The CNJ Bronx Terminal was dismantled in the early 1960s after the Central Railroad of New Jersey ceased operations and the property was sold to make space for new commercial use. Since then, a warehouse was built within the former Bronx Terminals’ former perimeter and various businesses made use of a location close to Manhattan […]
A New Era Begins in Mott Haven Read More »
This blog post is entitled “Motive Layout Power” to make it very clear that the locomotive roster I’m using to operate the CNJ Bronx Terminal is not prototypical. I have introduced CNJ #1000 in an earlier blog – the first commercially successful diesel locomotive in the US that for a while was the only locomotive on the
Motive Layout Power Read More »
Not having ballasted a layout before, I delayed that part of track work until I really had to do it. As mentioned in my previous post Track Ballast, Streets and Ground Cover, I started with the team tracks. Most of them were straight and not difficult to do. When I came to the crossovers, it got
More Ballasting of Tracks and Turnouts Read More »
The Third Avenue Bridge is the single largest structure on the CNJ Bronx Terminal layout. To present it adequately, I’d have to break it down into the individual pieces – access ramp, abutment, girder bridge with rest pier and swing bridge. The bridge abutment on the Bronx side of the Harlem River is the only part
A Bridge in Pieces – Part 1 Read More »
Really? You break in a locomotive, but tracks? – Let me explain. My CNJ Bronx Terminal has 28 turnouts and 7 crossovers. When I built the individual pieces I always tested a single two- or three-way turnout and when an entire section was complete I’d also test the finished section. But those tests were never exhaustive:
Breaking In the Tracks Read More »
The entire CNJ Bronx Terminal block between Third Avenue Bridge, Bruckner Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue is an industrial area painted in various shades of grey, even today. The driveways between the team tracks 2 and 14 were paved with Belgian (Granite sett) blocks as is most likely the driveway along track 1. The photos of the
Track Ballast, Streets and Ground Cover Read More »
How do you move 28 turnouts on a 10 square-foot layout? Hardcore modelers would match the method on the layout with the era and location of the prototype, of course, at least on HO scale. Track scale, the density of the turnouts, track distance and the available space between locomotives and freight cars on the
The traveling gantry crane (sometimes called the West gantry) spans across tracks 15, 16 and 17 and runs along the Harlem River bulkhead starting somewhere near the end of the transfer bridge and ending at Lincoln Avenue. Based on available plans and photos its length at the base is 24 feet, its height excluding the housing
A Traveling Gantry Crane Read More »
The Third Avenue Bridge was built between 1894 and 1898 and it replaced the Harlem Bridge that crossed Harlem River at the same location for less than 30 years. The bridge was composed of three deck sections with a steam powered swing span in the center and girders that connect the swing span with the
Third Avenue Bridge Read More »
Based on the plan I laid out in A Plan For the Freight House, I decided to create a wooden core of the freight house and then add an outer layer of styrene for the corrugated metal of the shell. For the core my intention was to laser cut walls with window openings from 1/16″ bass wood
Building the Freight House Read More »