NEB&W Guide to Whitehall, NY

Last Update: 2009-04-06

Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• Overview
• The 1934 Realignment
• The Engine Terminal
• The Roundhouse
• The Engine Terminal Water Tower
• The Machine Shop
• The Sand Bins
• The Coaling Tower
• Stockpens
• The Tool Shed
• The Old Coach
• The Ashpit
• The Residential Area
• Whitehall, Not Being Modeled
• Depot
• Freight House
• Other Yard Buildings
• Other Views
• The Industries
• The (Freelanced) Yard
• North Bennington
  

Overview

• Whitehall, NY was located at the base of Lake Champlain. On the railroad, it was a division point. There was also a connection to the east to Rutland, VT.
  • [Topographical map c. 1950.]
  • [Close-up.]
  • [Aerial postcard, looking south, c. 1960.]
  • [Aerial postcard, looking south, c. WWI.]

• On our NEB&W layout, the depot area is based on North Bennington, VT and we call the area North Bennington, not Whitehall.

The 1934 Realignment

• Originally just north of the depot, the track went through a single track 677 foot tunnel, causing a bottleneck on the double-track main. In the early '30's, the line was shifted slightly east and placed in a cut so a number of grade crossings were eliminated. This put an angle in the middle of the yard, and placed the mains on the other side of the depot, about 100 feet away, and 12 feet lower.
  • [Map of changes, Railway Age, 1934.]
  • [View of the depot area after completion, Railway Age, 1934.]

The Engine Terminal

• The buildings at this end of what we call North Bennington were copied from those at Whitehall, NY on the D&H, although we didn't have sufficient room to duplicate the arrangement. The prototype photo, from our collection, was taken by Perry Storm from the top of the coaling tower looking north.
  • [1919 map, before the mainline was rerouted.]
  • [1934 Valuation map after the realignment.]
  • [Sanborn map, unknown date.]
  • [Prototype view.]
  • [Model view.]

The Roundhouse

• The 25 stall roundhouse was a D&H standard brick design. By the end of the steam-era, the doors of the Whitehall roundhouse had been rebuilt in every manner imaginative.
  • [Valuation photo c. 1919.]
  • [Valuation photo of the side, c. 1919.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1952 courtesy Bob's Photos.]
  • [Prototype from our collection. (Note the number over each door.)]
  • [Photo c. 1970's, when only a portion remained. Photo by Tony Steele.]

The Engine Terminal Water Tower

• The water tower for the engine terminal was located on the west side of the roundhouse. (There was a second water tower across from the depot.) In all the views of the turntable, it rises above the back of the roundhouse. We might model it in half relief up against the backdrop.
  • [Valuation photo.]

The Machine Shop

• The building to the northeast of the roundhouse was originally the car repair aka machine shop. Later, it became the diesel shop.
  • [Valuation photo of the end, c. 1919.]
  • [Valuation photo of the side, c. 1919.]
  • [Valuation photo of the other side, c. 1919, showing the blacksmith shop adjacent.]
  • [Perry Storm photo c. steam-era.]
  • [Tony Steele photo c. 1970's.]
  • [Tony Steele photo c. 1970's.]

The Sand Bins

• The sanding tower was originally part of the coaling tower, but with the arrival of the diesels, new towers were built near the car repair/diesel shop, in preparation for the coaling tower being torn down. (We are modeling the earlier sand facilities.)
  • [Original wood sand bins, color photo c. 1950.]
  • [Replacement steel sand tower, late steam-era. Photo in our collection.]

The Coaling Tower

• Looking north at the engine terminal. The D&H built this coaling tower in 1907. It raised the coal to the bins by a mechanical bucket elevator. On our layout, the distinctive coaling tower and sand bins were scratchbuilt by Andy Clermont.
  • [Valuation photo, c. 1919.]
  • [Another Val. photo, c. 1919.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1952, courtesy Bob's Photos. Note the PRR GLca fishbelly side sill hopper. (Westerfield makes a cast resin kit for this common but distinctive car.)]
  • [Prototype view. Note the old coach on the right.]
  • [Color photo c. 1950.]
  • [Another color photo c. 1950.]
  • [No. 608 taking on water.]
  • [D&H plans c. 1925. (Never got the big overhang.]
  • [Plans of the side, drawn by Andy Clermont.]
  • [Plans of the end, drawn by Andy Clermont.]
  • [Model view.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser.]

Stockpens

• Because Whitehall was a division point, there were stockpens located just behind the coaling tower, not for customers to pickup or drop off their animals, but because federal law decreed that after a certain number of hours in transit, the stock had to be unloaded to be watered and fed, and perhaps stretch their legs. Photocopy of a Valuation photo c. 1919.
  • [Prototype view.]
  • [Another Val. photo, c. 1919.]
  The Whitehall facility was still standing in 1922. There were a total of five pens, capacity 16 cars, feed and watering facilities, and four double chutes. Four of the pens were 24 feet by 48 feet, and the other one was 40 feet by 48 feet.

The Tool Shed

• Closer to the depot was a tool shed on the far side of the track. Melanie Sembrat is in the process of scratchbuilding and installing this.
  • [Southbound coal train c. 1949. (Actually I think this a Chuck Yungkurth photo.) In the background is the depot, and the toolshed is on the far right. Those are coal bins for the potbelly stove inside the shed and looks like rolls of right-of-way wire fencing.]
  • [Southbound passenger train c. 1949. The other end of the toolshed is visible.]
  • [Model c. 2004.]
  • [Model c. 2004.]

The Old Coach

• An old wood coach was set on the ground.
  • [Prototype.]
  • [Color photo of the coach in relation to the coaling tower.]

The Ashpit

• The ashpit was originally a manual operation, with an adjacent track lowered to make hand shoveling easier. By late steam days, it had been replaced by a mechanical hoist.
  • [Prototype c. 1919.]

The Residential Area

• The engine terminal was right in the downtown residential area of Whitehall. (We need to add house flats, etc. against the backdrop. And even if you have no interest in Whitehall, this view of period housing might be of some use.)
  • [Prototype view - a LARGE enlargement of a Perry Storm photo taken from the coaling tower.]

See our Layout Guide for Whitehall/North Bennington.

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