Coal Shed

M

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Oct 31, 2002
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Ottawa, Canada
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Well, after the Water Tower I thought I would tackle this kit... Don't ask why the scratchbuilding came before the kit :rolleyes:

This is the Coal Dealer kit from Brian at Hamilton Model Works. It went together really quickly, once I had gotten over my initial fear of doing it. I guess that's because I paid $$$ for this (well, maybe only $$: it was about $15 on sale).

All the wood was finished with alcohol/India ink wash. The doors were dry brushed with red craft paint. The roof (each panel is a scale 4'x12') was dry brushed rust using a small bit of foam, then washed with the ink, then DullCoated, then washed again.

The coal pile inside is actually blue foam underneath, with aquarium gravel stuck in black craft paint while still wet.

I hope to put a light in the interior.

Andrew
 

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Interior space.

Only one bay is finished because only one has the door open, and the others are not really visible from "outside".
 

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very nice work, Andrew.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I remember a real coal dealer here in town, about 20 years or so ago, and he had his shed build to match the curve of the track at the back of his 6 bay shed. It was to facilitate unloading, I guess. I took a bunch of pictures and measurements of the setup but have lost them in a couple of house moves.
 
Hi Bill,

Thanks for the kind comment.

Do you have any further recollections about that coal dealer? Where was it? Is it still standing? Can you give me an idea of how it was positioned in relation to the tracks? Do you remember anything about the operations?

Ok, lots of questions I know, but I have a friend here in Ottawa who would be very interested to know. He has a standing offer of a beer or two for anyone who can find an exisiting dealer within easy driving distance of Ottawa. Yours might not qualify, but he'd be interested (and appreciative) just the same.

Thanks again!!

Andrew
 
Hi Andrew,
Thats a sweet looking structure you have scratchbuilt, nice effect using the ink wash.

cheers
Shamus
 
Andrew, your questions prompted me to hop in the car and do a drive-by as I have not been in that part of town for some years now.

The building is no longer standing. The space is a rough parking lot now, overgrown with weeds and shrubbery..

It was located on the east side of the Empire Brass (EMCO) factory here in London, right on the north side of Dundas street and across from the local Kellogg's plant. The siding served both Kellogg's and Emco as well as other small industries in the area.

I remember a right-hand switch (as you look north) bending off the main to service the coal shed. The shed was built with an arc pattern at the back to follow the curvature of the track and was divided into four or five compartments of roughly a 12 foot frontage by 15 foot depth. The roof sloped to the back. By some method, unknown to me, the gons of coal were emptied into the shed compartments. The front of each compartment was constructed to accept 2x12 boards laid on edge, horizontally, one on top of another, and would all be in place when the compartments were being filled, to keep the coal from flowing by gravity out the front. As the level of the coal was diminished, the boards would be removed one at a time to make access from the front easier.

I kind of recall the uprights at the front being rough-cut railway ties about 10 inches square and about eight feet to the overhead. All the outside walls and inner partitions were 2x12s. The roof was corrugated steel.

I am a little ticked with myself for having lost those photographs and measurements.
 
Thanks everyone! A matching weigh scale and yard office is next.

Thanks Bill for the extra information. Too bad it is gone. There were a couple of trackside buildings on a siding near my house. I kept meaning to take pictures, but when I finally got around to it, the buildings were gone...

The siding is actually part of what was once the Ottawa & Prescott, formerly the Bytown & Prescott, the first rail line into Canada's capital. (Thanks to railwaybob for the info.)

So much for "progress"...

Andrew
 
A truly fine model, Andrew!

I love the aged look of the wood. Your method of creating the rusty roof sounds quite elaborate, but doing so many passes really paid off - fantastic effect!

Ron
 
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