I've been reading and looking for a month or two, have learned a lot and have lot more to go.
I plan to model (in Ho) the Narragansett RR that started in 1876. I want to stop in about 1903 which was well in its heyday. It ran about 8.5 miles from Kingston Station on the NY,NH&H RR to Narragansett Pier. One of the reasons it started was to bring coal from steamships at the pier to the owner's woollen mill in Peace Dale (named for his wife, Mary Peace). Handling the coal is one of the items I can't quite figure out yet. I'm using Fire Insurance Maps from about 1880 to 1903 and they are considered very accurate. They show a 60' coal elevator near the end of the pier and rr tracks alongside coming back to a freight station, roundtable, engine house and car barn. That's all good but the maps also indicate a 50' iron trestle leaving the coal elevator, going over coal bins and into coal pockets. The rr track is shown alongside, under the coal pockets, a few feet to the side of the coal bins and under the elevator. So what is/was the trestle for? ? What would have been used to move the coal, man-powered cars, a conveyor belt or? BTwW did the steamships have onboard cranes to unload the coal?
I've also seen several layouts, prototype and model, that provide for trains to load and unload at the elevators. Why both? This was the late 1800s and man power was the usual form of work. Hopper cars weren't popular yet and gondolas was loaded and unloaded by hand.
Anyway I'll try to do a blog as this progresses and post some pics along the way.
Thanks for listening, Ray.
I plan to model (in Ho) the Narragansett RR that started in 1876. I want to stop in about 1903 which was well in its heyday. It ran about 8.5 miles from Kingston Station on the NY,NH&H RR to Narragansett Pier. One of the reasons it started was to bring coal from steamships at the pier to the owner's woollen mill in Peace Dale (named for his wife, Mary Peace). Handling the coal is one of the items I can't quite figure out yet. I'm using Fire Insurance Maps from about 1880 to 1903 and they are considered very accurate. They show a 60' coal elevator near the end of the pier and rr tracks alongside coming back to a freight station, roundtable, engine house and car barn. That's all good but the maps also indicate a 50' iron trestle leaving the coal elevator, going over coal bins and into coal pockets. The rr track is shown alongside, under the coal pockets, a few feet to the side of the coal bins and under the elevator. So what is/was the trestle for? ? What would have been used to move the coal, man-powered cars, a conveyor belt or? BTwW did the steamships have onboard cranes to unload the coal?
I've also seen several layouts, prototype and model, that provide for trains to load and unload at the elevators. Why both? This was the late 1800s and man power was the usual form of work. Hopper cars weren't popular yet and gondolas was loaded and unloaded by hand.
Anyway I'll try to do a blog as this progresses and post some pics along the way.
Thanks for listening, Ray.
