
His grandfather was a ferry captain on San Francisco Bay, sailing auto ferries for the Southern Pacific Golden Gate ferry company. Occasionally, my grandmother would take my father over to San Francisco, and they’d try to time it to be on one of Grandpa’s vessels. My father remembered trips down to the engine room with the noise and the huge machines moving about ominously.
<p>
In the 1940’s and 1950’s, the Bay Area was still full of orchards and canneries. Bay Area kids knew that summer jobs at the cannery were always a good paying option. Dad spent multiple summers at Hunt’s and Del Monte’s canneries; his stories of those summers made me think about the cannery business as I was planning the Vasona Branch. One summer, he unloaded empty, loose cans from boxcars. He remembered using a long fork that could pick up a dozen cans at a time so they could be put on a conveyor heading into the warehouse. Another summer, he punched the piecework tickets for women filling cans with fruit. He also remembered an assignment watching an experimental automatic peach-splitting machine to make sure it would correctly center on the fold on the side of the peach. Dad also remembered the challenges of getting the popular jobs - connections and who you knew still mattered at the canneries. He’d remembered going to Del Monte and asking about jobs, only to be told he needed to be in the union. The union said they wouldn’t take him on unless he already had a job. Luckily, a neighbor who worked for Del Monte managed to get him in the door.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0DtD75JQEVyKpEP2Mn76CXbl3m6rZR21Tn1WwkBMx4_5GdS9fRIB7bRLH8tBA3HTh42LwG5hLHWQqxL1eEgsLGtEN6wFudf9kU4zIr9mI97oYrzWSvqOUqGntl4n8uYiPb6uBFZJTR2xi/s2048/w-grandma.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0DtD75JQEVyKpEP2Mn76CXbl3m6rZR21Tn1WwkBMx4_5GdS9fRIB7bRLH8tBA3HTh42LwG5hLHWQqxL1eEgsLGtEN6wFudf9kU4zIr9mI97oYrzWSvqOUqGntl4n8uYiPb6uBFZJTR2xi/s320/w-grandma.jpeg"/></a></div>
<p>
Dad went off to Cal Berkeley in 1948, commuting for the first few years, then finally living in Berkeley for the last year. He’d planned to be a Chemistry major, but problems understanding the thick accent of his Chemistry 1 professor convinced him it wasn’t the right path. He also met other railroad-crazy friends, going off on railroad club adventures on the Sacramento Northern and Northwestern Pacific with friends including Dudley Wesler, a prolific Bay Area railroad photographer and railfan. He ended up graduating in business administration. When he graduated, he did a stint working for Tidewater Oil. He found the job was “just an office job” which he found boring. He started looking around for alternatives. Railroads seemed exciting, but the “Friendly” SP wasn’t interested in him. Luckily, he’d done a report for a class on the Western Pacific Railroad. He contacted a rates and legal office manager he’d talked with, Tex Wandsworth, and got an offer to “join the railroad.”
<p>
<b>Railroading And Two Martini Lunches</b>
<p>
We usually think of railroading from the operations side: engineers, brakemen, folks working in the yard. Dad was always on the business side. His first job was as a clerk in an off-line sales office in Portland, Oregon. In those days, Portland was practically a foreign country. My grandmother wasn’t sure she’d see her son again when he got the job so far away. Traveling to see family involved two days of driving US99 in the days before freeways. “Bill and Kathy’s” restaurant in Dunnigan was his usual stop when heading back in his ’48 Chevrolet. But he liked the work, made life-long friends, and loved life in Portland
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpsgSUSKsOEaOmmj0phRg4zSE6vxX8lkQuvKuuuscqaq6uctbP4kfcGPAAnGgbhdS-25M6wcoco1DvCiyCTwqYsukh7oNyFIMlV5u_9X1zi-26nBEDCZtbysUjTu87lJbU9bK-eB2K8_S/s2048/oregon_city_2.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1383" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJpsgSUSKsOEaOmmj0phRg4zSE6vxX8lkQuvKuuuscqaq6uctbP4kfcGPAAnGgbhdS-25M6wcoco1DvCiyCTwqYsukh7oNyFIMlV5u_9X1zi-26nBEDCZtbysUjTu87lJbU9bK-eB2K8_S/s320/oregon_city_2.jpeg"/></a>
<p> Oregon City excursion with social club.</p></div>
<p>
Although he wasn’t on the WP, the small office meant he had a lot of freedom and different tasks. He helped an older gentleman arrange railroad tickets for a fraternal order’s tour of the East Coast by train, and got a commendation letter from the customer sent to his manager. He got to interact with the other railroads in Portland when tracing WP loads in their yards. One time, the Western Pacific had an order of new boxcars sent from Seattle; the cars had the new load restraining “DF” equipment. The San Francisco head office didn’t want to bring them to California empty, and asked the Portland office to find loads for them. My father contacted canneries in the Willamette Valley who were eager to use the cars for California-bound loads.
<p>
He also learned about railroad operations, albeit by visiting the railroads that had operations in town. From an April 1954 letter soon after he arrived:
<blockquote>
“Today I went out to the Union Pacific’s Albina Yard. My business card really came in handy this time. The watchman was ready to kick me out of the yard until I gave him a card. Then he took me over to the yardmaster. He seemed pretty happy that I had enough interest in my job to come out there so he spent about an hour explaining how they switch cars. He gave me his card (and I gave him mine) and told me if he could ever be of any help to me to please call him. I am going to try to get to every yard in the city. I am on my own in the office usually + I get most of my help from the fellows in the other railroads [also in the American Bank Building]. They really have been a big help. I have been taking the tariffs home at night and studying them.”
</blockquote>
<p>
When I was cleaning out my parents' house, I found that yardmaster's business card - he was "M.V. Newton", the general yardmaster. My father had saved that card (as well as cards for a bunch of the other clerks for other railroads clustered in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Building_(Portland,_Oregon)">Pacific Building</a> in Portland.
<p>
More importantly, my father learned about railroad rates, and started serving as a rate clerk, navigating all the strange Interstate Commerce Commission rules and regulations about how much railroads could charge. In those days, freight rates needed to be approved by the ICC, and all railroads needed to hold to the same prices for the same commodities. Classifying freight the wrong way would result in nasty fines to the railroad and the shipper, so correctly interpreting the rate books was a key task.
<p>
My dad managed to score some nice artifacts during his time in Portland. When he showed up in Portland in late 1952, there was a document in the trash describing a “manager’s tour” of the railroad to help sales agents in distant locations understand the WP infrastructure, and also the industrial parks they were hoping to develop. The local sales agent didn’t care about that document after the trip, but my dad saved it. I ended up <a href="http://www.vasonabranch.com/railroad/resources/WP-Educational-Trip-1952.pdf">scanning a copy</a> when he showed it to me a few years ago.
<p>
Eventually, though, the position in Portland wasn’t the right place for an ambitious young man. Multiple folks told my dad that he’d better go elsewhere unless he planned on staying in Portland his whole career. Being in a job “on-line” was the only way to be taken seriously on the railroad. When a rate clerk job opened up in Sacramento, my father took it and moved south, leaving some happy memories in Portland and a disappointed girlfriend.
<p>
He arrived in Sacramento on a Friday in summer. He immediately went in to meet his manager, a curmudgeonly old railroader who warned him “Bowdidge, if you expect this to be like that sweet pension job you had in Portland, you’ve got another thing coming!” His desk, sitting in the corner of the depot looking out over the railroad tracks, was covered in amendments and insertions for the rate books; his predecessor had left three months before and the office was a mess. Dad didn’t like that; he went in Saturday morning, filed all the files, inserted the insertions, and got his desk cleared. On Monday morning, the salesmen were ecstatic - the office had been unorganized for so long. But quickly: “Bowdidge!” The rate clerk was a union job; someone had seen my father working on a weekend and filed a grievance.
<p>
Being on-line was more exciting; he could watch the WP trains pass his office window. He could see the cars he was filling. The Western Pacific carried lots of steel coil cars from Geneva Steel in Utah to the U.S. Steel rolling mill at Pittsburg, California. My dad remembered these cars were so heavy that they would shake the depot as they rolled by. Years later, on a family vacation in Sacramento, we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Sacramento, located in the former WP depot. Dad pointed out the location in the bar where his desk had been.
<p>
He also got to see the operations. WP’s dispatchers were also in the depot (or nearby). He saw their office a few times - older gentlemen chain-smoking as they avoided running trains into each other. Dad met Peter Josserand, one of the WP’s dispatchers and author of the “Rights of Trains”, the bible of dispatching practice. When I took a shift as train order operator at the La Mesa club’s Tehachapi layout, I brought my copy of “Rights of Trains” to read during the slack times and learned I could ask the dispatcher for a read back when I made extra copies of an order intended for all trains. The model dispatchers went through a lot less coffee and cigarettes than the prototype dispatchers.
<p>
In the late 1950’s, my father transferred to the WP headquarters on Mission Street in San Francisco. He’d always point out the building when we headed to San Francisco for Christmas shopping. He’d started out as a rate clerk in San Francisco. He also upgraded his role, becoming a salesman responsible for businesses in Oakland and San Francisco. Dad spent his days visiting WP shippers, encouraging sales, keeping up relationships and solving their recent problems. Encouraging shippers to use the WP was always a challenge; the SP dominated the California market, but Del Monte and other shippers would would send a token percentage of shipments by the WP just to make sure that the Southern Pacific wouldn’t take them for granted.
<p>
The ICC rules meant that railroads couldn’t compete on price, but instead had to work on service, so lunches at all the San Francisco restaurants - Schroeder’s, the World Trade Center, and Tadich’s Grill - was a key part of his job. Dad said he often got called on the carpet for not taking enough customers out to lunch during a month. Unlike what we might expect from Mad Men, two martini lunches weren’t common. My father remembers one shipper encouraging him for a second drink at a restaurant at Oakland’s waterfront, and my father remembered that wasn’t wasn’t a day to return to the office.
<p>
My father remembered white-collar San Francisco business well, even after he was working in the suburbs. When I was a teenager, he took me up on a “businessman’s lunch” day to see San Francisco at work, and made a point to take me to Schroeder’s and talk about how women hadn’t been allowed in the restaurant at lunch until 1970. He assumed that the working world I’d be in would likely be downtown, and likely suit-and-tie. Instead, my working world has always been suburban and much more t-shirt and jeans.
<p>
San Francisco’s “men-only” policy wasn’t only in the restaurants. Lela Paul was a longtime employee in the rate department at the WP. The WP didn’t normally hire women on the business side, but she’d gotten in the door during World War II and refused to leave quietly. My father remembered she got more than her usual share of abuse from her male co-workers and managers, but stayed her ground to keep her job.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_VgA-4bjeudGhAemQFxyWcTrgc1QrtwmiYBxMJGlQme_baQwfwyNi6Ya81UlJl2FVoQYrN9ZwGi_F-8-FIZRM3SWQ9y7e-BKNYSywxtSZzMOwn1O-51_-K-N39WQoTezcosk0aGnkH4u/s2048/drgw.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_VgA-4bjeudGhAemQFxyWcTrgc1QrtwmiYBxMJGlQme_baQwfwyNi6Ya81UlJl2FVoQYrN9ZwGi_F-8-FIZRM3SWQ9y7e-BKNYSywxtSZzMOwn1O-51_-K-N39WQoTezcosk0aGnkH4u/s320/drgw.jpeg"/></a><p>With his mother on the Denver and Rio Grande narrow gauge.</p></div>
<p>
Dad also enjoyed life as a single young businessman in San Francisco. He lived with a bunch of guys in “the bunkhouse”, an old house on Divisadero in the Richmond. He’d work late at the WP, eat at the communal table in family-style restaurants in North Beach like La Pantera. (He’d talk about how hard it was to cook at home as a single guy because all the meat markets would close at 6pm.) He hung out with a youth social group at Old St. Mary’s Church near San Francisco’s Chinatown, and went hiking and skiing with the crowd. One of the other hikers was a coffee broker who was getting frustrated with the corporate coffee business. In the mid-60’s, that fellow hiker, Al Peet, quit the broker job and opened his own coffee house in Berkeley where he roasted the beans the way he thought they should be roasted. My father remembered Al talking about growing up in Indonesia, and and life under Japanese occupation during World War II.
<p>
Among all the customers, my father visited the Oakland Army Terminal frequently. The base handled all material going to army bases in Asia, and received a lot of freight traffic. My father would drop in on the officer in charge of rail shipments in order to hear his problems, offer solutions, and hopefully pick up some WP-routed loads in the bargain. My father figured out that if he showed up at 10:00, the office waiting room was packed with vendors hoping to talk to the officer. Instead, my father would stop by the office at 7:30. The officer was in but there was no competition, so my father would get right in and would get extra time. In 1964, that officer gave my dad a hot tip - he’d be receiving a lot more traffic soon because of troops being sent to Vietnam. “Where’s that?” my father asked - Vietnam wasn’t a household name yet. After he visited the officer, he’d head over to the WP offices. He’d show up from his early-morning sales call just as the other salesmen arrived for coffee before beginning their own calls.
<p>
That Oakland Army Base transportation officer also encouraged my dad to take night school classes in order to get the ICC Practitioner certificate - giving him the right able to argue rate and tariff cases. It always seemed like halfway to being a lawyer for transportation rates. My dad took the classes at Golden Gate University and became an expert at rates and how to argue for exceptions. Dad was only one of maybe six people at WP with an ICC license - half were probably the company lawyers. It’s all a lost art now; all the ICC rules and tariffs disappeared during deregulation in the 1980’s.
<p>
Dad’s rate knowledge also helped romance. When my father was courting my mother, my grandparents probably had all the usual questions of whether this young man was suitable for their daughter. However, my grandmother had spent several years as the accountant for a vegetable packer, and she’d spent a lot of time working with the railroads to route cars to vegetable brokers back east. When she found out my father worked for the railroad and knew rates, she found him quite an acceptable son-in-law.
<p>
While Dad was in San Francisco, those steel coil cars came back into his life. He also was the salesman responsible for U.S. Steel. The steel company had an office in downtown San Francisco, and one of the staff there was the “traffic manager”, responsible for making sure the railroad cars of steel sheet arrived regularly at the Pittsburg mill. The WP had a dedicated set of short gondolas for the steel service; if there weren’t enough in Utah, then steel couldn’t be loaded. If there weren’t enough at the rolling mill, the plant would shut down, tin can production in the Bay Area would stop, and the Santa Clara Valley’s apricots wouldn’t be canned. Keeping the cars moving was essential. The U.S. Steel traffic manager in San Francisco kept tabs on all cars, and would complain to the WP if there were any hitches.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAlFNUvNkq-zx9fFEQ3IEziNRgYg1B6_0Ci8UBPq2cgSL_675al7Lz1gKVyGkm4_xfedMu-xWZ1gmnT6fUx_SeMy3gzALO252m_JGhzyBXA-Ds50zy-FHoak7xwuaWGTkqgshXiDkF4iM/s1368/sn_ferry.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAlFNUvNkq-zx9fFEQ3IEziNRgYg1B6_0Ci8UBPq2cgSL_675al7Lz1gKVyGkm4_xfedMu-xWZ1gmnT6fUx_SeMy3gzALO252m_JGhzyBXA-Ds50zy-FHoak7xwuaWGTkqgshXiDkF4iM/s320/sn_ferry.jpeg"/></a>
<p>Sacramento Northern ferry, probably with one of the Cal railroad club's excursions.</p></div>
<p>
The U.S. Steel rolling mill at Pittsburg wasn’t on the WP - it was actually on the Sacramento Northern’s trackage. The WP used to hand the cars over to the Sacramento Northern at Sacramento; they’d be pulled across the delta by the SN, and then taken by barge across the Sacramento River to Pittsburg. In 1951, though, a key Sacramento Northern trestle collapsed, severing the line from Sacramento to Oakland. The WP instead negotiated trackage rights with the Santa Fe to take WP trains on the ATSF tracks from Stockton to Pittsburg to serve the steel plant. It was a pricey move for a single shipper, but U.S. Steel was worth it.
<p>
One day, though, there were some car delays and the Pittsburg rolling mill began running low on coil steel. The U.S. Steel traffic manager demanded a special run to carry over a few cars of steel. It wasn’t one of the days for the WP run on the Santa Fe, so scheduling a special train would be expensive and troublesome. My dad took the traffic manager out to lunch, heard the problem, and noted that the steel was certainly going to be able to arrive the next day, and asked for U.S. Steel to wait a day for the steel. U.S. Steel agreed to the one day delay. My dad submitted reimbursement for lunch; his manager called it the “$500 lunch” because it saved WP so much expense and aggravation.
<p>
<i>Full story here: <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/p/the-500-lunch.html">The $500 Lunch</a></i>
<p>
<b>Damming Conduct</b>
<p>
My father left the Western Pacific in 1966. The WP had its economic challenges as a small railroad. They’d had several years of potential mergers considered and dashed, first with the Santa Fe, then the Southern Pacific. The railroad was also a bit slow and stuck in its ways. He got a call looking for a traffic manager to handle rail and road shipments for Guy F. Atkinson, a large dam-and-freeway construction company, and he jumped at the offer. Many of his friends weren’t so lucky; many stayed in rate roles at either railroads or shippers; when deregulation hit, there no longer was a place for them.
<p>
A few years back, I was at one of the NMRA meets in Sacramento when I got talking with another attendee. He’d worked for a railroad - which one? WP! Oh, where did he work? San Francisco! Oh, did you know my father ? He was in the rate department. Yes, he certainly did remember my father - they worked in the same department! “Your dad made a smart move leaving the railroad. Your father’s problem at the WP was that he was smarter than everyone else there.” What more could a son want to hear?
<p>
Dad spent the rest of his career handling shipments of large construction equipment around the world. He sent construction equipment to build California freeways, Israeli airbases, Chilean and Canadian dams, Washington nuclear plants, and Arizona irrigation projects. He dealt with truckers carrying oversized loads, roll-on-roll-off ships hauling the largest bulldozers, and finding appropriate unloading spots for rail shipments. He also was responsible for all the personnel moves. He had a constant stream of moving company salesmen stopping by for a chat, and collected a pretty impressive collection of Allied, Mayflower, and United moving van models for his window sill. He’d constantly have a chain of frustrated spouses wondering where the moving van with their entire household was.
<p>
The railroad knowledge paid off multiple times in his career. When Guy F. Atkinson won the bid to build New Don Pedro Dam in 1967, Dad worked with the Sierra Railroad to find convenient spurs for unloading construction equipment. As part of that relationship, he manage to score tickets for several “shippers specials” on the railroad over the years, and we headed up to Jamestown several times for a ride on the railroad. He dealt with the Canadian Pacific to get equipment to Mica Dam above Revelstoke, B.C., and had a promotional photo of the spiral tunnels at Kicking Horse Pass in his office. As a kid, my knowledge of geography tended to be much better around the location of Atkinson job sites.
<p>
He also had some great adventures. Atkinson won a contract to build the Colbun dam in Chile, and he took multiple trips to plan sending equipment down to Chile, and bringing it back afterwards. He was particularly proud he’d practiced his Spanish enough to talk with some of the government officials to talk about importing rules, and so he was able to talk with the vendors. We’ve still got an advertising banner from one of the Chilean truckers that hung on the Atkinson loads. My father wanted to travel, but never did as much as he hoped. The multi-week trips to Chile were high points of his life. On the return from one trip, he stopped over in Peru and visited Machu Picchu, the city of the Incas high in the Andes.
<p>
When my father returned from that trip, he had such great memories; he’d tell us about all the people he’d worked with. He visited Santiago and the walked streets named after the great liberator of Chile, Bernardo O’Higgins. He enjoyed the stay in Talca, the town closest to the job site and remembered the hair-raising drive to Talca. He remembered business lunches in the port cities of Valparaiso and Concepcion. He remembered the gruff owner of one of the trucking companies, Señor Gordo. He struck up a friendship with the representative of the joint project’s local company, and saw more of Chile as a result.
<p>
He’d often tell about the great deal they’d gotten for the ship returning the construction equipment from Chile. They found a roll-on-roll-off ship that was taking cargo down to South America that was motivated to give a good deal to avoid coming back empty. Dad loaded millions of dollars worth of equipment on that random ship, though he had some nagging concerns that a random ship and a random captain might run off with the company’s bulldozers and trucks. When the ship reached the U.S., my father got a call from the import broker at the port. “I’m on the ship and sitting with the captain, but he won’t turn over the bills of lading.” The bills of lading were important; without them, the process of importing the equipment couldn’t begin. My father called the ship broker who put them in touch to understand what the hold-up was. “Mr. Bowdidge, what we have here is a lack of trust. The captain doesn’t trust that you’ll pay him, and you don’t trust him that he’ll provide the bills of lading.. I suggest you both trust each other a bit.” Both sides backed down, handed over paperwork, and the ships were unloaded without incident.
<p>
All his stories had been really positive at the time, ten years after the military coup had deposed Allende. In recent years, I heard the other side of those stories; he remembered one lunch with some vendors where one of the men was treated more distantly by the others. It turns out that man had been part of the right wing in Chile at the time of the coup. As the rest of the table sat silently, the man proudly shared stories of torturing dissidents.
<p>
When I asked folks from Atkinson for memories, they told me about all my father had done for the Chile project. Folks remembered the complications getting dump trailers re-imported into the U.S. The project manager for the Colbun project mentioned my father’s stories of Peru convinced them to also visit Machu Picchu. One person in the purchasing department remembered typing up my father’s yearly review. One of the questions was “what improvements could the company do to help you do your job better?” My father responded “Get out of the office more understand more about the job sites.” She was always impressed he had the courage to say that.
<p>
My dad's favorite story, though, was the time he had to ship a horse to Venezuela on short notice. He wrote up the story, which I'll share in its entirety:
<blockquote>
The Day I Flew a Horse To Venezuela
<p>
One afternoon, Ron Shumway called me and asked how much it would cost to fly a horse to Venezuela. I was puzzled, but put some numbers together and got back to him.
<p>
A year or so later at about 4:00 pm on a Friday, [Atkinson Construction Company's president] George McCoy called and said the horse was a go. "What breed, where is he?" George says to call Sgt. Edney at the San Francisco Police Stables to get details.
<p>
I was going to wait until Monday, but something told me to call now. The sergeant says "I've been waiting for someone to call. I'm sure glad you called! The horse "Dudley Do Right" has to be in a parade in Caracas on October 14 (about four weeks away), and worse yet various tests are required for the Vetinary Export permit required to export a horse and take weeks to incubate and have to be sent to labs in Iowa, Kansas, and Southern California."
<p>
It seems George McCoy was on the San Francisco-Caracas Sister City Committee, who donated the horse to Caracas for crowd control. Atkinson was to pay the freight and my services were volunteered to ship the horse.
<p>
Well, it was a real scramble, but we got the horse there for the parade. I found a good freight forwarder in Long Island who made the arrangements and consolidated several horses to fill out the pallet and share the cost of the groom. Because of the short fuse, I started the horse towards Miami with a trucker specializing in horses before we had all the veterinary permits, the export and import permits which gave the forwarder gray hairs. "You don't do anything before all the permits are in hand" they kept telling me."
<p>
Nothing new. We always faced time constraints with Atkinson.
</blockquote>
<p>
<b>Making a Model Railroader</b>
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpN71XE9ZRCJu4GOqU4yxtkQxd3lluAtE-xfkhkMZIJkIIvxCCSBQ5nAhwcsv0iZcIBh1VR6WNHoYsDYZo_8nefxoDrOZLy-46i4cNWsKfBeaK-H4-UqSJ0Q39t1cjEEBq2hRa3wZRaHUo/s2048/flying_scot.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpN71XE9ZRCJu4GOqU4yxtkQxd3lluAtE-xfkhkMZIJkIIvxCCSBQ5nAhwcsv0iZcIBh1VR6WNHoYsDYZo_8nefxoDrOZLy-46i4cNWsKfBeaK-H4-UqSJ0Q39t1cjEEBq2hRa3wZRaHUo/s320/flying_scot.jpeg"/></a><p>Author, in front of Flying Scotsman locomotive, San Francisco, 1970.</p></div>
<p>
When I was growing up, I remember the train case on the wall containing the special models for my father - the Varney F7 he painted himself, his British and European trains he picked up on different visits, and the Pennsylvania GG-1 he got after an east coast trip. As soon as I was old enough for trains, he made sure I had a Lionel layout; it rolled under my bed, and I ran it incessantly. A neighbor had salvaged a former Lionel display layout from a store, and my dad saved the baseboard and restored a bunch of the signals. That got my dad hooked on trains again, and he passed it onto me.
<p>
The Lionel trains got me interested in electricity and electronics - understanding how to power the trains, and also how to power the accessories. I scotch taped wires under the layout to light up a station. We had a Lionel crossing signal that didn’t flash; my father talked with one of the electrical engineers at work, and came back with a handful of transistors and capacitors to make a flip-flop circuit - it seemed like magic to me. He also wanted to learn how to make the signals work, so he bought a copy of Linn Wescott’s venerable “How to wire your model railroad”. I quickly usurped it, and read the whole thing cover-to-cover. I tore it to pieces, learning about switches and relays, detection circuits, block power, and strange combinations of rotary switches to allow multiple trains to be controlled automatically. Dad also had bought a couple Model Railroaders, and eight year old me wore those magazines out as I read about zip texturing and brass locomotives.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKej0hLb3NprgY0-F48hIwDuluZe9q5aNjjt9ydwzS_PQraf-9xgoHhbBa-9O5PMffyb_McmwbrXEvUPGeK2tzSDakGUnzwENULlGvdYaiEPfU_rB6emfxPvwYqy9zg_Vyp1Mmy9TSSLo5/s2048/bob_lionel.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKej0hLb3NprgY0-F48hIwDuluZe9q5aNjjt9ydwzS_PQraf-9xgoHhbBa-9O5PMffyb_McmwbrXEvUPGeK2tzSDakGUnzwENULlGvdYaiEPfU_rB6emfxPvwYqy9zg_Vyp1Mmy9TSSLo5/s320/bob_lionel.jpeg"/></a></div>
<p>
Dad also gave me a lot of freedom. He showed me enough about tools to work safely, then turned me loose with his tools. I ended up building two model railroads, first in my bedroom, then re-using the old Lionel display layout for my larger HO layout in the garage. I made quite a mess there with scenery and wiring. After reading about the Sunset Valley’s engine terminal in Model Railroader (thanks, home town public library, for having the MR subscription!), I decide to build a 1x4 foot extension for a diesel engine terminal. My father stopped me with that attempt at usurping space, and highlighted the extension had to be removable and moved out of the way when I wasn’t operated. He regularly took me down to Trains-Nothing-But-Trains in San Mateo as soon as I was doing HO modeling. When he took me to the dentist, we always made a stop at Berkeley Hardware for a boxcar - some of those kits are still on the layout.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj729i6lDZA61yLWOaWU7_fIKvy9z5rK8AQuMZyFxTJWxo6nqb4rIhI3prkUS3MsgfVXjb4BhNk_VMC3SW9Z8oM5r8Io-zAO_ymNsrdUlCRNC1TgaON0JK9LYKkmuq9F1f4NOPf_Xy9vWi/s1382/yosemite.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="904" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj729i6lDZA61yLWOaWU7_fIKvy9z5rK8AQuMZyFxTJWxo6nqb4rIhI3prkUS3MsgfVXjb4BhNk_VMC3SW9Z8oM5r8Io-zAO_ymNsrdUlCRNC1TgaON0JK9LYKkmuq9F1f4NOPf_Xy9vWi/s320/yosemite.jpeg"/></a><p>Yosemite, with author's grandmother. My dad remembers vacation trips to Yosemite with me and my sister as highlights of his life.</p></div>
<p>
All that shaped who I was - I got interested in electricity, electronics, and digital logic. I got comfortable with tools early, and stole a bunch of my dad’s for my tool box. (Somewhere, I’ve still got side cutters I liberated years ago, as well as some jeweler’s screwdrivers from his tool box.) The model railroad electronics got me interested in taking electronics classes in high school, which taught me how to scavenge components from the junked electronics at the back of the lab.
<p>
Dad also encouraged my interest in computers. I’d used some of the early microcomputers at school. When Dad took a computer class at the local junior college, I’d go with him to evenings in the computer lab, and would write my own programs on his account. The instructor would delete programs unrelated to the class because of disk space limitations, so I learned how to use the teletype and punch out my program listing so I could reload it the next weekend. (Meanwhile, Dad wrote his own programs to estimate costs to ship large objects via oceangoing ships.) When a friend got a TRS-80, I ended up going to visit him but would ignore him as I got caught up in programming his computer. His mother “suggested” that maybe I should have a computer of my own. My mother and father managed to get me a TRS-80. When I started learning to drive, Strawflower Electronics in Half Moon Bay was a common destination because they sold all the TRS-80 games I couldn’t get in Radio Shack stores. All that experience with early microcomputers got me into computer science, and also gave me a chance to learn about microprocessors and electronics. I’m now working for a company making computer chips - insanely complex microprocessors - but the model railroading gave me an appreciation of electronics and a decent knowledge of what’s happening down at the computer chip level to keep up with the hardware guys. The Kalmbach books on wiring the model railroad and assembling electronics is still helping me forty years later.
<p>
<b>A Grown-up Model Railroader</b>
<p>
Dad’s always been supportive and appreciative for the model railroad, though I suspect I took it much more seriously than he ever would. He liked what I was building, but his interest was still in the models he’d collected and their history - his Lionel trains from his youth, the HO models he’d built, the european models he picked up on vacation, and the occasional models he’d pick up because they caught his fancy. He occasionally passed on some of his older models to me. Somewhere, I’ve got one of his 1940’s “Crazy Crystals” refrigerator cars.
<p>
He liked passing on stories, and indulged me when I’d push for operational details about the Western Pacific. He tended to remember more about the personalities than the day-to-day operations. He didn’t know much about how WP’s Sacramento R Street freight house handled traffic, but he still remembered the name of the guy ran the place. He didn’t necessarily know about how trains were routed, but could pull out an old rate book and explain how to argue about how to disassemble dump trailers to get a better rate.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yKQlkOPtpEuY_4WdgOTVR4lLNhkGJ6bbX-eyhdevuXrFSa7eq0YGGI5i5l05qg0LS3Mtmg1PFQq3fEAqMuHsGHRUfhZChcqe846i2xDP8v5nmTEzxKkcgUVDfSCS43MXaOj2RX5rgBkz/s1632/reno.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yKQlkOPtpEuY_4WdgOTVR4lLNhkGJ6bbX-eyhdevuXrFSa7eq0YGGI5i5l05qg0LS3Mtmg1PFQq3fEAqMuHsGHRUfhZChcqe846i2xDP8v5nmTEzxKkcgUVDfSCS43MXaOj2RX5rgBkz/s320/reno.jpeg"/></a><p>Mom and Dad, Vista-dome, over Donner Summit</p></div>
<p>
Back in 2006, my wife and I wanted to do something special for my parents, and found out about a private car group trip to Reno and back over Presidents’ Day weekend. The group had assembled three private cars - a streamlined dining car and a dome car, and Beebe and Clegg’s “Virginia City” observation car, all to be placed on the rear of Amtrak's California Zephyr. We picked my parents up, took them to Emeryville, jumped on the train, and crossed the Sierras. We chose a good weekend - we crossed the Sierras as a big snowstorm hit, and got to watch the snow pile up as we passed the traffic jams on I-80. It was an impressive ride, both for getting to sit in a real dome car, and getting to watch a real snowstorm crossing the Sierras.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudfplTwIYu9TfFgqURPNwCaUfZ427SztB46r7rZfBe8MCwnnLuXRNr2kstO-fOpQ8wiay7b0TEMsdA13yLuJ5jwDir7hmL5Hzhy-kMPg8fwXV3nRtD8H3OB2r15Z4gAujeyGPypToMqYx/s640/virginia_city.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiudfplTwIYu9TfFgqURPNwCaUfZ427SztB46r7rZfBe8MCwnnLuXRNr2kstO-fOpQ8wiay7b0TEMsdA13yLuJ5jwDir7hmL5Hzhy-kMPg8fwXV3nRtD8H3OB2r15Z4gAujeyGPypToMqYx/s320/virginia_city.jpeg"/></a><p>The Virginia City on the back of the California Zephyr.</p></div>
<p>
The trip also spurred memories from my parents. My parents got married just before my dad left the WP, and he made a point to arrange a trip by the California Zephyr to Salt Lake City and back. They may have ridden in the cars we took that trip to Reno in. We heard more stories of that trip as we sat in the bar at the Nugget casino - the Italian restaurant owner slipping them wine in Salt Lake City, newlyweds in a sleeping compartment, finding others with our rare last name in the Utah phone book. On the way back, our Amtrak train was delayed because of a broken rail somewhere out in Nevada. Our assembled group stood trackside at the Sparks station waiting for the train until the organizers managed to hire a bus to get us all to the warmth of the Reno Amtrak station. While we stood out there, snow flurries started falling - something I’d first seen during a few years living out on the east coast. My mom had never seen snow flurries before; she'd spent her life in temperate California.
