I am wishing to build a layout modeling primarily the Erie Lackawanna Mainline between Hornell, NY and Binghamton, NY set in the Mid 70’s But right now my hang up is where to look to find out what kinds of on-line industries/customers EL had in that area and types of frieght run so as not to stray TOO far from prototype in the region. I have read that nearly 20% of EL’s frieght at the time was TOFC, but beyond that I’m alittle stumped. So any guidence my friendly online community could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Not familar first hand with the area, but the EL by the mid '70’s would’ve been rolled into Conrail. Agway would’ve had a presence in that area with mills in the area and I believe they had a pet food plant near Corning. The pet food plant looked like any of the Agway mills in the area, just made dog food. Not sure of the town but along I-86 there’s a cheese plant between Hornell and Corning.
Well, i’m starting the era in 1976, which was the year Conrail happened but I’m doing 1 of those “what ifs” stateing that EL didn’t go bankrupt and did not enter conrail. In fact I am supposeing they bought the properties of bankrupt Lehigh Valley and Reading as well. (Lehigh Valley had basically been up for sale by PC ever since the PC merger but no one wanted the poor thing.) But the Agway thing is something good to know. I had stayed away from mills and grain elevator type things thinking they were more midwestern then Lower tier New York. Now question is can I find a picture of an Agway mill so I at least get close to the right thing? The cheese factory should be easily modeled with a trackside warehouse/industry model from Walthers.
Be sure to see the spectacular scale drawings for Binghamton NY block of brick industrial bldgs. in Model Railroader July 81 p.58. A block of five or six story tall as I remember, old brick buildings with spectacular and varied brickwork that apparently survived into more modern times.
I never actually built a “real model” of these but I photocopied the scale drawings to my scale onto cardstock, colored with markers and watercolors and used as a temporary low relief building. Hope you can get this from Kalmbach.
Good info Ghant, but yeah as old as '81 I’ll have to cross my fingers that MR might still have a copy in the archives. Any chance they would have that sort of thing in an Online database? AKA some other way to dig it up if I have too?
I’m not sure that the EL serviced it, but with creative licence you could model the Corning Glass factory as a larger-than-it-is industry. Hoppers, or Covered Hoppers in with silica and other raw materials, Box and possibly Flat cars out with plate glass. As for the Trailers, by mid Seventies probably 45’s. 48’s would be late 70’s early 80’s I think. You could also have an Interchange with the What-if Competetor Conrail to the South East and North West for Through Freight service from Philidelphia to Buffalo. I checked out Wikipedia on this before posting, and apperently in 1970 EL contracted with UPS to haul Intermodal freight, it does not specify containers or trailers. The article also mentioned Automobile, Steel and Fruit/Produce from chicago to NJ.
Indeed I have found in my research that they did server the corning glass factory. And a cheese factory & Alpo plant in/about Waverly, NY. Also the ELHS had a pretty decent article this past year outlining several industries that EL serviced in Elmira area. American Bridge, Kennedy Valve, Bendix Corp, Thatcher Glass, American La France & Ward La France <although I do not know what those last 2 companies did>. As well as an unidentified industry just off the sharp westerly curve of the mainline near Horseheads. The article also mentions there was a former Pullman plant on the south side of Elmira that is “currently used by another business” but they do not say what the other business is.
Indeed UPS was a major customer of EL. #1 in some years moveing some 35000 units a year.
On the Shenware site is a free app called “Indman”, I think, that is a search engine for the Rwy-Industrial-Ops Sig industry database. You can search by several different parameters to find industries. It might help you.
You might also join the Erie or EL historical society. They sometimes have access to shipper’s guides.
now the next question is where to get the right models heh. I think walthers 89’ TOFC cars would be fine for my era here. I don’t think they were still using 75’ ones. Walthers semi-trailers are all the modern kind it looks like. And athearn appears to sell 35’ trailers , hmm. I did join the historical soceity. And the article on Elmira was a huge help. Takes a few weeks for my mew memeber login to work on they’re sight thou.
American La France made/makes FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT. I believe a big name in fire trucks. I have a 1973 tariff for industry spurs in Houston that shows an American La France industry handling Fomite used in fighting refinery fires.
I imagine they also made and/or distributed such special things as valves, hose fittings etc. used in fire fighting.
I looked them both up, and American /Ward la France appears to be branches of the same company. Ward talks only about firefighting, american talks about all emergency vehicles.
This is some cool looking stuff.