Weekend Update 2/4/18

[wm3798]

So that scene is on the Western Maryland? or was the farm in Glyndon and the load out somewhere on the Northern Central?  Looks like it might be Monkton based on the large building in the back.

Lee

[Blazeman]

Thought at first it was a new helix design.

[Blazeman]

They are loading race horses at Vanderbilt Stables in Glyndon, MD., headed to California and the Santa Anita Park racetrack.

Wonder if the car went through, or the nags had to change to Santa Fe cars in Chicago? Didn't Vanderbilt comment that "pigs get to ride through Chicago, people change trains?"

[nickelplate759]

Wonder if the car went through, or the nags had to change to Santa Fe cars in Chicago? Didn't Vanderbilt comment that "pigs get to ride through Chicago, people change trains?"

Not Vanderbuilt.  R. R. Young

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R._Young

[Bill H]

Is that Bowie?

Definitely not. The building in the background was never at Bowie, or at Laurel either. Trained there for years. In fact I remember the passenger platform well at Bowie, but never saw an unloading ramp for horses. The track to Bowie has some interesting tales to tell, particularly of those who got snowed in when the train got stranded back in the heavy snows of the 60s.

Any reason for the Del Mar lettering on the car or were some of their horse cars just named for various tracks? Del Mar is a track in California...

Kind regards
Bill

[Bill H]

They are loading race horses at Vanderbilt Stables in Glyndon, MD., headed to California and the Santa Anita Park racetrack.

Doug:
There iswas nothing called Vanderbilt Stables in Glyndon, it was called Sagamore Farm. Alfred G Vanderbilt owned it, and Native Dancer stood at stud there. I knew the man well. I was at Sagamore Farm many times taking mares to the Dancer. Sagamore is now owned by the founder of Under Armor.

Kind regards,
Bill

[ednadolski]

I have been working on some scenery...



...for the high school musical (James and the Giant Peach!)

It's just like cookie cutter benchwork!

Does that use a computer-generated pattern?  What do they do to transfer it to the actual plywood for cutting?

Ed

[thomasjmdavis]

Wonder if the car went through, or the nags had to change to Santa Fe cars in Chicago?

More or less anecdotal, but I think horse cars were handled more like Pullman express refrigerator cars than RPOs. Which is to say, the "cargo" stayed with the same car throughout its journey, regardless of changes in railroad handling the car. There is an ATSF pamphlet promoting their horse cars, circa 1938, which includes testimonials from stables and owners- that they used the ATSF Horse Cars to move horses between tracks in California and New York, Maryland, Washington DC, and New England (unspecified states), as well as Chicago and other locales along the line.  Clear in the letters that the horses stayed with the same car for the whole journey.  Left me wondering if they walked the horses around the coach yard at Dearborn during the layover in Chicago between ATSF and whichever east coast road they would continue on for the rest of their trip.

[Bill H]

More or less anecdotal, but I think horse cars were handled more like Pullman express refrigerator cars than RPOs. Which is to say, the "cargo" stayed with the same car throughout its journey, regardless of changes in railroad handling the car. There is an ATSF pamphlet promoting their horse cars, circa 1938, which includes testimonials from stables and owners- that they used the ATSF Horse Cars to move horses between tracks in California and New York, Maryland, Washington DC, and New England (unspecified states), as well as Chicago and other locales along the line.  Clear in the letters that the horses stayed with the same car for the whole journey.  Left me wondering if they walked the horses around the coach yard at Dearborn during the layover in Chicago between ATSF and whichever east coast road they would continue on for the rest of their trip.

Tom:
As far as handling, when we moved a stable of horses from the north i.e. NY/NJ/MD to winter in FL or return, the train usually stopped in Aiken SC and the horses would rest overnight and then continue the next day. That pattern continued when horse transport shifted to tractor and trailers in the sixties. The Aiken facility is still in active use as a training center.

Kind regards,
Bill

[wm3798]

Does that use a computer-generated pattern?  What do they do to transfer it to the actual plywood for cutting?

Ed

We used another theater group's photo as a reference.  Theirs was done with a laser cutter, or Cad driven saw or something.  Probably used a few fewer sheets of plywood, because they laid out gussets and more short segments for the tops.  Trouble is you can see more joints in the work on theirs.  We used a big sheet of foam to lay out a template (Blue Foam... it's not just for model trains anymore!) and just repeated the cuts, then made the necessary adjustments to build the stairs.  Cut the bits and pieces out with a jigsaw on the bigger pieces and a band saw for the smaller arcs.  Perhaps a bit less materials-efficient, but I think it turned out much better.

Lee

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Wonder if the car went through, or the nags had to change to Santa Fe cars in Chicago?

Cars operated through between the carriers without a change in car.

Any reason for the Del Mar lettering on the car or were some of their horse cars just named for various tracks?

Pennsy named their horse cars for a variety of stables and tracks.  D. Garrett Spear has a complete listing on Rob's PRR website...

http://prr.railfan.net/passenger/GSPEAR/GSPEAR_PRR_Horse_Car.htm

[trainzluvr]

I'm kinda late to the game here, and I didn't start posting from the beginning (although that was not too long ago, end of November 2017 was the "groundbreaking" ceremony.

Anyway, here's my progress, I finally built the peninsula head to complete the most of the layout benchwork. Still need to do a helix area over in the corner behind the camera though.









You can see more on my Trains Luvr website, I try to post regularly.

[peteski]

I'm kinda late to the game here, and I didn't start posting from the beginning (although that was not too long ago, end of November 2017 was the "groundbreaking" ceremony.

Anyway, here's my progress, I finally built the peninsula head to complete the most of the layout benchwork. Still need to do a helix area over in the corner behind the camera though.




You can see more on my Trains Luvr website, I try to post regularly.

Brightly-lit finished room, and steel bench-work. This looks like beginnings of an excellent layout. Very nice!

[dougnelson]

Doug:
There iswas nothing called Vanderbilt Stables in Glyndon, it was called Sagamore Farm. Alfred G Vanderbilt owned it, and Native Dancer stood at stud there. I knew the man well. I was at Sagamore Farm many times taking mares to the Dancer. Sagamore is now owned by the founder of Under Armor.

Kind regards,
Bill

The horse in the foreground is "Heelfly" led by trainer J.H. Bud Stotler.  The photo is not dated, but I believe that this is around 1938.  These horses were probably the most valuable passengers carried by the railroads.

The cars were named for racetracks, nothing to do with assignments.  These cars traveled the country following the racing seasons as you can imagine - carrying horses west and south in the fall and returning to the northeast in the spring.  It was actually not the railroads but Railway Express Agency that was in charge of the service.  They leased cars from the railroad.  This photo was apparently the maiden voyage for "Del Mar Turf Club", complete with Futura lettering of the Fleet of Modernism years.  Also note the boards in place to prevent horses legs from getting caught in the gap.  It must have been a nerve-wracking trip for all involved.

[trainzluvr]

Brightly-lit finished room, and steel bench-work. This looks like beginnings of an excellent layout. Very nice!

Thanks - the finished room was a big problem because you can't do many things one can do in an unfinished basement.

I'm going to aim for a shadowbox effect with lighting and fascia/valance, while those pot lights would probably be off or dimmed down. Too early to tell for now...