<p>
My father, by contrast, had been a skier and interested in the outdoors, so snow wasn't so unusual for him. Somewhere, he's got his record of climbing Mount Hood during his days in Portland. A few years ago, I opened one of the Southern Pacific Technical and Historical Society's magazines to find an article on the special trains that would take skiers up to Norden Summit and Sugar Bowl during the season. In the front and center, there was my dad, caught in a publicity photo.
He'd also made the trip up to the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. In one of his few recorded cases of lawlessness, my dad paired up with friends-of-friends who managed to sneak into the US-USSR hockey match, the hottest ticket of the Olympics.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eD98Or-CJThFn6q41IK0xAORnrhrwy7NytVM5ZmtE5dHhyphenhyphenVK4Y4d-DnF1TUZL-RWeE6RKPsyH2yHQU94iq3k12ZM0XlI9Jz3CnxP7rRfoV2M4o3snWXBLlhyphenhyphenGGXPsp_k9PzMQZdhADV5/s2048/all.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1563" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4eD98Or-CJThFn6q41IK0xAORnrhrwy7NytVM5ZmtE5dHhyphenhyphenVK4Y4d-DnF1TUZL-RWeE6RKPsyH2yHQU94iq3k12ZM0XlI9Jz3CnxP7rRfoV2M4o3snWXBLlhyphenhyphenGGXPsp_k9PzMQZdhADV5/s320/all.jpeg"/></a><p>My father's family including his not-yet-train-crazy grandson.</p></div>
<p>
Age slowed my dad down a lot over the last ten years. We’d occasionally go to train swap meets, and we’d talk a bunch about trains or about his time at the WP. When my nephew got to five years old, Dad and I pulled out our saved Lionel trains and cleaned them up for his grandson. We’re not sure he caught the train bug. My nephew wasn’t too interested a few years ago, but he set up a “sushi train” a couple weeks back in the style of a sushi boat restaurant he missed visiting. Dad heard my updates on the Vasona Branch, but hadn’t been down here for a few years because of mobility issues. As I mentioned a few months ago, the Vasona Branch got photographed for the NMRA Magazine in preparation for the NMRA National Convention in Santa Clara. The magazine issue with my layout got sent out in October. I sent Dad a copy when he was in nursing care at the end; he got to see how he’d encouraged and inspired me, and what I’d managed to build. He proudly showed it off to the caregivers.
<p>
My father saw a lot during his life. He saw San Francisco before bridges and a city where men wore hats and women gloves. He saw the Bay Area change from industrial and agricultural to high-tech and suburban. He saw the changes in transportation with the decline of the railroads, air freight, and deregulation changes. He saw entire job categories disappear and appear. He saw early computers at Berkeley and the WP (but chose not to pursue that side of the business.) He still loved using his Macintosh to read the world’s newspapers, but the iPad was a little too newfangled for him. He saw Europe and South America, and remembered all his travel fondly. He raised a family, and saw his grandson become an energetic young man.
<p>
He also helped his son become train-crazy, and inadvertently encouraged me in what eventually became my career.
<p>
I’ll miss you, Dad.
<hr>
<i>Original story extended with the "Day I Flew a Horse to Venezuela" story.</i>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-84023400155440010722020-09-23T22:22:00.004-07:002020-09-23T22:22:26.432-07:00More Model Railroad Sudoku: Cow Cars to the Ainsley Cannery
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<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEGIEpVu9J_CLTKYwzVRr1rzZeAKZUh3tU89yGefhWkqPFGKP6EClFCTeZ2h93FqZRg2BJ-BcdD_DfFDxGPm4-5_dQr6biv8RJH01PB7kmPqi6pcGRGykz903Xy5HksEcHRLO-y8-ynS2/s282/ainsley+logo.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="210" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEGIEpVu9J_CLTKYwzVRr1rzZeAKZUh3tU89yGefhWkqPFGKP6EClFCTeZ2h93FqZRg2BJ-BcdD_DfFDxGPm4-5_dQr6biv8RJH01PB7kmPqi6pcGRGykz903Xy5HksEcHRLO-y8-ynS2/s320/ainsley+logo.jpg"/></a></div>
</p>
<p>
If we want to understand how a railroad and a cannery worked together, we need some data - preferably details about the number and types of freight cars doing to a particular industry. We’d done that in the past with Tom Campbell’s <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2011/07/freight-car-research-1935-lawsuit-hints.html">data about the grocery wholesaler’s siding in Sacramento</a> a few years ago, but there’s always more we’d like to learn.
</p>
<p>
Getting information on the actual freight cars heading off to canneries is always a challenging task. Summary data often survives, either in terms of how many carloads the Santa Clara Valley sent, or canneries bragging about their canning prowess. Lawsuits might suggest the amount of traffic, such as <A href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oazizuza8AsC&lpg=PA1297&dq=%22winchester%20dried%20fruit%22%20%22san%20jose%22&pg=PA1297#v=onepage&q=%22winchester%20dried%20fruit%22%20%22san%20jose%22&f=false">this description of the fruit produced by several canneries</a>. Although I’ve found occasional other facts (such as <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2012/03/finding-rare-paper-arrival-postcards.html">delivery notifications for freight cars at the Golden Gate cannery</a>), the information’s spotty.
</p>
<p>
Luckily, occasional gems turn up. The Campbell Museum shared <a href="https://www.facebook.com/campbellmuseums/photos/a.1018884571495399/3268180586565775/?type=3&theater">this Ainsley Packing Co. letterhead</a> as part of reminding us of Campbell’s cannery heritage. They were most excited about the letterhead. I was most excited about the contents.
</p>
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8P3MtRaqcMZPwpDYU0u3XKICstA_RSFUaFy_ZXjFzbMBrznkyQ9HsGyPWUtCxVrcKNQj2dQJlryYcFYE8jV3pX9i1ZFODnD5yFyyH9cUYvWCvVaYVm7M8rotGb_xZjf32C27SVMHuQ_9/s514/pear+account.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="210" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8P3MtRaqcMZPwpDYU0u3XKICstA_RSFUaFy_ZXjFzbMBrznkyQ9HsGyPWUtCxVrcKNQj2dQJlryYcFYE8jV3pX9i1ZFODnD5yFyyH9cUYvWCvVaYVm7M8rotGb_xZjf32C27SVMHuQ_9/s320/pear+account.jpg"/></a></div>
</p>
<p>
The letter gives the “pear account” of fruit coming to the Ainsley cannery from the Treat Ranch. It’s unclear where this ranch was. One possibility is a <a href="https://www.elkgrovecity.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109585/File/City%20Government/Committees/hcs-final-draft.pdf">160 acre ranch in Elk Grove run by the Gage family</a> — which would explain why the fruit was arriving by rail on the Southern Pacific. There’s several other Treat Ranches that show up in searches; I’ll let someone else decide on the right one.
</p>
<p>
We see a carload of pears arriving every couple days from late July through early September. We see multiple carloads on August 3, but otherwise there’s usually a couple days between cars. There’s a larger gap at the end of the season, with 16 days between the arrival on August 24 and September 8.
</p>
<p>
What do we know about the freight cars? We can use the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=uQU5AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false">Official Railway Equipment Register</a> (ORER) to track down what these cars were. The ORER was a frequently-published list describing each railroad's freight cars: reporting marks, size, weight, and special characteristics. Indexes in front can help us identify the owner from reporting marks. It was intended for use by shippers and others to check on the features of the cars they were assigned for loads.
</p>
<p>
We see 14 cars listed on the Ainsley receipt. (I’ve put them in a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a-uobumOzMkgTq7xfmliyp3L4HRpmlO8uk46tJF4bgM/edit#gid=0">Google Docs spreadsheet</a> if you’d like to examine the data in detail.) All are SP or subsidiary cars, suggesting the Treat Ranch was on the SP. Many of the cars come from the Texas subsidiaries, so they may not be familiar to us West Coast SP modelers. The GHSA is Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway, LW is Louisiana and Western, MLT is Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas.
</p>
<p>
They’re a mix of new and old cars; Most cars at least 15 years old, but two or three are new cars, built in the last few years. The twenty year old CS-2 ventilated fruit boxcars were common, showing up four times. Only one load is carried in a regular boxcar.
</p>
<p>
Half the freight cars are actually stock cars. I've certainly heard of stock cars being used for carrying fruit in high season. Melons were frequently carried in stock cars as late as the 1950's. However, this is a nice reminder how prevalent use of stock cars was for tree fruit. There’s also several mentions of “boxcar/stockcar” hybrids which I don’t know much about, and couldn’t find pictures.
</p>
<p>
The use of stockcars as a cheap ventilated boxcar is interesting, and could potentially be fun to model on the Vasona Branch. There's explicit evidence that stock cars carried fruit to canneries in the 1920's. Here's a photo showing workers <a href="http://digitalcollections.sjlibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/sjsurc/id/24">unloading fruit from stock cars</a> at the Richmond Chase cannery in San Jose. The Feb 1926 reweigh date for the nearest car indicates that apricots were still being carried in stock cars in the late 1920's. Note all the lug boxes are marked with the Richmond-Chase logo. If the cannery supplied the lug boxes, then that probably means the boxes needed to be shipped out to the farm by rail too.
Doug Debs also pointed out a <a href="http://wx4.org/sp_employees/pages/people/boland/stories/4355saga.html"> 1928 wreck of the Shoreline Limited passenger train</a> at Bayshore involved the train slamming into several stock cars of apricots. The accident overturned the engine and forced some poor soul to go and recover the less-damaged apricots.
</p>
<p>
So, 14 carloads of pears, and 150 tons of fruit just from Treat. What does that tell us about the total amount of fruit arriving at the loading dock at the Ainsley cannery? How many more cars would have been arriving during the year? We can guess that from some of the news reports about the production at the Ainsley cannery. A 1918 news article, four years after these loads, mentioned that the cannery canned 5.5 million cans of fruit during the season. They spent $300,000 on fruit alone that year. Treat’s $7500 in pears would have been 2 to 2.5% of Ainsley’s total purchase, so if Ainsley bought the same amount of fruit in 1914 (and if all the fruit had the same price), we’d expect the equivalent of 750 cars of fruit coming in during the year, or six cars a day for 120 days. Now, not all of Ainsley’s fruit would have come by train; this is the Santa Clara Valley, after all, so pears, peaches, apricots, and plums would have been arriving by wagon. But I could also imagine that Ainsley would want to lengthen their canning season as long as possible, so bringing in fruit from elsewhere would allow them to can even when the orchards in Campbell weren’t producing. (On the other hand, we’re seeing fruit from Treat Ranch from mid-July to the beginning of September - a pretty wide season already.) It’s easy to assume that we’d have a few cars of fruit a day arriving at the Ainsley cannery throughout the season.
</p>
<p>
For my model railroad, this information gives me more details about the Ainsley Cannery, and how to make freight operations at the cannery better match what really happened in the 1930’s. First, this data suggests I should have cars coming to the cannery bringing fruit. If Ainsley was receiving fruit from elsewhere in the ‘teens, I can guess they were also receiving fruit from outside the valley in the 1930s. The use of stock cars for fruit is interesting and eye-catching, so I should should build a bunch of SP, EP&SW, and LW stock cars to bring in fruit. Finally, with so many cars coming in from Treat, I should definitely keep the Ainsley cannery busy - pushing many carloads at the industry, and also perhaps considering switching more than once a day to get realistic amounts of fruit into the cannery, and keeping my operators extra busy.
</p>
<p>
All of the research and guessing I’m doing here can be done for your favorite railroad or industry. Keep an eye out for paper and documentation, or check photos to see if you can spot the cars being loaded or unloaded at your favorite industries. Finding information on specific cars is easier than ever; Google Books has a bunch of ORERs on line. Westerfield also used to sell CDs with scans of particular years. I use Tony Thompson’s Southern Pacific Freight Cars books for more information and photos on the car classes.
<hr>
<i>Thanks to Ed Gibson for noticing the reweigh date on the stock car in the Richmond Chase photo, confirming that stock cars were used in the 1920's. Thanks to Doug Debs for pointing out the 1928 Bayshore wreck. Most of all, thanks to the Campbell Library for scanning and sharing the letterhead!</i>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com080 Harrison Ave, Campbell, CA 95008, USA37.2878554 -121.942222637.284441061584644 -121.94651413442382 37.291269738415352 -121.93793106557617tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-91585766147519652022020-09-14T22:04:00.003-07:002020-09-15T01:57:06.966-07:00Keeping Up with Jason: 3D Printing Beet Racks<p>
<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-k3dFBimnQMFgTf9QAtFaw0WG5UqKaKcp9n-wi8Ze8eGyvRy4fQczTp83goXkIPRtqzjjJIqM9ChjS1kmxhKO_vP0S2IFfIuE19QHZXqTI4C6aejb2JQpYDTzOB6FwSCwART34uZ4UzYB/s2922/DSC_0146.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="420" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="2922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-k3dFBimnQMFgTf9QAtFaw0WG5UqKaKcp9n-wi8Ze8eGyvRy4fQczTp83goXkIPRtqzjjJIqM9ChjS1kmxhKO_vP0S2IFfIuE19QHZXqTI4C6aejb2JQpYDTzOB6FwSCwART34uZ4UzYB/s320/DSC_0146.jpeg"/></a></div>
</p>
<p>
If you've been following Jason Hill and his <A href="http://owlmtmodels.com">Owl Mountain Models</a>, you might see that some of my personal projects have mirrored his commercial projects. He cut molds for his <a href="http://www.owlmtmodels.com/2000-series/F-50-Series.html">injection-molded F-50-4 flat cars</a>; I 3d-printed the earlier CS-35 flat cars. He's done <a href="http://www.owlmtmodels.com/OMM_Jul_2020_News/OMM_Jul_2020_News.html">steam locomotive parts</a> (3d printed and otherwise), I experimented with a 3d printed boiler for a C-11 Pacific. He's experimented with Harriman passenger car customization, and I've 3d printed some C-60-1 bodies.
</p>
<p>
Some of our overlap isn't surprising. We've got similar interests; we're interested in the steam era on the SP. We're both likely working from the easily-available plans in some of Tony Thompson's SP books (at least until we get curious enough about details to wander up to Sacramento and the California State Railroad Museum library and archives to see the actual blueprints.) We're interested in making lots of particular models - commercially and injection-molded in Jason's case, and for my own use and 3d printed in my case. We've also just been talking lots and comparing parts produced by each other. Many of my conversations with Jason about interesting models and manufacturing encouraged me to try building various models.
</p>
<p>
The Tony Thompson freight car book on flat cars had more than plans for early SP steel flat cars to inspire us both. He also included photos and plans of the various temporary sides and sugar beet "racks" that the SP used to make the flat cars useful for occasional traffic. Sugar beets were a big commodity on the SP, often seen up into the 1970s going from the fields to the various sugar beet processing plants located in the Bay Area, Salinas Valley, and Central Valley. SP track diagrams from the 1960's even show a track in Mountain View labeled "sugar beet dump" - about where the Microsoft, Google, and LinkedIn shuttle buses pick up folks at the Mountain View station... or at least where they picked up employees in the days before COVID-19.
</p>
<p>
Sugar beets were heavy, large, and were shipped in huge volume during the harvest season, so the SP needed a cheap and easy way to ship them. The crop was too seasonal to deserve dedicated cars, too bulky for low-sided gondolas, and too low-cost to deserve anything too nice. So during the first half of the 20th century, the SP would build latticed sides out of two-by- lumber that they could put on any ratty flat car, dump the beets in the top, and open the sides to let them pour out at the sugar refinery. When those cars got too worn in the 1950's, the SP took steel gondolas, then added wooden sides to increase the capacity to haul more of the relatively-light sugar beets. The early cars with the latticed sides are much cooler in my opinion than the later cars - the airy, slatty cars always looked a bit jury-rigged, and battered and worn enough to give a modeler lots of weathering fun.
</p>
<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaaPsj_pN75TwGvjnywrb1bnAa38eNXJmsanzrcHZZPOXLsQ3k1xPZjKn58yO9pCL4iYXcVvYt-QfWSEy1EBQhIueH0-SF_jfE1UqGigvmIXD_Tlpo-G3B-udIYwl8xRnIQZ-vgZtQjUu/s1721/DSC_0148.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="210" data-original-width="1721" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaaPsj_pN75TwGvjnywrb1bnAa38eNXJmsanzrcHZZPOXLsQ3k1xPZjKn58yO9pCL4iYXcVvYt-QfWSEy1EBQhIueH0-SF_jfE1UqGigvmIXD_Tlpo-G3B-udIYwl8xRnIQZ-vgZtQjUu/s320/DSC_0148.jpeg"/></a><p><i>Close-up of beet rack</i>
</div>
</p>
<p>
Jason and I chatted long ago about the beet racks and how they make interesting cars. Since then, Jason took the effort to cut injection molds for his <a href="http://www.owlmtmodels.com/beetrack.html">Blackburn patent beet racks, sized to fit his F-50-4 flat cars</a>. They're beautiful models, with much finer detail than I can get with my <A href="https://formlabs.com">3d printer</a>. All those conversations also encouraged me. I went after similar cars a couple years back, 3d printing a few beet racks based on an earlier, non-patent design also in Tony Thompson's book. If you want a few beet racks for your layout, I'd go buy some of Jason's. I'd still like to tell you about mine because they say a bit about what's easy and hard with 3d printing.
</p>
<p>
Jason's beet racks are separate plastic parts sized to fit his existing flat car models. Injection molding's good for that; it's a reliable process for high numbers of parts, and parts keep the same dimensions. To keep costs low, making parts flat, thin, and consistent thickness makes the molds easier to cut and run, and minimizes warpage of completed parts. For the beet racks, that means that making the slides as four flat pieces is easiest and the most inexpensive. In contrast, large 3d structures are hard to do with injection molding. Trying to print the flat car and the beet racks simultaneously would require large, deep molds with several pieces that need to slide together to close the mold - a challenge for the major hobby manufacturers, and near-impossible for the garage manufacturer.
</p>
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtx6WlPk2F_Wn4FZwC5Io8NeNcWlmoAc9MhhBIWgqvRISWJ5aasRqto7TikVxzMp7Nxfr111avV3-RqpbdUj1UMTLuxHiXL8hsAZ3R-6_9CAifQYgEbsyoAwRJgunE8ovSEsWh0NhIEsL_/s1081/3dprint.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="210" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="545" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtx6WlPk2F_Wn4FZwC5Io8NeNcWlmoAc9MhhBIWgqvRISWJ5aasRqto7TikVxzMp7Nxfr111avV3-RqpbdUj1UMTLuxHiXL8hsAZ3R-6_9CAifQYgEbsyoAwRJgunE8ovSEsWh0NhIEsL_/s320/3dprint.png"/></a>
<p><i>3d model arrangement in the printer: bodies printing vertically, with rack ends as a separate part.</i></p></div>
</p>
<p>
With 3d printing, the rules about what's hard and easy are completely turned around. Because of printer miscalibrations, a printer might have slightly different scale in different directions, making it hard to keep parts the same size unless they're printed in the same orientation or axis. Printing thin, flexible things can be hard with the Form One because the part will flop during all the movement as each layer is printed. As I've mentioned before, my Form One's temporary support structure relies on many little sprues to hold up the part and form the surface it begins to print from. Where a part starts printing is often roughest because of these supports; the best detail is usually much better in the middle and top of the parts. I like to think of it as "the 3d printer doesn't like to start new parts". If I can print a new layer that's well-connected to the previous layer and requires no outside support, I'll have better quality and more successful prints.
</p>
<p>
I'd started trying to do the beet racks as separately printed parts, but found that didn't work at all. The resulting parts were floppy, inaccurately sized, and rough where the supports attached. I ended up redoing the model so that the beet rack sides were part of the flat car model, and the ends were separate parts printed on a separate support structure. I also printed the models vertically, again omitting part of one end so that the support structure wouldn't join to a visible face, and then 3d printed a separate part with two feet of deck and the car end. As a result, I only needed supports along a short edge of the beet racks rather than along one of the longer edges. The attachment to the car body also stiffened the lattice structure.
</p>
<p>
As always, detail that's close to the plane of major parts is easy to apply and comes out fine. The hinges and door latches are just embossed designs raised up or lowered relative to the rest of the design. The slats printed well as long as the board was well supported, and connected back up to posts frequently. Rather than trying to fiddle to get posts and stake pockets to match, the single-piece body made it easy to have everything look realistic and fitting well.
</p>
<p>
The beet racks also showed how 3d printing works great for variants. For Jason, cutting a new version of a flat car often means designing and cutting new molds from scratch. With 3d printing, it's much easier to borrow the flat car model, combine it with the beet racks, and print a combined model. It also made for an easier model to assemble, without any need to get the beet rack sides and flat car body aligned correctly, or to figure out how to trim posts to make sure the sides matched the stake pocket locations.
</p>
<p>
The area I model around San Jose, Campbell, and Los Gatos never had sugar beets as far as I know. All the local sugar beets were grown in the flat lands around Moffett Field, rather than further south in the Valley. For example, Henry Mitarai, a Japanese-American farmer, grew acres of sugar beets on his farm off of Mathilda Ave. in Sunnyvale during the 1930's. Dorothea Lange <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2017/02/08/blogs/rarely-seen-photos-of-japanese-internment/s/08-lens-lange-slide-FGY5.html">photographed him in his fields</a> in 1942; shortly after, he and his family were <a href="https://myheartmountain.weebly.com/friends-from-home.html">sent off to the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming</a> for the duration World War II. Mitarai didn't return to Sunnyvale after the war; he and his family stayed in Utah and grew sugar beets.
</p>
<p>
Even if the sugar beet cars aren't appropriate for my orchard layout, they're cool cars. They're also a nice reminder of the history of the Santa Clara Valley: we grew many crops besides fruit orchards, our current urban towns had agrarian beginnings, and we made money in some interesting ways before social networks.
</p>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-50670136925320634092020-09-12T12:22:00.001-07:002020-09-25T23:08:19.403-07:00Rebuilding Glenwood<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEmoY24Ni7fbD4kna_YL6Hws0dRe0e8wxZxauxjbVettYAnfF5eXkHR2DpGaw9g3LrgK4ohys0K_JgFYsQxWXS1W2AOfYE12U6HewlXqOCeQ-jC2vwWqw9DdHwrN3jDvUcTVMkRAHhllU/s2556/DSC_0150+2.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEmoY24Ni7fbD4kna_YL6Hws0dRe0e8wxZxauxjbVettYAnfF5eXkHR2DpGaw9g3LrgK4ohys0K_JgFYsQxWXS1W2AOfYE12U6HewlXqOCeQ-jC2vwWqw9DdHwrN3jDvUcTVMkRAHhllU/s320/DSC_0150+2.jpg"/></a>
<p><i>A string of maintenance-of-way gondolas heads uphill.</i></p>
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</p>
<p>
Like I mentioned <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/03/rolling-back-to-glenwood.html">last time</a>, long-suffering Glenwood got some serious rework recently. I had some good reasons to finally return to Glenwood. The <a href="https://www.prorail.org/ProRail/Welcome.html">ProRail</a> invitational was going to be in San Jose in April (before COVID-19), and the visitors from around the US deserved to see the layout at its best. I needed a distraction from work, and wanted some projects that could fill a weekend.
</p>
<p>
I also had several years of pent-up frustration waiting to be unleashed. Glenwood’s also an old part of my layout; I laid the track on the upper level about two years into the layout, and roughed in some scenery. The model doesn’t accurately capture the real location. It’s not up to my later standards for prototype scenes. It's not eye-catching enough to be a focal point for the layout. Glenwood’s also in a darker corner of the layout, and in a location that’s not central to model railroad operations, so it’s never gotten a lot of scrutiny. Glenwood deserved better.
</p>
<p>
But being generically dissatisfied is one thing; I need a list of things to fix. Let’s run through the problems at Glenwood.
</p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCNZpDNr25o-tXWMCeY1hIBi2fJFDw08Md8xATmzlVpj-xUF_zKKJ2M8unHaYdALjO4K8mP6Zrhi6EreOs942g8ZSl7oLgt6sKxWrRMY2GZF-ySx9rWIz5_ZUfqUrj6PyuvqFuV6IPyiM/s2048/before.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBCNZpDNr25o-tXWMCeY1hIBi2fJFDw08Md8xATmzlVpj-xUF_zKKJ2M8unHaYdALjO4K8mP6Zrhi6EreOs942g8ZSl7oLgt6sKxWrRMY2GZF-ySx9rWIz5_ZUfqUrj6PyuvqFuV6IPyiM/s320/before.jpeg"/></a>
<p><i>Glenwood before the rework.</i></p>
</div>
<p>
Problems with Glenwood:
<ul>
<li> The road’s unrealistic, just badly-levelled Sculptamold on foam scenery, with sheer drops and no shoulders.
<li> The building just above the tracks isn’t prototypical; although there was a small house there, the building on stilts doesn’t match the location, nor does it look realistic for the 1920’s. It also draws attention away from the prototype portions of the scene, hiding that great curve into the cut and tunnel.
<li> I'd built a station building, but it’s a coarse plastic model. There’s none of the maintenance of way buildings or outbuildings seen on the maps.
<li>The grassy hillside doesn’t quite match reality; prototype photos show more trees. The grassy hillside doesn't hide the unprototypical terrain, and misses the chance for trees as a view block to frame the scene.
</ul>
</p>
<p>
So my plans? Tear out the hillside, improve the tunnel entrance, make the scene more realistic overall, and detail the station area.
</p>
<b>Redoing Scenery</b>
<p>
Step one was ripping out a bunch of bad scenery - taking out the hillside, the cut, and the house-on-stilts.
</p>
<p>
Before any of that, I took a pass at a bunch of other unfinished business. The turnout in front of the tunnel was a frequent derailment site. I ripped out the track, leveled it out with spackle, and relaid the track. The old Tortoise switch machine was a problem; it stuck out too far below the bottom of the deck, and was difficult to adjust. I swapped it out for one of the tiny <a href=“http://www.modelrailroadcontrolsystems.com/mp5-switch-motor/“>MP-5 switch machines</a>. I also took this opportunity to check on the track in the tunnel, pulling up even more track, using spackle to again ensure the roadbed was as level as possible, laid the track better, and sealed in the tunnel so that stray light didn’t ruin the illusion of a tunnel through a mountain.
</p>
<p>
With the track done, I hit the rough scenery.
</p>
<p>
The new hillside started out with the focal point: the road climbing over the hill and curving around the top of the tunnel portal. This road’s actually the Glenwood Highway, the first paved road across the Santa Cruz Mountains, and first state highway over the mountains. The Glenwood Highway, built between 1912 and 1921, split off from the current Highway 17 on the ridge between Glenwood and Laurel, dropped down into the Bean Creek canyon, then headed through Glenwood towards Scotts Valley. The concrete road, 15 to 17 feet wide, had banked curves and oiled shoulders. It was the height of modern highway design. When the Glenwood Highway was widened in 1939, the town wasn’t big enough for the highway and the railroad; the SP lost that battle, and the depot was torn down to encourage more space for cars. The current route of Highway 17 later won out, but the jazz-era Glenwood Highway still remains if you drive through Glenwood today.
</p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhah3xvDto3Ep7g0CWeKPRpC-P8_p0jOR6EZtTq-QnL99Xdj1xCzWyWVQyJzJw4mu1oTr49d9L6lllnIB4a-not5nqyWTOiA0WwSaRwIM8ia1b5oCARjuP9yuJ5CnBcO-6UcK1jLi8jcjPJ/s2048/highway+constr.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhah3xvDto3Ep7g0CWeKPRpC-P8_p0jOR6EZtTq-QnL99Xdj1xCzWyWVQyJzJw4mu1oTr49d9L6lllnIB4a-not5nqyWTOiA0WwSaRwIM8ia1b5oCARjuP9yuJ5CnBcO-6UcK1jLi8jcjPJ/s320/highway+constr.jpeg"/></a>
<p><i>Road during rework.</i></p>
</div>
<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2X20qhNgKvKLnRRQmO810ZI4G5_WXfpNKNUAUuzOkOEytpJ-zSxE7LoGEzmMtz9GUqoSY610EZdPODK-0aeKVMEoM_auLfgpkwcI92rgPGN5nbbgB3et91k3536dAD-DEIhqdufVl9ID/s2048/after.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2X20qhNgKvKLnRRQmO810ZI4G5_WXfpNKNUAUuzOkOEytpJ-zSxE7LoGEzmMtz9GUqoSY610EZdPODK-0aeKVMEoM_auLfgpkwcI92rgPGN5nbbgB3et91k3536dAD-DEIhqdufVl9ID/s320/after.jpeg"/></a>
<p><i>Road after rework.</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
Old photos show the key details of the Glenwood Highway: precise curves and straightaways, the odd slalom around the top of the tunnel portal, and an even descent. I followed an approach I’d used elsewhere. I’d started by roughing out scenery to match the rough slope I wanted, and tore out as much of the old road as I could. As I’ve done elsewhere, I used 1/16” styrene sheet for the roadway, scribed with expansion lines. I cut the styrene at the workbench so I made sure curves were accurate and straightaways were smooth. I glued the sheet to the scenery with Liquid Nails contact cement, and used weights and straight lumber to keep the road flat until it dried. Once the road was glued in place, I used Sculptamold and spackle to finish the fills and shoulders.
</p>
</p>
<b>Time for detailing the scene.</b>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58E6dG6EBEBNpC4khzTQWjl_RIPSHf1pwODHSKNfjqS39eehts23fO5TtCciH7bQU42_WEwNrEbdIKMusy1VEhWFD-XcQkxSppqhJFbk52oN9xnkH9EEHXhZOKsDQxaYPsyJ3vmX40U4N/s1040/SP84GLEN.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg58E6dG6EBEBNpC4khzTQWjl_RIPSHf1pwODHSKNfjqS39eehts23fO5TtCciH7bQU42_WEwNrEbdIKMusy1VEhWFD-XcQkxSppqhJFbk52oN9xnkH9EEHXhZOKsDQxaYPsyJ3vmX40U4N/s320/SP84GLEN.jpg"/></a>
<p><i>SP 84 heading out of Glenwood tunnel towards Santa Cruz.</i></p>
</div>
<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-3Rkbixy3fOucO9wjqnXX0VBmGSspAshj7vVcrbbKOLSUKBI6SPudve9uLtk0CYZa1qNsIhiQzYMh1dQJrW10zH5iSy4-Qje9WE6smvfoBEtsYMWo8UZHAOXmskOYU0yfUtYwr_Xe4JL/s1851/DSC_0143.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-3Rkbixy3fOucO9wjqnXX0VBmGSspAshj7vVcrbbKOLSUKBI6SPudve9uLtk0CYZa1qNsIhiQzYMh1dQJrW10zH5iSy4-Qje9WE6smvfoBEtsYMWo8UZHAOXmskOYU0yfUtYwr_Xe4JL/s320/DSC_0143.jpeg"/></a>
<p><i>SP 31 coming out of tunnel.</i></p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
This photo of train 84 coming out of the tunnel shows that the bottom of the canyon had a bunch of pine trees in the 1920's. I'd always intended to capture scenes like this: the conifers in the canyon, oak trees higher up, and the privacy screen of trees between the highway and the railroad tracks. Rearranging the hillside and roadway helped this a bit. Filling in undergrowth and deciduous trees is easy; I've been using either Supertrees or Woodland Scenics Fine-Leaf Foilage. The redwoods and other conifers were more of a problem. I'd covered the hillside around Wrights with Woodland Scenics conifers, but I'd found these slow and tedious to build. I'd started trying to do the same at Glenwood, but eventually figured out that gluing tufts of sponge to the plastic armatures was not how I wanted to spend my hobby hours. Luckily, I'd gone to a model railroad train show right before COVID-19 struck. <a href="https://www.grandcentralgems.com">Grand Central Gems</a> out of San Diego was there with their pre-made trees; I bought a few bags of tall pines, and loved how quickly I managed to get the scene finished. I bought a couple more bags later, quickly filling the hillside. I've always been cheap and unwilling to buy pre-made trees, but spending less than a locomotive to get this scene finished was worth it. With enough trees, it was also easy to give the look of separate areas of fields separated by tree lines. Static grass and a barbed wire fence made of wood posts and fishing line completed the scene.
