The "Barge Yard" Ttrak module - another off the wall concept

[randgust]

Many of you have seen my Ttrak modules at Altoona.   It's not completely obvious that the original 18x36 Hickory Valley, and now the 21x42 Ross Run logging module, are just the start, and it's been expanding as a layout concept off that for several years.

HVRR ran from Ross Run, over the hill to McDonalds, through Endeavor, and interchanged with PRR at West Hickory.   PRR ran from Oil City to Olean on the "Salamanca Branch" beside the Allegheny River the entire distance.   So the first Ttrak module was West Hickory, with the oddball interchange layout, and the second module was the West Hickory Bridge over the Allegheny - which was single track and highway toll bridge.  In Ttrak setups that made things complicated, I needed a second single-track module behind (ended up becoming "Thompson") and two branching adapter modules ("Jamison" and "Trunkeyvile") to even use it in a big layout.   But the original concept was to connect the West Hickory Bridge on the diamond where it belonged and go sort of "Modutrack" off on its own to connect the sawmill and logging railroad modules to the outside world at West Hickory.

To get you up to speed, here's the 1917 ICC Valuation Map of West Hickory, showing HVRR, interchange with PRR, the bridge over the river....

http://www.randgust.com/West%20Hickory%20Valmap%20Extract.jpg

Here's the West Hickory Ttrak module (note that it's designed so "Trunkeyville" brings the PRR interchange into the inner main)



Link:  http://www.randgust.com/PRRBAG07.jpg

And over the Allegheny River on the "West Hickory Bridge" module:


Link:  http://www.randgust.com/PRRBAG09.jpg

And inexplicably, magically, ends up in Endeavor at the mill site:



Link:  http://www.randgust.com/PRRBAG13.jpg

So if you're paying attention, and even checking things out on Google Earth (West Hickory, PA)....what's missing here?   Operationally, I still can't physically or operationally connect the end of West Hickory Bridge to the original HVRR module.  I need an adapter; the Hickory Valley was never built to Ttrak.  But anything I build now, well, it better be.  Someday I'll have this whole mess set up at Altoona...in proper geographic and historic order....

What's missing (go back to the ICC valuation map) is what's on the other side of the river.   Rather incredible, actually, the Wheeler & Dusenbury barge yard, and the big curve off of it.
There are several copyrighted photos of that, but this one is still public domain:

https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A4YLMWMO5U36BG8W

Take a good look.  The railroad track there is WAY UP, on top of that parallel trestle, for slide-unloading of those big cut timbers.  There's a flatcar visible up there.  I have another photo of a closeup on that bridge, flatcars labelled "HVRR".  One of those barges was like 125' long.   Look back to the val map again, it was a switch, on the approach trestle, branching off to that barge yard.

And.... well.... I have no Ttrak compliant curve modules.   I need to come off the bridge.... this would make a really cool, really different, stand-alone historic module, if I can figure out the design here.   Look at that trestle work, and the curve approach is also on a trestle, with the switch ON the trestle, and another photo showed the highway approach also on a trestle....  hmmmmmm...... a compromise between a 'compliant' T-trak design, a curve module that works off my bridge, and an adapter between the Bridge module and the current Hickory Valley modules..... tall order.

I hope I can find enough stripwood!

I've already started, some plywood was cut.   Come along on the adventure, this one is going to take a while   I'm finally finishing up McCabe mill (which was just below and beside West Hickory) after five years....!

[randgust]

Any railroad project comes up with a 'list of needs and druthers' even if it's only as tiny as Ttrak modules.

So here's what I think I want from these, tough list....

1)  a single module won't do it.   I need a short scenic transition adapter to the exit track off of Ross Run layout module to transition to Ttrak standards.  A single width (12") module would do.  I don't need two tracks, really, second (front) track is useless, but what if I wanted a single-width Ttrak module?  Still do two tracks?  And the barge yard module should be a stand-alone module able to be used in any Ttrak setup independently of this too without the transition module at all.

