AC&Y - Ohio's Road of Service

[NorthWestGN]

Beautiful work Steve! Inspirational!

Brent

[SAH]

Thank you Brent

Speaking of modeling dirty.... you should cover the entire area in a layer of black soot around 4:00 in the afternoon each day when Goodyear Plant 1 cleared the stacks. Growing up in East Akron downwind from the rubber plants during the 60's and 70's was wonderful /s

Your modeling is excellent BTW.

Thank you Alan @LKOrailroad .  I have a question you might be able to answer.  In 1953 the turnout for coal delivery to the General Tire powerhouse was removed, per an AC&Y AFE I've seen.  While the powerhouse would not be on the path of your General cut-through between neighborhoods, perhaps you might have noticed what fuel they were burning post 1953.  Coal trucked in?  Coal via conveyor from the Goodyear coal piles just south and on the other side of the Little Cuyahoga.  Fuel oil?  Just curious.

[Missaberoad]

Based solely on the date without any firsthand knowledge of your prototype, the early 1950s saw a large number of industries convert from coal to fuel oil. I've seen quite a number of references to in in the upper Midwest.

For whatever that's worth. 

[LKOrailroad]

@SAH I'm sorry I do not know the answer to your question. Although I think coal is more likely than fuel oil only because the coal piles you reference were enormous and were actively worked right up to the end. As to where the coal was being moved to I didn't pay enough attention to say. The river along there was more a tiny stream than a river so was not an impediment. There were small beam and plank bridges across it in that area. They may have simply moved the coal to the powerhouse with wheel loaders IDK.

[PJPickard]

One of(the) best structures I have seen, in any scale. I love following your progress.

[SAH]

@SAH I'm sorry I do not know the answer to your question.

Thanks for giving it a thought.  What piqued my interest was in a set of "East Akron Freight Station Audits" at the U of Akron Archives.  The data from 1954 to 1960 is truly just a snapshot of life at the Case Ave. freight house, but in the car data for 1954 was a tanker of Fuel Oil for General Tire.  I don't know if such deliveries were an ongoing event or not.  May never know for sure.  I know Goodyear put electrostatic precipitators in at Plant #2, presumably to keep burning coal.  They switched to natural gas at Plant #1 eventually.  Sorry, don't have the dates at hand.

[SAH]

One of(the) best structures I have seen, in any scale. I love following your progress.

Thank you very much.  It certainly is a large model.  That much I know for sure.

[LKOrailroad]

Given the size of the rubber plants and energy needs to feed them, it seems a daily parade of tankers would have been needed if the sole source were fuel oil. I don't recall seeing many tank cars on spur 4. Plenty of boxcars though.

[SAH]

Given the size of the rubber plants and energy needs to feed them, it seems a daily parade of tankers would have been needed if the sole source were fuel oil. I don't recall seeing many tank cars on spur 4. Plenty of boxcars though.

That was my thought too.  What little photo documentation I have does not suggest an oil fed boiler system.  For sure lots of box cars.  Goodyear ate them up like candy.

[dem34]

Large facilities could have also had a pipeline in that time period even for fuel oil. Even a large factory could get away with a 2-3in pipe as long as flow is constant. The power plant of a similar vintage near me did that as their solution when built..

[SAH]

Large facilities could have also had a pipeline in that time period even for fuel oil. Even a large factory could get away with a 2-3in pipe as long as flow is constant. The power plant of a similar vintage near me did that as their solution when built..

If I had to make a bet I would wager The General bought coal from the Goodyear piles just south of the plant.  How it got from point A to B I don't know.  In any event General will still receive coal by rail on the layout, 'cause that's the way we think about car spots.

For continuity here's a photo of the guard house up close and one last shot of the facility overview.  The last dribs of build stuff is here:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=58160.msg817142#msg817142

[OldEastRR]

What is the state of that complex (the real one) today?

[LKOrailroad]

What is the state of that complex (the real one) today?

Gone completely