NEB&W Layout Guide - Rutland Yard & North Troy/LansingburghLast Update: 2008-11-11
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    More on Rutland in the Rutland Photo Gallery. More on North Troy/Lansingburgh in the North Troy Photo Gallery.
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Rutland YardAlthough the B&M RR did have a small yard in North Troy, this was too small for the size yard we envisioned. Instead, we decided to model the Rutland's yard in Rutland, VT. We are modeling the yard as it was in steam days, with almost the same length and with every track as the prototype. The prototype even curves at the far end as required by our space. Bob Nimke devotes a whole volume to this yard, Volume II of his series, The Rutland, 60 Years Of Trying.The yard was built in 1849 and slowly evolved until 1900. The dramatic increase in locomotive size brought on by adding superheating wrought great changes by 1919. A too-short roundhouse was then used for sand and other storage after a newer roundhouse was built in 1899. The new roundhouse had 17 stalls all 70 feet long. By 1922, an extra five feet were added in the front with a wood addition facing the turntable. Shortly thereafter, the wood was taken off all but five stalls and these 12 stalls were extended out the back. In 1918, the ash pit was replaced with a mechanical cinder conveyor. A 1910 engine shop became the tender shop after it had been outdated by a yet newer engine shop in 1919, with a 45 foot transfer table connecting the two. A new larger ice house was added in 1921 side by side to the existing one.
The yard stayed almost the same until the end of the steam and the demise of Rutland's passenger service in 1953. The old ice house was taken down in 1951 and the 1910 enginehouse torn down in '53. In '54, the second ice house, cinder conveyor, coach shop, water tower, etc. came down and the remaining steam loco facilities taken out in '55. Some of the buildings in the yard dated back to the Civil War, including the old roundhouse, the Greek Revival machine shop, and the Norman style freight car repair. In the 1919 rebuilding, a new coach shop was built on the odd-shaped lot at the end of the yard with a 75 foot transfer table in front. Our model of the Rutland Yard continues past the Pine St. underpass on the aisle side, with models of Duffy's and Welch's coal bins, but reverts back to Troy on the far side, with Troy Feed & Seed, Armour's Meats and W. W. Wilson's Wholesale Groceries. Today the site of this extensive railroad facility is a shopping mall with a single track that swings far out and behind it. The coach shop still stands, along with Duffy's Coal.
North Troy/LansingburghLansingburgh is older than Troy, but at some point, it was incorporated into the City of Troy, sometimes called North Troy. (Residents refer to it as "The Burgh".) We are modeling the three industries just north of Jay Street in North Troy, Troy Feed & Seed, the Armour Meat Packing Plant, and Wilson's Wholesale Grocery (the later two buildings still stand, although not with these industries, and of course, with no rail service, since the B&M ripped out this section years ago).At 101st Street, the road crossed the tracks and led up to Oakwood Cemetery. A wood truss bridge was built over the tracks (supposedly one of only two such bridges over tracks. It was sheathed with a wood covering, and then probably around 1900, given a layer of corrugated metal to keep locomotive exhaust from setting the bridge on fire. Oakwood Cemetery was a pretty ritzy place, (people were dying to get in there!) and the portals of the bridge were done in half-timber Queen Anne shingle style. The sides were neglected, and the metal siding allowed to rust, providing quite a contrast between the sides and the ends. The bridge was set on fire by vandals in the late '60's. We are also squeezing in the B&M's Lansingburgh station at 114th Street and the little coal dealer on the opposite side. |