</p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi79XpVi8HIV4xftZ1snKh20tKyIJ91dimY4pfFNGd9l2DflusZCpe_2rvcsGlGKB0KBt1HyV3iSiFVVME_hqIOgAlfRfyHyhKh4VhOw5tj1qN1BubNeIKN9m4z-qX1DATxiSicG-yEsy/s2048/DSC_0153.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="420"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi79XpVi8HIV4xftZ1snKh20tKyIJ91dimY4pfFNGd9l2DflusZCpe_2rvcsGlGKB0KBt1HyV3iSiFVVME_hqIOgAlfRfyHyhKh4VhOw5tj1qN1BubNeIKN9m4z-qX1DATxiSicG-yEsy/s320/DSC_0153.jpg"/></a>
</div>
<b>Turntable:</b>
<p>
In the earliest track plans for the Vasona Branch, I’d sketched in a location for the pit for the former South Pacific Coast turntable. Glenwood had been a key spot for narrow gauge lumber traffic; many short trains would carry lumber up to Glenwood; from here, a single engine could pull a longer train through the summit tunnel and down to the Santa Clara Valley. One of Bruce MacGregor’s South Pacific Coast books mentioned the filled-in turntable, so I added it to the track plan as an interesting bit of history. I’d cut a half-moon hole in the homesite for the turntable at a convenient location when I first laid track.
</p>
<p>
In <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/03/rolling-back-to-glenwood.html">the last episode</a>, I mentioned finding the valuation maps and spotting the actual location. There were actually two turntables. The one at north end of town that apparently was filled in and tracked over during standard gauge times. The other turntable was at the far end of the siding, hanging over creek edge. Neither matched my guess when I'd first sketched the track plan.
</p>
<p>
I’d already cut the notch in the layout for the turntable in… oh, 2005, and wasn’t up to moving it. Stories claim the turntable was mostly filled in, but I took the existing hole, added stained balsa wood around to support it, added some debris on the bottom, and called it a day. It'll be a good location to throw whatever clutter I happen to have kicking around.
</p>
<b>Glenwood Station:</b>
<p>
I scratch built the Glenwood depot using some existing plans, and inference from photos. Gary Cavaglia published plans for the Glenwood depot in the March/April 2003 Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. His drawing laid out the original narrow gauge depot building from the 1870's. That building contained a waiting room and tiny baggage area, and was completely sided in shiplap siding. All the photos from the times I model show a different structure. Apparently, the station was extended some time before standard gauging. The 1920's station extended the office portion of the station, built on a long addition for baggage and freight, and added a large raised freight platform matching SP's standard station designs. The station, however, kept many of the details seen in other SPC depots in Alviso, Agnews, Alma, and Wrights: similar doors, roof supports, and roof peak decorations.
</p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHpZofx1uiXCI99Lu7xXhhNErtWSMsYIiTCQQujcnHGJL8dkWEhLbdxOFqH2C6Fei_bEVKFrzzF7vgvFeTphEtZsuqtZ-kcWK3g2JwYCDpnc2biw_zdJ8_NeXk-oiIqOzdB74N54PBJYd/s2048/station.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHpZofx1uiXCI99Lu7xXhhNErtWSMsYIiTCQQujcnHGJL8dkWEhLbdxOFqH2C6Fei_bEVKFrzzF7vgvFeTphEtZsuqtZ-kcWK3g2JwYCDpnc2biw_zdJ8_NeXk-oiIqOzdB74N54PBJYd/s320/station.jpg"/></a>
</div>
<p>
Cavaglia’s drawings of the depot gave me the rough shape: walls were 12 feet tall; the gable peaked at 17 feet, and end walls were 14 feet wide. The drawings also laid out the rough sides of the passenger section. During the reconstruction, a door moved; I assumed the windows stayed in the same location. Using these measurements and various expectations (doors 30” wide, windows three feet off the ground) I could infer other measurements. The waiting room originally had two windows with a door between; later photos show a solid wall and a door to the right. Apparently, the reconstruction kept windows in the same locations but blocked up the original door location.
</p>
<p>
The later extension to the freight side of the depot was board-and-batten which made guessing at lengths easier - the battens appeared to be spaced 12” apart, so I could make guesses about the overall length of the extension. I sized the freight dock to the space available on the layout, rather than the size of the prototype’s.
</p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYlmPhSDcLNVE9SurCi5k3_7nhKYftT7fEZ4JOsFz6WITOd5GXptSqZc7fDhz67Zrom96J0kI46L-Ro6hL7XMLV53Nqu9hwzdnYKqnC2qEUT2k7EwdCHpJUgiJB54_AistspyFzTJ3j9U/s1180/glenwood+station+sketch.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" width="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEYlmPhSDcLNVE9SurCi5k3_7nhKYftT7fEZ4JOsFz6WITOd5GXptSqZc7fDhz67Zrom96J0kI46L-Ro6hL7XMLV53Nqu9hwzdnYKqnC2qEUT2k7EwdCHpJUgiJB54_AistspyFzTJ3j9U/s320/glenwood+station+sketch.jpg"/></a>
<p>SketchUp model of Glenwood Station</p>
</div>
<p>
I sketched the whole model in SketchUp because I could do so quickly - I already had 3d models for the SP-style windows, so putting together the rough shape was fast. Once I had a rough model, I could compare it to photos and confirm that it looked about right. I could have done the same with pencil sketches or with a cardboard model.
</p>
<p>
I built the model using sheet styrene, window and door castings from my hobby stash, and vacuum-formed shingle material from Plastruct. I was lucky that all the supplies were already in my hobby stash, for I started the model just as the Covid-19 shelter-in-place started here in Silicon Valley. Like many of the SP stations I built, I used the Grandt Line 5031 windows (12 pane double-hung windows) to match the main windows, and the narrower Grandt Line 5029 windows for the sides of the operator’s bay. (I use those windows a lot, so my box-of-windows-for-projects usually has some on-hand.) I scratchbuilt the freight doors from styrene sheet. It doesn’t take a lot of styrene to be able to knock off one of these models; I usually keep a couple sheets of board-and-batten material, a couple sheets of shiplap, and then strip styrene in 1x4, 6x6, 2x6, and 2x8 dimensions, and that’s all that’s needed for most buildings. I also keep large sheets of 1/16” sheet styrene from TAP Plastics because it’s cheap and useful for bases or backing support. I also had some very beefy .156 x .250 sticks of styrene; these turned out to be really handy for building up a base for the loading dock. I could have done the same with Plexiglas, but that would have required shopping, and also required using power tools in the garage. Building from styrene let me build quickly with just a #11 X-acto knife, a square, and a straightedge.
</p>
<p>
Overall, scratch building a model like this is quick - probably a week of evenings including design and painting. The worst part is cutting out the window openings. If you haven’t tried scratch building, find some simple building, get $25 in plastic from your favorite hobby store, and start cutting!
</p>
<p>
<b>Maintenance of Way Buildings</b>
</p>
<p>
Who was around in Glenwood? Even with the large station, Glenwood never attracted the business one would expect; it didn’t become a wine center, didn’t have a major lumber industry, never attracted farmers. The August 1916 Southern Pacific payroll on ancestry.com showed Campbell station had an agent, warehouseman, and clerk, and apparently had a part time “fruit checker”. Wrights had an agent and warehouseman in their little hamlet. Meanwhile, Glenwood’s large station only had Alfred Feldt, operator, making $80 a month. Feldt eventually moved to San Lucas; in 1920, Edom N. Davis had the agent role. The <a href=“https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/01/this-train-aint-bound-for-glory.html”>abandonment proceedings</a> in 1939 declared that only 196 people lived in the Glenwood area.
</p>
<p>
The section gang was a big chunk of that population during the teens and twenties. 1916 payroll records show six laborers and a foreman in Glenwood, reminding us that the section housing and work sheds deserve to be prominent. The August 1916 records show similar section crews at Campbell, Los Gatos, Wright, and Santa Cruz. The 1916 crew included V. Simoni as foreman, P. Simoni as watchman (perhaps for the tunnel), and G. Simi, M. Mariani, J. Jilla, A. Scarponei, U. Balleroni, and G. Berlacgua on the crew. The 1920 census showed a similar crowd: Benjamin Capp, Vigellio Elli, Toni Gianti, G. Luciano, Joseph Menta, Sam Chientilli, and Angelo Fideli. The railroad apparently was a good gig for the new immigrants. A separate continent of Mexican workers listed their occupation as wood choppers in the same census pages. Valuation maps don't show housing for the workers, but a few 1920's photos show what appear to be bunk cars on the siding next to the tunnel. Twenty years later, a Vernon Sappers photo of the Felton depot in 1935 shows maintenance of way bunk cars on the siding behind the Felton station, suggesting the maintenance of way workers moved closer to the bright lights of civilization.
</p>
<p>
I'd hoped on hinting at the folks who worked in Glenwood. I've got some bunk car models (care of Jason Hill of Owl Mountain Models fame), but I hoped I could include the section house where the foreman lived. Unfortunately, I'd started figuring out a location too late - I already had the station and an Atlas water tank in their rough locations. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out an arrangement that didn't appear too crowded. Instead, I added a tool house built from a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/290842441551">A&LW Lines</a> laser-cut kit, and an outhouse next to a privacy fence.
</p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyY4FAF_MDP515Av4pJConF5cKXNDaxSFiJ6_LB8s3q9HN-fx8EjjBVjxdmNWDS26oWjL_L9VMOcWZbvjjf_Hb-iImhLLGenWd5gHj-NcKFpLfmU1t807aLCDZXxjlH6epcM0IaS5tA0y/s2048/glenwood+empty.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyY4FAF_MDP515Av4pJConF5cKXNDaxSFiJ6_LB8s3q9HN-fx8EjjBVjxdmNWDS26oWjL_L9VMOcWZbvjjf_Hb-iImhLLGenWd5gHj-NcKFpLfmU1t807aLCDZXxjlH6epcM0IaS5tA0y/s320/glenwood+empty.jpeg"/></a>
</div>
<p>
Scenery improved? Check. Unrealistic buildings removed? Check. Prototype station in place? Check. Tons of trees? Check. Glenwood was always a place I modeled because I wanted to capture the real look - the curve into the tunnel, the redwoods, and the interaction of the new highway and the old railroad. It’s now got that look I intended.
</p>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com03980 Glenwood Dr, Scotts Valley, CA 95066, USA37.105489 -121.98793137.078108331800578 -122.02226327539063 37.132869668199419 -121.95359872460938tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-6204478450172605672020-08-19T00:47:00.012-07:002020-08-22T18:42:14.138-07:00Bring in the Photographers!<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbk0WrdmVUKw4wITPkscwxUMhG-uqOUJ9fhFTpQAd1l-9IpJiF7UeDMSZb9kqsw4wXSm3IBgEBsQ-9I2AXzDDQPe1JY3gxEVQ8wWscy5HW6rqExdoo_JTaq2kiFmjW31WB-q2FfxjgbFD/s2048/banner.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" width="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbk0WrdmVUKw4wITPkscwxUMhG-uqOUJ9fhFTpQAd1l-9IpJiF7UeDMSZb9kqsw4wXSm3IBgEBsQ-9I2AXzDDQPe1JY3gxEVQ8wWscy5HW6rqExdoo_JTaq2kiFmjW31WB-q2FfxjgbFD/s320/banner.jpg"/></a></div>
<i>Full disclosure: all photos here are mine documenting the weekend, not the shots the pro guys made.</i>
<p>
Well, that was an interesting weekend. As part of preparations for the NMRA 2021 National Convention, <a href="">Rails by the Bay</a>, I got a chance to get my layout photographed for articles about the convention. Model railroading’s a lone wolf hobby for me, so I’ve never had anyone else doing serious photos of the layout. I instead got to sit and see how others thought of my layout, and how they worked to get great photos. I also changed a bit how I think about the layout as a result.
</p>
<p>
So let’s talk about aiming for good photos in terms of planning, preparation, and the photos.
</p>
<p>
If model railroading taught me anything, it taught me project management. Building a model railroad always involves a long effort to build something significant: deciding what to build, sequencing all the work, rolling with the voluntary and involuntary changes, and ending up with a completed model railroad. I found out about the photo sessions at the beginning of the year, and realized I had some time to finish a couple scenes that had been lingering. I used my usual tricks for deciding what to figure out what to do: fix what annoyed me the most, and fix what I was in the mood for.
</p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbzXP1skLcPGDBGobnjwbEWtURDT9WFxo8rQXRMCC6ALjZeXVib9hgm6AiKFWdVQUAhH8QtqMkYh-bj6WsvbhPIpNnw_E6NBxHjH0b6Jrz2jp7SJQZw-H7rum5rbag5PtxMlySsOi1MNI/s2048/glenwood_highway.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbzXP1skLcPGDBGobnjwbEWtURDT9WFxo8rQXRMCC6ALjZeXVib9hgm6AiKFWdVQUAhH8QtqMkYh-bj6WsvbhPIpNnw_E6NBxHjH0b6Jrz2jp7SJQZw-H7rum5rbag5PtxMlySsOi1MNI/s320/glenwood_highway.jpeg"/></a></div>
<p>
Two projects won. First, long suffering Glenwood’s scenery finally got redone. I’ve <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/03/rolling-back-to-glenwood.html">written a bit about that previously</a>, but to recap: it has the potential for an eye catching scene, the prototypical curve makes it easy to stage reproductions of historical photos, and who doesn’t like model trains in mountain scenery? I’d first ripped out the old scenery and fixed some notoriously unreliable trackage near and in the summit tunnel. I redid the hills and Glenwood Highway to better match the terrain. I then covered the area in trees. Normally, I try to build trees from Woodland Scenics kits, but this time I bought from <a href="https://www.grandcentralgems.com">Grand Central Gems</a> at a recent train show, and had a redwood forest ready in days. I ballasted track, detailed the former turntable pit, and built a quick reproduction of the Glenwood station from styrene. (I’ll talk more about the station another time.). Glenwood needed a water tank, so I quickly grabbed one of the venerable Atlas kits and put it into service.
</p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgU2D9Gt9c8qTEjlvg-Sx7ExpwjGo9eBGAkAlDv6K6aJMgSzJEUgMP-GhP8uupSkhNM-2nvXY4OsLyYOhbYKKeW5dwpgk81U_b51WmuqefxlnlMppaCn4mJHbvIF_TdV02quydTwJMfwYQ/s2048/glenwood.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="320" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgU2D9Gt9c8qTEjlvg-Sx7ExpwjGo9eBGAkAlDv6K6aJMgSzJEUgMP-GhP8uupSkhNM-2nvXY4OsLyYOhbYKKeW5dwpgk81U_b51WmuqefxlnlMppaCn4mJHbvIF_TdV02quydTwJMfwYQ/s320/glenwood.jpg"/></a>
</div>
<p>
By the time the scene was done, COVID-19 had hit and the original deadline for the work - the <a href="http://bayrails.com">Prorail operating event</a> had been cancelled. We rescheduled the photoshoot for August, which gave me motivation for another project. This time, I decided to go after downtown Campbell. The Campbell scene’s always been a focal point for the layout, but the scenery and structures have been half-done for years. I’d built the station model years ago and scenicked the station side of the tracks. However, the opposite side of the tracks was still temporary buildings and little scenery. That included downtown Campbell, Sunsweet, the Hyde Cannery, and Ainsley cannery. This area provided some great scenes - space to photograph long trains, switching action, and lots of canneries. I started on a big push a couple months back to redo everything. For downtown Campbell, I redid the road and building bases, and started trying to pull all together.
<p>
I’d already done four of the five buildings for the downtown Campbell Ave., but had held off on the most impressive of the group - the Growers National Bank building that had been downgraded to the local movie theater by the 1930’s. (The building still exists in 2020, though I think they're still fighting about whether to allow it to become a night club.) I’d made a couple attempts at starting the bank, finding a suitably regal plastic model, but the space on the layout was tiny - only about twenty feet wide - and the model wouldn’t fit. Unable to do things perfectly, I just gave up and decided I’d do the model another day.
<p>
That day finally came as I cleaned up Campbell Ave. I tossed out my ideas of a "perfect" model and decided to just start building and see what turned up. Like the <A href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-this-layout-really-needs-is-dutch.html">Dutch signal box</a>, I finally got annoyed enough to just start building. Like that model, I used styrene sheet primarily. Again, large dimension styrene rod worked really well - the 2 foot inset for the doorway was simply 0.250 styrene bar, simplifying the construction. A leftover door and window served for entry. I used brick sheet for the walls; the detail along the roofline were strips of board-and-batten siding standing in for carved stone. I crafted the theater sign from styrene sheet. I would have liked to 3d print it to get the lettering perfect, but my older SketchUp software doesn’t seem to want to render 3d characters.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxaSqxncGmp1V4EXyDIecBpoW6IB-DkItXcPkJzbwyL5rlBLv5OLZvHuHc7EWwTjt_okqG8TvEODihmtng8BDd5qZ7hF0-RBV8VYOln6DgSclITkisiKopSwOcRZicGbGbzQfcXxZVaeZ/s2048/campbell_bank_a.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxaSqxncGmp1V4EXyDIecBpoW6IB-DkItXcPkJzbwyL5rlBLv5OLZvHuHc7EWwTjt_okqG8TvEODihmtng8BDd5qZ7hF0-RBV8VYOln6DgSclITkisiKopSwOcRZicGbGbzQfcXxZVaeZ/s320/campbell_bank_a.jpeg"/></a><<p>Campbell Theater</p></div>
<div class="right"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN69ymk-cLqiyLWJ4W0aa6SJ2m3kFEGO0vfbAJmJW8LKcP0oDqmPJi29jzpETqI1RcIeQvcTy0BDHBDc5dHVEcUFgNV9tS0eV1_TTVPU1CBQZWY9Y5WL_te11RWRAJgy3wAS2jYVkRgdSF/s2048/campbell_bank_b.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;">
<img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN69ymk-cLqiyLWJ4W0aa6SJ2m3kFEGO0vfbAJmJW8LKcP0oDqmPJi29jzpETqI1RcIeQvcTy0BDHBDc5dHVEcUFgNV9tS0eV1_TTVPU1CBQZWY9Y5WL_te11RWRAJgy3wAS2jYVkRgdSF/s320/campbell_bank_b.jpeg"/>
</a><p>Bank of Camera Close-up</p></div>
</div>
<p>
With Campbell Ave. in, and the road glued down, my next project was fixing the Ainsley Cannery. The Ainsley site’s had a posterboard mockup ever since the layout was built; I still remember Byron Henderson complimenting me during an early operating session because the freight door spacing matched my 40 foot freight cars. Back in 2006, I had a great solution for the cannery - I’d found a YesterYear Models “fruit packing house” - actually a former Sunkist packing house from Riverside, California. The box has been gathering dust ever since as I waited for just the right inspiration to use it for the cannery. This was finally the time to pull the kit out of storage. The overall shape of the buildings are similar - both were a row of wooden barn-like buildings. Like Sunkist, the Ainsley cannery had an office in the end closes to Campbell Ave, and a loading dock dominating the front of the building. As a result, the rough arrangements of windows and doors would work fine as-is. One big difference was that Sunkist’s building had two joined wooden sheds, while the Ainsley cannery had two corrugated iron sheds and two wooden sheds in a line; historic accuracy went out the window in order to get a "good enough" model done as I ignored the corrugated iron sheds. I ended up cutting the Sunkist building in half, and using both ends side-to-side, and ignoring the different materials in the various sheds.
<p>
<div class="singlepic" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5tRFOSM6Jr6p0Abvsz6EkkBttwwOkR5q6rOztaF_I4DhJwmoQn-EBT7ZRgJgTpVC5_bCq-pTRLbBeG9ZsE-NhkegYxt4LjdHF4so3KltXhoppz3zkm_guh65wUS3fCoX6ymrenm0_FVL/s2048/drew.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;">
<img alt="" border="0" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs5tRFOSM6Jr6p0Abvsz6EkkBttwwOkR5q6rOztaF_I4DhJwmoQn-EBT7ZRgJgTpVC5_bCq-pTRLbBeG9ZsE-NhkegYxt4LjdHF4so3KltXhoppz3zkm_guh65wUS3fCoX6ymrenm0_FVL/s320/drew.jpeg"/>
</a>
<p>The Drew Cannery, formerly Ainsley</p>
</div>
<b>Preparation</b>
<p>
All that major work took me up to last week. However, I still hadn’t done much of the preparation work, so I kicked into a big cleanup mode. Our photographers recommended doing a serious cleaning so extraneous dust or debris visible on photos. I also got rid of all the little problems I'd ignored over the years. Some was operating session damage - having folks handle models is always going to trigger a bit of damage. I fixed broken signs and bumped trees, repaired damaged cars, fixed scratched paint or bent grab irons, and filled in ballast holes triggered by past cleanups. I dusted off a set of “good cars”, and stashed away cars that were the wrong era or had visible damage. I fixed long-lingering projects -holes in scenery I’d never addressed, half done patches, and rough surfaces. Some were really quick - I’d never patched scenery when I’d rearranged the Wrights tunnel. Some were larger, such as finishing half-done spackling in the Meridian Road scene.
<p>
Most of the preparation work was the same I’d do for an operating session. For operating sessions, I’d also be worrying about reliability, cleaning car and locomotive wheels, testing that engines were working fine, testing couplers and trucks. None of that sort of work mattered much here - the trains would be stationary in the pictures. I was pretty relieved not to be doing a serious cleaning. Serious cleaning's always a huge time sink, and I always want to over-prepare - I’m always worried before operating sessions whether a balky engine or dirty track will make for an unpleasant operating experience.
</p>
<p>
Another great advantage of photos is that locomotives don't need to run well. The real Vasona Branch likely had small 0-6-0s switching the canneries. On my model, larger 2-8-0 locomotives instead get the job. I really like the little 0-6-0s, but can never use them for operations. They tend to be balky runners and stall way too easily. When operators are focusing on how to solve a switching puzzle, the last thing they want to do is deal with a stalling or broken locomotive; it interrupts the illusion of working on the railroad, and usually ends up with waiting for the layout owner to clean track, fix the engine, or provide another locomotive. With photos, however, a balky or stationary locomotive isn't a bad thing, for the trains don't need to move in a good photograph. I cleaned one of the rarely-used 0-6-0s, and it got a few chances to be on center stage. To be fair, it's still good to have working locomotives if only to quickly pull cars around the layout to a new photo site, but a photo session removes a lot of the worry of mechanical problems.
</p>
<p>
While some tasks such as wheel-cleaning and locomotive tuning don’t make sense for photos, other tasks not needed before operating sessions were needed. I’m usually a bit hesitant about putting detail on the layout. It’ll often get damaged during operating sessions. I’ve hoarded some details so they’re available when I need to fill in a scene to be photographed. The layout hasn’t always been at a stage where it’s ready for detail.
<p>
But hey, if the layout’s going to get photographed for real, this is the time for all that detail. I pulled out my box of various details I’ve hoarded during my time in the hobby. Every Woodland Scenics pallet I’d ever gotten from a detail kit went on the layout. Extra parts from a Fine Scales Miniature kit that couldn’t handle more crowding. All the 3d printed boxes, bags, lugs, and can stacks I’d printed went on any available loading dock. I plopped down figures where they were appropriate. I took a pair of 3d printed flagmans shanties and phone booths and placed them wherever they’d fit. I took the large fruit bins from the YesterYear kit and made a box yard for Del Monte #3, just as can be seen in photographs.
<p>
I also put in a bunch of telegraph poles along the right-of-way. I’ve had these on the layout before; they tend to get a lot of abuse, but they’re eye-catching. This time, I spent an evening assembling and painting a set of telegraph and power poles from Rix Products and Atlas. I also painted them a bit more carefully than before. Previously, I’d just painted the telegraph poles a quick brown and added a bit of green for insulators. This time, I made the colors stronger than last time - darker posts, silvery supports, green insulators. In place on the layout, they really catch the eye. For the Meridian Road scene, I also made a point of doing a power/telephone line paralleling the road which helps to make the scene even more realistic.
<p>
And thanks to some <a href="https://www.fungible.com/news/fungible-dpu-a-new-class-of-microprocessor-powering-next-generation-data-center-infrastructure/">crazy times at work</a>, I crammed a bunch of this work into the last week, and into a mad three days. We were also in the middle of a serious heat wave here in San Jose, so the hardest part was avoiding heat stroke in the garage, but on the plus side the matte medium dried really, really fast. The roof of the Ainsley cannery got painted just as soon as the glue holding the paper tarpaper on appeared to stick. I laid ballast in a bunch of places that had never been ballasted, and managed to paint and clean the rail in time. I decorated new scenes - bushes hiding a farmhouse along Meridian Ave, a path to the bathroom around the edge of the Rio Grande gas station, and a row of posts to keep parked cars away from the Campbell depot. I was bouncing back and forth between touching up scenery, weathering cars, and touching up structures. When I was checking old photos to get the sign on the Ainsley cannery declaring it to now be the Drew Cannery, I noticed a speed limit sign, and quickly printed up several of those to control the HO scofflaws. I was still touching up ballast and fabricating a set of stairs for the Glenwood depot a half hour before the photo session.
<p>
I never completely believed those model railroad magazine articles where someone built a well-detailed layout in a year or two. I couldn't imagine they had time to decide on models, do the construction necessary, or add the details. This week's mad rush convinced me it was possible. All I needed was some definite ideas of what should be built, an urgent deadline, a bit of wiggle-room on what counted as "good enough", some well-stocked supplies, and way too much manic energy.
<p>
<b>And the Photographers Arrive</b>
<p>
Dan and Doug, the photographers, were spending several days just photographing layouts in the Bay Area. They've also done this before for previous conventions and other layouts, and came fully prepared. Although I've read about model photography in magazines, this was my first chance to see pros in action.
<p>
They came prepared: lights, power cords, and various secret photographer paraphenalia. The extension cords helped when the breaker blew on the garage circuit - our 1960's house wasn't designed for this kind of model railroad lighting, and we quickly found another circuit to share the load.
</p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjkr9QMe1bn7TN3jJ2Fhr5BKZ36sdal6KC6mEyORgIRsBTLc-RP9qV-GNv9whDuxV8dELXigzqviT3erjONWAG21UcgiyC68b7iDTpEplXI0O4sbO-3TER9z6gLMJwWIUJeUVPxKariZ3/s2048/photographers.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" border="0" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjkr9QMe1bn7TN3jJ2Fhr5BKZ36sdal6KC6mEyORgIRsBTLc-RP9qV-GNv9whDuxV8dELXigzqviT3erjONWAG21UcgiyC68b7iDTpEplXI0O4sbO-3TER9z6gLMJwWIUJeUVPxKariZ3/s320/photographers.jpeg"/><p>Lighting the whole length of the layout</p></a>
</div>
<p>
Dan also had lots of cool tricks so he could get into the scene with his SLR - mirrors to capture scenes the camera couldn't reach, beanbags to hold the camera steady on the layout, high tripod for the upper level photos.
</p>
<p>
And they took photos different from me, too. Some of that was expected: they visited the Vasona Branch for only a couple hours, so they were very careful to make their plan of shots, then slowly move around the layout to hit each.
</p>
<p>
Big difference number one from my attempts at model photography: they bring in lots of light. The Vasona Branch has a mix of lighting: the garage lights are cool white fluorescent strips, but I've got various cool white LEDs and warm white fluorescent fixtures lighting the lower deck. I'll usually just use the existing lighting when I take photos; if I'm really taking care, I might borrow a couple bright lights from one source or another. As a result, my photos often have weird colors if a scene has a mix of LED and fluorescent lights. Dan and Doug used two or three photo lamps. Their lights quickly overpower any layout lighting. They also didn't seem to worry about the narrow space between decks - bounce light off objects was enough to light the scene. Their biggest concern seemed to be getting the scene evenly lit, and avoiding shadows on the backdrop. In places where they couldn't get lights, they assumed they could photoshop in some sky into the black background of the garage door.
</p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNw-HyZinnWGcbfpyRFcSTyUawL55RWKHoDmpahASt-kCzSNQa2e59IQS8oYqyukx1WUgPRjrg4NoKUsWMpmWzPEw9swW1jtAwe5JgWAJM8O3MJgT6WDu0d1jf3Kq8Pv8LqOTbJk8tESy/s2048/mirror.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsNw-HyZinnWGcbfpyRFcSTyUawL55RWKHoDmpahASt-kCzSNQa2e59IQS8oYqyukx1WUgPRjrg4NoKUsWMpmWzPEw9swW1jtAwe5JgWAJM8O3MJgT6WDu0d1jf3Kq8Pv8LqOTbJk8tESy/s320/mirror.jpeg"/></a><p>Dan and Doug use mirrors and a hand-held photo light to capture a train approaching Alma station.</p></div>
<p>
Big difference number 2: The big surprises for me was just seeing what caught their attention. I haven't seen their photos yet, but they understandably looked for interactions between trains and the world. Signals were a common tool to add some action, as were road crossings. My best guess is that model photos need the extra busy-ness and action, and really need some focal point other than the train. The Vasona Branch's semaphore signals were common places for photos. (That was also true on the prototype; one real photo that inspired me is a 1920 photo of a passenger train coming into Glenwood. That photographer, like Dan, made sure to catch the train as it "split the semaphores".
</p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhJ-wZCaOdQtwsbN63c29zv3KUkEaDbEpgyPxB_yxiMXdOeNu6ZeCBwx2zMhtti3XVtMoQkeX9mymU1byPang87L56tXCvCZK48823E7d3IEjRoUkkvu8Xf1M9YT431QxEftsshcq6zzJ/s1040/SP84GLEN.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: none;"><img alt="" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAhJ-wZCaOdQtwsbN63c29zv3KUkEaDbEpgyPxB_yxiMXdOeNu6ZeCBwx2zMhtti3XVtMoQkeX9mymU1byPang87L56tXCvCZK48823E7d3IEjRoUkkvu8Xf1M9YT431QxEftsshcq6zzJ/s320/SP84GLEN.jpg"/><p>SP Train 84, coming out of the tunnel at Glenwood<p></a></div>
<p>
I also heard a bunch of interest about the farmhouse and orchard sitting in the blob where the tracks turn from San Jose to Campbell. This scene's always been half done and cluttered - details not glued down, ground not quite sloping correctly, the orchard too small to be realistic. I'd done a big cleanup of the scene in preparation for the photos - pulled out details, removed structures, and generally made it innocuous. But interest kept drifting back towards the farmhouse and barn. I'd started thinking about details as I was doing cleanup; I'd added a hedge to protect the farmhouse from the busier road. But the interest makes me think I should more seriously plan the scene out.
</p>
<p>
Dan and Doug also focused on the large details - freight cars and car models - rather than smaller details - not surprising because of the short time. They did spot one broken crossbuck that would have detracted from the scene; we pulled it out.
