Model this scene! Cedar Rapids, Iowa

 

"Untitled photo, possibly related to: Grain elevators and flour mill, freight yards. Cedar Rapids, Iowa," September, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA/OWI Collection, The Library of Congress, negative LC-USF34-090050-D

These images were recorded by Marion Post Wolcott in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in September, 1941. She was one of many professional photographers of the era who were contracted by the government to record facets of industry, culture, daily life, etc., under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration that morphed into the Office of War Information. They were mostly medium format, so the negatives are generally high quality, and the photographers were generally free to choose their subject matter. As they were recorded under government contract, there were (and are) no copyright restrictions on their use [note that people do download these images and sell prints of them; if you buy such an image you are generally paying for that which you could acquire for free with a little sleuthing.]

"Grain elevators and flour mill, freight yards. Cedar Rapids, Iowa," September, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA/OWI Collection, The Library of Congress, negative LC-USF34-090049-D

Back to these images... these three images illustrate (to me, at least) what would make an exceptional switching layout opportunity. I presume that these images were recorded over a relatively short period of time, yet you can see in the images the activity level. This entire scene could be recreated in a walkaround island four to six feet wide, depending upon your space and eight to twelve feet long, incorporating some or all of the industries and tracks shown or it could be narrowed to include fewer tracks and perhaps flats instead of full structures on one side and run along a wall. 

"Grain elevators and flour mill, freight yards. Cedar Rapids, Iowa," September, 1941, Marion Post Wolcott, FSA/OWI Collection, The Library of Congress, negative LC-USF34-090051-D

In these images you can see four (!) locos switching these tracks. There are plenty of operating opportunities here. There is also an interesting mix of cars, including the usual box cars plus automobile cars, stock car, reefers (including a dry ice refrigerator car,) tank cars, and coal gondolas. The Sanborn maps for this location can likely be located and there are probably resources about Cedar Rapids in historical society publications. If you're an aprtment dweller or have a small to modest-sized room available for your layout, you could do worse than to recreate this scene.

Small layout concept

 

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.

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!

Some context for weathering of freight cars

 

Illinois Central R.R., freight cars at the South Water Street freight terminal, Chicago, Ill. The C & O and Nickel Plate Railroads lease part of this terminal from the I.C.R.R. April, 1943, Jack Delano, Call number LC-USW36-605, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information, Library of Congress

The other day, I was looking for images that I had of Erie 1932 ARA-design box cars and this one came up as part of my search. I think most of us have seen this and many of the other incredible images like them. The Jack Delano color images from the World War II era effortlessly suck me into the nuances, textures, and details of the various parts of the photos. What I realized is that my weathering and finishing efforts, in spite of my attempts to diversify my techniques of late, are still not quite up to the look of the prototype. After looking at these photos, I conclude that I can do a better job of creating variances across the surfaces of my models, both in terms of color and texture. I will be working to expand my quiver of skills and will share some of my successes and failures here. 

[note that the cars displayed in this small montage are weathered quite a bit more heavily than you might see 5-10 years later, due to the continued shift from steam to diesel power and with that a decrease in the amount of dirty gunk belched from locomotives as well as more frequent maintenance and repainting of cars in the postwar era.]