I’m looking for a passenger station that would look good for the B&O. Since a passenger station is some what the focal point of my planning I need a suitable good looking passenger station.
I’ve been considering the new Milwaukee station from Walthers but I’m not sure if it’s a good match exactly. The place I want to put this in is “somewhere south of Chicago”.
I needs to be rather large and highly detailed. I’m not going to buy it now so price is less important then quality and details. This building won’t be needed for probably two years. But i do need to know what building I’m getting so that I can plan for the tracks around it.
I wasnt even aware of the life-like model. Gonna have to get one or two of those and see what i think of them for myself, as that is a good model of their typical stations, with one small exception-most B&O stations were single story buildings. I am not sure what “somewhere south of Chicago” means, i am not familiar with the B&O out there.
Maybe thats where the “prototype” for the life like station is?
All that station needs is a P1B with a consist of heavyweights in front of it to just make it scream “B&O”…get on that, lifelike!
And model companies, if you ever read this stuff…no streamlined P7s please.
The fallen flags site does indeed show a fair amount of 2 story stations. Seems there are a few more than i realized. A few even look as though they are an interlocking tower and a station in one structure?
Sykesville is in Maryland on the original B&O main line west of Baltimore. The station is a unique design, but has a lot of the same “flavor” of the many stations that Baldwin designed for them during the John Work Garrett era.
Point of Rocks is another Baldwin design, as is Oakland Maryland. All are very different, but there’s no mistaking that they all came from Baldwin’s pen.
The station at Harpers Ferry originally included a switch tower, which was removed after the station was relocated to the new bridge in the 1930’s. In the last couple years, the National Park Service has restored the station to its original appearance. I’m pretty sure the work is done by now, but then again, it IS a government project![8D]
Yeah, most of the B&O stations i know are in middle of nowhere places in West Virginia and eastern Ohio. I seem to forget that “13 states” part a lot. For the life of me, as a B&O fan, i know almost nothing about the B&O west of Fairport or east of Keyser. From what i have seen, it could be a totally different road, much of it looks so foreign to my concept of the B&O, that being huge articulateds and small towns like Phillippi and Terra Alta. About all that seemed to remain constant across the B&O system was herds upon herds of Q4 mikes and wagontop boxcars.
Those pictures of Point of Rocks and Harpers Ferry brought back memories of railfanning with my father at those locations back in the '50’s. I’ve often thought of attempting to scratchbuild the Point of Rocks station but haven’t found sufficient photos yet.
Lessee, South of Chicago… Hows Indianapolis Sound? If you remove one half of the Milwaukke station and mod the clocktower, one can hit darn close to Indy Union. I THINK B&O served there, I know they were in the area.
Yeah im relatively amazed that the Grafton hotel still remains. I travel through Grafton 2 or 3 times a year, and the building appears to still be in sound condition. I always wanted to travel to Cumberland one day and see the Queen City Hotel…until i learned it was torn down about 30 years ago. Does CSX still use the Grafton Hotel?
FWIW, as far as the “old” B&O goes, i think CSX still has to maintain helpers at M&K junction. I suppose the West End grades are just as steep now as they were 60 years ago.
I should perhaps ad again that since the passenger operations will be the focal point I need a real impressive station. it doesn’t have to be huge, not that kind of impressive but it should be very detailed and atleast medium size.
I’m planning to let the passenger area of the layout be around 15-20 feet long and 2 feet wide(approximate figures, not 100% yet).
