I am in the process of converting my layout into an urban city based transfer type railroad similar to the terminal transfer RRs that once ran thru Brooklyn or Queens from the harbor to various businesses during the prewar era, but also any good books on prewar city/harbor based urban railroad lines would be helpful.
I am particularly looking for books that have been published on the subject. My track plan is pretty much set, what I really need are lots more photos for mood and details.
John Kirkland’s Dawn of the Diesel Age (Interurban Press, 1983) has a bunch of photos of boxcabs and early diesels, usually with some great gritty city scene behind them.
Michael Corbett’s Port City (San Francisco Archetectual Heritage, 2010) a many photos of the SF State Belt pre-war.
(I know SF & NY are slightly different ;), but some city scene details are the same)
Researching photos of labor strikes in the 1930’s is another great source of railroad photos, as usually the trains are in the background of the workers.
(Photos of the San Francisco Longshoreman’s Strike of 1934 provide some of the best info of the State Belt trackage and ops we have)
And John Pryke’s Building City Scenery for your Model Railroad (Kalmbach, 2000) is a great resource for all sorts of urban details.
Then select Architecture/Landscape… opens 9 collections.
Then select “Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey, 1933-Present”
1933 refers to when they started measuring, drawing scale drawings and photographing buildings and works of engineering, NOT the datw the subject structures were built. Some buildings date back before George Washington.
Once in collection, enter your search.
I tried “coke oven” and got 109 items. The ones labelled “Built in America” usually include scale drawings, multiple photographs from different angles and explanatory text for each identified building or complex.