That pedestrian bridge in the background is still there. This is north of Holgate and the roundhouse, but not quite as far north as Powell. I am not sure whether that tower is still there. I could check it out next time I am in the area.
Found my slide. The tower view I have pictured is different. Appears to be larger. Railings on roof for it's use as an observation platform. Unless this one was demolished and replaced, or remodeled, we're looking at two different towers. Boxcab E50
It's two different towers. Jeff's photo is farther north in the yard and the larger tower was at the south end just behind RIP track and shed in one of the other pictures shown.
Have what you need? James, do you have the info you need re SP's Brooklyn yard? Just looking at your thread, I see that posters have recommended Austin's & Dill's excellent book, The Southern Pacific in Oregon. Yes, it might be difficult for you to access the book. Just noticed that it has track plans circa 1910 and 1950. Has anyone scanned these to you? If not, I'd be willing to do that next week (busy for a couple days). Unfortunately, the track plans each span 2 pages, so they won't be the finest scans you've ever seen. Please advise. Scott
Makes sense to me. Thinking on this a bit further, I seem to recall driving across a bridge over the SP, then on the east side of their tracks, we drove south a short distance, followed by a quick turn west to the RR. Wow- It's been a long time since that outing! Boxcab E50
Heater Car The short heavyweight car is a heater car. Originally it was a Great Northern heater car used between Skykomish and Wenatchee to heat passenger trains in the electrified section. None of the electric locomotives had any way to heat passenger trains. There were two of hte cars. The GN used the cars elsewhere for a time then sold both to the Western Pacific for service on the California Zephyr. After the Cal-Zee came off in 1970 the cars were sold again. One went to the Oregon Pacific & Eastern until the steam train excursions ended. As to the second one I don't have any information. It might be at Portola in the Feather River Rail museum but I'm not 100% sure.
Hi Scott! Thanks for the offer, but I think I am set for now. I got sent a scan of a 1970's era trackplan which I think is as close as I will probably get to the 90's arrangement. Any photos or other information from the mid-90's would be great.....
N Scale... Like I said, it'll be based on the yard. Main focus will be the intermodal yard and the freight yard will be "represented". Wish I could get my hands on some aerials or a track plan from the 90's though, prior to the UP merger.
Hi James, Yeah I could see that plan working very well in N scale. Don't give up on getting those photos, the 90's was not that long ago so there's probably lots of shots around. If you can go to the public works department of that city or county you might be able to find some aerials done for planning or construction project permit purposes. They would be public record so you could buy them for printing cost. You might also check with the local civil engineers and surveyors to see if they have any maps of that area. I'd also check the back issue listings of the railroad magazines and see if they did any articles on the area, and ask the SP 4449 group if they know of any photos? Have you found anything yet on the web such as fansites or photo sites that show the yard? Regards, Dave Branum
James, You might check with Metro's maps and data department. They may even be able to run off a custom map for you using historical data from the 1990's. Metro: Maps and data The other possibility is check out portlandmaps.com to see if that gets you anywhere. It will ask for an address or intersection. You can use SE 17th and Holgate to get you close. It's just a little east of that intersection. In addition, you may want to check with :: Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation :: as they may have an historical map or know someone who does. I don't THINK that yard has changed in plan terribly much since 1996, so I wouldn't discount the current aerial which you can get through Google Earth and other such programs. You might want to check with Scott Stutzman also, as he has fairly extensive knowledge of the SP in Oregon. I will check my copy Southern Pacific Oregon Division to see if there is a track plan. I don't think there is, but there may be. Another possibility would be to ask someone who has the out-of-print book The Southern Pacific in Oregon by Tom Dill and another guy whose name I unfortunately do not recall. If you are interested, I could see if I can find tax maps from the first half of the twentieth century to see if they have any track plan data. Hopefully, one of these resources pans out for you. If you ever come to Oregon (long way from Australia) you might want to check with the Multnomah County Library in downtown Portland. They have several historical maps which you can reference there. Since most are irreplaceable, they don't let you check them out. Good luck! Adam
James, Check this out Metro: Printed aerial photography "Current urban imagery was photographed in July, 2007. Imagery dating back to 1993 is available at limited resolutions. Maps can be scaled to fit your area of interest and are approximately 34" x 34"." The year 1993 would probably serve your purposes well. You may be able to negotiate with them for a PDF file for a smaller fee that they can then email to you. I lived right near Brooklyn Yard for five or so years, and even now my house is about 10 or 12 miles from there.
Thanks Dave and Adam! I'm using the current aerial from Live Maps for my track planning, and this should suffice for this layout.....enough to represent and compress the intermodal yard and freight yard anyway. I might look into those aerials though to see if there's any of the intermodal yard from 96 though....
