Morgan St. freight house and yard, Hartford, CT, June, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA-OWI Collection, Library of Congress, Call no. LC-USF34-057575-D
Many of us, yours truly included, began our layout dreaming, planning, and conjuring visions of 20' x 60' basement empires with 48" radius curves (HO scale) and legions of crews handling timetable and train order operations. For a variety of reasons, many of us abandon these dreams quickly, and, unfortunately, do not replace them with something more in keeping with our individual abilities and constraints. I personally determined that what I actually wanted was a far more modest showcase for what really interested me: freight cars (a link to some of my thinking on that topic - I have refined things further and am midstream at building the foundational elements.) Many of us would do well to start somewhere more in keeping with our circumstances and have something as opposed to nothing; there's no time like the present.
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| courtesy of Charles Dunn |
While I settled on something based upon the Medford, Oregon area, I always loved this image* and thought that the subject of this photo would be a great standalone switching layout as an end or a first phase to a larger layout based upon the Hartford area as time and space permit. I am planning a more detailed analysis of this idea for any interested parties as a future, more in-depth writeup, but this is intended to whet the appetite. This image from a Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map ca. 1950 should furnish some basic details for those who can't wait.
*I grew up in the Hartford area and that affinity combined with my love of freight cars made this image particularly appealing. So much so that I have a very large print from the Library of Congress framed and hanging in a place of prominence!
