NEB&W Guide to Cohoes, NY - St. Bernard's Church

Last Update: 2009-06-27

Cohoes Table of Contents
Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• St. Bernard is a Roman Catholic church, built in 1848 in the Norman style. The entire building, according to the D&H Val. map, is 205 feet. The church itself is 147 feet. The rear annex is 47 feet long and the front entrance is 15 feet. The main section of the church is 78 feet wide. The block itself is 100 feet wide.
  Over the years, its steeple has undergone a number of alterations, I count a total of four different versions.
  • [Postcard of the front of St. Bernard's c. 1906, with the second steeple. The original steeple was 200 feet tall but was destroyed in a storm in 1875.]
  • [Spring Street looking north c. 1926. Note the steeple of St. Bernard's in the distance, still the second version.]
  • [Photo c. 1931 looking south, from the NEB&W D&H Collection. This shows the third version of the steeple, which therefore must have been altered sometime between '26 and '31.]
  • [Front c. 2004, with the fourth version of the steeple, which was changed c. 1956-'57. (This picture was taken on the site of St. Bernard's Academy after it was torn down.)]
  • [Another view.]
  • [Track side c. 2004. Norman, sometimes called Victorian Romanesque, is derived from early medieval period c. 1000 A.D., which includes use of many round-top arches, including rows of small arches called "machicolation" (like a series of brick icicles) and recessed arches.]
  • [Further back c. 2004.]
  • [Postcard of the back of St. Bernard's, with the full steeple, second version.]
  • [Photo c. 1931, showing a section of the trackside wall. (Note how the side is so overgrown with ivy, which is how we will probably model it.)]
  • [Photo, c. 1931 from the NEB&W D&H Collection, looking north from St. John's church. By the time of this photo (c. 1931), the spire of St. Bernard's steeple has been removed. This shows the third version.]
  • [Almost the same angle with the church visible over the scene of a minor derailment. (Unknown date but it has to be 1930's through early '50's.) Best view yet of the late steam-era steeple. (Have been puzzling over what is the building on the right.)]
  • [Almost the same view point c. 2002. That's the rectory on the back.]

Interior

• [Postcard of the interior of St. Bernard's.]
• [Another postcard of the interior c. 1908.]

Rear

• [Photo c. 2004 of the small fenced-in garden in the rear, along with a grotto.]
• [Another view c. 2004.]
• [Earlier view, back before they cut down the trees (c. 1980's).]
• [Other side of the brick wall (Pine Street), c. 2000.]
• [Broadside view of the back of the brick wall.]
• [Bigger view of the trackside, April 2007. I count 54 bricks high at the corner of this wall. At 2.5 inches per course (brick AND mortar), the brick section is 11-1/4 feet high, or 1.55 inches in HO. ]

Kitbashed Model

• For the time being, we kitbashed a couple of Kibri Roman Catholic Churches into a reasonable replica. The side walls were made from the nave (I think it is called) and the nave made from the side walls. Even with two kits, there was only enough material to make one side wall.
  • [Basically stock Kibri model.]
  • [In progress model (with the trim in the process of being painted, Jan '06.]
  • [Another view.]
  • [Rear.]
  The model is 104 scale feet long, while the prototype was 147 feet, or 71% full length. The model scales out to 39-1/2 feet while the prototype is 78 feet wide or basically 50%.
  After looking at these photos, I smacked my forehead and said "What was I thinking?" I used Floquil foundation for the stone color but it is way too yellow. I have since repainted all the stone a more neutral light gray.
  And on further study, I realized the corner "posts" at the top of the steeple are much too small. And the openings here should be filled in with ventilating slats and not left open.

Alongside the Church (Trackside)

• Alongside the church c. 1919. The street rose slightly and there was a 3-1/2 foot high concrete retaining wall with an ornate fence on top.
  • [Valuation photo photocopy.]
  • [Valuation map c. WWI, showing the retaining wall.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1931 looking north from the far side of the depot. Photo from the NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Photo c. 1931.]
  According to the D&H's Val. map, there was a five foot wide sidewalk alongside the church. The road (exclusive of the sidewalk) was 29 feet. The side of the church was 56 feet from the nearest track.
  On the layout, Keveney Academy is 49 scale feet wide. The Academy occupied the entire block which was also 100 feet wide on the prototype. The church block should line up with the Academy so the block it sits on would also be 49 feet. The widest section of the model church is 46 feet, which presents some problems.
  If we cheat and line up the far side of the church with the Academy, ignoring that the bay on that side sticks out past the line, we have 10 feet on the track side of the church to the sidewalk. On the prototype, the distance was 11 feet (100 foot wide block minus 78 feet equals 22 feet, split equally). That actually isn't too bad and we could reduce this a bit.

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