Would a boxcar fit through the opening on a Walthers American Hardware building?

[robwill84]

Like the title says, I'm thinking about a kitbash of the venerable Walthers American Hardware building, need someone that has one on hand to confirm something or dash my hopes- will a small boxcar, say a PS-1, fit through one of the large arched openings?

[Tom L]

I’ve actually been working on something like that, although not through a ground level arch section, but the second floor.  Maybe this will give you an idea of how it would work. That’s a Athearn 50’ boxcar.  The track is on a slight curve so I had to make the opening a little wider on the inside of the curve to clear a locomotive.  If it was straight I don’t think I would have had to do that.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Need better lighting!

Tom L
Wellington CO

[robwill84]

Yes, that's exactly what I needed to see, thanks! Very nice kitbash, reminiscent of the New York Central high line.

[randgust]

I used to look at those elevated 'dive in the building' situations and think they were pretty much impossible and rather contrived.   But they aren't.

The Erie (E-L) at Jamestown, NY, at the intersection of Buffalo St. and Allen, served the (now-demolished) Dahlstrom Manufacturing Company.  It was at-grade, the Erie main was on an embankment with an overpass over Buffalo St., and crossed the Chadakoin River on a girder span that is still there.   Dahlstrom was a big four-story brick factory, and the spur came across Blackstone Ave and dived right into the second story of Dahlstrom on a wood trestle for both boxcars and a coal trestle inside.   By the 70's the spur was disconnected but the trestle with the second-story spur was still quite visible.   I saved some aerial views before the site was demolished.  The rail trestle was inside the building.   Dahlstrom was also kind of nuts engineering because they built the entire four-story brick plant over top of the Chadakoin River on a girder bridge, may have been water powered when built as a dam is (still) just upstream.  That bridge eventually proved to be the undoing of the entire structure as can be imagined.   Go on Google Earth and look up 499 Buffalo St. Jamestown, NY, the foundations of the rail spur and the buildings are still visible on Streetview.  The wood trestle into the second story was on top of those footers.

Another place to see a lot of remnant 'dive in the building' is Lowell, MA, because the factories were water powered, grew up along the canals, and the railroads got there later.  They punched through buildings all over the place to get into powerhouses and boxcar delivery of material.   My favorite was the little turntable INSIDE a building to do a 90-degree switch down a spur, gone now, but showed on all the vintage track charts.   If you look at the 'trolley barn' spur in Lowell today that's the one remnant of that era of diving into the side of an existing building that predated the railroad.
https://assets.roadrunner.travel/img/7515.jpg

None of the trackage in Lowell was originally trolley, it was all B&M spurs, tight clearances, sharp curves, pretty crazy for engineering and great layout inspiration.  They went down alleys, crossed canals on absurd bridge spans, and wandered all over town as a late arrival.

[Tom L]

Glad the pic helped!  This is a little Urban switching layout I’m building with no particular prototype or location.  I guess it’s kind of like the spirit of John Allen and his Gorre & Dephetid RR in that it’s a good bit of fantasy with some reality thrown in here and there.

Anyway, I wanted to add something like that and found a handful of pictures.  The High Line in NYC was the king of this sort of thing but I found several others. Here’s a few I particularly liked

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Tom L
Wellington CO

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I used to look at those elevated 'dive in the building' situations and think they were pretty much impossible and rather contrived.   But they aren't.

There was an example up in Northeast Philly where I grew up too. The railroad right of way (I think it was the Frankford Branch) was elevated and the plant was across the street so a bridge was built.

It was a big neighborhood tale of the time the crew didn't stop in time and a car rolled out the side of the building and hung over the street on the other side (like that famous french photograph).

Damn, now I want to try and find a photo of it.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Lol. That didn't take long. A google for "Frankford Boxcar" came up with this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=9035928193098420&set=gm.9094998953924520&idorvanity=1683470941744062

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Jesse6669]

Anyway, I wanted to add something like that and found a handful of pictures.  The High Line in NYC was the king of this sort of thing but I found several others. Here’s a few I particularly liked

(Attachment Link)

I thought I recognized that..it's the Clark candy company in Pittsburgh--the makers of the Clark Bar.  The Pittsburgh Division main line is on the left above the retaining wall--a 4 track main with the Conemaugh Division branching off about a half mile to the east. 

[MK]

Lol. That didn't take long. A google for "Frankford Boxcar" came up with this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=9035928193098420&set=gm.9094998953924520&idorvanity=1683470941744062

(Attachment Link)

Good T-Trak module scene! 

[wm3798]

I hadn't finished covering the loading track, but I had a similar overhead siding on the brewery on the late, great Canton, Highlandtown and Fells Point layout.


Built it entirely out of the scrap box with parts from HO Central Valley bridges, ME girder plates, and old Bachmann steel trestles.  I had planned for the outbound truck loading docks to be underneath it.

Lee

[sirenwerks]

The US Govt Printing building in Washington DC had an internal track that came off of the neighboring Union Station east side trackage - https://maps.app.goo.gl/XMG8LWEwpqjDMTXK8