NEB&W Guide to Green Island, NY - Manning Paper

Last Update: 2009-06-01

Green Island Table of Contents
Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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Overview

• [Topo map, close-up.]
• [Aerial photo c. 1928, looking north.]

Gilbert Car Works

• In the 19th century, the Gilbert Car Works was a major industry. Apparently it folded during the depression of 1893. The complex on the left of this plan became Manning Paper, with the curve in the northwest corner still evident. The long shed ("Freight Shop") with the five tracks in it became Clark Trading, then Central Markets, which in turn became Price Chopper.
  • [Bird's eye view, engraving looking northwest.]
  • [Prototype plan c. 1880.]
  • [Sanborn map c. 1888.]
  Notice how the planning mill was curved to match the curved trackage.

• The Center Street grade crossing.
  • [Looking west c. 1959. Photo from the NEB&W D&H Collection. Manning is on the left and Central Markets on the right, both former buildings of Gilbert Car. Simmons Machine (Sweet & Doyle) is across the tracks.]
  • [Prototype photo taken from closer to the tracks, from the NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Prototype photo looking east, from the NEB&W D&H Collection.]

Manning Paper

• The Manning Paper Co. was organized in 1846 to make Manila paper from recycled hemp rope, for such uses as flour sacks, envelopes and later insulating electrical papers. Manning's grandson moved the firm over to Green Island in 1915, to a section of the vacant Gilbert Car Works. The complex on the left of this plan became Manning Paper, with the curve in the northwest corner still evident. The long shed ("Freight Shop") with the five tracks in it became Clark Trading Co. and then Central Markets.
  • [Prototype plan c. 1880.]
  • [Engraving.]
  • [Sanborn map, c. 1951.]
  • [Sanborn map rotated 180 degrees so it can be read.]
  • [Front of Manning, c. 2004.]
  • [Northeast corner (George & Center) just to show the remnants of the green paint use for trim, March '09. (For some reason I missed this and started painted the windows and doors gray. I just found I can fix there by rubbing a green pencil along the trim, and the gray paint that shows through looks like weathered wood.)]

North End

• The north end consists of two main parts. Closest to the tracks, the northwest corner, is remnants of the original Gilbert plant, including a curved wall buried in the complex which allowed the tracks to curve and run into the car shed across the street.
  The other section, closest to the street, is a very 1940's modern building, with glass block windows.

• The Center Street grade crossing.
  • [Looking west c. 1959. Photo from the NEB&W D&H Collection. Manning is on the left and Central Markets on the right, both former buildings of Gilbert Car. (The remnants of the door for the tracks can be seen in the Central Markets building.) Simmons Machine is across the tracks.]
  • [Prototype photo c. '59, taken from closer to the tracks, from the NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Prototype photo c. '59, looking east, from the NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Prototype photo looking southeast, c. 1978. (Composite of two photos.)]
  • [Prototype photo looking southeast, c. 1980's. (Composite of three photos.)]
  • [Corner c. 2000.]
  • [Prototype photo looking south, c. '59, from the NEB&W D&H Collection. (Note how the telegraph poles have the crossarms offset to clear the building.)]

• More photos of the north end, 2005.
  • [The recessed loading dock.]
  • [Close-up.]
  • [Looking from the other angle.]
  • [Close-up.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Close-up of the cornice.]
  • [Photo of the entire north wall.]
  • [Photo of the trackside or west side from the same angle.]
  • [These two photos combined.]
  • [Photo of the close-up of the vents and other roof details.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo further back.]
  • [Photo even further back.]
  • [Composite of these two photos.]
  • [Close-up of the vents.]
  • [Photo of the north and west side of the powerhouse.]
• On the layout.
  • [In progress photo of this wall, kitbashed from the Walthers Sugarland factory, Feb. 2005.]
  • [In progress model, March 2005. The supports are to model the rounded building.]
  • [In progress model, March 2005.]
  • [In progress model, March 2005.]
  • [In progress model, March 2005. (I screwed up the one support and had to add a second, to the right.)]
  • [In progress model, March 2005.]
  • [In progress model, March 2005. This is being built in three sections.]
  • [In progress model, another view, March 2005.]
  • [In progress model, how they fit together, March 2005.]
  • [In progress model, another view, March 2005.]
  • [In progress model, May '09. Walls weathered and assembled.]

Glass Block Building

• This is a c. '40's style building although it looks like they simply modernized the north face.
  • [North wall of the glass block building c. 2000. (If you go back to the 1959 view of this three-story building, it had very few windows back then.)]
  • [Photo of the entire north wall.]
  • [Photo of the front corner.]
  • [Photo looking west from that same angle.]
  • [Composite of these two photos.]
  • [Photo of the north wall with the glass block windows.]
  The north wall of this building is long but since we didn't have the depth to model it as such, I turned it 90 degrees so the long wall fased the aisle (east).
  • [In progress model of the glass block building, March 2005.]
  • [Other side of the glass block model, March 2005. The one section is kitbashed from the Walthers Front St. Warehouse.]

