With the inner circular track closed and the outer track progressing towards a full circle, the real fun can now begin. I haven’t given that much thought yet on how to build the track bed and to mount the track work on the bed. I’m not in a hurry – I still need the flexibility to modify the tracks, […]
Adding Roadbed and Team Tracks Read More »
Nothing is more strongly associated with the CNJ Bronx Terminal than its first Diesel-Electric (or Oil-Electric) boxcab CNJ #1000. This small 60 ton switcher locomotive built in 1925 by a consortium of ALCo, General Electric and Ingersoll Rand also known as AGEIR boxcab was the first commercially available diesel-electric locomotive in North America. It was acquired by
Even though we have a few publications, a number of photos and even a plan from 1955 there aren’t that many sources with hard facts about the unique circular freight house built by the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1907 as part of their Bronx Terminal development. The best sources are the journal “The Railway Age”,
A Plan for the Freight House Read More »
Now that I had the Car Float the next thing to add was the Transfer Bridge that connects the car floats to the terminal. The transfer bridge I’ll model is the replacement thru truss bridge that was put in place in 1920. As its predecessor, it is made of timber and consists of three framed Howe
Building the Transfer Bridge Read More »
How many times have I browsed with envy through a catalog of HO locomotives, rolling stocks, structures and accessories just to realize they have everything and we N-scalers have almost nothing. Walthers has a nice though massive car float that looks like one of CNJ’s prototypes. Nevertheless, there is no N scale equivalent of that HO car
A N Scale Car Float Read More »
Having completed two sections of track work, it is time to build the foundation for the tracks now. The first question I have to answer is, how to fit in the irregular quadrilateral into a somehow rectangular shape. In other words, how much of the surroundings of the CNJ Bronx Terminal I would want to add on
There’s little doubt that the outer circular track with its 14 team tracks fanning out is the most challenging part of the CNJ Bronx Terminal. In order to succeed I’d also have to adapt my approach for building the track work. I mentioned earlier that for the more complicated turnouts I produced a design beforehand using a
Building the Outer Circular Track Read More »
Eager to get things done, I started the detail design and construction of some of the track work. I figured out that the Northwest section of the freight yard would be the easiest to start with. It had a few simple straight and curved turnouts but it also had the first challenge, a triple diamond where
To get a comprehensive layout plan I compiled and mapped all details I had on the CNJ Bronx Terminal track system, the primary structures including the freight house and the Third Avenue Bridge, their integration into the Harlem River waterway and the street system of the South Bronx. The image below shows the result. Things
The CNJ Bronx Terminal is located on the Bronx side of the Harlem River and bordered by Third Avenue, Southern Boulevard (today: Bruckner Boulevard) and Lincoln Avenue. The Central Railroad of New Jersey purchased the lot in 1905. The Bronx Terminal began to operate in 1907. It had no rail connection to the other freight terminals along
A Place and a Time Read More »