All, In Feb 06 I asked Bruce Monroe, Monroe Models, P.O. Box 1120, Cokato, MN 55321, 320-286-2854, www.monroemodels.us to scratch build the Main Office of the Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (MDT) and one of their main factories in Z scale. All he had was photos to go by. The photos are of the headquarters building of Merchants Despatch Transportation Company (MDT) and the factory building on the left of the headquarters (this is now East Rochester NY, the town was created by MDT to house it's workers and was known as Despatch, NY), where MDT produced numerous freight cars for the NYC and numerous reefers for the NYC and other railroads. You can go to the following website http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/detr:@FIELD(SUBJ+@band(+Transportation+industry++)) for more black and white original photos of the buildings. I asked Bruce to make the factory wide enough for two tracks and long enough to fit 2 1/2 reefers in it and two doors at both ends of the building. Bruce did a fantastic job of capturing the buildings in Z as you can see from the photos and prints of the actual building and the photos I took of Bruces models. Bruce far exceeded my expectations!!!! The quality of craftsmanship, detail, effects and weathering is fantastic! These are museum quality. The details on the factory doors (which are currently not on the model - I will add them later) are unbelievable. You might know Bruce and Monroe Models from the one and only Z scale product he currently has: Country Road Bridge. I urge you to contact Bruce to persuade him to produce more of his excellent craftmanship in Z scale. John
Randy, Correct. The Despatch Junction Depot would be located less than a mile to the left and on the same side as the MDT factory area (as you look at the third photo from the top - the overview photo/BW print of the factory area). Directly across from the factory area is the Despatch Passenger Station. I'll be able to replicate that by doing just a little work on the Miller Engineering Micro Structure Z-1010 Train Station kit. John
Nice model! Is that where they built reefers? or loaded/unloaded them? Interesting and I've never heard of it.
Chris, Yes. MDT started with reefers and then produced everything from flat cars to gondolas through 1970 I believe. John
The "ER" designation on New York Central and other freight cars refers to "East Rochester" and the Despatch Shops. A large assortment of NYC and other equipment was built there. MDT was the leasing company that owned some of this rolling stock including the refrigerator cars. Other equipment was lettered for the MDT as well; among the last of these were/are the "Flexi-Flo" hoppers (which I don't think were constructed at Despatch). The company still survives and is listed as being headquartered in Pennsylvania. Ed Nowak, long time company photographer for the NYC, made the interesting statement in one of his photo books that delivery of its cars in Erie, Pennsylvania, for tax purposes. He has several shots of entire trains of brand new cars on their way west from Rochester in the book "NYC Photography of Ed Nowak, Volume 1" from Morning Sun (one of three volumes). Nowak also notes that the shops were a subsidiary of the NYC, not the same company as MDT. There are a few pages of shots inside and outside the shop buildings in the same book. Despatch Shops, Incorporated had its own diesel switcher. Despatch Junction, the train store that is the current tenant of the East Rochester / Despatch Freight Station (the one that's available as a kit in Z Scale, and yes I am jealous that it's not in N Scale) had a model of that switcher for a number of years. UMTRR HQ is not very far from East Rochester and sad to say there's not much left of the shops. The office building is still there. That's an excellent model!
This NYC 70 ton covered hopper represents one from a series of 750 covered hoppers built at Despatch Shops in the 1940's:
George, We be happy to produce the Despatch Junction Freight Station kit in N scale if we start to see a damand for it. John Bartolotto Owner Nansen Street Models (A Division of The N Scale Architect)
