looking to model the oak island yard

[bigford]

hey guys
 
 looking for help to model oak island,NJ. google earth is a help
in that i can do most of the track work in a 2'x6' door with the
run off on a 18'' closet door. this is the main area I'm looking to do

i could take a drive there for pics if i can get close enough?
what is the ground like there flat multi level are the tracks at
the bottom of the pic lower then at the shop?
my room spare room is 9'x9' with a door and closet killing one wall
and a window on the opposite side

[Bob Bufkin]

Big question is what time period are you modeling for the yard?

[bigford]

2000 till today so it will be a mix of NS CSX and Conrail locos
i ordered the fuel cranes and sanding towers  trying to see how
large the two tanks are at the right side of the pic

[bbussey]

That is a huge yard.  I used to railfan it regularly.  What areas do you plan on modeling besides the engine facility?  The hump yard and auto rack unloading facilities are two areas of interest.

[JDouglasFisher]

I recognize that place, THATS "91-Bay". Used to visit quite frequently back in my days driving for Renzenburger.

Greenville 1 and 2 are not far, neither is CP Stock.

Brings back good memories running crews back and forth between all the yards in Northern NJ

J....

[Rossford Yard]

You could also try Bing which has street level shots and birds eye views.

Frankly, I think you will get more info from the aerials than visiting what is probably an off limits yard, but railfanning is always fun, too.

[DKS]

Start here for better views: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qskd348tm2v0&lvl=19.159117681862707&dir=8.2739068284091&sty=o&where1=Newark%2C%20NJ&q=newark%20nj

Brother, does this place ever look like a superfund site...
 

[bbussey]

You could also try Bing which has street level shots and birds eye views.

Frankly, I think you will get more info from the aerials than visiting what is probably an off limits yard, but railfanning is always fun, too.

The nice thing about the yard during the Conrail days was that there were many roads from which you could see the action and they didn't chase you out if you had a camera and stayed on the road.  An employee road parallels the entire hump yard on the south side.  Another road winds though much of the auto rack facility.  The west side of the yard where the engine facility is located is accessible from local Newark streets.  Other sections of the hump yard are visible from industrial parks on the north side.  I was fortunate to photograph much vintage and fallen-flag rolling stock in the 1980s and 1990s there.

[bigford]

i'm think of doing the tracks in yellow along with all the turntable tracks
and the 3 or 4 tracks to the south of the TT

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I was fortunate to photograph much vintage and fallen-flag rolling stock in the 1980s and 1990s there.

O rly? Tell me more...

[Bob Bufkin]

I'm with Ed on this.  How about posting some on our Proto Photo each Thursday.  Sure Ed would like some for posting on the Conrail Historical site also.

[bbussey]

O rly? Tell me more...

I'm with Ed on this.  How about posting some on our Proto Photo each Thursday.  Sure Ed would like some for posting on the Conrail Historical site also.

I shot Kodachrome back then, and I haven't digitized much of it.  Again, while I did get some motive power shots, my focus was on rolling stock.  For example, this Emery tank car was shot at Oak Island in the 1980s and used in the ESM/Rivarossi 40' chemical tankcar series:



As was this Pan Pacific tankcar that was the protoype for MDC's modern tank, also an ESM release, in the limited freight equipment series:



The Emery tank was photographed from the employee road adjacent to the hump yard.  The Pan Pacific tank (of which there were only 18 cars in a short-lived scheme that were repainted black when PP was absorbed into Cargill) was photographed from the north side of the holding yard west of the hump - into a late autumn sun unfortunately, but it was the only shot available of what I knew was a rare car.

Some of the Red Caboose bi-level models were based on slides I provided that mainly were taken at Oak Island and on the ex-NYC West Shore Line.