</p>
<p>
And that was pretty much it; they got ten good photos, and moved onto the next layout. I got to stare at the layout for a while; it's always fun to see the layout when it's been cleaned up for an open house or an operating session, and doubly-good when all the usual clutter in the garage has been relocated. Even though I'd crammed a bunch to get the layout in shape, I was still excited enough at seeing the layout in good shape that I finished off a couple projects that hadn't been done in time, replacing a remaining broken telephone pole, putting in some gravel around the Ainsley cannery, and fixing up the famous black walnut tree that sat at the start of Campbell Ave.
</p>
<p>
<b>What did the photos show?</b> I've seen the first photos, and they're great - Dan uses <a href="https://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconsoft-products/helicon-remote/">Helicon</a> to combine photos taken at different focal lengths to get more depth of field. Looking at the photos, I see a few things to do differently.
<ul>
<li> I'm vertically challenged. In a few of the photos, it's obvious I've been less than good at making sure everything's standing up straight. They're close, but as soon as several objects are in a photo: semaphores, building, water tank, telephone poles - it's obvious each has a slightly different idea what "up" is. I'll need to work on this, both ongoing, and fixing the more obvious offenders before I next take photos.
</li>
<li>Prepare for the story. I'd made sure to have cars set up in sample trains, but hadn't been good about choosing cars or trains to illustrate themes I'd want in an article about the layout. For example, large industries and lots of indistinguishable red boxcars is a big part of my layout, but I neglected to have a switcher ready at Plant 51, and also didn't make sure that the cars there were the uninteresting ones. I need to sketch out the story I want to tell beforehand, and share it with the folks doing photography.
</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p>
What's next? The layout's clean and in good shape, and I'm excited to do some more building. Finishing Campbell is an obvious next step: the Hyde Cannery buildings are screaming out to be build. I'd held off on building the Campbell Theater and Ainsley Cannery because I wanted to make sure I did them right. However, my quick-and-dirty building rush seemed to work with these. Maybe I should just go build Hyde and see what happens?
</p>
<p>
The orchard scene's another obvious project.
</p>
<p>
Once both of those are done, there's obvious holes to fill. One advantage of cleaning the layout was that I got rid of all the building placed on the layout "temporarily" for lack of better space - a couple of farmhouses that never found locations, a drive-in market built for fun, a bunch of cars that needed repair. Now that the layout's opened up, I'm reminded that the area between Campbell and Vasona Junction is still completely empty. The Del Monte Plant #3 property's also still occupied only by foamcore buildings. There's also a stretch of bare plaster up on the upper deck near Alma. I'll need to take a pass on any of these scenes going forward.
</p>
<p>
If the last week's any indication, I know how to get those scenes done quickly: lock down my idea of the scene, build something that's "good enough" rather than waiting for perfection, and pull a bunch of all-nighters during a heat-wave.Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-8435246822207329062020-05-08T00:38:00.000-07:002020-05-08T00:38:40.273-07:00What This Layout Really Needs is a Dutch Functionalist Signal Box<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrENFKb6naJVs_KetIMS0pD789bxE0nM5ph8IjkgtClErSp_l9rsY-5J15YCus9PIGef_2ZSJavjGjtDxdF-MzPAmy96rLwccAwfCWNVE_Mh688QDZZ_XtRcImH8_xiuz-T8TR1KRHq2Ra/s1600/utrecht_0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrENFKb6naJVs_KetIMS0pD789bxE0nM5ph8IjkgtClErSp_l9rsY-5J15YCus9PIGef_2ZSJavjGjtDxdF-MzPAmy96rLwccAwfCWNVE_Mh688QDZZ_XtRcImH8_xiuz-T8TR1KRHq2Ra/s320/utrecht_0.jpeg" width="240"/></a>
</div>
<p>
<b>The Conundrum</b>
<p>
Well, if I needed proof that I’m a structure modeler, not a freight car modeler, I’ve got proof.
<p>
I’ve talked in the past about my rules for structures: build only appropriate buildings that will fit on the layout. I’ve got a small model railroad. I don’t need bunch of models I can’t fit on the railroad, whether structures, freight cars, or locomotives. I want to model historical locations, so I don’t need models that aren’t appropriate for 1930’s San Jose. That means no generic kits, and no models inappropriate for the era or the location. I can’t always build what seems like fun. While there were lots of photogenic art deco, modernist, or mission-style buildings around San Jose, they weren’t always along the railroad tracks. My model railroad shows the back side of the old warehouses and canneries, not the attractive downtowns.
<p>
Even with that rule, I’ve got lots of interesting structures for inspiration, all clustered in a folder labeled “Inspiration”: a 1920’s car hop restaurant in LA, that <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-hollywood-gas-station-or-robert.html?m=1">pocket gas station in Hollywood</a> next to D.W. Griffith's movie studio, the old freight house at San Jose, a bit of the facade of Golden Gate Packing in San Jose, a moorish revival storefront. They catch my eye, they seem interesting as models, they’d fit on the layout, and they’d fit the era and the location. I keep thinking any of these would be fun; sometimes I might even pull one out as a potential project.
<p>
No matter how earnest I sound, I’ve broken the structure rule occasionally. I built one of the classic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHDm1zeMH4w">Fine Scale Miniatures kits</a> just to see what was special about them. The model's much-complimented instructions on weathering the building taught me some handy new tricks. A while back, I showed the 3d-printed model of that 1915 Hollywood gas station. I don’t have a place for it on the layout now, but I liked the look, and I knew it had potential to be on the layout. But other than a few examples, I don’t build inappropriate structures. Nope. If I’m building it, it better have a place on the layout.
<p>
But hey, this hobby’s about having fun, and sometimes that means breaking our well-thought out rules to do something wacky.
<p>
As part of entertainment during the current shelter-in-place, I’ve been following a bunch of European modelers. One, Tim Dunn, had been publicizing the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TwitterModelTrainShow">Twitter Model Train Show</a>, an online event to substitute for a cancelled model railway show in London in March. Tim’s also a broadcaster and is currently doing a TV series on railway architecture on Britain’s equivalent of the History Channel. For one episode, he mentioned the work of Sybold van Ravesteyn, a Dutch architect well-known for his modernist buildings. He shared a few photos on Twitter, including this photo of a very non-traditional switch tower / signal box:
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4nRSPMEKPzHachaD333saDdhGyA-HgUy_0x4tjqRlZA4j-FOQl209JefWdFfo9twkS0PkbtohgeZoCI0xk9UmgxLb4xmdcVyPVbs1IcvvlABUPMUUbt0FtLjxElVxL7ufCUXWw_ks31D/s1600/seinhuis-kanaalstraat_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4nRSPMEKPzHachaD333saDdhGyA-HgUy_0x4tjqRlZA4j-FOQl209JefWdFfo9twkS0PkbtohgeZoCI0xk9UmgxLb4xmdcVyPVbs1IcvvlABUPMUUbt0FtLjxElVxL7ufCUXWw_ks31D/s320/seinhuis-kanaalstraat_s.jpg" width="225" /></a>
</div>
<p>
And just like that, I’ll toss away all my principles, and start building a model that doesn’t match my era, my location, and won’t fit on my layout. It’s a pretty sweet model, though!
<p>
(For more on van Ravesteyn, read the <a href="https://retours.eu/en/38-architect-sybold-van-ravesteyn/">detours.eu</a> article on his projects.)
<p>
<b>The Prototype</b>
<p>
van Ravesteyn’s prototype signal box was in Utrecht in the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It's an eye-catching structure with sweeping curves, those odd round windows, and the notched roof looking a bit like Don Quixote's shaving bowl hat, all built from concrete. It's like some sort of modernist aerie that might fit well in the hills of Los Angeles, or a couple of brutalist college campuses I can think about.
<p>
Yeah, I had to build a model of it.
<p>
A bit of research told me more of the history. The signal box was built as part of a revamp of Utrecht’s central station in 1937 and 1938. Similar signal boxes sat on the north and south ends of the station, but the surviving photos are for the signal box on the north end, just where the Leideveer underpass dives under the railroad lines. The signal boxes were designed for electric interlocking machines, with the operators on the top floor, an equipment room in a middle level, and the bulk of the building perched on top of a 15 foot high concrete shaft. The real signal box was never actually used "because of World War II", though that doesn't say whether Utrecht was damaged, if the line didn't get enough traffic to require the interlocking, or if the building was just impractical. It appears the building was a residence for a few years, but torn down in the 1950’s. Some online photos show the tenants on the stairs up to the signal box.
<p>
<b>The Model</b>
<p>
I’d initially thought of 3d printing this model in order to reproduce the curves and the round windows. However, it’s a bit of a waste to go straight to 3d here. The switch tower would take a fair amount of resin to print - probably the equivalent of a couple freight cars, and I’d require a couple tries to print it reliably. 3d printing’s also best for a model that’s going to be made multiple times. This switch tower’s a weekend boondoggle; I don’t even need one, so 3d modeling for multiple is overkill.
<p>
I still did a 3d model in SketchUp to figure out the measurements. I created the 3d model by studying a bunch of photos online, and estimating dimensions from the spacing between tracks, size of windows, etc.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwi583JgWscGDmMdECZxuGgwroFYm_nBLStcR-fMPlyBIjGrD1NA7syCW68LG3-EG9oWOfuy3u3Y_wRyFxwoC6AAhKZWzOOgR29sEiobreRhySkiCI-ICWyxG3ehSzCAKKvFMAMsm94Xcc/s1600/utrecht_3dmodel.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwi583JgWscGDmMdECZxuGgwroFYm_nBLStcR-fMPlyBIjGrD1NA7syCW68LG3-EG9oWOfuy3u3Y_wRyFxwoC6AAhKZWzOOgR29sEiobreRhySkiCI-ICWyxG3ehSzCAKKvFMAMsm94Xcc/s320/utrecht_3dmodel.jpg" width="240" /></a>
</div>
<p>
For most traditional buildings, figuring out how to build a model isn’t that hard: lay out the walls, cut holes for window and door castings, glue walls together, add a roof. I learned all this from kits I built in high school, and models I’ve scratch built and kit bashed ever since. The curved lines of the signal box didn’t suggest an obvious way to build. I ended up using a model airplane-like approach, with forms supporting a skin.
<p>
I drew out the end shape on 0.060” styrene sheet (cheap and plentiful in large sheets from Tap Plastics!), cut out two pieces to match the signal box’s silhouette, and drilled holes for the round windows in the equipment room. I then added spacers with 1/8” x 1/4” styrene rod to hold the two ends out the appropriate 12 scale feet apart. (The thick styrene rod is available from <a href="https://evergreenscalemodels.com">Evergreen Scale Models</a>, just like your scale 2x6 strips and clapboard siding. The bigger pieces always seem like an extravagance compared with plexiglas or wood scraps. However, the styrene rod is easy to work with - just score and snap, same as the thinner styrene - and easy to glue.) I also added 0.125” square styrene along the edges of the pieces as a gluing surface.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5VtQUwZCpC3wPy3lfdO9sVry5a-RKpQ3iNbNoH3yMGO5lBlp5uQFka-y2ZlH1xDox0GC6xgZPrXTHXDz3_VVqsD1nYsd5503yKZqX-iToDdG1nHcQHVMCDWpZI9d9th3WIX4jpGS2DFq/s1600/utrecht_4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK5VtQUwZCpC3wPy3lfdO9sVry5a-RKpQ3iNbNoH3yMGO5lBlp5uQFka-y2ZlH1xDox0GC6xgZPrXTHXDz3_VVqsD1nYsd5503yKZqX-iToDdG1nHcQHVMCDWpZI9d9th3WIX4jpGS2DFq/s320/utrecht_4.jpeg" width="220"/></a>
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<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvD43QvbfsQqOH8qOO9xcKXrccJXAmpIDq4uH9JohU8hfJ_aUSP7P3Ygu13tQXphV-0xHGUrSSjOQjXiFKY1uG5LogzqVtPg6rzqhykv-3c6k5tc2uxed7YWQf8wnSGX6xwBmI-C5OUN0M/s1600/utrecht_5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvD43QvbfsQqOH8qOO9xcKXrccJXAmpIDq4uH9JohU8hfJ_aUSP7P3Ygu13tQXphV-0xHGUrSSjOQjXiFKY1uG5LogzqVtPg6rzqhykv-3c6k5tc2uxed7YWQf8wnSGX6xwBmI-C5OUN0M/s320/utrecht_5.jpeg" width="200" /></a>
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<p>
Once I had the rough form, I cut out 0.020” styrene sheet for the curved walls, and carefully bent them to match the curve of the walls. A bunch of rubber bands and clamps held everything in place until the plastic glue dried. I sanded the corners so they were a bit less sharp, added filler, and primed the whole model to double-check the surface didn’t have flaws. I built the roof similarly - two sheets of 0.062” styrene for the flat roof with the concave notch, and a half-barrel roof made from half-circle forms with thin sheet over the top. One important step was gluing some 8-32 nuts into the base of the model. This is a really top-heavy model that won’t stand on its own, so I needed to secure it to a base just so I could paint it and work on it without the signal box falling over.
<p>
Once the rough walls were formed, I added more of the structural details - the entry platform, and the horizontal table outside the observation windows, all cut from styrene sheet. I used styrene strip to frame up the observation windows, and a platform for the roof. I primed and painted the model white, and added some weathering to make the curves more obvious.
<p>
I also made one bad move: I tried to add some texture to the walls to better look like concrete. The "pumice gel" I'd used to simulate stucco looked way too rough, and I spent a couple hours scrubbing and scraping the texture off so the model would look "cleaner".
<p>
The steps and handrails came from <a href="https://www.shop.cvmw.com/Mixed-Duo-Pack-Fence-and-Ladders-1600.htm">Central Valley’s</a> “Fence and Railings” and “Steps and Ladders” packs. I couldn’t reproduce the curved railings by the entrance to the signal box, so for now the model has some unfortunate straight railings. I’ll try later to do a more accurate set of railings.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ38Vtj8z9EfJCsKVzp_N99UWe-PnNGRXYRdPOUk1bVqlSQgAfPzbnSaJQQSeQ8vIrrSOg_35Ug6Uj-9myncxA_0CUsp7D2Z0d9ySQ1TmpdSGK6JWkRtdHz4XAtu8tyDvFhc0Pwbj7no-F/s1600/utrecht_1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ38Vtj8z9EfJCsKVzp_N99UWe-PnNGRXYRdPOUk1bVqlSQgAfPzbnSaJQQSeQ8vIrrSOg_35Ug6Uj-9myncxA_0CUsp7D2Z0d9ySQ1TmpdSGK6JWkRtdHz4XAtu8tyDvFhc0Pwbj7no-F/s320/utrecht_1.jpeg" width="220" /></a>
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<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn3IJCQN3jOM_aWJ9XBxWITb1c6f5yIr-C52-scHqXzQ21Ip5BfyHCaNdYX5Zoq4p0rMC72hTnWX81kujYcFWFpu7Uqzx1_KMtFmP4ssJbxMZNStMdM-l_nyGPx1hVNmE9ugAyLV8daLT/s1600/utrecht_2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTn3IJCQN3jOM_aWJ9XBxWITb1c6f5yIr-C52-scHqXzQ21Ip5BfyHCaNdYX5Zoq4p0rMC72hTnWX81kujYcFWFpu7Uqzx1_KMtFmP4ssJbxMZNStMdM-l_nyGPx1hVNmE9ugAyLV8daLT/s320/utrecht_2.jpeg" width="200" /></a>
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<p>
So where’s the completed model going to go? It’s not appropriate for the Vasona Branch. The WP’s West San Jose tower already has an accurate model. Even if I wanted to imagine that a modernist switch tower might have ended up at the location, economics and the unfashionable location suggested that there was no way a fancy switch tower ever would have been at the location. WP shut down the tower by the 1930’s anyway, so it's unlikely they would have spent money for a modernist jewel box out behind the Del Monte Cannery. Instead, my little Utrecht tower will probably be going to my desk at work just so I’ve got something railroad-related to be thinking about in between tasks.
<p>
I’ve got a rule: I only build appropriate models that will fit on the layout. Except when I don’t. The Utrecht signal box was a break-the-rules, fun, more-than-a-weekend project. The signal box wasn’t appropriate for my 1930’s San Jose layout, nor does it give me a chance to explore my interest in California history. However, this little modernist signal box from half a world away does capture my interest in modern architecture, and gave me a chance to try some unusual techniques in styrene. I imagine I could have learned the same lessons in plastic by scratch building a Vanderbilt tender, or a passenger car. But I like buildings, and so if I was going to do a project just for fun, it’s pretty obvious it would have been a modernist little structure model.
<hr>
<i>
Thanks to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/mrtimdunn">Tim Dunn</a> for sharing the original picture and inspiring me to build this project. Arjan den Boer's <a href="https://retours.eu/en/38-architect-sybold-van-ravesteyn/">article on van Sybold van Ravesteyn</a> gave more detail on the arrangement of the signal box, and the architect's evolution of style. Thanks to all the kit manufacturers who gave me enough model building skills so I could knock off this model in a couple of long days.
</i>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0Lange Hagelstraat 31, 3531 BH Utrecht, Netherlands52.092748735315482 5.107356040722668152.087870735315484 5.097271040722668 52.09762673531548 5.1174410407226683tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-65688541458330462392020-03-20T22:01:00.000-07:002020-03-20T22:01:48.400-07:00Rolling Back to Glenwood<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCGm3IfYgUdskXUYh7vuxTjr7ofngNqLmpwpKxi1Oj8JtcVLJp2Oxxno41mZxHSkiOb2LmFE9Z8NUKHTdd26k9ol4NYs-vd9LHmnHUr61QGQfQCeY9MVRKnDHhNMS7ymYx50WmH7Rh6jt/s1600/SP84GLEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqCGm3IfYgUdskXUYh7vuxTjr7ofngNqLmpwpKxi1Oj8JtcVLJp2Oxxno41mZxHSkiOb2LmFE9Z8NUKHTdd26k9ol4NYs-vd9LHmnHUr61QGQfQCeY9MVRKnDHhNMS7ymYx50WmH7Rh6jt/s320/SP84GLEN.jpg" width="239"/></a><p>Southern Pacific train #84 rolling into Glenwood around 1913.</p></div>
<p>
A few weeks back, I finally started redoing scenery on a long-ignored part of the layout: Glenwood, on the upper deck. When I first built the Vasona Branch layout, I’d thrown in some temporary scenery... which has lasted for a good fifteen years now. Before I show off what I’ve been doing, though, let’s chat a bit about Glenwood.
<p>
As we read in the abandonment filing, there wasn’t a lot to do in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the 1930’s: little industry, few people, and a railroad line that tended to get buried in mudslides every winter. The Los Gatos-Santa Cruz branch wasn’t a happy place for a profit-focused railroad.
<p>
My Vasona Branch layout models the Santa Cruz Mountains on the upper deck, both for extra mileage and for my chance to model some classic California scenes. I chose to model three locations on the layout: Alma, Wrights, and Glenwood. I chose each for scenery and track arrangement reasons. Alma and Wrights were both on the uphill side of the climb to the summit, so they made sense for the slowly-rising upper deck. I chose Alma because I wanted its passing siding, and because I could find photos of the station. Wrights was an obvious place to include; the track comes up the narrow canyon, then makes a sweeping curve across Los Gatos creek to dive into the summit tunnel. The creek and bridge, toy station, tunnel, general store, and historic location made it photogenic and proper for the layout.
<p>
But what about the Pacific side of the line? I could have modeled Felton, with its lumber mill. I could have modeled Laurel, with its tiny station sandwiched between two tunnel portals, and side-hill trestles keeping the track from sliding down into a canyon. Glenwood, however, had a tight curve at one end of town that led to the Glenwood-Laurel tunnel, just perfect for the curve on the layout, which made the model in the garage match the real-life terrain. But in the 1930’s, Glenwood was near abandoned: a main line, two weed-infested sidings, and a closed station. So why include it?
<p>
Glenwood had been much more important in the narrow gauge days. Bruce MacGregor notes that Glenwood was nearly at the elevation of the summit tunnel; if the South Pacific Coast railroad could pull lumber and other freight to Glenwood, they could easily pull it through the tunnels and down to Los Gatos and San Jose with a single engine. As a result, Glenwood originally had multiple sidings for assembling larger trains before pulling them to the Santa Clara Valley. Glenwood also had a turntable for turning the locomotives hauling the lumber up from Boulder Creek and Felton, and a couple sidings for maintenance-of-way.
<p>
Beyond that, Glenwood wasn’t particularly exciting. Tunnel at the west end of town to Laurel and the summit, bridge over the creek at the south end (and eventually leading to the tunnel to Zayante and Felton), the depot, a general store, a winery that looked more like a barn, and a few houses. Some resorts were scattered in the trees, but it wasn’t the most cosmopolitain of places. It made up for its meekness with stories from the early settlers, including “Mountain Charlie” McKiernan, who famously fought a bear and got a dent in his skull.
<p>
The California State Railroad Museum has the station plan drawings for multiple years, giving us a chance to see the evolution of Glenwood from the railroad’s point of view for four times: November 1907, December 1907, 1913, and 1939.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYP8EErQw5ET4Q0QKuDvi8o0a2bcNWY3UpUIQcojSqpiqCJScSVGRUcCzlNRtHFAAJAiQlyEhnQRKwOpyNtJcv-j5WN3Mk-upif3k3OabSmnyxJ-Kwx2mrG01gFri-BR5P22WXcE5IDfio/s1600/nov1907.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYP8EErQw5ET4Q0QKuDvi8o0a2bcNWY3UpUIQcojSqpiqCJScSVGRUcCzlNRtHFAAJAiQlyEhnQRKwOpyNtJcv-j5WN3Mk-upif3k3OabSmnyxJ-Kwx2mrG01gFri-BR5P22WXcE5IDfio/s320/nov1907.jpeg" width="410" /></a>
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A November 1907 valuation map (probably while the line was still narrow gauged) shows three 700 foot sidings, a turntable on the east and west ends of town (the west one apparently filled in), a section house. Bean Creek, awfully close to the railroad tracks, shows up as a 10 foot gully stretching along the scene. The sidings ended just east of the depot where the tracks crossed to the west side of the creek. The current Glenwood Highway doesn’t yet exist; the downhill stretch is labelled “Vine Hill Road”. The road crossed the tracks just west of the station, and proceeded across the creek and up the hill on an alignment that’s no longer a public road. We see a section house (residence) and multiple structures along the tracks.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I_VfnM4-o9_Z0mrlZc9S6tgF-_d3deucEqGQEKfFl2d3NXetdKf8eQutp-kLz1gItSz5eSG6ASy32XQqk7cJDOS5nEvFAzN31ssVyRfQ0Sq3IOrsJxNxY_KJTPnBf0eJjdlDA-OETHW0/s1600/dec1907.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_I_VfnM4-o9_Z0mrlZc9S6tgF-_d3deucEqGQEKfFl2d3NXetdKf8eQutp-kLz1gItSz5eSG6ASy32XQqk7cJDOS5nEvFAzN31ssVyRfQ0Sq3IOrsJxNxY_KJTPnBf0eJjdlDA-OETHW0/s320/dec1907.jpeg" width="320" height="134" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="668" /></a>
</div>
<p>
A month later in December 1907, the SP created another map, probably showing line changes after standard gauging and reopening the line. There’s now just two sidings and the main line, with a spur in front of the depot. Bean Creek’s now been filled in with a concrete culvert.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Sd3RjnMv7wBUZpnT_ioWjc16wvWWCT76DYafb_SRz60wn31Bi2M435X7leQ4KDQuhUgrm98ze5WbJ4UiDYSq9SB2SP5hCe5IlGO3lnNCDkmaejd_I4SiY89jEKJ-Tv28TRTxzLoFcbDi/s1600/aug1913.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Sd3RjnMv7wBUZpnT_ioWjc16wvWWCT76DYafb_SRz60wn31Bi2M435X7leQ4KDQuhUgrm98ze5WbJ4UiDYSq9SB2SP5hCe5IlGO3lnNCDkmaejd_I4SiY89jEKJ-Tv28TRTxzLoFcbDi/s320/aug1913.jpeg" width="410" /></a></div>
<p>
The 1913 map shows additional changes. This map labels the building next to the Laurel tunnel as “watchman’s house”. There’s also two spurs, probably for maintenance-of-way. There’s a couple photos from about this era showing trains passing the semaphores just before the tunnel. Those photos caught maintenance of way cars - or bunk cars - sitting on the siding. On the east end of town, longer sidings both cross the new culvert to create 1100 foot sidings for longer standard gauge tracks. The maps also show the block signals at each end of town. A private road loops over the top of the tunnel portal; this will eventually be the Glenwood Highway.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1udyPsyFZyZluOdr6epwjdwdEUoffNrVI_vAKgwLNP_jtuvdc_hM6spu-ZVty_wCvPLYhw3S3xjuK0n89rDHHjMeOAAw-59VgmBrgHUSWc2lh68rvdMxB-JZELTD4O7frdZW139kkcHy/s1600/nov1939.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK1udyPsyFZyZluOdr6epwjdwdEUoffNrVI_vAKgwLNP_jtuvdc_hM6spu-ZVty_wCvPLYhw3S3xjuK0n89rDHHjMeOAAw-59VgmBrgHUSWc2lh68rvdMxB-JZELTD4O7frdZW139kkcHy/s320/nov1939.jpeg" width="410" /></a>
</div>
The 1939 map shows that very little changed since 1913. The track arrangement’s similar; the only differences are in the roads. On this map, there’s now a section house, tool house, and signal maintainer’s tool house. The depot was torn down to give room for the state highway. There’s also a derail on the east end of town so runaway cars won’t roll all the way to Santa Cruz.
<p>
So what do I want from all these sights? I’m not changing the track layout, so we’ll still have the curve into the Glenwood-Laurel tunnel. The Glenwood Highway looping over the top of the tunnel portal is a well-known design, so I’ll need to keep that. The depot’s small-ish, photogenic, and has an appropriate location so we’ll need to keep it. (I’ve got a placeholder model based on some plastic kit, but it’s time to make an accurate version.). I hadn’t known about the section house and tool house; there’s space for both next to the depot, so those deserve to be added.
<p>
What’s already there? The old scenery has the Glenwood highway curving over the tunnel portal, but the climb out of town is jerky and doesn’t look smoothly. There’s also a house on stilts right next to the tunnel portal. It’s unprototypical; that hillside looks like it was mostly trees and bushes. It’ll need to go. I’d also cut a space for one of the abandoned turntables. Stories suggest that the turntable was filled in, but I’m willing to leave it as a hole in the ground.
<p>
Next steps: Let’s start swinging the hammer and changing some scenery, then let’s scratch build a depot!
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0Glenwood, CA 95066, USA37.1082804 -121.986626511.6423949 -163.2952205 62.5741659 -80.6780325tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-56001845281546073422020-03-08T23:30:00.000-07:002020-03-09T09:23:39.634-07:00End of the Line, From the Editorial Pages<div class="singlepic">
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Eighty years ago, the last trains went along the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz line. It’s hard to remember with this bone-dry February, but January and February are usually the wet months here in California. Some of those years are wetter than average. Some years, we’ll get a couple good storms; we’ll hear about Highway 17 being closed for a day or two. Some years, storms can wash out the road to Big Sur or Half Moon Bay, and limit access for days or weeks. Some years, the rain comes down at biblical scale.
<p>
We’ve all heard the stories about how the Los Gatos line closed. There was a big storm in late February 1940 that washed out the railroad in several places. The SP didn’t want to keep the line open. The <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2020/01/this-train-aint-bound-for-glory.html">ICC abandonment decision</a> highlighted just how little business was on the line, and how little traffic was being carried across the Santa Cruz mountains. Away goes the railroad, away goes the route between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz, away go the tunnels and bridges. Stories in various books hint at how the summit tunnel was either blown up by the army for demolition training or to get rid of a nuisance.
<p>
At best, those books cover the story in a paragraph or so. We don’t really know if the army blew up the tunnels to protect us against Japanese saboteurs, or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Buckaroo_Banzai_Across_the_8th_Dimension">Red Lectroids of Planet 10</a>; we don’t know how bad the storm was. We don't know if the people of Santa Cruz fought the decision, and how bad the damage was. Luckily, here in the 21st century, we can rely on materials beyond what’s in the books in the hobby shop or sources at our local library. The University of California, Riverside’s <a href="http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cdnc/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=p&p=home&e=19-07-1866-20-07-1866">California Digital Newspaper Collection</a> now has copies of the Santa Cruz Sentinel from the 1940’s, so with a little bit of searching, we can easily learn more about what was really happened.
<p>
Although MacGregor’s “South Pacific Coast” quotes March 4 as the day of the last train, it looks like the storm - and the last train - was actually February 27, 1940. And this wasn’t a small storm, from descriptions the next day.
<p>
From the <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400228&e=19-07-1866-20-07-1866--en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">February 28, 1940 Santa Cruz Sentinel</a>:
<blockquote>
“One of the greatest river floods in the history of Santa Cruz - and undoubtedly the most destructive - smashed its way through the San Lorenzo Valley yesterday, bearing logs, branches, dead animals, furniture, and debris from ruined summer homes and bridges. With county damage conservatively estimated at $500,000, there were at least 100 Santa Cruzans rendered temporarily homeless by the swirling yellow flood.
<br>
“Fed by a cloudburst which brought 11.57 inches of ran to Ben Lomond in 24 hours, the muddy river first jumped its banks here at 2 a.m. and reached its peak about 6 o’clock last night…. An all-time record for high water was believed set with a 25 foot rise at Paradise Park.
<br>
“The thundering flood swept out 100-foot River Glen Bridge at Boulder Creek, then hurtled downstream, taking out the Zayante, Cooper, and Ocean street bridges on its path to the sea. Simultaneously slides tore out telephone connections with Boulder Creek and choked the San Lorenzo drive. Severely hit were Paradise Park [the Masonic summer cabin neighborhood on the site of the former California Powder Works], a number of resorts and auto courts on the outskirts of the city, outer River Street and the entire Ocean-Barson street where some two score families were forced to flee.
<br>
…
<br>
Old-timers were divided as to whether or not the flood was the greatest in history. Former Mayor Fred Swanton said it outclassed the big waters of 1898 and 1907, but redoubtable Ernest Otto swore he had seen bigger floods - the time, for instance, when driftwood was carried to the very doors of Hackley Hall. He did not deny, however, that this was the most destructive because of greater business and residential development.
<p>
…
<p>
For most of the day Santa Cruz was virtually isolated. All Peerless stages were forced to cancel their runs over the Los Gatos highway, and the Southern Pacific routed trains by way of Watsonville Junction. The Watsonville roads by way of Chittenden and Hecker passes were closed, as was the Ocean Shore route. For a time the only road out of the city was by way of Hunter’s hill and Salinas.”
</blockquote>
<p>
That 11 inches of rainfall in Ben Lomond is a heck of a lot of rain; it's only been equalled forty years later on January 4, 1982. If you’re a Bay Area kid of a certain age, you probably remember the winter of 1981-1982. The San Lorenzo flooded. Brookdale Lodge’s dining room, with the creek running through it, went on a rampage in 1982, replaying the flood in 1940 that “smashed gaping holes in the rear and front of the dining room by mid-day (S.C. Sentinel, 28 Feb 1940). <a href="https://patch.com/california/santacruz/mudslide-remembering-love-creek-1982">Ten people died near Ben Lomond</a> when a huge section of hillside broke loose and tore through a cluster of houses in the redwoods. The same storm blocked blocked highway 101 and the Waldo Grade in Marin County for days, and flooded San Anselmo. I remember teachers living in Marin couldn’t make it to my high school for days. The 1982 storm was big enough that <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1988/4236/report.pdf">the USGS even wrote a report about it</a>.
<p>
So yeah, the horrible storm of 1982 gives us an idea how extreme 1940 would have been. Thank goodness neither year coincided with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1Iqy6m7U7c">great Santa Cruz vampire infestation</a> of 1986, though at least there would have been plenty of material for stakes on the beach.