Building "C"

• The northwest corner complex, I labelled "Building A", the glass block building, "B", and the large sort of barn like building, "C".
  • [Prototype photo looking southeast, c. 1978. (Composite of two photos.) Building "C" is the one on far right.]
  • [Prototype photo looking southeast, c. 1980's. (Composite of three photos.)]
  • [In progress model, "Building C", March 2005.]
  The front or east side of this building is buried in the complex but on our "half-wide" model, it is exposed. I more or less duplicated the features of the track side wall.
  • [In-progress model, east wall, Jan. '06.]

The Powerhouse

• This was on the west or trackside of the plant. We speculate the large concrete block silo held coal for the plant. The model of this is being scratchbuilt.
  • [Photo of the north and west side of the powerhouse, c. 1986.]
  • [Photo of the north and west side of the powerhouse, c. 2005. By this time, the windows in the one story section had been blocked up.]
  • [Stoking the fire c. 1959, looking north. (Maybe they had to heat the coal to unthaw it.)]
  • [South end of the power plant c. 1978.]
  • [Another view c. 1980's. By this time the silos and what looked like a dust collector was gone.]
  • [Another view c. 1980's.]
  • [In progress model, March 2005.]
  • [From the east side, model view, March 2005.]
  • [Close-up of the top of the small annex, March '09]
  • [Another close-up , March '09]
  • [Close-up of top of the power plant which had a tank on top. March '09]

South End of the Plant

• Looking north at Clinton Street, c. 1959, with Manning on the right, the yard office and Sweet & Doyle (which by this time was Simmons Machine Works) on the left.
  • [Prototype view.]

• Looking east on Clinton, with more views of the south end of the Manning plant.
  • [Prototype view c. 1959.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1986.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1990's.]
  • [South wall, broadside c. 1990's. (If you look closely, you can make out the scars of former large arched openings on the first floor, which strangely seem to be offset by half from the window openings on the second floor.)]
  • [South east corner c. 2005.]

  The model:

  • [In progress photo, Oct. 2004. We are kitbashing the south section from the Walthers Front Street warehouse kit.]
  • [In progress photo, Jan. 2005. We are adding finer window mullions from Grandt Line roundhouse windows.]
  • [In progress photo, Feb. 2005.]
  • [Close-up.]

• The sidings inside the Manning plant was very cramped and wound up very unique.
  • [Val map.]
  • [Stoking the fire c. 1959. (If you look closely, in the background you can see the barn-like shop building.)]
  • [Looking into the plant c. 1978.]
  • [Looking into the plant c. 1986.]
  • [Another view c. 1986.]
  • [And in by the loading dock c. 1986.]
  • [Panning counterclockwise c. 1986.]
  • [Continuing c. 1986.]
  • [Continuing c. 1986.]
  • [Continuing c. 1986.]
  • [Continuing c. 1986.]
  • [Continuing c. 1986. This is the framework that held up what looked like a dust collector.]
  • [Composite c. 1986 of all these views so you can see how they relate.]
  • [Model trackwork.]

• Views of Manning, 2004.
  • [Close-up of the cornice on the south wall along Clinton.]
  • [Close-up of the cornice on the model, Nov. '04, made from two strips of brick material and pieces of Evergreen 1x3 for the vertical bricks.]
  • [Photo further back of that prototype wall.]
  • [Photo looking into the plant, with a better view of the west wall of this section.]
  • [Broadside photo of the west wall.]
  • [Photo.]
  • [Photo of the wall along the track.]
  • [Our kitbash c. Jan. '05, with the top section from a Life-Like kit (covered with Plastruct TT scale brick material).]
  • [The model wall looks much better painted and weathered, c. Feb. '05.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Prototype photo.]
  • [Close-up of more cornice detail.]
  • [And again.]

East (Front) Side of the Plant

• The front presents a long continuous two story wall with a stunted tower near the north end.
  • [Front of Manning, c. 2004.]
  • [Photo of the northeast corner.]
  • [Close-up of the stubby tower, March '09.]
  While the prototype is basically two blocks deep, our model is only one block deep. We tried to copy the trackside side, and made do with the opposite side (which as you can see on the prototype is kinda' boring).
  The long wall from the Walthers kit wasn't long enough, so I had added one more "bay" on the right hand side. Since disguising the seam in brick is near impossible, I angled the add-on slightly. After a couple of years where progress on the model ceased, I took a second look. The add-on section cried out to be the base of a tower. In order for this to work, it is slightly different (actually a bit more elaborate than the prototype).
  • [In progress photo, Oct. 2004. We are kitbashing the south section from the Walthers Front Street warehouse kit.]
  • [In progress photo, Jan. 2005. We are adding finer window mullions from Grandt Line roundhouse windows.]
  • [In progress photo, Feb. 2005.]
  • [Close-up.]
  • [Adding a tower to the model, May '09.]

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