2)  The south (east) side of the river and bridge approach puts everything below grade; the track, the highway approach, and the barge yard track  is all on elevated wooden structures.  So the module will have to be built on a base of plywood with everything elevated on the bridge approach.  Yikes.  It's more trestle here than roadbed.  It will have to be built like Thompson was structurally.

3)  The basic curve geometry approach to the bridge should still be Ttrak compatible as the inner curve geometry, but only one track.  That makes the module double length and curve width; so 14 3/8 x 24 5/16, sort of an odd size.  Sets curve radius basically to 11" like the inner curve.

4)  I need room for the old highway, it's a toll bridge after all, it has to go somewhere, it does on the other end.

5)  While there were never two tracks on the east side, there could have been, there was space there, for car storage.   If it's a Ttrak 'double' I need two tracks across there.  They could look like weedy storage tracks though.  As HVRR had just NO SPACE at West Hickory with PRR, it's a 'coulda' been that a couple tracks existed for car storage/interchange on that side of the river.   One bend on reality.   There is a big flat spot there.

6)  I don't have a crossover anywhere on the entire Ttrak module collection from one main to another.   This may be the spot, allows the car storage area (5) to look more useful. 

7)  Unlike every other module, the 'front edge' of this one is the high scenic point, it was a steep hillside, sloping down into the river toward the back.   Every other module I've done is the reverse.

  As much room as possible for the barge yard, darn barges were big > 100'.  Not sure it will fit on this size at all.  I need at least one barge under construction here.

9)  Replicate that bizarre feature of the barge yard with a switch right on the wood trestle crossing the road. (see val map)

10)  Have enough space to have the river on the 'upper' edge so it's clear why a barge yard is even there.

11)  The barge yard curve can be tight, 9 3/4. 

12)  Fitting two turnouts on that curve is the critical geometry problem and maintain Ttrak geometry.

I got some track components, cut the 'top' plywood thin sheet and started seeing what will fit and how..... stay tuned.

[randgust]

This is the 'engineering' area, so here's my 'oh....whoa'..... engineering challenge here.

If you're following along go back and look at the ICC valuation map, trestle #1, the curved one coming off the road, and then merging with the road to cross the toll bridge across the river.  East side; bottom on the map.

Today, the approach grade just east (lower right) to the grade crossing is still clearly visible.  For years I knew it crossed the bridge, no idea how, until I found a photo of a train on the curved trestle.  Then finding the val map showing the diverging siding ON the trestle, and the photos of everything on a trestle up to the barge yard area.

Well, this showed up a couple years ago, here's the entire east approach to that bridge.   I'm not sure when this was taken.  I can even see the depot in the background, cars around it.   What I don't see is any remaining trace of the turnout over to the barge yard, or the barge yard, so I don't know the year.   Had to be before the track was removed in 1938.   

Today that bridge approach is fill, it's a modern concrete bridge.  The one-lane railroad bridge remained until about 2002 as a highway bridge.  The highway trestle is now all fill.  There is a PADOT maintenance garage south of the highway intersection, that's a big flat area.  And you'd never guess there was a railroad or a barge yard there by looking at all this today.  There's a series of photos showing the construction of the new bridge, and the entire original boatyard area at https://www.harmony-township.org/photo-gallery/ 



Link:  http://www.randgust.com/West%20Hickory%20east%20end%20trestle.jpg

As you can see, putting this scene on a Ttrak module is a challenge.  Track level is above everything, nearly everything is on a scratchbuilt trestle, it's all elevated including the barge yard.  Laying out the physical components on a double is promising so far.  But I can see the target date for this easily being 2026!

For the record, the construction of the West Hickory Bridge module was done on Railwire in 2017.  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41271.0

And here's the other end of that bridge, which I alway have to show as to WHY the entire railroad bridge is decked in wood with guardrails.  Yes, that's a Model T on the railroad bridge in the distance.   For history guys, the nameplate visible on the bridge was preserved, and the entire tollbooth was preserved and is on display beside the Forest County Historical Society building in Tionesta.