<p>
Santa Cruz wasn’t the only place suffering from that storm. The February 28, 1940 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel also highlighted similar problems around California. The governor declared flood emergencies in the Sacramento Valley. The Napa river flooded town. “300 persons in a federal migrant camp [in Winters] were marooned after two feet of water swept through their temporary shelters.”
<p>
The news wasn’t any better the next day. The <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400229&e=19-07-1866-20-07-1866--en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">February 29, 1940 Santa Cruz Sentinel</a> showed photos of the damage: logs and deadwood on all the beaches and riverside, ropes and pulleys carrying groceries across the river between Lompico and Zayante. The Old San Jose road was blocked. William Turver’s 1500 hens broke loose after their chicken house was destroyed by flood waters, “found roosting on the roofs of sheds and houses yesterday.” Boulder Creek’s water supply was lost when the pipe to the main supply tank broke. 35 homes at Paradise Park summer cabins were damaged by floodwaters, with another 10 destroyed outright. A covered bridge at Paradise Park survived, but a mattress in a nearby tree hinted at the heights of the flood waters.
<p>
There were also stories from abroad. Pescadero flooded. Marysville flooded. Shops on Hearst Ave. on Berkeley’s north side had a foot of mud dumped on their floors.
<p>
A. L. Andrews, the Santa Cruz general traffic agent for the SP, announced it would be a week before traffic could be resumed over the mountains, with significant slides at Rincon Hill (on the Santa Cruz side) and several larger slides on the Los Gatos side. Meanwhile, Southern Pacific had other worries: Gerber and Tehama flooded, and rail traffic between California and Oregon had been halted by slides and washouts.
<p>
<a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400301&e=19-07-1866-20-07-1866--en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">Friday, March 1</a> leads off with “Santa Cruz Not Alone in Watery Disaster”, with pictures of flooding at Marysville. The Los Gatos road was “open but muddy”, with “delays at the bottleneck near Los Gatos were from 10 minutes to half an hour.” The railroad was still a week from opening.
<p>
<b>The Railroad Isn’t Coming Back</b>
<p>
There’s nothing else about the railroad until <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400307&e=19-07-1866-20-07-1866--en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">March 7</a>. Below a headline about the Queen Elizabeth steamship outrunning U-boats, we find:
<blockquote>
“S.P. Surveys Mountain Line
<br>
Deny Closing of Historic Run; May Rebuild Stretch
<br>
San Francisco, March 6 (AP) - The Southern Pacific headquarters here said today railroad engineers were surveying the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz line to determine whether to make temporary repairs - as has been done previously in slide and washout areas in that sector - or to rebuild the stretch in a manner to forestall future tie-ups.
<br>
Train service between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz was disrupted in last week’s storm. The San Jose - Los Gatos line is open, and buses now carry passengers from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz. Buses also operate the S.P.’s Watsonville Junction to Santa Cruz.
<br>
The rail line office here said there was no indication that the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz strip would be abandoned. They said the engineers’ report probably wold be completed next week.
<br>
TWO LOSE JOBS HERE
<br>
Previous to the San Francisco notification above, reports were current in Santa Cruz that the mountain line might be discontinued indefinitely owing to the lack of year-around business and cost of repairs between Olympia and Los Gatos. [The precision of those endpoints makes me suspect the rumors were awfully correct.]
<br>
An informed source said it would cost between $50,000 and $75,000 to repair trouble caused by the recent storm. Near Glenwood a large section of earth sank from beneath the tracks.
<br>
Meantime, the two maintenance men at the local S. P. yard were notified that their jobs here had ended. They are Charles F. Berlin of 531 Mission street, employed here for some 13 years, and Malcolm Henderson of 75 1/2 Washington. Berlin is day engine watchman, and Henderson has had the night shift.
<br>
It was also reported that the engine pits, used for maintenance, have been filled in.
<br>
The mountain line has been closed for eight days and Greyhound buses are leaving at 7:05 am and 6:10 pm to connect with the regular train at Los Gatos. Buses take passengers from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz, arriving at 11:25 am and 6:50 pm.
<br>
The maintenance crew left the city yesterday after repairing the mountain road as far as Olympia where some 250 cars of sand for “traction” use are taken out monthly. Freight is not affected by the temporary shutoff of the mountain service, since most of this goes by way of Watsonville Junction.
<br>
Historic Old Line
<br>
The historic mountain route opened as a narrow gauge railways in the late seventies and was then known as the Dumbarton road. It was then routed to San Jose, and at Santa Clara it went up the west side of the bay by way of Alviso, Newark, Alvarado, and Agnew, across on a drawbridge to Alameda, where passengers transferred to ferry for San Francisco.
<br>
Later when the Southern Pacific took it over and widened it to broad gauge, it went up the east side of the bay and through the Mission district. In those days there were three trains daily and special additions on week-ends. They generally carried from three to eight coaches in contrast to the slight traffic of recent years. They stopped regularly at stations at Felton, Glenwood, Laurel, Wrights, Alma, and Los Gatos, Eblis, Rincon, Big Trees, Mount Hermon, Olympia, and Zayante. Most of these stations have long since vanished, although the train would stop when and if passengers requested.
</blockquote>
<p>
Meanwhile, the San Lorenzo Valley Chamber of Commerce, rightfully worried that the S.P. had decided to drown the line, set up its own committee to talk with the S.P.
<p>
Everyone held their breath while waiting for the SP to make its decision. The March 19 paper quoted shippers complaining about rates: shipments from Seattle cost 30 cents per 100 lbs to San Jose, but cost 37 cents to Santa Cruz (with no details on exactly what was being shipped.) The local businessmen argued for a better rate.
<p>
The true “beginning of the end” occurredd on <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400326&e=19-07-1866-20-07-1866--en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">March 26: “S. P. May Abandon Historic Rail Line”</a>:
<blockquote>
S. P. May Abandon Historic Rail Line
<br>
Younger Heatedly Hits Long Neglect
<br>
Officials Reverse Recent Story; Now Say Storm Damage, Loss Each Year Is Mounting
<br>
Santa Cruz was stunned yesterday by announcement that Southern Pacific has placed before the Interstate Commerce Commission a request to eliminate passenger train service between this city and Los Gatos.
<br>
That this city was unprepared for the announcement may be attrabuted [sic] to the fact that the Southern Pacific officials, interviewed 10 days ago in San Francisco by an Associated Press correspondent for the Sentinel said abandonment of train service between Santa Cruz and Los Gatos was not being considered.
<br>
F. C. Lathrop, general passenger agent, and J. J. Jordan, superintendent of the coast division, flanked by other officials, hurried down from San Francisco to explain in the wake of an early morning release from the company’s publicity department.
<br>
On short notice the chamber of commerce called a special luncheon meeting of directors at the St. George hotel, where the railroad representatives fenced with the opposition of Donald Younger and Adriel Fried.
<br>
Would Save $50,000
<br>
Lathrop told the luncheon gathering of 40 that abandonment of the 15 mile branch line from Los Gatos to Olympia would save the company $50,000 a year in out-of-pocket losses, that bus service will be improved in substitution for loss of trains, that freight service will be continued between Olympia and Santa Cruz, and that the Suntan and tourist specials will be routed into Santa Cruz via Watsonville.
<br>
Mayor C. D. Hinkle said he preferred to hear a thorough analysis of Southern Pacific’s problems “before offering any criticism.”
<br>
Mrs. Rose Rostron, supervisor of Branciforte district, expressed the opinion that Santa Cruz would be stepping backwards by loss of the service, suggesting that most travelers preferred the train to busses.
<br>
Donald Younger spurred debate with the charge that the Southern Pacific has reduced its service gradually through the years with a view towards eventual abandonment. “You have done everything to discourage passenger traffic over the mountains from Los Gatos,” he said. “The line into Santa Cruz has been badly mismanaged. While we have tried to provide you with more freight in exchange for promised improvement in passenger service, you have not given us your share of co-operation. You are giving us your figures and this is a stacked meeting. The chamber of commerce should appoint a committee to make a thorough investigation prior to the hearing before the railroad commission. It is the history of the Southern Pacific that you have made progress only when forced to.
<br>
Might Save State Money
<br>
He charged the Southern Pacific had not been fair in withholding announcement of their intentions at a time when the state was spending a huge sum to erect a viaduct above the company’s tracks between the Oaks sanitarium and Los Gatos. If it had been know that the line was to be abandoned, he claimed, the highway department could have saved the expense of the span.”
<br>
“I think you have been a little severe in your charges,” answered Lathrop. “As far as the figures are concerned, you can get all the information you want from the railroad commission. We are seeking to adjust our operations and our service to changed transportation conditions and changed habits and demands of the public. In certain new phases of transportation we are making some notable progress in providing service that the public generally welcomes and by its patronage will make profitable to the railroad. We have been earning only 18 cents per train mile on passenger trains in and out of Santa Cruz as compared with a cost of $1.50 per train mile. On average no more than six persons have been riding each train on the Santa Cruz line. It would cost us about $50,000 to put the line into shape following damage by recent storms. Phases of railroad service that have long been unprofitable are a drag on the efforts of the railroad to provide fast enough modern freight and passenger service generally over the system.”
<br>
He promised that the “improved bus service” to connect with Los Gatos, in substitution for the train, would save 30 minutes time between this city and San Francisco.
<br>
Stodgy and Stuffy
<br>
Adriel Fried criticized the company’s “stodgy” trains and “stuffy station” at Watsonville Junction where Santa Cruz passengers connect with southbound trains, and insisted that the company is being badly managed. He demanded figures on freight out of Santa Cruz. C. M. Briggs, assistant general freight agent, said he was not prepared to give those figures, but would have them available at the railroad commission hearing.
<br>
“It is regrettable to come to a meeting of this kind and be insulted,” said J. J. Jordan, the rail company’s superintendent. “You will get all the information you want before the railroad commission.”
<br> “You say we haven’t been progressive. Don’t you realize that the automobile has taken away 68% of the railroad’s business! We are trying our best to meet this transition.”
<br>
Earl Harris maintained that the company had not lived up to its word, made two years ago, to spend money on improving the line over the mountain and bring additional Eastern tourist specials into Santa Cruz.
<br>
Jordan replied that the company did spend $50,000 to improve the line.
<br>
Hits Tourist Business
<br>
James P. Leonard expressed fear that a bus connection with Santa Cruz would decrease passenger traffic to the Big Trees. “The minute a passenger agent mentions a tail-end connection by bus, you will find a strong sales resistance on the part of a prospective visitor,” Leonard said.
<br>
Lathrop said the railroad company had borrowed $22,000,000 from the RFC, and that government would insist upon a profit on all branches. He expressed belied that Santa Cruz would not be affected “one iota” by the abandonment, “inasmuch as this community does not even use the line.”
<br>
Drum Baikie was chairman of the lunch meeting.
<br>
Decision as to the chamber of commerce’s attitude will be reached at a director’s meeting next Monday.
<br>
Other Southern Pacific officials attending the luncheon were E. C. Pearce, assistant superintendent; Roy Ioas, supervisor train service; G. I. Goldsmith, assistant mail and express traffic manager; Stanley Moore, special representative passenger department; E. A. Teubner, division freight and passenger agent.
<br>
Operating Costs High
<br>
Both operating costs and maintenance costs of the line south of Los Gatos have been extremely heavy since it was acquired by the company in 1887 and changed from narrow to broad gauge in 1907, Southern Pacific officials stated. Operation is expensive due to the excessive curvature of the winding route through the mountains and grades which range from 2.5 to 2.9 per cent, making it necessary to use helper engines on trains carrying more than five cars northbound and seven cars southbound.
<br>
Maintenance of the line is relatively even more costly due particularly to recurring annual storm and flood damage. Company officials stated there is an annual expense of $48,000 per year for maintenance and storm damage repair to two and one-half miles of tunnels, to other track structures, to track, and to sub-grade in the area marked for abandonment.
<br>
The section of track which it is proposed to abandon does not include a nine-mile section from Santa Cruz to Olympia. This nine-mile section will be maintained to provide freight service from the Olympia sand pits.
</blockquote>
<p>
<b>The Abandonment Hearing</b>
<p>
The first hearing on abandonment took place in Santa Cruz City Hall on <a href=“https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400426.1.1&srpos=3&e=------194-en--20-SCS-1--txt-txIN-%22Southern+Pacific%22----1940---1”>Friday, April 26</a>. The SP now claimed it would take precisely $46,220 to fix the line.
The editorial on <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400428.1.1&srpos=41&e=------194-en--20-SCS-41--txt-txIN-%22Southern+Pacific%22----1940---1">Sunday, April 28, 1940</a> quoted how it went:
<blockquote>
Those who attended the railroad commission hearing Friday on Southern Pacific’s petition to temporarily discontinue passenger service on the Los Gatos-Santa Cruz line may be surprised to learn that Judge Harry Bias, who represented this community, had only two days in which to prepare his case.
<br>
He was not contacted in the manner until Wednesday afternoon, and in the brief period between that time and opening of the hearing Friday morning at 10 he studied railroad company exhibits and hurriedly assembled such information as was available through services of the chamber of commerce.
<br>
What is more, his services were gratis.
<br>
Ordinarily, in a hearing of this type the applicant, with its army of auditors, “experts”, and imposing array of cold figures, holds an advantage over the opposition of lay critics.
<br>
Judge Bias, especially effective in cross-examination, disclosed not of the handicaps which are usually imposed by hurried mobilization of opposition. He turned in one of the neatest jobs we have witnessed in many years.
<br>
Item by item, he went to the core of the subject in cross-examination of Southern Pacific representatives.
<br>
He established these major points:
<br>
Southern Pacific had planned abandonment of service for some years and seized the storm condition last February as an opportune time to take action.
<br>
Revenue from freight and special trains had not been computed by the company in arriving at the reported loss on the line of $28,578 for 1939.
<br>
Nothing of substantial nature has been done in the past 25 years to improve facilities on the regularly scheduled passenger trains operating between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
<br>
The company has not kept pace of competition.
<br>
Facilities on the train coaches are below normal in comparison with modern transportation equipment.
<Br>
In concluding his remarks Judge Bias expressed the opinion that “if the railroad company had deliberately planned to discontinue its train service on this line it could not have done a better job of discouraging public patronage."
<br>
A few of our citizens have been lulled into an attitude of non-resistance by Southern Pacific’s reported losses on this line. What we in Santa Cruz should consider of prime importance are the tremendous losses to this community as the result of what conspicuously appear to be mismanagement of an important travel artery entering this town.
<br>
We feel that the Southern Pacific has not fulfilled the obligations of its franchise. Santa Cruz, in our opinion, has suffered huge losses due to adverse operation of passenger trains entering this community. This is the finest recreation area within short distance of the San Francisco bay area of 1,000,000 population. The trip over the mountains from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz has scenic value worthy of extensive exploration by a railroad company.
<br>
Holding a monopoly these many years, Southern Pacific has not felt the pressure of rail competition on this line. It has provided comparative discomforts with little regard for a public attitude. Instead of improving its roadbeds and equipment to meet the competition of highways and buses, Southern Pacific has blamed the public solely for its loss of business. One can motor to San Francisco in a comfortable automobile on a comfortable highway in one-half the time required by the antiquated train. Many people, we believe, would prefer to leave their automobiles hat home and travel by train if Southern Pacific had shown the same enterprise on the Santa Cruz line that it had demonstrated elsewhere in attempting to meet competition.
<br>
Women in long bloomer bathing suits, bewhiskered men on “gay-ninety” bikes, and horse and buggy delegations, would not look out of place in creating the arrival of one of the regularly scheduled trains at the local SP depot.
<br>
Let us view the losses from a different perspective. This public utility, by its monopolistic operations, has denied Santa Cruz the kind of transportation facilities which are considered average in other parts of the United States. We have lost the benefits that might have come through alert, progressive management of a rail line.
<br>
“Comfort” is something we read about in the Southern Pacific ads; also we are urged “Next Time Try the Train”.
<br>
By schedule and type of equipment, SP has caused its Santa Cruz trains to try the public’s patience.
</blockquote>
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqhvUI5758E1uaDUR7K1BLIlo6mRs0OsgxFy8BrG2TrJOOvVTRB_VRlSkwFuPnSubA22QjwD6npsg4VW4Rh18iG38YLD7iAsBr71G59mc_B-9sAcvxLJ91uBiyxVRIcLymKWTW7YWR60z/s1600/sp-plan-1.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqhvUI5758E1uaDUR7K1BLIlo6mRs0OsgxFy8BrG2TrJOOvVTRB_VRlSkwFuPnSubA22QjwD6npsg4VW4Rh18iG38YLD7iAsBr71G59mc_B-9sAcvxLJ91uBiyxVRIcLymKWTW7YWR60z/s320/sp-plan-1.png" width="320" height="38" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="188" /></a>
<p>The Friendly Southern Pacific attempts damage control.</p>
</div>
<p>
The Santa Cruz abandonment wasn’t following the path of the Boulder Creek, or Almaden, or Le Franc; the town was pissed off, and wasn’t about to roll over. The SP decided to highlight all the nice things they could do for the town. <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19400622.1.10&srpos=5&e=-------en--20-SCS-1--txt-txIN-Southern+Pacific-------1">June 22, 1940</a>, the SP argued its case. As before, they didn’t talk about closing the line, but just “closing passenger service” and replacing it with a bus. How you got to Los Gatos didn’t matter; they’d make sure the bus was attractive. The SP also attempted to assuage all the concerns. They’d continue to promote the Suntan Specials, and continue to keep the fares the same. They’d put up posters extolling Santa Cruz in stations, and highlight the destination in timetables and tourist brochures. They’d show movies of Big Trees, and make sure Santa Cruz had a central role at the SP exhibit at the 1939 World Fare in San Francisco. To comfort James Leonard, they’d continue to take tourist trains up to Big Trees. They’d lower the tariff for lumber, and wouldn’t raise rates for other commodities, and wouldn’t passenger fares. (Don’t hold your breath folks; the fares will go up in two years, regardlesss of the agreements.
<p>
You won't have a railroad, but at least you'll be in the movies!
<p>
Meanwhile, the old route rotted in the forest. There were reports of signals getting stolen later that summer. On October 31, the ICC decided: the line was to be abandoned.
<p>
<b>Tearing Up the Line</b>
<p>
We’ve all seen pictures of the abandonment: trains going through the canyons removing rails, bridges, and anything else salvageable. The rumors about the tunnel were less mercenary. One said the tunnels were blown up by the army to avoid saboteurs hiding in them. Another claimed the SP didn’t want the tunnels around as a nuisance. In reality, the tunnels were collapsed for the lumber. From the <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19420419.1.7&srpos=24&e=------194-en--20-SCS-21--txt-txIN-%22Southern+Pacific%22----1942---1">April 19, 1942 Santa Cruz Sentinel</a>, courtesy of a reference in Derek Whaley’s “Santa Cruz Trains” book: <blockquote>
Glenwood and Wrights Tunnels Gone
<br>
The first two tunnels by which our erstwhile Los Gatos Railroad line bored through the hills are gone. Timbers which bolstered the mile-and-a-quarter Wrights tunnel have been taken out, the tunnel is caved in, its ends are closed. Another week will see the end of the mile-and-an-eighth Glenwood tunnel.
<Br>
H. A. Christie, professional railroad wrecker and gambler on earth formations, bought from the Southern Pacific the right to salvage what timbers he could.
<Br>
He has been trucking them down the old right-of-way to end -of-line near Felton and shipping them out.
<br>
Rock was well broken by earthquake of 1906
<br>
So dangerous is the work of yanking the ten-by-fourteen inch timbers out (by use of a team) and the resultant fall of rock that Mr. Christie’s premium on insurance against accident or death to his employees equals 34 percent of his payroll.
<br>
When the fall of rock buries unsalvaged timbers he leaves them and resumes work farther along. While working in the Wrights tunnel part of his equipment was buried - and abandoned.
<br>
The wrenching given the sand rock by the earthquake of 1906 (after which the tunnels were enlarged for the broad guage [sic] line) turned the sand rock nearly to sand.
<br>
COUNTY WANTS TIMBERS AT SCHWANN’S LAGOON BRIDGE
<br>
Because of the peril of the work the Southern Pacific sells the salvaging privileges and buys back what timbers it wants. Mr. Christie is under contract to sell back to the railroad 800,000 board feet of what he reclaims.
<br>
The timbers taken from the Wrights tunnel amounted to a little more than half a million board feet.
Should there be an excess over the railroad’s requirements the county is a bidder for timbers for the proposed new Schwan’s Lagoon bridge in Twin Lakes. Timbers at the salvage price will save about a thousand dollars.
</blockquote>
<p>
As those timbers got pulled out, the chances of the line ever opening again died completely - the Los Gatos - Santa Cruz line was no more. The storm was the last straw, but the abandonment probably would have happened any day. The salvaging and destruction of the line didn’t have saboteurs or crazy army demolition folks but a dedicated salvager with a brave team of mules. The storm also had effects beyond the route, shutting down Santa Cruz as a place for engine service. A year later, the Sentinel remarked on the boiler house being taken down to send its materials to Sacramento, and the inspection pits at the roundhouse were getting filled in. Santa Cruz would never be a big railroad town again.
<hr>
<i>Key details to remember for the model?
<ul>
<li>The Olympia sand pits were shipping 250 carloads of sand a month, with the SP one of the customers.
<li>Passenger trains from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz required a helper for more than 5 cars... just like my model!
<li>Santa Cruz was originating trains up to 1940, and had the roundhouse and personnel up until then.
<li>If the model trains ever don't run, just say "oh, the line's open" and point at a passing bus.
</ul>
</i>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com1Santa Cruz, CA, USA36.9741171 -122.030796336.8726346 -122.1921578 37.075599600000004 -121.86943480000001tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-44365973528385529262020-03-08T12:58:00.000-07:002020-03-08T12:58:25.794-07:00We All Scream for Location-Accurate BuildingsI scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Well, hopefully not, or the garage is going to be awfully loud.
<p>
I’ve slowly been filling out the Los Gatos scene. A few years ago, I added a shelf to cover the staging tracks, and used the space to add some much-needed houses along the railroad tracks in Los Gatos. I also had a bare spot immediately in front of the Hunt’s Cannery. Historically, the spot was some charming and quite pricey houses on University Avenue. However, expensive real estate wouldn't match the theme I'm trying to capture. I want to hint at the industrial side of town here, so the space deserved something utilitarian. My first cut was a low-slung warehouse made with board-and-batten siding. The warehouse never looked correct - too low, too plain.
<p>
I feel back to my usual tricks: look through old photos to see what was actually along the tracks. I knew there was a lumber yard along University Ave near the Old Town development which deserved a space. Looking at some of the 1940’s photos, I found what looked like a boxy cinderblock building with a strange contraption on the roof, just north of Elm Street. Captions mentioned this as the ice cream plant for Eatmore Ice Cream and Creamery at 46 N. Santa Cruz Ave. The building’s on the wrong side of the railroad tracks for me, but it’ll look fine on the University Ave. side.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFfmbzI9dbOygL06Wn2Gqw0P3GdQpx0_aHDt36uHnNA4ORsiug_nEn34fnA6bMZRAcxRUgkKou8d9OY2T7WtT6fKxS_x7FcvwEhTm_zhif6a2-5K-yYOwzgBN7R3Fidqk0yufzeGk35FO/s1600/IMG_9034.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFfmbzI9dbOygL06Wn2Gqw0P3GdQpx0_aHDt36uHnNA4ORsiug_nEn34fnA6bMZRAcxRUgkKou8d9OY2T7WtT6fKxS_x7FcvwEhTm_zhif6a2-5K-yYOwzgBN7R3Fidqk0yufzeGk35FO/s320/IMG_9034.jpeg" width="320" height="122" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="612" /></a></div>
<p>
<b>The History</b>
<p>
Eatmore Ice Cream was founded by Hans Nielsen in 1922, an immigrant from Denmark and new arrival in Los Gatos. Eatmore’s location was in the middle of downtown at 52 North Santa Cruz Ave. at Elm Street. Nielsen ran the place solo for many years, working “at night to make his ice cream and delivered it during the daytime.” The company must have done well; several of Nielsen’s helpers in the ice cream business turn up in the historic record. Eatmore also had several outposts, including a takeover of a San Jose manufacturer and an an ice cream factory <a href="http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/california-grand-jury-san-francisco/san-francisco-municipal-record-volume-vol11-1936-1937-fna/page-17-san-francisco-municipal-record-volume-vol11-1936-1937-fna.shtml">in San Francisco at 1525 Union St.</a> Eatmore lasted as an independent business for about twenty years. Nielsen finally got an offer he couldn’t refuse from Beatrice Foods in 1944 and sold out; he continued as manager for the newly rebranded Meadow Gold branded creamery. Newspaper articles describe the company as delivering 1100 gallons of ice cream a day through ice cream plants in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Palo Alto. This sounds more like what Meadowgold (owned by Beatrice Foods) accomplished; census records show that Nielsen continued to live and work in Los Gatos after the takeover, so he sounds more like the small-town manager than the ice cream unicorn entrepreneur. Meadowgold <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED075620.pdf">lasted at least into the 1970’s</a>, manufacturing ice cream right there in downtown Los Gatos.
<p>
The creamery on Santa Cruz Ave was a simple storefront on the main road through town. <a href="https://patch.com/california/losgatos/associated-service-station">A photo from the 1930's</a> shows a large "Eatmore" sign painted on the Elm Ave. wall of the building. (The photo also shows an Associated Gasoline station on the opposite corner - imagine trying to put a gas station on Santa Cruz Ave. today!) Sanborn maps show Eatmore sharing a building with a grocery next door. Although the creamery storefront was on Santa Cruz Ave., the ice cream manufacturing didn’t stay there for long. A cinder block building behind the creamery storefront shows up in the 1928 Sanborn map with 18’ ceilings, a two-story office at the front, and a boiler room at the rear.
<p>
The only photos I’ve found show the building from a distance; it looks blocky and unpretentious with only the cooling tower on top seeming out of the ordinary. Example photos include a 1950's shot from Charlie Givens in Arcadia Publishing's "Railroads of Los Gatos".
<p>
Meadowgold still shows up in 1950’s photos, and articles reminiscing about the old Los Gatos seem to mention Meadowgold and Eatmore more often than I’d expect.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tJz-oG-h4ye1EzxpRg-qjoFKeS_2AqhJJR-6C3taKKG3L3K0M-ylDfmb74CRIN47797EVoE1EgCa9x5PvVi1S8DamGuemlEpns5dWNSVQtCTCpecgN58LuQ7igx-VTS31myDPZDd9jwq/s1600/1944-sanborn.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6tJz-oG-h4ye1EzxpRg-qjoFKeS_2AqhJJR-6C3taKKG3L3K0M-ylDfmb74CRIN47797EVoE1EgCa9x5PvVi1S8DamGuemlEpns5dWNSVQtCTCpecgN58LuQ7igx-VTS31myDPZDd9jwq/s320/1944-sanborn.png" width="200" /></a>
<p>Eatmore, 1944 Sanborn map</p>
</div>
<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJmLn389QNdcXa-RjJTzaMEM0qdEYFQ-fmjCAJUMhu63B5d6wpBLQmo6BmM5Rr-NAmJYOGBehpIyECM1pwrbPhPiQsLjz699TVs984PqeLAbUKuTzZmJqcdKZotwI05opioLp9vF8LNVH/s1600/sp-valuation-1930s.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJmLn389QNdcXa-RjJTzaMEM0qdEYFQ-fmjCAJUMhu63B5d6wpBLQmo6BmM5Rr-NAmJYOGBehpIyECM1pwrbPhPiQsLjz699TVs984PqeLAbUKuTzZmJqcdKZotwI05opioLp9vF8LNVH/s320/sp-valuation-1930s.png" width="200" /></a>
<p>Manufaactured gas plant, 1930's SP Valuation Map. CSRM Collection.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
The space wasn’t always an ice cream factory. Railroad valuation maps into the 1940’s still displayed the previous inhabitants - the manufactured gas plant for Los Gatos. Manufactured gas plants processed coal and oil to extract lighter-than-air hydrocarbons, and took the remaining coal tar and lampblack and either sold it or buried it out back for future generations to discover. The gas holder was at the front of the plot, facing Elm St., with a corrugated iron building at the back. PG&E shut down the plant in 1924 when <a href=“https://books.google.com/books?id=nHxEW8WgxQkC&lpg=PA86&ots=oqHaSvEHSk&dq=los%20gatos%20manufactured%20gas%20plant&pg=PA86#v=onepage&q=los%20gatos%20manufactured%20gas%20plant&f=false”>a natural gas line from San Jose arrived</a>. The ice cream plant seems to match the location and floor plan of the manufactured gas plant building; the two story office at the front appears to date from the ice cream era.
<p>
<b>The Model</b>
<p>
The model required a fair amount of guesswork. There were no good photos of the building, just distance shots showing a tiny featureless white box and dark cooling tower. The Sanborn map shows a bit more about heights and number of floors in the building, but I forgot to double-check the Sanborn map before I started construction. Instead, I looked at photos online for ideas about cinder block building from 1930’s. When those searches didn’t work out, I ended up searching for ice cream plants, and found some photos of Treat Ice Cream’s San Jose plant off Alum Rock Ave. Treat’s a local ice cream manufacturer that provides the store brand for our local grocery, and their plant is hidden at the back of a main street business on San Jose’s East Side. The cinderblock building and steel windows gave me the inspiration I needed.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFq1KMnXYiEaJlkJ_fjecMqXwwUCEMyAV2f_jXryukvQsxaq1Ey-GCpTdmZjjweUqTrkgJolnKfnG3lDWxWytGKM0EQtInXRiWG4qEvCn2BR7zsHXu_JyP9gogGSxYH3B-YsjMT1RpbaD/s1600/IMG_9038.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFq1KMnXYiEaJlkJ_fjecMqXwwUCEMyAV2f_jXryukvQsxaq1Ey-GCpTdmZjjweUqTrkgJolnKfnG3lDWxWytGKM0EQtInXRiWG4qEvCn2BR7zsHXu_JyP9gogGSxYH3B-YsjMT1RpbaD/s320/IMG_9038.jpeg" width="320"/></a>
</div>
<p>
The general construction was straightforward, but it’s definitely a 21st century project. I used styrene sheet for the walls and ceiling (using 1/16” styrene sheet from Tap Plastic - cheap and available in any size you want up to 4' x 8') and strip styrene for the front and side deck. The doors are Grandt Line parts.
Rather than simulate concrete block, I fell back to a stucco look, and again used an acrylic gel with pumice from the art supply store to give the walls a slightly rough appearance.
<p>
I couldn’t find any windows I liked, so I instead fell back on the 3d printer. 3d printed windows never print as nicely as the commercial windows - tiny muntins just don’t print well. To avoid a trip to the store, I made the windows solid, with muntins and panes embossed into the solid casting. I painted the windows glossy black to simulate glass, then painted the window frames. I used a similar trick with baggage wagons in the past, making the wheels solid with raised spokes rather than trying to make spindly and open wheels.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbQLrfBC1S64_DH_MiPRaSFhgmFkTCM-SVCnBAmxrZxabUPERP9MjXEUiciNlzt6FJxng4CHRIRxQvBzAL-1gGFDGEz-rilGBN48d4DGNhAG2YWfQx8q6RESFhDa5Vjfl_BXDCt6WiDJ7/s1600/IMG_9036.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilbQLrfBC1S64_DH_MiPRaSFhgmFkTCM-SVCnBAmxrZxabUPERP9MjXEUiciNlzt6FJxng4CHRIRxQvBzAL-1gGFDGEz-rilGBN48d4DGNhAG2YWfQx8q6RESFhDa5Vjfl_BXDCt6WiDJ7/s320/IMG_9036.jpeg" width="200" /></a>
</div>
<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TgwaMpW33Vq1U5P1dQMptZGikkqCGFzag0sWqb15r86OZAlGrTU-S08EsO7dEMlRomNEIFiunHoNitkLlEJcJakrU-_RKihYf7vA3h5ZoX2lTdGRSD7nyeKjr42j9YYP9_K0nJDZiuat/s1600/IMG_9037.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3TgwaMpW33Vq1U5P1dQMptZGikkqCGFzag0sWqb15r86OZAlGrTU-S08EsO7dEMlRomNEIFiunHoNitkLlEJcJakrU-_RKihYf7vA3h5ZoX2lTdGRSD7nyeKjr42j9YYP9_K0nJDZiuat/s320/IMG_9037.jpeg" width="200" /></a>
</div>
</div>
<p>
The 3d cooling tower was another challenge. Some folks have modeled cooling towers for ice plants; Suydam’s cardboard kits have one example. The models always look a little rough, both because of the material and its toughness. Instead, I fell back on the 3d printer. I figured out my design from looking at previous HO models (such as Suydam's) and also checking old trade journals such as Refrigeration World for photos of past equipment. (For example, here's the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5Aw3AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA37&ots=fgAYxJKomU&dq=refrigeration%201920%20cooling%20tower&pg=RA1-PA82#v=onepage&q=cooling%20tower&f=false">Burhorn cooling tower</a>.)
