Pages

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Hill Track in 1972

Thanks to some fellow modelers over at Frisco.org (and someone 40 years ago), I was able to recently obtain the official railroad industry spot guide from 1972.  This -- short of engineering drawings -- is probably the single best resource for trying to recreate this industrial spur.   While I haven't yet picked an exact modeling date for the Fairgrounds Branch, it will likely be in this same decade, as the 1970s have always been my primary modeling interest.

The Industries (links to previous posts detailing industries):
Spot CodeIndustry Name
303Open
305Garfield Team Track
306Paper Supply Company
308Runaround Track
309Open
311C. E. Schutte Lumber Company
315Carthage Marble Corporation
319W. C. Tingle Company
326Pacific Mutual Door Company
327Battenfeld Grease & Oil Company (It is spelled wrong on the RR map)
335Safeway Bakery
336Motor Parts Distributors Incorporated
340Sherwood Chemical Company
340AUnion Carbide
340BAmerican Mineral Spirits Company
341Southwestern Bell Telephone Company
342Turner Uni-Drive Company
345U. S. Engineering
348Swenson Construction Company
353Styro Fabricators Incorporated
354Fred Wolferman Incorporated

The Map (click link for a 'zoomable' view):

The List (click link for a 'zoomable' view):


The Surprises / Questions / Answers?:
Having this map and list raises a few questions from my previous research.
  1. Spot #336 is shown as "Motor Parts Distributors Incorporated", meaning Columbia Bedding that I had previously thought to be there had closed and moved out prior to 1972.
  2. #353 is "Stryo Fabricators" which corrects an earlier typo from my first source of information from Frisco.org -- explains why I couldn't find anything on "Ftyro Fabricators"
  3. The relative lack of run-around tracks on the line is somewhat surprising -- It implies that switch crews probably did most of their line-up work in nearby 19th St. yard.  To the modeler though, that means my switch jobs either need to start that way, or I need to provide for that work to take place.
  4. The amount of active trackage inside Schutte Lumber is amazing.  Most lumberyards I've seen have a single spur on the edge of the property, this one apparently delineates between the various product groups to the different sheds.
  5. All of my previous research for #327 ("Battenf[i]eld Grease") showed the industry on the west side of Roanoke Rd and served by the MKT RR.  The adjoining Frisco maps don't have the trackage and switchback between Southwest Boulevard and Roanoke Rd shown, and I've since traced that spur's origination to be with track connected to what was the Katy's Rosedale Yard.
    1. Local "boots-on-the-ground" research indicates that Battenfeld Grease was served by both railroads.  The Frisco seemed to handle only inbound raw commodities from an unloading terminal on the east side of Roanoke Rd, while the MKT owned the spur in the alley west of Roanoke Rd.  The buildings on the west side of the were warehouses and docks, so most shipping likely took place there (or receiving of other non-liquid commodities)
  6. The difference between spots #340, #340A and #340B aren't clearly identified on the map.  There's a #340-1 spot up on Terrace St (two parallel tracks near top-right of map) ... perhaps this was 'A' and 'B' also (different sides of the street).  The map identifies many tank spots, all of which are gone now.
  7. Now that I have what I need to start drawing a trackplan -- construction will begin at the south end with the two warehouses and the switchback up to Terrace St.
  8. Spot #342 has now been identified as Turner Uni-Drive Company.

No comments:

Post a Comment