NEB&W Guide to South Hero, VT

Last Update: 2009-09-10

Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• Overview.
  • [Topographic map c. 1956. (Note that South Hero and Grand Isle are both part of the same island.)]
  • [Bigger.]

• Lacking information at the time about the South Hero creamery, we chose to model the earlier Grand Isle one, which was destroyed by fire around 1929 and rebuilt in glazed tile. Prototype views from the collection of David Hoag. (See the Grand Isle section, below, for views of the rebuilt creamery.)
  • [Prototype view of the Grand Isle facility.]
  • [Other end.]
  • [Side away from the track.]
  • [Loading milk into a baggage car.]
  • [Model photo.]
  • [Model photo.]
  • [Model photo by Lou Sassi.]

• Apple orchards are typical all over the islands. This orchard was made from Woodland Scenics trees by Alexi Sacks, who also scratchbuilt the fence from toothpicks.
  • [Southbound NEB&W train.]
  • [Northbound.]

• Prototype views of South Hero:
  • [Looking down the road toward the depot c. 1900.]
  • [Prototype view c. early 1900's. Photo courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Postcard 1907.]
  • [Prototype view of the depot, water tower and cannery c. WWI. Photo courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Prototype view of the depot looking from the other angle. Photo courtesy Bob Nimke.]
  • [Prototype view of the water tower, outhouse for the depot, and the cannery c. WWI. Photo courtesy Bob Nimke.]

• The owner (Fisk Fifield) of the cannery's house just up the hill. (We haven't modeled this yet.)
  • [C. 1900 view.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1970's.]
  • [From the other side c. 1970's.]
• The railroad valuation map shows the cannery and water tank, but the depot and bean elevator had been torn down already.
  • [Prototype view.]

• A freight pounds through in 1949. That's the train order board with the semaphore type blades.
  • [Prototype view.]

• Looking north on the layout. Left to right: stockpen, Twitchell & Champlain corn cannery, Belden dry bean elevator, water tower, and depot.
  • [Model view.]

• Looking south on the layout. That's a lot of corn (added digitally).
  • [Model view.]

• Station and water tower. The tank is a Durango Press kit, built by Al Wood. The depot was kitbashed from a Revell station, mainly by substituting a hip roof.
  • [Model view.]

• Some Canadian geese take a respite on their trip south.
  • [Model view.]

• Some summer cabins in South Hero.
  • [Postcard.]
  • [Camp Idewild c. 1907.]

• Much to our surprise, after we had decided to model the earlier Grand Isle creamery, we found the actual South Hero facility still standing. The owner was very generous in allowing Jeff English and I access to photograph it c. 1990. (You have to figure out what is original and what was altered since its creamery days.)
  • [Back when it was a functioning creamery.]
  • [Photo of the north end. (The tracks were to the left.)]
  • [Close-up of the north end. I think the stick Jeff English is holding is 6 feet high.]
  • [Photo of the street side. I assume vehicles drove through the opening, although there is also a can door just to the left of the window on the main section.]
  • [Photo looking toward the tracks.]
  • [Photo of the south side.]
  • [Close-up of the drive through.]
  • [Photo of the north end with the former tracks alongside where English is walking. I assume the opening in this shed-like addition is post-creamery.]
  • [Photo of the track side.]
  • [Photo of the roof on the track (or east) side.]
  • [Photo of the outhouse.]

• Views of South Hero not on our layout:
  • [Keeler's Bay just north of the depot. (There was a sawmill here.) From the Jim DuFour collection.]
  • [Another view of Keeler's Bay. I believe the track is out of sight in the cut. (The windmill to pump water with the giant lake in the background goes contrary to what I would expect - so what do I know?!]
  • [Postcard of the road.]

See our Layout Guide for South Hero.

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