NEB&W Guide to North Creek, NY

Last Update: 2009-11-12

Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

---

• Overview
  
• The Namesake Creek
  
• Waddell's
  
• National Lead Ore Loader
  
• Houses Up By The Truck Dump
  
• Four Houses
  
• Houses By The Entrance To The Depot
  
• Stream By Depot
  
• Tool Shed
  
• Ice House
  
• Depot & Freight House
  • Early Views
  • 1930's Views
  • Post Steam-Era Views
  • Plans
  • Model Views
• Water Tower
  
• The 1944 Engine Terminal
  
• Frank Smith Grain Mill
  
• Sullivan's Coal
  
• Hillside House
  
• Barton Mines
  

Overview

• The actual North Creek was/is on the end of the D&H branch that came north out of Saratoga. On our NEB&W layout, we have it on the south end of the branch that comes out of our Chateaugay scene. Chateaugay is basically in our theorectical world located where Plattsburgh, NY is, and thus the branch corresponds to the D&H's Ausable branch.

• Topographic map c. 1958.
  • [Map.]

• The 1951 traffic report for North Creek (combined with Tahawus), giving the total number of carloads received and shipped out for the whole year. (The first column is the number inbound.)
  • [Traffic report.]

• Sanborn maps c. 1927.
  • [Waddell's and south.]
  • [Depot area and north.]

• Map of the depot area researched and drawn by Jon Patton.
  • [Map.]

• A view looking north c. 1870's.
  • [Photo from our NYS D&H Collection.]
• View from across the river.
  • [Two photos combined, c. 1990's.]
• Passenger train timetable.
  • [Timetable, July '45.]

The Namesake Creek

• The track crossed the North Creek (the town's namesake) on its way into the scene. There was an excelsior plant (wood shavings used for packing) here.
  • [Map of the south end, drawn by Jon Patton.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1931. Photo from the NEB&W D&H Collection.]
  • [Close-up.]
  • [Sanborn map c. 1927.]
  • [High level view c. 1970's.]
  • [Low level view (from the other direction) c. 1970's.]

• During the Bicentennial years, Tony Steele took this shot, which has been flipped mirror-image fashion to match how we modeled it. (Notice how the trees resemble a xmas tree lot.)
  • [Prototype view.]
  • [Model view.]
  • [Model view, close-up of the house.]

• The highway originally crossed at grade and the stone abutment is still visible. In 1929, a steel truss bridge overpass was built adjacent.
  • [Postcard c. WWI showing the bowstring arch bridge and the grade crossing.]
  • [Model view of the abutment by Lou Sassi (but I will also find a prototype view).]
  • [Prototype view looking north c. 1970's.]
  • [Prototype view looking south c. 1970's (from the site of the ore dump).]
  • [Model view. (Note the top of the stone abutment just visible.)]

Waddell's

• Waddell's was a small cluster of buildings.
  • [Jon Patton's map.]
  • [Photo c. 1870's from our NYS D&H Collection.]
  • [The office building is on the right of the fantrip photo by Gerrit Bruins.]
  • [Prototype photo c. 1970's.]
  • [Another photo c. 1970's.]
  • [Photo by Tony Steele c. 1970's.]
  • [Model photo.]
  • [Model photo.]
  • [Model photo courtesy Lou Sassi.]

National Lead Ore Loader

• National Lead built a temporary ore loader at North Creek until they could get their main plant up and running at Tahawus, which seemed to only take a few years. Thus why the North Creek affair lasted so long after is unknown. Was it used between WWII and 1970 or simply left in stand-by service?
  The loader extended over four tracks.
  • [Prototype view c. 1942. Photo courtesy Jon Patton.]
  • [Above photo, mirror image.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1972 by Tony Steele.]
  • [Prototype view of the back, c. 1972, by Tony Steele.]

• Our model had to be shortened to just two tracks wide. While the prototype was perhaps a quarter of a mile from this group of houses, it was all but in somebody's backyard, placed so close to other houses similar to these.
  • [Model view.]
  • [Another view.]
  • [Model photo courtesy Lou Sassi.]

• The truck dump just off the bridge had a strange overhead contraption. The overhead rigging also circled around the one end. Photos by Tony Steele, c. 1972.
  • [Side of the truck dump.]
  • [The end.]

Houses Up By The Truck Dump

• Houses near the truck dump. (The two that we model were on opposite sides of the street, but for our layout, we moved them next to each other.)
  • [Red and cream house c. 1970's.]
  • [One story bungalow c. 1970's.]
  • [Looking further down the street c. 1970's.]
  • [Model photo by James Lauser. (The enclosed porch was kitbashed from a Revell elevated gate tower.)]

Four Houses

• The prototype quartet of four houses near the station.
  • [View of the street side, c. 1970's.]
  • [Further down, c. 1970's.]
  • [Two photos combined.]
  • [Other end, c. 1970's.]
  • [Prototype view of the track side, c. 1970's.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980.]
  • [Prototype view, c. 1980, mirror-image.]
  • [Close-up view, c. 1980.]
  • [Close-up view, c. 1980, mirror-image.]
  • [Model photo.]
  • [Another model photo.]
  • [And another.]

• There were a few shacks and shanties behind these houses.
  • [Prototype view (two photos combined) c. 1980.]
  • [Mirror image so we can relate these to our model.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980.]