<p>
Although the design seems complex, it's geometric and pretty straightforward. The model's designed as two copies of the same part, each printing two sides. Real cooling towers appeared to use corrugated iron for the fins; I held off on adding that detail from impatience. If you want one of your own, the 3d model can be downloaded from <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4209941">Thingiverse.com</a>.
<p>
My final touch was milk pails, a combination of 3d printed and commercial (Tichy) cast parts. Photos of <a href="https://www.sourisseauacademy.org/LADS/December2016LADS.pdf">Eatmore's San Jose plant</a> showed the classic tin milk pails all over the place. Although common in industry, tin milk pails aren't a common sight on railroads in California - I've seen little evidence for milk trains in the Santa Clara Valley. Pauline Correia Stonehill's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Barrelful-Memories-Stories-Azorean-Family/dp/0972857672/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0/131-3155197-7366125?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0972857672&pd_rd_r=a4e909d4-4390-425c-b617-a1e143bd3eb8&pd_rd_w=LYyx8&pd_rd_wg=hDEmG&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=1Z7S1W5VZZ6FJ3JFKR4K&psc=1&refRID=1Z7S1W5VZZ6FJ3JFKR4K">Barrelful of Memories: Stories of My Azorean Family"</a> described life in growing up on a Central Valley dairy. She remembered her father using a wagon to carry the day's milk to the Los Banos dairy. A combination of good roads and nearby processing plants may have made remarked how many dairies delivered milk via wagon and truck. There may have been milk trains elsewhere in the Bay Area; the <a href="https://www.nilesdepot.org/centerville/home.html">Niles Depot website</a> claims two or three milk trains a day through Fremont.Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com242 Elm St, Los Gatos, CA 95030, USA37.223898136350037 -121.982786707409737.223108136350035 -121.9840472074097 37.224688136350039 -121.9815262074097tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-39409367902746540852020-02-08T23:20:00.000-08:002020-02-08T23:20:04.846-08:00Cannery Crime Blotter II: Getting Under a Canner's SkinThis is the second in an ongoing series of true crime from the annals of San Jose canneries. This article was lifted from the front page page of the <A href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GSgiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DqQFAAAAIBAJ&dq=greco%20cannery&pg=5739%2C6958092">March 22, 1928 San Jose Evening News</a>.
<p>
Canning's always been a risky business: weather, greedy farmers, cheating wholesalers, and <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2013/05/rosenberg-brothers-burns-again.html">shifty-eyed socialists</a> were always a concern. But did you ever hear about the time the Captain Kidd gang tried to break into the Greco cannery?
<p>
<i>
"The Big San Jose tunnel mystery is solved.
<p>
For a short time yesterday, it looked like a gang of bold, bad yeggs had tunneled under the Greco Cannery on Howard Street with the idea of getting a crack at the safe.
<p>
A squad of bluecoats was rushed to the scene by Chief of Police Black. They found - not a band of desperadoes but the "Captain Kidd Gang" - six lively youngsters who attacked the policemen in the "pirate cave" with its 75-foot exit.
<p>
It was a brief skirmish and not a shot was fired. The battle was waged in words, between the group of small boys who stood right up and talked straight from the shoulder to the big policemen. But the policemen won, for what can young 'pirates' do against big policemen in this day and age?
<p>
<b>WORKMAN FINDS TUNNEL</b>
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDcqjETN0S62DpMyrl99L2p055HvQzp7WL2TJDn0HADR5nOTvammDuCq6kquCx1lmoo5r2tB41czS0NNToN4Ir4kDsKvMndi6yFoOxsTtlO2Bz2aPO2w9OSMjY9-HewPvI0S1lp2-Jo26/s1600/tunnel.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzDcqjETN0S62DpMyrl99L2p055HvQzp7WL2TJDn0HADR5nOTvammDuCq6kquCx1lmoo5r2tB41czS0NNToN4Ir4kDsKvMndi6yFoOxsTtlO2Bz2aPO2w9OSMjY9-HewPvI0S1lp2-Jo26/s320/tunnel.png" width="240" data-original-width="1020" data-original-height="1295" /></a><p>Author's reconstruction of likely "Captain Kidd" tunnel path.</p>
</div>
<p>
The story of the tunnel mystery is as follows: Late yesterday afternoon a workman sent under the Greco Cannery building to make some repairs came upon a heavy board trapdoor in the ground, well under the cannery. He investigated, and on giving the door a few kicks, it gave way and revealed a sloping entrance to a tunnel through which a grown man could easily crawl.
<p>
Quivering with excitement and thinking the secret entry was the work of robbers laying plans for robbing the company office, the workman rushed into the cannery office and told the story of his discovery. V. V. Greco of the canning firm crawled under the building and looked for himself. He lost no time in getting Chief of Police Black on the telephone.
<p>
<b>THREE-ROOM DUGOUT</b>
<p>
The officer sent Captain of Detectives John Guerin, Officer Covill, and Traffic Officer William E. Snow to the cannery. The traffic cop was sent as a committee of one to crawl through the tunnel and find where it led to. Traffic Officer Snow slid down the sloping entrance to the tunnel and crawled and crawled and crawled - about 75 feet - finally coming out into a three-room dugout.
<p>
He sought an exit and found it, coming out into the open air in the chicken yard of the Roumasset home, 374 North Autumn Street. Hurrying back to the other officers, Officer Snow told what he had found. After a hasty conference it was decided to have cannery officials and police keep a watch on the tunnel, it being the natural supposition that eggs were burrowing under the cannery in a clever plot to reach the office safe undetected and blast the strong box.
<p>
<B>"PIRATES" ATTACK</b>
<p>
But while the three officers were standing over the dugout they were rushed by several small boys, including the younger members of the Roumasset family. The boys indignantly demanded what the cops were doing, trying to cave in their dugout. The mystery was solved.
<p>
And then from the lips of the "culprits" poured the story. The dugout, with its three rooms, was their "fort". They had started digging the tunnel some months ago, planning it as a secret exit in the event the "army" or "gang" should become besieged in the underground fort.
<p>
<B>MISSED BEARINGS</b>
Originally it was planned to have the tunnel open into a hidden place near a spur track in the railroad yards, but the "chief engineer" in charge of the underground workings missed his bearings and when the tunnel broke through the ground, it was right under the floor of the Greco Cannery. The boys had no intention of doing any harm and no one but the gang knew about the tunnel, although parents of some knew of the dugout in the back yard.
<p>
The police ordered them to seal the tunnel, which the boys reluctantly agreed to do, if the police would rush reinforcements in case of a raid by an opposing gang.
<p>
</i>
<p>
ancestry.com confirms that the Roumasset house was at 374 North Autumn, and a Sunburn map shows the house was right next to the tracks, just west of the Greco cannery. Charles Roumasset was the patriarch, born in New Almaden, and a meat cutter by trade. His wife was Lillian. They lived with her mother, Maria Magistretti, who was born in the italian part of Switzerland. ancestry.com also names the likely "Captain Kidd gang" members: Charles (15 at the time), John P. (12), Robert (11), and Eugene (9). Considering their father's birth in the midst of miners, I'm a bit disappointed they didn't aim their tunnel better. There's a bit on the four boys on the Internet, but they never got caught again tunneling into a cannery - apparently the Captain Kidd gang got scared straight.
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0374 N Autumn St, San Jose, CA 95110, USA37.3374653 -121.9040193000000211.871578799999998 -163.21261330000002 62.8033518 -80.595425300000016tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-51937173103560907922020-01-29T01:34:00.000-08:002020-01-29T01:34:14.106-08:00This Train Ain't Bound for Glory<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPS6Fbg5FBcdos-C7E9pUfZidjZmt3xkW_0yBpGWY4H0AdPRsoVqALH4RFqlh-fqC4nSgyVwS0T-6sTSU1O-SvLBWjMFGZz_papm6_64yJ_2UL1OYjGZBK_zMZabRVpItxOxgOwWYo-wK/s1600/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_b9e2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPS6Fbg5FBcdos-C7E9pUfZidjZmt3xkW_0yBpGWY4H0AdPRsoVqALH4RFqlh-fqC4nSgyVwS0T-6sTSU1O-SvLBWjMFGZz_papm6_64yJ_2UL1OYjGZBK_zMZabRVpItxOxgOwWYo-wK/s320/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_b9e2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<p>
Model railroads are most fun when there’s action, and that means we want to model prototypes with lots of trains moving around. I chose the Vasona Branch over other SP branches because I assumed the canneries and dried fruit packing houses along the tracks could generate that action. However, I also wanted to include the photogenic locations in the Santa Cruz mountains: redwoods, oak, chaparral, and creeks in narrow canyons. I knew that industry was sparse up in Los Gatos Canyon, but just how sparse?
<p>
There aren’t a lot of sources to tell us how busy the railroad was. Maybe we’ll find a quote in a newspaper about last year’s revenue, or maybe we’ll find some railroad paperwork or photos that suggest train length. But that sort of information is rare; I’ve never had that sort of information for the Vasona Branch, but I’ve always been curious.
<p>
Luckily, there is one potential source. When railroads wanted to shut down a branch line, they’d need to ask permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to make sure they weren’t leaving customers in the lurch. The ICC decisions on abandonments give us at least a small view into an under-performing branch.
<p>
I’d always been curious about the abandonment proceedings, but assumed the details would be in a dusty book in a university library’s off-site storage. I’d asked around when I was visiting the California State Railroad Museum last week, but the likely books were stored off-site. Some poking around showed that some local libraries might also have some of the ICC decisions, but none of the places were easy to access. I knew rough dates of abandonments, and web sites like <A href="http://www.abandonedrails.com/South_Pacific_Coast_Railroad">abandonedrails.com</a> even provided the ICC “docket number” to help with searches - the abandonment of the Los Gatos - Olympia portion of the line in 1940 was ICC docket #12815.
<p>
It’s also the 21st century, so there’s a good chance some of those documents are on-line. So I tried a few searches with different keywords in different permutations: “interstate commerce commission”, “abandonment”, “los gatos”, “South Pacific Coast”.
<p>
Pay dirt. The abandonment decisions for SP’s Boulder Creek branch (1933), Le Franc to New Almaden (1933 also), Los Gatos to Olympia (1940), and Campbell to Le Franc all turned out to be on-line, with links below. None of these are particularly compelling reading: no stories of murders, or heroic rescues, or amusing encounters with grizzly bears, but just some dry stories: “This railroad no longer has a reason for being there, the folks living nearby don’t need it, and the railroad doesn’t want to run it.” They’re also not full of railfan facts such as locomotives and engineers. However, they still give us a sense of what the railroad was like.
<p>
From the Southern Pacific Company Abandonment of the<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=gwwXAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA484&ots=V-2GSKloGx&dq=abandonment%2012815%20242%20ICC%20484%20Santa%20Cruz&pg=PA484#v=onepage&q=abandonment%2012815%20242%20ICC%20484%20Santa%20Cruz&f=false">Santa Cruz branch from Los Gatos to Olympia</a>:
<p>
<blockquote>
“The line proposed to be abandoned is an intermediate segment of the branch connecting San Jose… with Santa Cruz. It was built by the South Pacific Railroad in 1870-1880 and acquired by the applicant in 1937. The main track is laid with 90 pound rail. The aggregate curvature is about 3,598 degrees, with a total length exceeding 8 miles. There are approximately 13,137 feet of timber-lined and masonry-lined tunnels… Motive power is limited to the consolidated type of locomotive…. the line serves an area mainly devoted to summer homes and resorts; there are no industries except for a limited amount of fruit growing, which is not dependent on the railroad for transportation.”
</blockquote>
<p>
But then we start getting some of the color. “As protection against embankment slides and washouts, a pilot was sent ahead of the early morning train.” As model railroaders, having a pilot train running to watch for redwoods across the track would be quite the thing for operation. Saturday excursion runs generated most of the passenger numbers, so I should run more Sunshine Specials to Santa Cruz.
<p>
And then there’s the traffic numbers. I knew that the Santa Cruz Mountains were quiet in the 1930’s, but oh how quiet! There were only six carloads of outgoing freight between 1935 and 1939. Each year, there were only 40-70 cars inbound (except for 1939, when 392 carloads came in for Highway 17 construction.) Most of the traffic was through service: thousands of passengers, mostly for the Sunshine Special excursions. The line also carried 500-1500 carloads of sand from Olympia and “oiled crushed rock” (aka asphaltic rock) from near Davenport each year. Even with the mountainous route, shipping via Los Gatos Canyon was faster and less expensive than going the long way through Watsonville and Gilroy. The Southern Pacific admitted the costs were higher on the new route, but they'd be able to handle more cars per train. The shippers were disappointed at the loss of the short route to San Francisco, but resigned to pay an extra 0.25 cents to 1.5 cents per hundred pounds to ship their product via Watsonville. That’s all model railroad scale: about five loaded cars a day across the railroad, and one car a day ending up on the railroad.
<p>
The reports also list population, highlighting how much the Santa Cruz mountains had depopulated. Only around 1300 people were living along the line in 1939, with 500 at Alma, 150 at Aldercroft Heights, 40 at Call of the Wild, 50 at Wrights, 35 at Laurel, 196 at Glenwood, and a huge 240 at Zayante. The numbers are probably larger now, but the land’s still pretty empty.
<p>
If you go and compare those freight numbers to San Jose, it’s easy to see why the SP dumped the Los Gatos canyon line.
Compare with San Jose proper. A <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=oazizuza8AsC&lpg=PA1297&dq=%22winchester%20dried%20fruit%22%20%22san%20jose%22&pg=PA1297#v=onepage&q=%22winchester%20dried%20fruit%22%20%22san%20jose%22&f=false">1940 labor law case</a> argued that several of the dried fruit packers tried to sponsor their own union to avoid the Longshoremen’s Union getting into their business. In between stories of companies directing favored employees to organize “the right way”, there’s details about fruit volume. J.S. Roberts, on my layout, generated 1,750 tons of fruit in 1939- as much as the Los Gatos - Olympia section carried in a full year. Abinante and Nola and Hamlin Fruit generated similar traffic. Sunsweet and Del Monte would have generated 300 cars a year each in dried fruit from San Jose. It’s not hard to see how SP made its money.
<p>
For me as the modeler, these facts stress how I should keep the Santa Cruz Mountains quiet: occasional freights full of sand-laden gondola, but otherwise no sizable industries generating traffic, and a bunch of rusty sidings that may not see a train again.
<p>
Oh, and I need to model that pilot train checking the line.
<p>
Raw numbers for the Los Gatos - Olympia service:
<p>
<b>Passenger Traffic</b>:
<table>
<tr><th>Year</th><th>Local Passengers</th><th>Through Passengers</th></tr>
<tr><th>1935</th><Td>81</td><th>5,482</th></tr>
<tr><th>1936</th><Td>120</td><th>4,842</th></tr>
<tr><th>1937</th><Td>129</td><th>4410</th></tr>
<tr><th>1938</th><Td>135</td><th>4427</th></tr>
<tr><th>1939</th><Td>26</td><th>3389</th></tr>
</table>
<p>
<b>Freight Traffic</b>:
<table>
<tr><th>Year</th><th>Local</th><th>LCL</th><th>Bridge Traffic</th></tr>
<tr><th>1935</th><td>39 carloads / 1984 tons</td><td>20 tons</td><td>14 carloads / 229 tons </td></tr>
<tr><th>1936</th><td>31 carloads / 1557 tons </td><td>8 tons</td><td>0 tons</td></tr>
<tr><th>1937</th><td>69 carloads / 3758 tons </td><td>22 tons</td><td>416 carloads / 21,075 tons</td></tr>
<tr><th>1938</th><td>36 carloads / 1451 tons</td><td>26 tons</td><td>01,133 carloads / 64,426 tons</td></tr>
<tr><th>1939</th><td>392 carloads / 21225 tons</td><td>37 tons</td><td>1,517 carloads / 92, 554 tons</td></tr>
</table>
<p>
Only 6 carloads of freight originated on the line from 1935-1939. Six.
<p>
That was fun; let’s check another!
<p>
Here’s the abandonment report for the<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Cn5Rjac1nuEC&lpg=PA635&dq=interstate%20commerce%20commission%20finance%20docket%2010120%201933%20south%20pacific%20coast&pg=PA635#v=onepage&q=interstate%20commerce%20commission%20finance%20docket%2010120%201933%20south%20pacific%20coast&f=false">Boulder Creek to Felton branch</a>, torn up in 1933. “The marketable timber supply in the territory has become exhausted, there is no other manufacturing industry in the territory, farming is of no importance.” Rock and stone were the main freight being shipped, but only around 100 loaded cars or so were coming off the branch. “The only inbound carload traffic of regular nature is an occasional car of coal.” The report lists that service had declined to a weekly freight, with cars, buses, and trucks taking away business that had been for the railroad.
<p>
Or the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=8ckWAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=interstate%20commerce%20commission%20finance%20docket%2010196%201933%20south%20pacific%20coast&pg=PA43#v=onepage&q=interstate%20commerce%20commission%20finance%20docket%2010196%201933%20south%20pacific%20coast&f=false">New Almaden branch</a>. The New Almaden mines had been shut down for years; the only traffic from the line between 1931 and 1933 was “137 tons of tomato juice”. “ The weekly mixed freight just encouraged the locals to jump in the car to get around.
<p>
Or the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sTYXAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA713&lpg=PA713&dq=icc+abandonment+finance+docket+le+franc+campbell&source=bl&ots=cc6DhTFleB&sig=ACfU3U3Djg0d4A7mwKEiNL_iw0xVTT_9ZA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwii8YnwvajnAhWXoJ4KHUwQDscQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=icc%20abandonment%20finance%20docket%20le%20franc%20campbell&f=false">Le Franc branch</a>: surrounded by orchards and vineyards, but the locals all deliver their produce by truck. From 1933-1936, the SP handled less than twenty carloads a year, and handled it all with a yard locomotive.
<p>
Again, none of these documents contain essential facts for our model railroads, but they do tell a bit about how the railroad declined, and who remained to use it during its last years. When visitors come by, we can point at a tank car, look sad, and say “137 tons of tomato juice - that’s the only thing that railroad shipped in its last year.”
<p>
<i>Pro tips for finding similar documents: try several searches, and poke through a couple pages of search results. Use quotes around groups of words such as “Interstate Commerce Commission”. If you find a book with other railroad-related legal reports, check the index or start using keywords, and you might find some interesting gems. Abandonment reports sometimes turn up in the “Finance Reports” volume, though that wasn't true for all the cases here. If you decide not to practice your Google searching skills, check for a university library with ICC reports, or visit a county law library that has access to HeimOnline - that database apparently has all the government publications. Santa Clara County's law library provides free access if you visit.</i>
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com1Wrights Station Rd, California 95033, USA37.1307523 -121.9406519000000337.105433299999994 -121.98099240000003 37.1560713 -121.90031140000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-37220253216617261732019-10-13T11:16:00.000-07:002019-10-16T00:00:55.413-07:00Land Law Ain't EasyWhen you come right down to it, railroads are a real estate business with a transportation sideline. They own huge amounts of property, deal with lots of legal and illegal ways to get access to property, then need to track it and the dependencies on arcane law. Remember Tom Campbell’s California Railroad Commission case about <a href="http://r-streetlayout.blogspot.com/2011/07/car-loading-data-for-valley-wholesale.html">whether a grocery wholesaler’s siding was a team track</a>? Property law. Southern Pacific <a href="http://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/san_jose/westside/relocation.html">losing the franchise to run down Fourth Street in San Jose</a>, but continuing to do it for fifteen years? Property law. George Patterson stopping the South Pacific Coast Railroad at gunpoint when they attempted to cross his Newark land by eminent domain? Well, that's kinda property law.
<p>
When railroads get right-of-way in the normal way (aka not laying tracks across a farmer's land in the middle of the night when no one’s looking), the records of land ownership eventually end up in the County Recorder’s office. I’ve been able to wander into the Alameda County clerk-recorder’s office and found the handwritten deed for great-grandpa’s eleven acres of ridge-top land, or down to San Jose to find who owned a cannery in the 1930’s - those records are present and accessible back to the formation of the state.
<p>
Well, in most places.
<p>
Elizabeth Creely documents the story of <a href="https://dinnshenchas.wordpress.com/2019/10/06/unquiet-title-unquiet-land-the-history-of-the-southern-pacific-transportation-companys-lawsuit-to-quiet-title-in-the-mission-district/">one of the sidings along the old main line</a> that no longer has an owner.
<p>
Southern Pacific (and its predecessor the San Francisco and San Jose) originally got to San Francisco by the same route Caltrain currently takes - at least to San Bruno. At San Bruno, the railroad followed what eventually became the San Bruno branch, paralleling El Camino up through South San Francisco and Daly City, and eventually cutting through the Mission District. That line was superceded by the current line through Brisbane and Visitation Valley around 1910, but the track continued to be used for trains at places up into the 1970s. The line that cut across the Mission district can still be seen in the diagonally shaped infill buildings along the path. When the SP attempted to sell the old right-of-way in 1991, the adjacent buildings fought back, claiming they actually owned the land. The only problem? The original transfer of land to the Southern Pacific was in San Francisco’s Hall of Records… which burned in the 1906 earthquake. Did the SP buy the land or get an easement? Read Elizabeth’s article to find out.Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-52805272744496894732019-05-26T19:46:00.000-07:002019-05-26T22:28:41.211-07:00Model Railroads and Technical Debt<p>
Model railroading has taught me a lot. I can identify solvents by smell… and get nostalgic when I smell Dio-sol or Dullcoat. I learned how to repair mechanical devices, and convinced someone I might be a keeper when I fixed her CD player. Most importantly, I learned how to be kind to my future self, because I try to remember to make it easy to fix stuff on the model railroad in one year… or in ten years.
<p>
That’s a common lesson for model railroaders. Model railroads are long-term, large projects. The model railroad we build is going to last for several years, and we’re going to be expanding and repairing it along the way. The design and implementation choices we make years before will curse us years later. One badly placed switch machine is going to leave us with a sore back every time we repair it. Each time we cut corners wiring, we’re just forcing future-us to try to figure why that blue wire’s hanging loose, or remembering the wire color we used when we didn’t have black wire available. Every bit of track we can’t reach will be our bane every time a locomotive stalls or the track needs cleaning. Every model railroader has that moment of “what was this purple wire for, and where does it go?” early on in the hobby. After that we realize the benefit of using standard colors for wires, providing good access both to the track and to the mechanical and electrical parts below the layouts, the importance of labelling connectors and writing down designs - doing anything we can to avoid past-us making life difficult for future-us.
<p>
It turns out that’s a pretty useful skill in the real world, too.
<p>
I got to move some equipment I’m running into a new computer room the week before last. After I’d finished wiring it up, I asked one of the IT guys for help with something else. When he came over, he immediately commented on the state of the rack. “Wow, you’re using cable ties. And your wiring is neat - not like that other engineering rack.” He showed me the proper way to cable tie wire loops was with two ties, but he seemed pretty impressed that a software engineer was trying to keep wiring neat. The other rack, which I’d just moved my stuff from, had so many cables coming out the back that I couldn’t reach in to disconnect my machines. To be fair, the other folks in the rack were reconfiguring their stuff daily, and had a lot of connections to support; I was setting mine up for a single, long-term configuration with a much simpler configuration. Google’s original “cork board” server racks - <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/press/fact-sheets/google-corkboard-server-1999">now in the Smithsonian</a> - highlight that you can be pretty successful even with messy wiring.
<p>
But model-railroader me was also wiring that equipment in the same way I’d want to wire the model railroad. I remembered the messy wiring on my first model railroad, and the pain I caused future-me. As a result, I made sure to steal cable ties from random benches, chose different colors for all my different cables, and neatly routed the wiring so I could get to the equipment and track down cable paths. Future-me (or future team-mate reaching in that same rack) should have an easier time, all thanks to past-me placing switch machines in inaccessible chambers between sheets of plywood, or tracking down intermittent shorts when teenage-me was splicing together wires with a couple of twists and bit of masking tape for insulation.
<p>
We worry about the short-cuts in computer programming just as we do in model railroading or in physical engineering. It’s become a popular topic in software engineering research as “technical debt” - delayed cleanup or quick-and-dirty implementations that complicate or block future changes. There’s even <A href="https://2019.techdebtconf.org">mini-conferences on the topic</a> with research papers titles like “How do Software Practitioners Discount the Future?” Real engineering has technical debt too - think how commuter rail choosing to use low-level platforms (boarding at ground level) might never be able to move to high-level platforms (level surface from platform to passenger car) because of the problems transitioning from one to another. However, software tends to have more of these kinds of problems because everything’s up for grabs in software - we can build stuff any way we want, we don’t necessarily have conventions about how to do common tasks, and it’s often difficult to see those shortcuts from the outside. It’s common to tie together two bits of software with the ugliest, most fragile hack “that’s only needed temporarily”, just as I used alligator clips to temporarily tie together the power for two strips of LED lighting today. That’s less common in more traditional engineering disciplines; as far as I know, petroleum engineers never say “Joe, you sure you want to use cardboard tubes to join those two parts of the refinery while you’re testing?” (If you want a more nuanced argument about technical debt in software, read Kellan Elliot-McCrea’s argument that the term technical debt <a href="https://medium.com/@kellan/towards-an-understanding-of-technical-debt-ae0f97cc0553">is mixing up a whole bunch of reasons why we have problems maintaining the things we build.</a>
<p>
My current job involves writing tools to help software engineers build better programs: programs to test that the software can be built correctly, runs correctly, and has the performance we expect. Because our team has to have our infrastructure ready so that everyone else can make progress, that means we’re often building stuff as fast as we can, cutting occasional corners, and incurring technical debt so everyone else can build the things we sell. I occasionally take the same shortcuts in model railroading. Occasionally I route wires in ways that’ll make it harder to track down problems, or I’ll avoid adding a terminal strip to save on wire but minimize testing or change possibilities, or I’ll leave a switch machine near a joist where I can’t easily get to it. It’s ok in moderation, and it helps me make progress on the bigger task of building and completing the model railroad I want to build. I’ve been describing technical debt for our tools as us not trying to make future-us suffer too much, but acknowledging that some of our choices will make future-us suffer a little bit. “In ten years, we want to be laughing about the short-cuts we took and the pain it caused, not crying about a shortcut that kept us from meeting our real goals.”
<p>
That’s not a bad rule for the model railroad, too. As I was cutting in a new circuit for some LED lights for the lower deck, I wasn’t perfectly happy with how I was routing the wires, but I wanted to get everything completed and back together again tonight because keeping everything running is also a good engineering goal. And with luck, I won’t remember tonight’s short cut; if I do, I’m certain I’ll be laughing about the short cut in a few years once all the fluorescent lights are replaced by LEDs.
<p>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-56251951669672596442019-05-04T17:12:00.000-07:002019-05-04T17:12:04.364-07:00"Hapa's Brewing Doesn't Do Things By Halves!" Says Edith Daley<p>
It’s a crazy time in Silicon Valley right now - lots of construction and new office space, lots of traffic, lots of folks moving in. The 1970’s tilt-ups around our current office are failing to the bulldozer and getting replaced with four stories of apartments and AMD engineering cubicles. Our office manager just moved west from North Carolina, and I can’t imagine how crazy this place seems to her - wide open skies, brown hills, and too damn many verification engineers and JavaScript ninjas. Neighbors fighting neighbors over coding style conventions. French bulldogs with LinkedIn profiles. It’s a common story - if this was the turn of the century, we would have had a bunch of Italian immigrants, fresh off the boat, looking for cannery or farm work, and we would have overheard arguments about the correct way to fix a canning line without stopping the line or losing a finger. If this was the 1950’s, we’d be fighting for seats at the Burger Pit against IBM and Lockheed engineers, while a bunch of drunken Fairchild engineers argued about the best way to dope geranium. Instead, we avoid getting run down by Nvidia engineers or a Google bus, and fight for space at the bar with senior product managers with pugs on leashes.
<p>
Silicon Valley overheating means things are changing. In our neighborhood, we’ve lost a couple former orchard farmhouses that survived surprisingly long in the middle of subdivisions- the triple size lots are too valuable for a 1920s 2 bedroom house. The trendy bar out in the country by Saratoga is getting torn down for executive-level houses. The occasional 1950s strip mall goes post-modern, with a bunch of hipsters at Philz waiting for a bespoke cup of coffee to finish dripping. (Geez, just pour the d*mn coffee already!) If you're a friend of older San Jose - whether the 1920's, the 1970's, or the 1990's - this isn't a bad time to be taking a good look at the old stuff you like before it turns into a new apartment complex.
<p>
But progress also means some things are getting reused. Paradiso’s Deli, out by the former Del Monte cannery, looks like it’s been reinvented and reopened. Santa Clara is slowly working to reinvent its downtown. And in the former Salsina cannery building off on Lincoln Ave. in San Jose, redevelopment has cleaned up this underused building in what used to be San Jose's western cannery district and turned it into a bike repair, gallery, and beer hall.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjr7m83-KOEFqTUejppetaZWybtsBDGdm4LspGKUUYNNDvkAzqrQcOJrGa4MR-TYVu40xlq7gn7kJfBF8V5_b2T0qlV1kZ6cIcKYm4vnil0rOFOL2aPguEwy7NemLkPeB0If-eocyGpsg/s1600/IMG_8376.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjr7m83-KOEFqTUejppetaZWybtsBDGdm4LspGKUUYNNDvkAzqrQcOJrGa4MR-TYVu40xlq7gn7kJfBF8V5_b2T0qlV1kZ6cIcKYm4vnil0rOFOL2aPguEwy7NemLkPeB0If-eocyGpsg/s320/IMG_8376.jpeg" width="240" /></a>
<p>Salsina Cannery, 2019</p>
</div>
<p>
I've written about this building before. It was built in 1918 as Salsina Packing, a <a href="http://vasonabranch.com/packing_houses/index.php?title=Salsina_Packing_and_Canning_Company">cannery founded by Carlo Aiello and Alfonso Lambroso</a> to make tomato paste for the American market, though they quickly branched out into apricots and peaches. Edith Daley, my favorite San Jose Evening News columnist, visited the cannery in 1919; her story led with the headline <A href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5tcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=O-QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=930,935777&hl=en">"Workers at the Salsina Plant Smile Easily"</a>. Edith was impressed by the new and impressive building, the friendly management (William Leet bought ice cream for the entire canning staff on the day of her visit), and its well-ventilated interior - a big deal for the usually-hot cannery. She was also a mite confused by the name, asking for Mr. Salsina before being told that Salsina (tomato paste) was the product, not the producer! Salsina hit challenging times in the post-World War I recession. The company was <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2012/11/virden-packing-and-dreams-of-great.html"> sold to Virden Packing in 1922</a> to build William Virden's goals for a fruit-and-meat-packing colossus. Virden Packing, over-extended, failed in 1926 and got broken up, but the building appeared unused for quite a while after that date.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kK5eYTkzOqi1xHSMYVhjBwoe1DjUKmnuV4dYlckodyurU7zWRqQ9jCiYrLBgSz6g5yqakTZkkUJ0DrxpNGG6JRYzUawIPxonZSYDhbo9Sf-TTYIIpvLHxOY9YJfiEF0N9jeqE7yEcIwP/s1600/IMG_8380.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kK5eYTkzOqi1xHSMYVhjBwoe1DjUKmnuV4dYlckodyurU7zWRqQ9jCiYrLBgSz6g5yqakTZkkUJ0DrxpNGG6JRYzUawIPxonZSYDhbo9Sf-TTYIIpvLHxOY9YJfiEF0N9jeqE7yEcIwP/s320/IMG_8380.jpeg" width="240" /></a>
<p>Back side of cannery - much more utilitarian</p>
</div>
<p>
In 1935, the former cannery building appeared as the home of <a href="http://vasonabranch.com/packing_houses/index.php?title=Saint_Claire_Brewing_Company">Saint Claire Brewing Company</a> the first local brewery to open after the end of prohibition. Saint Claire disappeared by 1936, and the building was used for a series of businesses: warehouse space for the San Martin winery, a drayage company, and a good ten or fifteen years as a discount furniture store.