Link:  http://www.randgust.com/WHTB2.jpg

But I already have the river bridge and the West Hickory interchange long finished, this east end is the 'missing link' to get to my logging railroad modules.

I'm still trying to dig up data on the actual barges.  Most were used for moving barrels of oil until railroads arrived, after that the most typical use was coal movements on the lower Allegheny and Monongahela.  Found this:  https://riversofsteel.com/swpa-iconic-barges/

So yeah, I'm looking at a boat model roughly 100' long by 20' wide. 

[randgust]

Oh, I just found the mother lode.......    This shot ties it all together.

I've had a couple major issues here, one is just how big a wooden coal barge is.   Found it.  126' long, 20' wide, 8' high.   And I think I also figured out why that one shot doesn't show the barge yard.   Wooden barges seemed to have died out rather quickly.... a competing barge yard closed down in 1906.  And steel barges would have rather rapidly replaced them.   The fact that the ICC valuation map still shows the yard was there in 1917 is actually a surprise.

But complete luck, OMG I found this shot.  Mis-identified as to owner in the California library, it's the view from downstream.   This shows it all.  It's an extraordinary shot, stereoscopic....
Here's the link, you can zoom in and see incredible detail in this, taken looking up the river:
http://archives.csuchico.edu/digital/collection/coll11/id/5850

Look at that shot.  The West Hickory Bridge (railroad and toll) crosses the river, the toll booth is visible on the left edge.  On the right bank, the barge yard is there with about six barges, two deep.  More downstream.   The year is stated as 1900.   You can zoom in and see there's railroad cars on the barge yard trestle.  And there's a pole line along the PRR I didn't know was there.  You can also see a lot of detail on how the barges were constructed.  That's enough information to scratchbuild a barge there, convincingly.

That's the module.  That will do it for me.  Now I've got it.



The other ah-HAH moment has been discovered.  My prototype mill had a really odd feature, the end of the mill could be opened up and temporary log carriage tracks extended out over the pond to allow cutting EXTREMELY long logs.   I've seen shots of two loaders putting a log on three flatcars.  And the other end of the mill opposite the pond was just a big flat deck to handle a squared-up timber.  For what?  I was always told that the reason the Hearts Content area was preserved with the stand of virgin huge white pine was a reserve for sailing ship masting.  But think about it, you don't need to square up a sailing ship mast.   Made no sense.   BUT.....
A wooden barge that's 126' long and 8' tall?  And from the looks of it, one continuous beam on the side?  That's why.  That explains it.  To cut the barge timbers.  And when steel replaced wood, you don't need to have a reserve of giant white pine.   The last remaining virgin timber white pine stand was donated by W&D in 1922.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts_Content_Scenic_Area
They never cut it, saved it for the big timbers, and they became obsolete.

So then you realize that the default - and apparently current - standard river barge size is still like 120' x 20', and wonder where that came from, well, it dates back to the wooden river barge era -  how long a log could you find, cut, square up, and move?  And fit on to 3 40' flatcars?  This reminds me of the stories of how standard gauge was developed.   Barges, and locks,  may have developed from how tall trees were in the wooden era.

[wm3798]

Quite an undertaking.  I reckon we'll see this next year?
Very cool subject.  People forget that "intermodal" transportation is not a new concept.

Lee

[randgust]

Yeah, I've got most of the materials on hand and I've started the carpentry part.

This is really two modules, not one.   The first problem is making a scenic 'adapter' module from my existing logging railroad module I had at Altoona, there's a low-level exit track out of that, single track, but a Ttrak connector.  That will go on the inner track of a single Ttrak module and allow the scenery to come from the 'high line' of my logging railroad back down to 'river level' at the Barge Yard.   I've got that one cut, and have the barge yard geometry about half done.   But that adapter also has a high level connection off the logging site, I keep looking at that, may put in a very small cutting area on that single.  Don't know yet.  But I still want it to function as a Ttrak single, just because.  But a very odd one.