Houses By The Entrance To The Depot

• On the highway, where the road leads down to the depot, were a few houses.
  • [Prototype view from the depot, c. 1973.]
  • [Bigger image. (Boy, was this slide dirty!)]
  • [Mirror image.]
  • [A different view, c. 1973.]
  • [Bigger image.]
  • [Mirror image.]
  • [Side of the one house c. 1970's.]
  • [Front c. 1970's.]
  • [Front, without the obscuring foliage. (Gee, this side of the white house looks a lot like the Faller farmhouse.)]
  • [Faller kit.]
  • [Prototype view of the house across the street, c. 1979.]
  • [Our scratchbuilt model of the one house. (Still need to build the other.)]
  • [From another angle.]

Stream By Depot

• There was a small stream just south of the depot. C. WWI, it was a deck bridge, but as part of the 1940's rebuilding, it was replaced with a concrete culvert.
  • [Prototype view of the deck bridge, looking upstream, c. 1919.]
  • [Photo c. WWI of the depot with the bridge in the foreground.]
  • [Prototype view of the culvert, looking downstream, c. 1980. (Waddell's is visible in the background.)]
  • [Model view.]

Tool Shed

• There was a tool shed on the river side. I think it was replaced during the 1940's rebuilding, since the later one was parallel to the tracks, not perpendicular.
  • [Prototype view of the front c. 1919.]
  • [Prototype view of the side c. 1919. (The ice house is visible in the background.)]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980's, with the enginehouse just to the left and Waddell's in the background.]
  • [Prototype view c. 1980's, flipped mirror-image.]
  • [Another view c. 1980's.]
  • [Flipped mirror-image c. 1980's.]
  • [Model view of the turntable side. (The curve of the turntable cut into the rectangular floor plan.)]

Ice House

• There was an itsey-bitsey ice house (probably used just to ice the passenger cars), no. 9 on Patton's map, above. It was retired in 1940.
  • [Valuation photo photocopy, c. 1919.]
  • [Photo c. WWI of the depot with the ice house just visible on the far right.]

Water Tower

• There was a small enclosed water tower off the end of the freight house, similar to the one in Green Island, NY. It was retired in 1952.
  • [Valuation photo photocopy, c. 1919.]
  • [Close-up of a photo of the track side of the depot c. 1931.]
  • [Sanborn map c. 1927.]
  • [D&H track map.]

The 1944 Engine Terminal

• The engine terminal was completely overhauled c. 1944 to handle the added heavy traffic coming out of Tahawus. A new 90 foot turntable, engine house, and sanding tower were added. (The old turntable was only 60 feet long.)
  • [Engine being turned on the turntable c. 1950. Jim Wright photo.]
  • [Coach being turned on the turntable during a railfan trip. Gerrit Bruins photo.]
  • [Prototype view of the front of the engine house, c. 1970's. Photo by Tony Steele.]
  • [Prototype view of the front of the engine house, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype view of the station side of the engine house, c. 1980's.]
  • [Another view of the side of the engine house, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype view of the rear of the engine house, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype view of the river side of the engine house, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype view of the sanding tower, c. 1980's.]
  • [Prototype view of the sanding tower, c. 1970's by Tony Steele.]
  • [Bigger view.]
  • [Prototype view of the storage bins, c. 1970's by Tony Steele.]

• Back in steam days, there were piles of cut lumber behind the depot. By the 1970's, a sawmill was built there.
  • [C. 1930's view.]
  • [C. 1970's view.]
  • [Bigger view.]
• Freight house and turntable, with the passenger depot beyond.
  • [Model photo, by James Lauser.]

• Lou Sassi took this photo for the cover of Mainline Modeler. (If you have or know of a layout that should get photographic coverage, e-mail him at Lousassi@aol.com or call (518) 399-5474.)
  • [Model photo.]

Frank Smith Grain Mill

• The buildings were there in the 1930's, the company wasn't listed in the 1951 traffic report (might have changed names) and the buildings gone by the '70's. Don't really have a good view, just end shots when it was in the background of depot photos.
  • [Close-up of a photo of the street side of the depot c. 1931. (Wish I could read the lettering on the building.)]
  • [Close-up of a photo of the track side of the depot c. 1931.]
  • [Sanborn map c. 1927.]
  • [D&H track map. (This plan is hard to match against the above photos. And in this map, it is identified as "CS Wood Stores".)]

Sullivan's Coal

• A close-up of the background of the previous 1930's photo (mirror image) gives us the only photo of Sullivan's coal, just above the engine. (In Patton's map above, this was building no. 17, indicated to be John Anderson Jr. & Co.)
  • [Prototype view.]
  • [Sanborn map c. 1927 shows it wasn't here back then.]
  • [D&H track map - Sullivan's is shown as the coal shed on the far right.]

• Sullivan's Coal, kitbashed from several Revell barns.
  • [Model photo taken by James Lauser.]

Hillside House

• Along the highway was a house set in the hillside. (We do plan on modeling it someday.)
  • [House in the background, photo c. 1930's. Photo courtesy Jim Shaughnessy.]
  • [Prototype photo c. 1979.]
  • [Another prototype photo.]
  • [View from the side.]

Barton Mines

• Barton Mines was organized Dec. 16, 1924, and a plant built up on nearby Gore Mountain. The garnet quarried here was not gem quality, but was used for its abrasive qualities.
  • [Prototype photo c. 1931.]

• Barton Mines garnet sheds were just around the curve from the depot, but all but buried in the weeds. Trucks brought the garnet down from the mountain and transferred it to freight cars via these sheds.
  • [Prototype photo c. 1990.]
  • [Prototype photo from across the river, c. 1990.]
  • [End view, c. 1990.]
  • [Close-up view, c. 1990.]
  • [The street side c. 1990.]

• Garnet sheds, as scratchbuilt by Kevin Smith for our layout.
  • [Model photo, by James Lauser.]

See our Layout Guide for North Creek.

---