<p>
But the neighborhood's changed; the former cannery district is now mostly large apartment complexes. Salsina's well-ventilated cannery became studio and retail spaces a couple years ago.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8z9bmXveG3BJ-P2443g1uopZJ23YL0SVTlJZGAQ4K9KReDB0yP77UocDSPn53eVSFdUNUdhjymVez1EIvm57-24vaecoZ7W03uM_2N5S1hOu-81iNsQy8FT4GAsHmHtrQBP1Pr6LYDncx/s1600/IMG_8373.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8z9bmXveG3BJ-P2443g1uopZJ23YL0SVTlJZGAQ4K9KReDB0yP77UocDSPn53eVSFdUNUdhjymVez1EIvm57-24vaecoZ7W03uM_2N5S1hOu-81iNsQy8FT4GAsHmHtrQBP1Pr6LYDncx/s320/IMG_8373.jpeg" width="240"/></a>
<p> Working end of the brewery </p>
</div>
<p>
So here I am, sitting in the same cannery where Edith Daley saw “Billy" Leet buy ice cream for the entire cannery crew back in 1919. It’s now Hapa's Brewing. My chance to sit inside shows it's a stylish building both from a model railroad and canning perspective. Concrete floors for ease of cleaning and storing a seasons worth of tomato paste. The sawtooth roof adds interest from above. Concrete walls on the street side, worn corrugated iron on the railroad side. Huge beams holding up the roof so there’s more space for canning equipment. Light rail rolls by much more often than the "Friendly" SP ever serviced the Los Gatos branch. Today's Saturday afternoon crowd provides the background noise to hint at how active the building sounded at its birth. The Sainte Claire Brewing folks who had the building in 1935 would be pleased that the buildings still a happy provider of alcoholic beverages.
<p>
Edith’s pleasant description of the building still holds true - “The plant is sunny, well-ventilated, and a pleasant place in which to work.” Definitely true - the sawtooth roof brings in a surprising amount of light, and open loading doors keep it light and airy in today’s moderate May weather. I wouldn’t mind being stuck here in July. I'm not at all displeased about sitting at the bar today.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboP6Ec13kti2nTdbqJOYqsytmEyINBUO_4_oXl6A-BzBUMFTQguRDheIryS6jqHLDCHKE4mxa3gGyR2v4KE_g4PNpIEgs7PhXpOTh0AdgLJ3afZpGUpEZDm5D2Sz4JZrb1w5UchB7WH3X/s1600/IMG_8369.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhboP6Ec13kti2nTdbqJOYqsytmEyINBUO_4_oXl6A-BzBUMFTQguRDheIryS6jqHLDCHKE4mxa3gGyR2v4KE_g4PNpIEgs7PhXpOTh0AdgLJ3afZpGUpEZDm5D2Sz4JZrb1w5UchB7WH3X/s320/IMG_8369.jpeg" width="240" /></a>
<p>Freight door from original cannery</p>
</div>
<p>
A hundred years ago when Edith visited, she found a San Jose where the cannery mostly had Anglo workers. “There’s a dignified high school professor from San Francisco happily at work on the fruit grader. There are sons and daughters of doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief, and they are making from $20 to $25 per week.” Mrs Addington was forewoman, J. Turner watched the incoming fruit and tomatoes to ensure it met Salsina’s quality. With the demographics she saw, perhaps it’s not surprising that Edith found the “little Italian girl- the most prolific of the bunch” so surprising in Campbell a few weeks before. Even for an Italian-run cannery, Italian immigrants on the line were either not easily identifiable, or not newsworthy to Edith’s eyes.
<p>
Fifteen years later when the Sainte Claire Brewing company started making local beer, a good fraction of the groceries in San Jose had Italian names... at least for the markets that wanted to sell local beer from San Jose.
<p>
(Side notes about the people Edith met in 1919: Mrs. Ludy Addington, 132 Topeka Ave. in the Burbank neighborhood, was a midwest transplant; her husband, Charles, ran a service station at Race and San Carlos in later years, though he listed his occupation as "oil and gas merchant" in 1920. Charles was a Southern Pacific brakeman in 1913. Jacob Turner, from Ohio, listed his occupation as cannery superintendent in 1920. He lived at 529 N. 19th Street with his wife and eight children. By 1930, he was running his own plumbing business. Running a cannery made one very good at quick plumbing repairs, I expect.)
<p>
And once you get to modern days, Salsina’s demographics have changed again. All the nearby apartment buildings means that the place is filled with the local twenty-somethings on a Saturday, maybe working at Splunk in Santana Row packing web log data into attractive canned formats, contracting at Google but angling for a full time role at Facebook, or maybe figuring out ways to profit from supporting the masses coming to make the Santa Clara Valley a productive bread basket of technology. The faces are the usual Silicon Valley mix - some Anglo, some Asian, some Hispanic, highlighting just how varied the Santa Clara Valley is. Like Edith, what I’m seeing doesn’t match the true demographics of Silicon Valley; it’s less Hispanic here than San Jose as a whole. The place also doesn’t look like my co-workers - the collection of chip engineers at work who may have been born in India, but decided long ago that the Santa Clara Valley would be their home. Over in Fremont, they’re replacing the Portuguese Holy Ghost parade with Indian festivals. If you show up at Holi, you might get covered in colored pigment. The stories the immigrants tell are the same - new immigrants risking it all to move to the US, the dangers of starting anew in a land without friends and family, and figuring out how to mix traditions from the old country with their new home.
<p>
Billy Leet isn’t serving ice cream in the 21st century, but at least Hapa has a taco truck, helping to keep this century’s puff piece writers well-fed.
<hr>
<i><a href="https://hapasbrewing.com">Hapa's Brewing</a> is at 460 Lincoln Ave in San Jose. It's a popular place, so folks other than me must think their IPA is tasty! No food in the restaurant, but they invite food trucks to stop by many days - check their events. Compare the photos from <A href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2012/11/virden-packing-and-dreams-of-great.html">a few years ago</a> to see how nicely the place has been fixed up. After your beer, walk around the neighborhood and check out the former Standard Oil depot at Auzerais and Sunol, and meander along the Los Gatos Creek trail beside the apartments that replaced the Del Monte cannery.</i>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-42504309341447729112019-03-17T19:06:00.000-07:002019-03-24T20:33:42.890-07:00Tracking Down the Lost Cannery of Campbell<p>
A while ago, we heard <a href="https://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2018/11/edith-daley-visits-campbell.html">Edith Daley’s descriptions of the folks coming down to Campbell to work in the canneries</a>. Thanks to David Pereira, we can put some faces next to those caricatures. David, you see, has quite the connection to Campbell canneries, with his great-grandfather, great-grandmother, grandmother, and grandfather all working for the least-known of the Campbell canneries.
<p>
That cannery, as all the <i>serious</i> Campbell historians know, is the California Canneries, located just north of the Ainsley cannery. California Canneries is often forgotten; it didn’t have a high-profile local owner like Ainsley or Hyde; it didn’t have the brand recognition of Sunsweet's dried apricot business. Its buildings didn’t survive. It didn’t host the Doobie Brothers like the Farmer's Union Packing house. California Canneries does have a Hindenburg connection, but that all happened Back East, a long way from Campbell.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<center>[ NO PHOTO OF CANNERY AVAILABLE - <br> NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE...<br>YET]</center>
</div>
<p>
California Canneries was a San Francisco-based canner, started before the turn of the century, but run during the 20th century by Isidor Jacobs. The cannery’s home office was in San Francisco, in a wooden cannery building at 18th and Minnesota. The original building survived up until last year, with the California Canneries sign still visible from the 18th St. overpass across the SP tracks. It finally lost out to UCSF’s new campus, and was torn down for student housing. There’s a couple mentions of a Napa outpost, but nothing definite. However, in the expansionist era just after World War I, Jacobs came down to Campbell to kick the tires on a cannery.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQavZBxtQFt1F8mufdselhCXRrp1tzdRWHSHYKgTkdyhEjvuwwiGKGTfnVCv5VYzReC5c5d83t4mUVkElWjKdN0vTJF5q8lTTommsv71jLAo3x90JmMTlEltrKjDYX1OuMgTXcoG0f8b7J/s1600/600+minnesota+front+california+canneries.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQavZBxtQFt1F8mufdselhCXRrp1tzdRWHSHYKgTkdyhEjvuwwiGKGTfnVCv5VYzReC5c5d83t4mUVkElWjKdN0vTJF5q8lTTommsv71jLAo3x90JmMTlEltrKjDYX1OuMgTXcoG0f8b7J/s320/600+minnesota+front+california+canneries.jpeg" width="320" height="209" data-original-width="1495" data-original-height="977" /></a>
<p>California Canneries, 18th and Minnesota, San Francisco. Torn down. (Google Street View)</p>
</div>
<p>
The cannery that Jacobs was eyeing was the Orchard City Cannery, run by Perley Payne, son of James Payne (who Payne Ave. in San Jose is named for.) Perley had started a cannery just north of the Ainsley plant in 1910. Payne’s Orchard City Cannery suffered during World War I; while Ainsley was selling to London, Orchard City primarily sold to Germany, and all its customers were on the wrong side of trenches, barbed wire, and mustard gas... a bad way for a cannery to make a profit. So they didn't make a profit, and Payne ended up selling out to Jacobs in 1917; he ran the cannery for the new owner for a year, but washed his hands of the canning business and fell back to orchard labor. His son noted he had quite a gift for grafting walnut trees.
<p>
“Campbell, the Orchard City”, lightly notes that Perley Payne’s son played in the rafters of the cannery building “and [was] reprimanded for his escapades.” Perley Payne Jr., in his own words, told a much more realistic and bittersweet story. He highlighted the dark side of trying to hit it big in the canning business when he talked about how his father handled the business failure. Perley later attempted to organize the workers in the local canneries.
<blockquote>
“You see, after he lost his cannery, he kind of felt he was disgraced. And I felt, and my wife too, we really felt bad about it, because, he kind of lived on his knees the rest of his life. He depended on his brothers and his sisters when he wasn’t - like one time I remember, we didn’t work for about two or three months it rained so much here that he had to ask them for money all the time to keep us going, you know. I remember he used to charge groceries at Field’s Store in Campbell and I was working and I would take my check to Field’s Store and cash it and pay so much to Fields on dad’s bill and take some down to the gas station and Fred, I forget his last name, anyway, the guy who owned the gas station - He had a charge there, and I’d pay him, too. And I had, outside of the sorry part here, my aunt and uncle, my uncle George and my aunt Aileen — after my uncle George had died, my aunt Aileen told me, "You know George and I were figuring on sending you to college, but we figured you were too irresponsible. And here I was taking all my money that I earned for five years — all of it went home, except for what I did spend to buy that Model T Ford. All of it went home to help my mother and dad with the grocery bills and whatever else they needed. The only thing I kept out was for a haircut and a little bit to go to a show once in a while, something like that. (Perley Payne, Jr.)
</blockquote>
<p>
Jacobs, meanwhile, managed to do reasonably well with the property, running the cannery through the 1920s and early 1930’s. But the Great Depression was lethal for canners, and California Canneries declared bankruptcy in 1932. The Campbell property went to Fred Drew, who had just bought the Ainsley Cannery. The flagship San Francisco plant went to Jacob’s broker, Moritz Feibusch, who rebranded the company as Calbear Canneries. Feibusch died in the fire on the Hindenburg airship in 1937, putting an end to California Canneries.
<p>
<b>The Place</b>
<p>
There’s not much evidence of California Canneries. I’ve seen its name on Sanborn maps and on an SP track diagram, but I’ve never seen a photo of the cannery. There’s a corrugated iron warehouse just south of Fry’s on Salmar Ave that must have been built for the cannery, but a tin building with a linoleum dealer and an irrigation contractor is nowhere near as photogenic as Hyde Cannery’s brick buildings closer to downtown. (The Campbell Museum does have a photo of <A href="https://cityofcampbell.pastperfectonline.com/photo/F35B423B-366F-4302-A865-349621298600">the warehouse along Salmar Ave.</a>, but we don't see the cannery in that photo.)
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupkORSCwxDbbybL5gkEwQEJl_J55rCtK6tCTCfA5QhINDF3ocxW5jfGpy-qd6X8XjPa-6BclfBvyKk66hjuueczoVXKazj4AEz0iblAdMfQsYjxse2sFfS39ISvV5gxzA4D5tLXmeoFGv/s1600/sanborn1920.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupkORSCwxDbbybL5gkEwQEJl_J55rCtK6tCTCfA5QhINDF3ocxW5jfGpy-qd6X8XjPa-6BclfBvyKk66hjuueczoVXKazj4AEz0iblAdMfQsYjxse2sFfS39ISvV5gxzA4D5tLXmeoFGv/s320/sanborn1920.jpg" width="320" height="171" data-original-width="941" data-original-height="502" /></a>
<p>California Canneries, Campbell Ca. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1920</p>
</div>
<p>
In the 1920 Sanborn map, Harrison St.is to the left and the railroad tracks cut across the page from southwest to northeast. Ainsley Cannery is on the bottom. Perley Payne grew up in the house on the corner of Harrison and Hopkins. Hopkins no longer exists; both canneries are now under a row of townhouses.
<p>
The 1920 map shows four structures: the cannery (one story, 15’ high, corrugated iron with a wood floor), a separate boiler house, a box nailing shed, and a 10,000 gallon water tank. Southern Pacific railroad valuation maps suggest the railroad spur was installed in 1919 as part of the Jacobs improvements, and extended further to the north in 1926. The railroad map also describes the cannery building as 83 x 138 feet, but doesn’t list the size of the warehouse.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIwj7zn8QNMRIk6DhscLPnzZrwkZkdOaIoJSheXzYThtH6DEHL8cV1JC12GI62b1L2QFDws9XZmciDneNS7IGSzCRTt9pwlnYUVSsOD2_Gg9_MVcB5pKfyfM8gWPwhdfY3RgFou9D_waD/s1600/sanborn1928-1935.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmIwj7zn8QNMRIk6DhscLPnzZrwkZkdOaIoJSheXzYThtH6DEHL8cV1JC12GI62b1L2QFDws9XZmciDneNS7IGSzCRTt9pwlnYUVSsOD2_Gg9_MVcB5pKfyfM8gWPwhdfY3RgFou9D_waD/s320/sanborn1928-1935.jpg" width="320" height="181" data-original-width="860" data-original-height="486" /></a>
<p>Havens-Semaira Cannery, Campbell Ca. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1928-1935</p>
</div>
<p>
On the 1928-1935 Sanborn map, we see Havens-Semaira Cannery running the cannery; they were founded in 1935 by John Havens of Oakland and S. J. Samaira of San Francisco. Havens had run the Sebatina Canning Company in Sonoma; S. J. Semaira had been importing dried fruits and nuts.
The Sunburn map shows that the cannery expanded to take more of the lot, and the turf dealer warehouse appears to the north. The boiler house has moved, and there’s several more accessory buildings including the kindergarten, and garages. The building is still wood, and the loading platforms are now on the north side.
<p>
<b>And A Photos Turns Up</b>
<p>
That’s awfully dry. We know the size of the building, the materials, the size of the fuel oil tank, and the size of the kindergarten. But we don’t know anything else about the cannery and the people.
<p>
Luckily, David turned up with an employee photo from 1926. Many large companies had group panoramic photos taken during the 1920’s, and the cannery photos are particularly interesting because they give us an idea about both the number of folks working at a cannery, and the ethnic groups that made it up.
<p>
David has the photo because it contained four of his family - his great grandfather and great grandmother, his grandmother, and her future husband. His great grandfather was a carpenter; his great-grandmother and her two daughters worked at the canning tables. David was also told his grandfather is somewhere in the photo; he likely met his future wife working one summer.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PDcGJQImTU1xfnn0UkVN_KjkDoKB9ABdv3tHOwRGmw5cQ7vuQk5890hf5pV-6F6scZwvLc5m5aVyE3rbOX1Y2OFvtu1lZkemnqolcmP1bNwQTTCN7-3Y2UDhBJdVypzAmH9UWQMJqxpr/s1600/fullpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9PDcGJQImTU1xfnn0UkVN_KjkDoKB9ABdv3tHOwRGmw5cQ7vuQk5890hf5pV-6F6scZwvLc5m5aVyE3rbOX1Y2OFvtu1lZkemnqolcmP1bNwQTTCN7-3Y2UDhBJdVypzAmH9UWQMJqxpr/s320/fullpic.jpg" width="320" height="75" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="377" /></a>
<p>1926 Employee Photo, California Canneries, Campbell. Courtesy David Pereira</p>
</div>
<p>
View the <a href="http://vasonabranch.com/unsorted/californiaCanneriesFull.jpg">photo in high resolution here</a> (7 MB). Spot anything interesting? Mention it in the comments!
<p>
There’s a lot in this photo - more than 200 workers (48 men, 7 women who look like office workers, and 158 women from the canning tables.) There’s a shot of the tin building that held the cannery. There’s a box car, and houses.
<p>
<b>The People</b>
<p>
Let’s start with the people. We’ve got five sources to tell us something about the people in this photo: the 1920 census, a 1920 San Jose City Directory, David’s family story from 1919, Edith Daley’s article from the same summer, and Perley Payne’s stories of growing up in Campbell.
<p>
<b>The People: The Census</b>
<p>
Census data gives us a starting point about who was living in Campbell. The 1920 census had around 1300 people in Campbell township. Most were American; if we count the families where at least the head of the household was foreign born, we find about 25% of Campbell came from immigrant households. There were 59 Italians, 52 Portuguese, 44 English, 28 Swedes, 25 Canadians, 15 Danes, 12 Germans, 12 Austrians, 10 French, 9 Japanese, 7 Norwegians, 6 Spaniards, 5 Scots, 4 Swiss, two Finns, two Russians, and one Australian, one Irish, and one Pole.
<p>
These numbers seem a bit lower than I would have expected. By 1920, immigrants were huge part of cannery workforces in other places (as evidenced by Del Monte's employee newsletter having sections in multiple languages, and the size of the Italian and Portuguese communities in San Jose and Santa Clara.) However, the group photo shows more workers that look American than I expected. I could imagine Campbell wasn't as interesting a place for new immigrants. The land was probably expensive because it was good soil and well irrigated (compared to the east side); projects like the Kirk ditch brought water from Los Gatos Creek to orchards as far away as Willow Glen. The land had also been settled early. Lesser quality land - drier land, or hillside land - might have been all that the new immigrants could afford to work. Campbell also might have been a little less welcoming of new immigrants; a <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2013/10/too-many-italians.html">1930 editorial cartoon</a> in the Campbell Interurban Express sounded like they still weren't terribly pleased by the newcomers, ten years after the Johnson-Reed act in 1924 limited the number of immigrants from Southern Europe, and banned Asian immigration completely.
<p>
The ethnic makeup does match Perley Payne's memories:
<blockquote>
Interviewer: “I know there were lots of Mexicans in Campbell.”
“We had no Mexicans in high school at all - or grammar school. We had Italians, Portuguese, Yugoslav, two Japanese, and that was about it. The rest of us were just uh, people…. A bunch of [cannery workers] came out of Dos Palos every year [to work at Ainsley].
</blockquote>
<p>
(Listen to the <a href="https://archive.org/details/csfst_000018">Perley Payne Jr. interview</a> or
<a href="https://archive.org/stream/csfst_000018t/Payne%20Oral%20History%20LARC_djvu.txt">read the transcript</a>.)
<p>
About a hundred of the Campbell residents listed occupations related to canning. (See <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-ogtrKKRudrk1vQu0iYko-Xbxl71lZX1IhvBvGN9WLQ/edit#gid=0">this spreadsheet</a> for a list of all the cannery workers in the 1920 census.) Most were “laborer, canning factory", with the occasional owner, superintendent, or foreman or forewoman. Those numbers are a bit skewed; the census was taken in January, so it omits temporary help. The people willing to list occupations were likely also the workers with sufficient seniority or skill to stay around Campbell during the off-season. (Still, although there's a lot of older men declaring themselves to be cannery workers, there's also still some twenty-somethings declaring that canning is in their blood.) We also only see occupations for the men. Very few women listed cannery work as their occupation.
<p>
Generally, only the professional women show up in the occupations. Of the hundreds of women who must have worked at the cutting tables, only Mary King of Sunnyside Ave. listed her occupation as “pitter”. Four women declared themselves as forewomen: Alice V. Hutchins, 55 years old; Clara B. Baldwin, 42; Lulu V. Holmes, 34; and Minnie Lewis, 65; they were responsible for managing the cutting floor - choosing where people sat, handling discipline, ensuring quality. All the other women who spoke of their canning connection were clerical. Emma Swope, 52, was a bookkeeper at Ainsley (and listed as corporate secretary in the 1920 city directory.) Elizabeth B. Hall, 18, was a bookkeeper. Charlotte Thiltgen from Meridian Road, 17, listed her occupation as “saleswoman”. Mary Miller, 36, listed herself as manager of one of the cannery cafeterias. None were recent immigrants, or even children of recent immigrants.
<p>
We’ve got Perley Payne, builder of the Payne Cannery still listing himself as owner of a canning factory, while Solomon Jacobs, operating the cannery, listed his job as “manager, canning factory.” Warren Shelly, superintendent, will eventually be the Vice President of the Ainsley cannery in 1933.
<p>
On the men’s side, most of the cannery workers are British or American. Archibald Braydon, 32, born in England, lists himself as foreman at a canning factory. So does Leigh Sauders, 49, living at 26 Rincon Ave, and Thomas Mendel, 53. Braydon and Mendel explicitly list themselves as Ainsley employees in the city directory, and Saunders certainly seems a likely Ainsley employee. (If this was modern day, I could imagine salesmen from the London office spending a year working at the cannery so they can better extol the virtues of Santa Clara valley fruit in England and Scotland.) George Sloat, 57; Claude Gard, 42; Clarence Whitney, 54 all show up as foremen. There’s a couple night watchmen; Dudley Chaffee, 61, is boarding with Solomon Jacobs, so we can guess he’s working at California Canneries; Edward P. Green, 60, from Wisconsin, is also serving as night watchman for one of the other canneries. Harry Bloom, 49, and Arthur Cramer, 48, list their occupation as stationary engineers, running the steam boilers. There’s also some hints about which occupations might be more prestigious. Frank Peterbaugh, 19, lists himself as weigher, which I assume required literacy and a certain amount of responsibility. John F. Cooper, a Scotsman living at 27 Campbell Ave., declares himself a shipping clerk. William E. Spreegle, 29, of 21 Everett Street (where’s that?) is a box maker.
<p>
The majority of laborers are Americans. Out of 58 laborers, there’s 14 that are either foreign or children of recent immigrants: 5 Portuguese, three Italian, two Irish, two Canadian, and one Russian.
<p>
The other big surprise is that most of the fruit-related processing jobs were canning. There were exactly two workers in all of Campbell who said they worked in packing houses: Frank Pererbaugh (19, weigher), and Fred Griggle (34, laborer).
<p>
<b>The People: David's Family</b>
<p>
So let's compare that with David's family stories.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQKwwupIoPdRrgKPSajDlEBooLU6VKMfC-h5x7GcqLpDgLpHs2cePO_6FAQ0gS4r61A0dJKDtLdQebc_tmLp8hIalIj99VWzX3NAzh6gRvFpZ9aUzKM4nuTCV-pYPR-z80CAOVxPDP8u0/s1600/anton.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQKwwupIoPdRrgKPSajDlEBooLU6VKMfC-h5x7GcqLpDgLpHs2cePO_6FAQ0gS4r61A0dJKDtLdQebc_tmLp8hIalIj99VWzX3NAzh6gRvFpZ9aUzKM4nuTCV-pYPR-z80CAOVxPDP8u0/s320/anton.jpg" width="220" /></a>
<p>Anton</p>
</div>
<p>
We think of the Santa Clara Valley as primarily settlers from the rest of the U.S., with new arrivals in the 1880-1920 time range coming from Italy or Portugal. The census data suggests that Campbell was still predominantly native-born. Anton, David’s great-grandfather, wasn’t; he was born in the Ukraine. He’d been a machinist in Portland, Oregon, but he became a carpenter in the Santa Clara valley, perhaps working in box-making, or perhaps on maintenance of the cannery. His wife, Lena, was from Hungary. The family lived on Harmon Ave in San Jose (Meridian Ave. near Auzerais), just on this side of the Del Monte cannery. Lena and her daughters were working the cannery line; all three were seated in the front row for the photo. From the census data, they were a bit of outliers; there weren't a lot of chances to talk in German (which David said was their primary language.)
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KNs1SSKHygI0GgmRu26s8iD91HDKPOLogqU1cFG5ZgDoK4VNFY3IoboE5XXORPMS9eD2lWhQH-xIkgEMnL-xnX1D2Jg85UrdlPwW8MWW5LnYjNzY4pX0FgkIam3m5-1AAy5eZLCyKodY/s1600/lenaAndGirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KNs1SSKHygI0GgmRu26s8iD91HDKPOLogqU1cFG5ZgDoK4VNFY3IoboE5XXORPMS9eD2lWhQH-xIkgEMnL-xnX1D2Jg85UrdlPwW8MWW5LnYjNzY4pX0FgkIam3m5-1AAy5eZLCyKodY/s320/lenaAndGirls.jpg" width="220" /></a>
<p>Lena and her daughters</p>
</div>
<p>
David’s grandfather, a Portuguese kid, was somewhere in the crowd according to the family story; he might have been one of the overexposed faces on the right side of the photo - a mix of young and old men who might have been ferrying the fruit into the canning machines. Some of those men would have been the laborers showing up in the census (though I imagine many of the folks we see in the photo are summer workers who didn't show up in the census records at all.) Perley Payne Jr. would have had jobs like this, too.
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIuTGQX9uCIYeD3vBrJjAxVRWoubxA6pYqdrH2s7ZUNIv8YUpJ1HGcvG3tEhHuc_H48WfY3ycB55mjbUAAQBh2Y5EBbtOeNbsT_vWyMTSzoe0kCLeWuDcAACtsBGTsWGLAGeaf3uSD1SZe/s1600/guys.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIuTGQX9uCIYeD3vBrJjAxVRWoubxA6pYqdrH2s7ZUNIv8YUpJ1HGcvG3tEhHuc_H48WfY3ycB55mjbUAAQBh2Y5EBbtOeNbsT_vWyMTSzoe0kCLeWuDcAACtsBGTsWGLAGeaf3uSD1SZe/s320/guys.jpg" width="220" /></a>
<p>The Laborers</p>
</div>
<p>
We also get a bit of story from Perley Payne, Jr. He worked in the canneries when he was a teenager, always waiting until he was 18 when he could work more than 8 hours and make 40c an hour like the men. Although Perley's father had been a business owner, Perley went straight to the socialists, organizing for the cannery unions and eventually leaving for the Spanish Civil War to fight with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. His oral history not only documents his time as a labor organizer, but hints at who lived in Campbell and who worked in Campbell’s cannery.
<p>
(Listen to the <a href="https://archive.org/details/csfst_000018">Perley Payne Jr. interview</a> or
<a href="https://archive.org/stream/csfst_000018t/Payne%20Oral%20History%20LARC_djvu.txt">read the transcript</a>.)
<p>
<blockquote>
Mostly it was Italians and Portuguese women that worked in the cannery. My grandmother worked there. My mother worked in the cannery. My sisters all worked in the cannery…
<br>
[Most of the Cannery workers] lived in Campbell, and they knew Mr. Ainsley. They knew the man who owns it. They knew who he was and he had a restaurant for them for lunch. He had a camp where people would come and stay from Dos Palos and other parts of the Valley, they could come and stay during the summer. Of course, us young guys were always down there looking for girlfriends, you know.
</blockquote>
<p>
Perley's story definitely matches the census records. The two Japanese families, the Makadas and Jios, lived over on Leigh Ave. Wakichi Jio and Suyezo Makada were farmworkers. Portuguese and Italian families both were farmworkers and farm owners; the women of the families represent a lot of the faces in David's photo, even if they didn't explicitly refer to their work in the canneries. Perley's mother also didn't include cannery work as her occupation, but she also had four kids under the age of 7 in 1920.
<p>
The older, no-nonsense women in the front row might have been Perley's family, and perhaps floor ladies, managing the women at the cannery. Minnie Lewis or Alice Hutchins might be one of the older women in the front row.
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbQ7X6L1XQPqoQMPxSHtYIZOKWE6-WwI_Qegwj7VErkUIVCSOb8NJCLCSOO0zHLYydSDNN4tZdXImuG2O8RMjtgUZ4huF_Z-C_TuIETltYda23ZiU-km4ydCpPprCk_V46ygXzcKCiO4Y/s1600/floorLadies.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdbQ7X6L1XQPqoQMPxSHtYIZOKWE6-WwI_Qegwj7VErkUIVCSOb8NJCLCSOO0zHLYydSDNN4tZdXImuG2O8RMjtgUZ4huF_Z-C_TuIETltYda23ZiU-km4ydCpPprCk_V46ygXzcKCiO4Y/s320/floorLadies.jpg" width="220" /></a>
<p>The Floor Ladies</p>
</div>
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGifq19sQMVIEAJj8tHQHoqz43hAwA-ljHKyXNvPyUmB1IYhmwL7qwyX8dHEZCmGF_0auLQ6EqIAHK2DCL8Qcak8til5pyQ7vJ58hDbzZwIF-ATi1YS2BOnl9-mPrqTi60xg2E_H-u-M6/s1600/youngWomen.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGifq19sQMVIEAJj8tHQHoqz43hAwA-ljHKyXNvPyUmB1IYhmwL7qwyX8dHEZCmGF_0auLQ6EqIAHK2DCL8Qcak8til5pyQ7vJ58hDbzZwIF-ATi1YS2BOnl9-mPrqTi60xg2E_H-u-M6/s320/youngWomen.jpg" width="420" /></a>
<p>The Women Perley Tried to Date</p>
</div>
The young women workers might have been the ones he was chasing after work, or might have been some of the folks from the Central Valley who came to work in the cooler Campbell climate.
<p>
Edith Daley, meanwhile, talked about the iconic and stereotypical. There was the city girl who was in Campbell for spending money. The girl with the gingham and the bow, perhaps, and the oh-so modern haircut? Or was she working in the office?