Both these modules will be kind of unique from a Ttrak standpoint that the highest scenery is in the front 1 1/2", on the boatyard one a literal rock cut.  It's an absurdly steep hillside even today, the 'new' road is built into the river on a fill on the east side.  The actual Ttrak main will almost be hidden by it in my concept.  There wasn't track there, but like I said, it's a big wide flat spot where it could have been, then the hill goes straight up.

This is kind of a neat 'modern era' shot from north of the Hickory Bridge (before it was demolished in 2006) looking EAST across the river; the boatyard would be just below it, you can just see the current boat ramp; that's where the barge yard was.  But look at that hillside, yes, it's that steep, and vertical.   The photographer is standing on what was the PRR grade on the west bank of the river.  So from the module design standpoint, you are on that hillside looking west.

https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=truss/hickory/

[randgust]

The adapter module, that will get christened "East Hickory", has been pretty roughed out.

It's a single, and a really, really odd module.   Until I started putting it up against the Ross Run module I didn't appreciate the dramatic vertical difference I'm trying jam into just one foot of space here.   I'd designed an 'exit' to Ross Run, but it's the lowest level, and one track. Hmmm.

I'm inspired by the 2023 Altoona best in show Ttrak module (help me with the name - can't find it!) that had so much vertical detail with the fantastic elevated train wreck scene.  If I put a tail track in on the end of the Ross Run layout logging spur I can have about 8" of a logging scene on the high hill way over top of the 'main lines', and still get in the road, and scenically slide all the way down to the river level below track level.   By itself, no logical explanation.  No need.  But doing this in one foot is a real challenge.  And the "T-trak" main is dirt simple, nothing at all. BUT, the biggest 'oh crap' is that I'd designed restricted vertical clearances on Ross Run to 1920's, including the black hole exit.  Any new T-trak better have 22'4" over top for doublestacks, which means I have no room above the rail, even the road bridge is almost too low!

"East Hickory" is going to have a lot of rock cuts, that's for sure, to deal with the vertical elevations.  And I'm deliberately trying to de-emphasize and almost hide the normal two main lines up front.  And that incredibly awkward 'black hole' situation coming off Ross Run, I don't want a tunnel, I am hiding the black hole with a road overpass and a cut.  But it gets the dirt highway where it needs to be, will still be T-trak compliant, just typically (for me) weird.   Barge Yard is easy to design in comparison.

[Chris333]

I remember in Sharon PA the area with a bunch of junkyards used to be were they stored canal boats in the winter. I'm not sure the water freezes around here though.

You might be able to find "agricultural" aerial photos (from a plane) from 1938. The USGS is only going back to about 1956.

[Chris333]

Well here is 1939. How close did I get?

[randgust]

That's the exact track layout.   Red is Hickory Valley, yellow is PRR.   I've duplicated the west side of the river and the bridge in T-trak, now this is the east side project.  The only thing was that the passing siding was much longer, it was two tracks way above and below, 2 tracks at the diamond.   The short spur off PRR was at the depot, went right behind it.

By 1939 the HVRR was abandoned and scrapped out.  PADOT took over the bridge, tore the track up, and put a road surface on it, that survived to 2007.  The tannery took over the HVRR track and bought a little Brookville critter to switch the plant.   That lasted until 1955.   My mom worked there.

The brick tannery buildings are still there today, repurposed.

What always blew my mind was the way the PRR interchange was designed.  There's no passing siding on HV, and I don't think they waded out to PRR.  So it had to be some kind of gravity drop or flying switch.

In the upper right the grade crossing is still very visible today.  On the west side of the river, since the bridge was replaced, nearly all traces of the PRR are obliterated.