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i9Xy6DmDO6j7OB-a3_9DK_XwaIuJb2isdx0szS41GYAsE0UzoxHriMpnpdrIYW8GxgyxYWk15OiLdUGispRbx3O_ALwgl4lbJ5Yi7cpwo_Y5JNpborTUjzJhT8dLk9s2b6g0mDZbnRyP/s1600/cityGirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7i9Xy6DmDO6j7OB-a3_9DK_XwaIuJb2isdx0szS41GYAsE0UzoxHriMpnpdrIYW8GxgyxYWk15OiLdUGispRbx3O_ALwgl4lbJ5Yi7cpwo_Y5JNpborTUjzJhT8dLk9s2b6g0mDZbnRyP/s320/cityGirl.jpg" width="220" /></a>
<p>"The City Girl"</p>
</div>
<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0H_cA_i5E8XuNyWautqoRAm7TVFj6yR4FJWNGweNdYZEjXkKIl0s9srY00LXgZIeT1LT9y2c0Vduq8HKdwlsQEhojP-qUBW1I_dAYVEETKaJmT5mB6wivbwvokaaPMqE6juyKubwWb8zq/s1600/materialGirls.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0H_cA_i5E8XuNyWautqoRAm7TVFj6yR4FJWNGweNdYZEjXkKIl0s9srY00LXgZIeT1LT9y2c0Vduq8HKdwlsQEhojP-qUBW1I_dAYVEETKaJmT5mB6wivbwvokaaPMqE6juyKubwWb8zq/s320/materialGirls.jpg" width="220"/></a>
<p>"The '80's Material Girls"</p>
</div>
</div>
The two girls who wouldn’t have looked out of place in a 1980’s new wave club looks like they’re having a good summer.
<p>
There was the San Francisco family, here as much for the change of pace as the pay. Their tent might have been the one with the Victrola.
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsn5r2Qe81aoYxMUNHZBOvz0TC6vBDedqGCkMup4qLh8eNFz0Sc92LXKMprhra8hPMFT6dos5xA-HhbcjG-5pZfIkA3qBkRbQoO0HXKODDnhxEU5GweFSJiPyyld7Do0EqBv4JY9eyZHqM/s1600/family.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsn5r2Qe81aoYxMUNHZBOvz0TC6vBDedqGCkMup4qLh8eNFz0Sc92LXKMprhra8hPMFT6dos5xA-HhbcjG-5pZfIkA3qBkRbQoO0HXKODDnhxEU5GweFSJiPyyld7Do0EqBv4JY9eyZHqM/s320/family.jpg" width="420" /></a>
<p>"The City Family"</p>
</div>
There was the little Italian girl, the hardest worker of the lot, who would make sure she’d hit 5 or 6 dollars a day. She was a new immigrant, and she was getting money to live on.
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmtUPSpAQR5ry9NzlHCa5VPb5o47FOcs8ko-eRltsYEGmTqMqmf9s6hA6d7F3sWAYok9kqYaSdpmKhjFRZAmRx-lAt2tI60_6gw0wndBMNOeFHUxG2JZb9FPd0CryoqBBSApCYmaF0Lg1/s1600/italianGirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmtUPSpAQR5ry9NzlHCa5VPb5o47FOcs8ko-eRltsYEGmTqMqmf9s6hA6d7F3sWAYok9kqYaSdpmKhjFRZAmRx-lAt2tI60_6gw0wndBMNOeFHUxG2JZb9FPd0CryoqBBSApCYmaF0Lg1/s320/italianGirl.jpg" width="420" /></a>
<p>"Edith Daley's Hardest Working Italian Girl"</p>
</div>
<p>
There were also the bookkeepers and clerks running the office, much like <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-big-little-boss-jennie-besana.html">Jennie Besana would have been doing this season down at the Contadina cannery in San Jose</a>. The woman with the upturned hair and the long necklace is a giveaway - that's the last thing she would have had around the fruit side of the cannery because of all the exposed machinery. Any of these women could have been the bookkeeper or saleswomen we saw in the census data.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9F9TJQiM_fSzJq99hJEeY_-saAFpKA4ZsnPjJ9VAJS3GmpH_StR2y6xsSk_fjZLc11sp_zEICC-5Z960NUF19_v-rRcJI1cL-QnzYR2mWP7VdGK8e6dajBy8a4FO7UuunkMQiM2NFxphM/s1600/bookkeeper.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9F9TJQiM_fSzJq99hJEeY_-saAFpKA4ZsnPjJ9VAJS3GmpH_StR2y6xsSk_fjZLc11sp_zEICC-5Z960NUF19_v-rRcJI1cL-QnzYR2mWP7VdGK8e6dajBy8a4FO7UuunkMQiM2NFxphM/s320/bookkeeper.jpg" width="220"/></a>
<p>"The Bookkeeper"</p>
</div>
<div class="right">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfqWenJ_Sy7qkZrUK0u88aM8sNM3q1sFNzqCO45et86-0zLLwFKlvJXDxIF1Ne20p5g2iluthRfRZkxyJZN_PjwmJduYajSB05n_tK38ZllUm8pHfSRCde4j2XXcSnXktJU_nU7IZhX5T/s1600/hr.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfqWenJ_Sy7qkZrUK0u88aM8sNM3q1sFNzqCO45et86-0zLLwFKlvJXDxIF1Ne20p5g2iluthRfRZkxyJZN_PjwmJduYajSB05n_tK38ZllUm8pHfSRCde4j2XXcSnXktJU_nU7IZhX5T/s320/hr.jpg" width="220"/></a>
<p>"Management"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
I’m torn whether this stern looking woman is a floor lady, or a woman from the business or sales side of California Canneries. The pearls are a much safer choice for cannery jewelry, and the haircut’s quite a modern length. Or perhaps this is Mary Miller, the no-nonsense queen of a cannery cafeteria?
<p>
For a final photo, here's a close up of the men on the left hand side of the photo. The leftmost kid has what appears to be a holster; at first I thought he had shears, but didn't see any other men with similar equipment. Then I remember my dad's summer job - he worked at Hunt's in Hayward one summer, and was responsible for punching a worker's ticket when she completed packing a tray of cans. I suspect this is the kid responsible for doing the punching at California Canneries that summer.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZ17YSgLdsB3hgMTe0hP6osvsOG5ystSymo1YfNNV1YVYFFWhh3c1S_LB-9WUUo370TZo4Ct4wOSKO4zTDJ_8Idz6co3enQV4QhSc8rH7KVw_q4-loIOPjPWrg7ysOYqVSyCdhyphenhyphenqwusXL/s1600/punch_kid.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZ17YSgLdsB3hgMTe0hP6osvsOG5ystSymo1YfNNV1YVYFFWhh3c1S_LB-9WUUo370TZo4Ct4wOSKO4zTDJ_8Idz6co3enQV4QhSc8rH7KVw_q4-loIOPjPWrg7ysOYqVSyCdhyphenhyphenqwusXL/s320/punch_kid.jpg" width="420"/></a><p>The Punch Kid</p>
</div>
<b>The Plant</b>
<p>
Meanwhile, the machinery didn’t stop humming. Newspaper articles mentioned that Jacobs overhauled the plant in 1919, the peak year for many canneries. He started construction on May 13, but they were shipping apricots by July 9. The photo of the building shows the corrugated iron and simple posts for the cannery; it’s definitely designed for quick construction. For us model railroaders, the corrugated-iron buildings are very familiar; one of the long-time kit manufacturers, <a href="https://www.campbellscalemodels.com/product_p/0439.htm">Campbell Scale Models</a>, had a bunch of building kits that duplicated these sorts of structures. Campbell got most of their inspiration from the Los Angeles, area, but the California Canneries photo highlights that quick-and-dirty corrugated iron buildings were popular up here in Northern California, too.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGobSnrWMV7egu9BYYs6dAandqLTHjwPLOxUwckor_7YXP-oYt17SdmSeZcqwOkIN7-mHdN8k3Xcwu44s3_oVkcaC_uJxjlPreQxqqc7CFu2Rw6y1OypJH8OyG724bT0jXDR_SmK3aYS7/s1600/canneryBuilding.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGobSnrWMV7egu9BYYs6dAandqLTHjwPLOxUwckor_7YXP-oYt17SdmSeZcqwOkIN7-mHdN8k3Xcwu44s3_oVkcaC_uJxjlPreQxqqc7CFu2Rw6y1OypJH8OyG724bT0jXDR_SmK3aYS7/s320/canneryBuilding.jpg" width="320" height="235" data-original-width="403" data-original-height="296" /></a>
</div>
<p>
The photo takes place on the angled loading dock along Hopkins Ave., a dead-end street paralleling Campbell Ave. that started at Harrison Ave., passed between California Canneries and the Ainsley Cannery, and quickly crossed the SP tracks to end at the cannery housing for the Ainsley cannery. Perley Payne grew up in the house at Hopkins and Harrison, hidden in the trees in the photo. Perley’s father must have hated the traffic from the cars coming to his former cannery. There's a bunch of cars all parked along Hopkins there; the cannery must have generated quite a bit of traffic and parking problems for Campbell.
<p>
The Sanborn map shows three houses along Hopkins that might have been annoyed by the traffic. The westernmost house was 80 Harrison, at the corner of Harrison and Hopkins. The Paynes still lived there in 1920, even though the records hint they no longer owned the cannery. 25 Hopkins Ave was next; George Sprague and his extended family were living there; George declared himself a cannery laborer. I'd guess he was a California Canneries employee, and he's probably one of the fifty-something men in the photo. His son-in-law, George Archibald, had the easier job; he was a salesman at a (presumably not-self-service) grocery store. The house closest to the cannery, 35 Hopkins Ave., apparently went with the cannery, for Solomon Jacobs, the manager, lived there in 1920. Dudley Chaffee, the night watchman, boarded with him.
<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmH9JgvWAGcrh1iPLazo4IOQ_IAX2HsADQsu7fr2lRfKe5-aBeEbxMAnBftauVBKEBtV7NV0VHp6dJ6pmU53opWIOc81vQ2iHSrJ4tDeuXj90BMYcO2KhTU_QS1cwhyx_Vr0lPMqMgJdF/s1600/orchard.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmH9JgvWAGcrh1iPLazo4IOQ_IAX2HsADQsu7fr2lRfKe5-aBeEbxMAnBftauVBKEBtV7NV0VHp6dJ6pmU53opWIOc81vQ2iHSrJ4tDeuXj90BMYcO2KhTU_QS1cwhyx_Vr0lPMqMgJdF/s320/orchard.jpg" width="420" /></a>
<p>Left side of photo towards Harrison Ave.</div>
<p>
The location for California Canneries must have been sweet; I've heard from children of packing house owners that dealing with the line of trucks waiting to drop off fruit in season can be quite a chore; having their own dead-end street must have given California Canneries a bit more wiggle room when the trucks backed up.
<p>
By the time Havens-Semaira was running the cannery in 1935, the loading dock where this photo was taken was long gone; the cannery had built out to the edge of the street right-of-way, and the loading dock was now around back in the middle of the lot. For the houses that bordered the property along Harrison, they must have had a lot more problems with trucks idling and noisy unloading.
<p>
So now we know what California Canneries looked like. We know why Perley Payne was bitter about losing his cannery. We've got an idea about the
ethnic make-up of Campbell in 1920. (I wonder how much things change in 1930?) And finally, we've also got some faces and names to put next to all those workers who canned the Santa Clara Valley's apricots in the summer of 1926. David's family stories, Edith Daley's observations, Perley Payne's memories, and the census data all give us some hints about those folks in David's photo.
<p>
<hr>
<i>
Great thanks to David Pereira for sharing the photo and allowing me to include it here. The Perley Payne interview was recorded in 1999 by San Francisco State University's Labor Archives and Research Center. Census data came from ancestry.com, though I could have avoided a ton of typing if all the data was available in a processed way.
<p>
Spot anything interesting in the photo? Talk about it in the comments!
<p>
</i>Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-59324323326216367352019-02-23T23:21:00.000-08:002019-02-23T23:21:04.064-08:00Installing the Interlocking Machine at West San Jose<p>
<div class="bannerpic">
<iframe width="420" height="252" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FFf9fjQDKPM" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>
I'd shown the interlocking machine for the WP crossing <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2019/01/building-interlocking-machine-for-west.html">a couple posts back</a>. Now that I've shared it, it's given me a good kick-in-the-butt to actually install it on the layout. After a couple of weekend work sessions, I'm proud to say it's installed now. See the video above to see it in action, or read on and learn some of the details about installing it.
<p>
I've argued I need the interlocking because crews will otherwise forget the crossing is there. In case you doubt it, here's a photo from an early op session showing someone dropping cars directly across the crossing.
<div class="fullpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWo1eE-9MqmqN3_h7RLv55qXYzUreIXQxvU-e30b6ScON-u0oO2Q-ISIJbHWRhzZaUoiG0i1NYoEJDwdvDv_pFAZmCt_E-xIaFY-wCGUxO-A-jhWmkikKbn1NgiFyU1xl6HoPf7Al4Po9M/s1600/DSC_0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWo1eE-9MqmqN3_h7RLv55qXYzUreIXQxvU-e30b6ScON-u0oO2Q-ISIJbHWRhzZaUoiG0i1NYoEJDwdvDv_pFAZmCt_E-xIaFY-wCGUxO-A-jhWmkikKbn1NgiFyU1xl6HoPf7Al4Po9M/s320/DSC_0028.jpg" width="420" /></a></div>
<p>
And finally, some details about the scene:
<p>
<b>The Derails</b>
<p>
The West San Jose tower was a mechanical interlocking - that is, the levers on the interlocking machine moved piping which would cause switches, derails, and signals to change position and state. Seeing the <A href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2014/02/modeling-weed-infested-parts-of-san.html">Barriger photo of the crossing from the 1930's</a>, I really wanted to model the control devices - the derails that would push cars off the tracks, and the movable rods that would move a derail out of the way so a train could pass.
<p>
I'd thought about doing something physical to block the tracks, but the alternatives I thought about, such adding a switch point in the track or dropping a derailing device on the rail, seemed both fragile and troublesome. I chose to do something less prototypical, embedding an LED between ties. The LED glows red if the derail is set, encouraging crews not to roll through. The lights don't force crews to deal with the interlocking, but they're at least an encouragement.
<p>
I'd also considered laying out the actual rodding to control the signals and derails. That idea also ended pretty quickly; I realized most solutions wouldn't be able to stand up to the aggressive track cleaning needed for a garage layout. I'd considered using something substantial such as piano wire for the rodding, but immediately had thoughts of poking a bit of rod straight through one finger. (Perhaps I could bend right angles at each end of a section of pipe so the ends are firmly in the roadbed?) For now, there will be no piping.
<p>
<div class="fullpic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59bU0DPRuWXkl92_2VpYaix6BwI6TRF0wwxRnXM-XcMCPAW1_lSZH0cgEylHd1Mm29NrQfrAlOc_Kj305oXs14E2V3Py77zid32e_bHlql4mXbB77ZfbBZTc3QDCjM8Hrwa57lWirzl7Z/s1600/crossing+pano.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg59bU0DPRuWXkl92_2VpYaix6BwI6TRF0wwxRnXM-XcMCPAW1_lSZH0cgEylHd1Mm29NrQfrAlOc_Kj305oXs14E2V3Py77zid32e_bHlql4mXbB77ZfbBZTc3QDCjM8Hrwa57lWirzl7Z/s320/crossing+pano.png" width="420" /></a></div>
<p>
<b>The Signals</b>
<p>
The real West San Jose crossing would have been protected by tall semaphore signals - one set of signals close to the crossing, and another about a mile back. Semaphore signals wouldn't survive last long at this point on the model railroad. The area around Auzerais Street requires a lot of reaching in to couple and uncouple cars, and the low upper deck means operators need to reach right in. Rather than watch semaphores get destroyed each session, I decided to use dwarf signals at the crossing. Like all modelers, I've usually got some interesting stuff in the scrap box for a project. The scrap box held some dwarf signal castings I'd probably bought at the Trains-Nothing-But-Trains closing sale back in 1983, but I only had two of those left.
<p>
<div class="singlepic"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8wscZXl1b10Wd_jejojrmh2nUmOkmqlS3VvWgowwR9xm_uVS8Ixpcv_RVgN8_79L9ebBDjE81KH-nez-CE4rkJs4FMf9ozHnO6AGlCJ2VVyWJ28qg50lVoNHh-wARxPuaZY2Uq5QdgJL/s1600/dwarf.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8wscZXl1b10Wd_jejojrmh2nUmOkmqlS3VvWgowwR9xm_uVS8Ixpcv_RVgN8_79L9ebBDjE81KH-nez-CE4rkJs4FMf9ozHnO6AGlCJ2VVyWJ28qg50lVoNHh-wARxPuaZY2Uq5QdgJL/s320/dwarf.png" width="210" /></a></div>
<p>
Instead, I fell back on my favorite crutch - the 3d printer. With about an hour of work, I'd sketched up a signal and had it printing on the 3d printer. I needed to refine the design widen the holes so they'd fit my chosen LEDs, but still had usable signals within a day of changing my plan. The design may seem a bit simple, but it's got all the same detail that my 1970's era white metal signal had... and I don't need to run to the hobby store to get more.
<p>
<b>The Switches</b>
<p>
The interlocking machine controls a pair of track switches for the interchange track between the WP and SP. (Full disclosure: there was no such track here. When the SP and WP interchanged cars, they did so at a small yard along South Fourth Street. Switching interest won out over accurate trackage.) Like all switches on my layout, I use Tortoise switch machines to control them, both so crews don't need to reach into the scene to throw switches and so I've got electrical contacts to avoid dead frogs. The Tortoises work by reversing polarity, so the switches on the fascia are DPDT switches wired as reversing switches. That won't work with the Modratec contacts - it provides SPDT contacts for each lever.
<p>
Instead, I replaced the Tortoises with the the <a href="http://www.modelrailroadcontrolsystems.com/mp5-switch-motor/">MP5 switch motors</a> I'd used on the <a href="">Market Street modular layout</a>. The switch machines can be controlled via SPDT contacts. They're also easier to install - the position of the throw wire can be adjusted after the switch machine is screwed onto the layout. The MP5s do use tiny screws for mounting, but I've worked around this by mounting them to thin plywood with #2 screws at the workbench, then using larger screws to attach the plywood to the benchwork.
<p>
<b>The Lights</b>
<p>
The area around the Western Pacific crossing hasn't gotten a lot of attention; apart from a coat of paint soon after the track was laid, there's been little work on the area for the last... oh, ten years. I did build a <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2012/08/west-san-jose-tower-now-with-correct.html">model of Western Pacific's tower</a> years ago.
<p>
Putting in the interlocking also forced me to do a few other jobs - I added dirt to hide the bare homasote, glued down a fence leading to the Del Monte cannery. I also ended up improving the lighting. When I started on the Vasona Branch, I used under-the-counter fluorescent fixtures. They worked ok, but there wasn't always enough space for the twenty inch long fixtures. I also was always a little hesitant about threading 120 volt wire through the layout just in case the wrong wire got chafed or cut. When I'd checked out LED strip lighting years ago, I found the lights weren't really bright enough for layout lighting, and the printed circuit carriers weren't easy to mount.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPZJR7ldizXlF43wAqUamQWxkavg7sj7hr0pgAZR1IKyg2qTjU__sfCLC1bn8aDGEtFliCFAH3evLqpOyp9lUi7ZQXYlmXpjFqzF1QsRnW0JNenM4cRVKCLWu0AZ10dshO5kGT0uGzRVK/s1600/lights+detail.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPZJR7ldizXlF43wAqUamQWxkavg7sj7hr0pgAZR1IKyg2qTjU__sfCLC1bn8aDGEtFliCFAH3evLqpOyp9lUi7ZQXYlmXpjFqzF1QsRnW0JNenM4cRVKCLWu0AZ10dshO5kGT0uGzRVK/s320/lights+detail.jpeg" width="210" /></a></div>
<div class="right"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cwyrdeagO73YliCaKAnwxuQeq7SRpt4LNznIm88A4b1YIG56k77eLlMhbbupp5klKqgkd5agJ8TQba_PRIY2LjhmjwdOPdazp1y0V4zpIMRNxM9d8i5P6bJ1P05EpOGquXoKg9AVfJ27/s1600/lights+in+place.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cwyrdeagO73YliCaKAnwxuQeq7SRpt4LNznIm88A4b1YIG56k77eLlMhbbupp5klKqgkd5agJ8TQba_PRIY2LjhmjwdOPdazp1y0V4zpIMRNxM9d8i5P6bJ1P05EpOGquXoKg9AVfJ27/s320/lights+in+place.jpeg" width="210" /></a> </div>
</div>
<p>
Last year, I'd spotted some cool LED units in Fry's electronics components aisle. These were 12 volt LED modules, with white LEDs on a plastic carrier. At $1.50 a unit, they were too pricey for an entire layout. Searching on eBay, however, I found the same modules were often used for hollow sign lighting, and that I could buy strips of a hundred of these lights for almost nothing. These are still available on Ebay (like <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/Injection-Molding-Waterproof-4LED-5050-5630-SMD-Module-Decorative-Light-Lamp-12V/301698411246?hash=item463ea06aee:m:mGOPhl7NEIiDVrv5yKR2Dng:rk:3:pf:0">this</a> - search for "LED module 5050" (5050 is the part number for the bright white LEDs) and there's some that exactly match mine, and a lot of other similar fixtures. I like the waterproof ones; they've got sealed packages. I use 12 volt power supplies for laptops to power them - they're cheap ($10), come with a cord and plug, and don't cover up outlets like wall warts.
<p>
Next step: get some operators to actually test out the interlocking!Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3912308714924865824.post-89307108772926790972019-01-06T23:16:00.002-08:002019-01-06T23:17:04.809-08:00The Hollywood Gas Station, or Robert Breaks His Unbreakable Rule Again<div class="bannerpic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsXTmmuFHzn0dhpiPpfPiuGTXti1AAg8Lv5oscrCjIh5_VXWk70uIX0kILYcExBHnYZwlRWboggPKnhnV3M_M93NobA636mSWejwN8Gwp2MkIiKkY6GRDP2njj0w5v26lwpS6Snd2fjSjv/s1600/IMG_8032.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsXTmmuFHzn0dhpiPpfPiuGTXti1AAg8Lv5oscrCjIh5_VXWk70uIX0kILYcExBHnYZwlRWboggPKnhnV3M_M93NobA636mSWejwN8Gwp2MkIiKkY6GRDP2njj0w5v26lwpS6Snd2fjSjv/s320/IMG_8032.jpeg" width="480" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="945" /></a>
<p>Final model</p>
</div>
<p>
<A href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2015/06/dont-trust-roberts-advice-on-3d-printed.html">Robert’s Rule of Making Structures in a 3d Printer</a> is simple: don’t make HO scale buildings with a 3d printer. Buildings aren’t particularly interesting for 3d printing; you don’t need multiple models, the models are too big for the printer, and the buildings usually have plain surfaces that are easier to make in other materials. The prohibition doesn’t hold for details - window or door castings can be used for other projects. Smaller parts that are hard to fabricate might be worth a quick 3d print. But don’t try printing a whole building.
<p>
Though even if it’s my rule… that doesn’t mean I won’t try.
<p>
<div class="twopics">
<div class="left"><a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2011/01/movieland-mystery-photo-10.html" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3skh9YeAXdX9B2z7cEbhmGXPfT2_CVBl4NS5r0XNZnPYgwZ89mkndTlbqT0l9Bg0dI7icaWn3TbcHxNq4Vly12w84XrJK95DcP7TtRHs3zd1eEH9UB1VntcTIBgPfwyWEX1pAlRSFrgMC/s320/Daily+Mirror+photo+enlarged+copy.jpg" width="220" data-original-width="586" data-original-height="361" /></a>
<p>The inspiring photo</p>
</div>
<div class="right"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVYw5wa5zNX9FK1xfuxggz4hWyZgMV-YYuwNMK1z_Jj6ZtQtDmeR5nvLM9_vpGfwMQ_quyQlO-GfcXknusLRhqFMQ653g5oKjAJ9hVpSJR4sJB4lz4RV_jJyRi6ToXkM33GOAl90QQOs4/s1600/Daily+Mirror+photo+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVYw5wa5zNX9FK1xfuxggz4hWyZgMV-YYuwNMK1z_Jj6ZtQtDmeR5nvLM9_vpGfwMQ_quyQlO-GfcXknusLRhqFMQ653g5oKjAJ9hVpSJR4sJB4lz4RV_jJyRi6ToXkM33GOAl90QQOs4/s320/Daily+Mirror+photo+copy.jpg" width="220" data-original-width="554" data-original-height="382" /></a>
<p>The Hollywood gas station</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
Years ago, I’d run across <a href="http://vasonabranch.blogspot.com/2011/01/another-building-idea.html">this photo of an early gas station in Los Angeles</a>. It appeared in Larry Harnisch’s “Los Angeles Daily Mirror” history blog; he’d found the photo in a back issue of the Daily Mirror from 1915, showing the filming of a new movie at D.W. Griffith’s Fine Arts Studio. Griffith later filmed his silent masterpiece, Intolerance, and the sets for that movie are visible in the background of the original photo.
<p>
But between the crowd scene and the sets for the future movie, there’s this tiny little gas station. It’s the dawn of the auto revolution in Los Angeles, and cars need gasoline. This corner (Hollywood and Sunset) is on the edge of suburbia - the sets for Intolerance over there are being built in a former fig orchard. Photos of the studio behind the photographer show scattered buildings and empty lots. In a few years, this will be a very urban corner. Little gas stations like this would have been scrapped for the huge service stations that would appear in the 1920’s.
<p>
One sign of its age is the lack of any gas pumps visible in the photo; it's almost as if the pump machinery was hidden in the posts.
<p>
There's little sign of the gas station remaining. The site of this photo was almost certainly 4500 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, right where Sunset and Hollywood Blvd come together. The former movie studio is now a Von's supermarket, and the nearby Monogram Pictures is now a Church of Scientology video studio. The corner does have a small gas station, but the style doesn't match (art deco), plus it's triangular instead of square. I'm guessing our little gas station got torn down when a road was widened... or when newfangled gas pumps couldn't fit in the arch.
<p>
For a model railroad, and a model railroad set in the 1930’s, it’s a neat bit of architecture. The building itself is remarkably simple - a fifteen foot square office and similarly sized roofed porch covering the fueling area. There’s a lot of ‘teens era gas stations that appeared to be simple boxes to protect the attendant when he wasn’t checking your oil or putting air in your tires. (What a crazy time!) As a modest gas station, it’s also appropriate for the area down by the railroad tracks - this isn’t a high rent building.
<p>
However, unlike those dusty country corner gas stations, the Hollywood gas station dresses itself up by stealing details from every flavor of Spanish Revival it can. The most obvious feature are the silhouetted bell gables on each side, traditionally from Romanesque architecture. The fueling area has looks like the arched porte cocheres seen in any of the stucco spanish revival bungalows getting built out in Westwood. The wooden beams sticking out are vigas, straight from New Mexico and Pueblo Revival architecture. Floor to ceiling windows light the office; I’m guessing there are similar french doors on the front side to enter the office.
<p>
Man, I’m really a sucker for Spanish Revival. Show me a Spanish Revival gas station, and I’ll try to build a model of it.
<p>
<b>Construction</b>
Like all my 3d printed models, I designed this in SketchUp. The model is one piece - walls, bell towers, and port-cochere. I omitted the roof - it’s easy enough to do with sheet styrene or cardboard. The viga beams are styrene, set into sockets in the walls. The posts are hollow to limit the amount of resin needed.
<p>
Beyond the issues of architecture, this was an interesting model because it reminded me of the challenges of 3d printing and manufacturing. Getting this model printed involved a chain of challenges; as easy as 3d printing seems, there’s always snags trying to make more than one.
<p>
I’d initially sketched up this model after seeing Harnisch’s photo. I’d liked the model and thought it would be a good exercise to practice in SketchUp. That initial model messed up a few angles, making the model have some minor holes in it. When we try to print a 3d model, the slicing software needs to figure out which bits are the inside of the model (where the plastic or resin goes) and which parts are outside. A good 3d model is “watertight” - all the exterior faces touch, there’s no holes that will make the software confuse the inside and outside of the model, and there’s no extraneous faces to make the software question which counts as the exterior surface. Cleaning up the holes in an existing model is always a tedious process as you try to get rid of some incorrect angle or out-of-parallel plane without tearing apart the whole model.
<p>
It's a lot like real home improvement, except with more straight lines and flat planes than reality.
<p>
The next big challenge was how to print the model. By default, the Form One wants to print models on a support structure. You take your model, choose the face-up direction, and the Form One automatically chooses how to place supports (sprues) to support the first few layers as the surface is built. Support structures are important because it lets us build items that aren’t flat; it also lets us build hollow objects without pressure from the liquid resin pushing walls out. However, support structure require a lot of material - sometimes as much resin as the model, and the bottom of models isn’t always flat.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWkfgFOZRR3pGSDCJ2LxeaIMWI_cyoHzx_g-PWcdlJYUyDMThQbMiEUER7Wm6iCfR8_Bq0UFbUExHDVnlBSN2N8ZtxGRujzcI60UwLQ959eiHuIVJcQYciBkLEhstAEWpwaRQEH0uHBV_/s1600/IMG_8002.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWkfgFOZRR3pGSDCJ2LxeaIMWI_cyoHzx_g-PWcdlJYUyDMThQbMiEUER7Wm6iCfR8_Bq0UFbUExHDVnlBSN2N8ZtxGRujzcI60UwLQ959eiHuIVJcQYciBkLEhstAEWpwaRQEH0uHBV_/s320/IMG_8002.jpeg" width="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1200" /></a>
<p>First attempt</p>
</div>
<p>
I’d printed an initial version of the gas station on a support structure, but it doubled the amount of resin needed, and I ended up with a not-quite flat base. If I instead printed straight on the build platform - ok for surfaces with a flat bottom large enough to hold the model to the build platform - I could cut resin use and get a flat bottom surface.
<p>
So I tried it - I printed one directly on the build platform, but fluid pressure (as the build platform peeled the part away from the tank then put it back against the tank) caused one side to blow out, and the window muntions to break. If I did things the way the manufacturer intended, and wasn't trying to cut corners to save resin and time, I'd have better results, but if I'm concerned about economics, I might try pushing the machine a bit harder than it really can take.
<p>
On a second attempt, I gave up and printed again on support structure. The windows again didn’t print perfectly, but I made new windows by drawing white lines on clear plastic using a technical drawing pen.
<p>
<div class="singlepic">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1m4jlede_5NICiUsEnqw7P2blTlcAY-qqTBNyCpo3d7qp1qoMKkMvNirp4yrwLR6Lii0AwqJHRdaqHfN5CAXoB50QJxejvzRzI7dw8SGQyelZXnYzgdivqjMOXQ5H_ZD9YWwSCl2w6mz/s1600/IMG_8007.jpeg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1m4jlede_5NICiUsEnqw7P2blTlcAY-qqTBNyCpo3d7qp1qoMKkMvNirp4yrwLR6Lii0AwqJHRdaqHfN5CAXoB50QJxejvzRzI7dw8SGQyelZXnYzgdivqjMOXQ5H_ZD9YWwSCl2w6mz/s320/IMG_8007.jpeg" width="240" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1490" /></a>
<p>Failed print</p>
</div>
<p>
That final model was good enough for me, but if I wanted to sell the models, I’d need to do a lot more work on the process so the models were perfect coming out of the printer. Making these efficiently would also mean cutting the resin needed, and that means limiting the support structure.
<b>Finishing</b>
On the first model, I used my usual trick of white glue and gesso, stippled onto the model. It dries quickly and adds a lot of texture, but I found the surface much too rough to my eyes. I ended up coating the second model with an acrylic gel with pumice (from Golden Acrylics) which was much more subdued. In both cases, I had to be careful to only coat the stucco surfaces with the fake stucco.
<p>
Just like resin building kits, cast structures are great for assembly, but frustrating to paint. My first attempt at the lanterns left black paint everywhere. For the second try, I painted the lanterns orange, then used a very fine tip to color the metal parts black. Similarly, painting the bells, inset into the walls, definitely required a bit of care.
<p>
So now, I've got two very cute 1915-era gas stations that mix up way too many architectural styles. They don't quite have a place on the layout, and I don't really need two, but they'll be great reminders not to break "Robert’s Rule of Making Structures in a 3d Printer".
Robert Bowdidgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14155962656525181088noreply@blogger.com2