The enduring mystery is just off that photo to the lower left, where West Hickory Creek comes in.  That was the location of McCabe Lumber, it lasted from about 1905-1908, had the 3' Climax A that ended up at Ross Silica after the mill closed, and there is just no record or photos of it at all other than newspaper articles.  That 3' Climax A is pretty much the prototype for what you have printed out.  The Climax was well photographed at Ross, and there's even a book about that operation now.

I'm guessing that the actual barge yard lasted 'maybe' to 1920, as steel rapidly took over river coal barge construction.   The most solid dating I have is the shot of Shay 6 (I think) there, and that Shay was built in 1911.

[Chris333]

The enduring mystery is just off that photo to the lower left, where West Hickory Creek comes in.  That was the location of McCabe Lumber, it lasted from about 1905-1908, had the 3' Climax A that ended up at Ross Silica after the mill closed, and there is just no record or photos of it at all other than newspaper articles.  That 3' Climax A is pretty much the prototype for what you have printed out.  The Climax was well photographed at Ross, and there's even a book about that operation now.

Are you talking about a line off the PRR heading NW. Just South of McArthur Run Rd.?

[randgust]

The only narrative of McCabe Lumber is in "Allegheny Valley Logging Railroads" (Casler, 1976) page 1143....  "...logging railroad was built along West Hickory Creek and had a branch going up McArthur Run"...a mile below the village".  "The American Lumberman in 1910 listed the McCabe Lumber Company as owning three and one half miles of (36")  railroad, and a mill with capacity of 40,000 feet per day".  "Sawing began in 1907 and a devastating flood happened in July 1908"...."mill continued to operate until 1911".     I have a newspaper report saying there was a fire at the mill.   Only locomotive was a Climax A.   For comparison, W&D over at Endeavor had a mill cutting 100,000 feet a day. 

So, yeah, I think, although you'll note Google Earth makes only note of McArthur Run and Hemlock Creek, but that's definitely the valley.  I've never found a trace of the mill or railroad on old maps.  Today, West Hickory is a very quiet place, only clue it was really something is the industrial brick buildings remaining from the tannery, still visible on Google Earth.  The whole barge yard area is now a public boat landing, a really pretty spot on the river.

That 36" Climax at McCabe is how I got interested in Nn3 and doing my Climax A in Nn3.  And it was photographed at Ross Silica after McCabe sold it.

[Chris333]

I sort of looks like it branched off here, but loose it after that. And on modern Google maps there isn't much seen when you switch to terrain.

[Chris333]

This is just me drawing a line up the creek till I got to 3 miles long.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KhrthMIDaLhSXyRe9q7mULuZRHy6BRte&ll=41.58206383410146%2C-79.43682767126242&z=13

[randgust]

As it was 3' gauge I'm still guessing no direct rail connection as it was narrow gauge.   I would suspect no mill would have been done without a log pond, and the creek is just south, so that's been my guess.  And close enough to PRR that it could have loaded finished lumber off a siding. 

HVRR was originally built in 1887 to 48" gauge, and the dual gauge was for a bitty 0-4-0 and possibly the first Shay.  I've never seen any evidence that the barge yard siding, the PRR diamond, or the Hickory bridge was dual gauge, but this 1908 postcard proves that the HVRR main line was still dual gauge as late as 1908 in the same flood that took out McCabe. So it almost must have been.  Contributing to the weirdness.  Until that postcard photo I was believing the 48" gauge was only on the "Reno Division" below.

Link: http://www.randgust.com/HVbridge1908.jpg

That bridge is between the mill and West Hickory, so I remain baffled.   I also have a copy of a passenger schedule in 1896 that is equally inexplicable as no record or photos of any passenger cars existed, and you had to be running with an 0-4-0 or a tiny Shay.  Rialto was renamed Endeavor at some point.

Link: http://www.randgust.com/hvttabl2.jpg

The other more recent discovery is the local newspaper story of a direct PRR Pittsburgh-Endeavor religious retreat special train that ran as a special directly to Endeavor - a full passenger train, over the HVRR, with standard coaches, and late enough to be in the steel car era.   No photos though.