CNJ Switchman's Shanty

Project update: The door and window frames are complete, and the door frame was installed on Saturday 4-16-16, with the help of young master Nick D, a high school junior who has taken an interest in wood working and historic preservation. He also helped me construct the frame last Saturday. I secured the material for the window sashes, left over Ponderosa Pine from Anderson Windows. A good friend owns a lumber store here in Ashley, and the wood was left over from his days as a distributor of Anderson Windows.  The last photo is a model Andre Garcia of River Leaf models made. 

Don

Don,

I receive the revision and will be done during the week.

thank you 

Andre.

Very nice DON.  Glad you are preserving that historic structure.  Sorry I missed seeing you at YORK.  I did spend some time talking with ANDRE and the shanty he did for you is top notch.  It looks great on your layout.    I will be talking with ANDRE in building a bar that  was located in Hazleton, but is no longer there.   ANDRE is a MAGICIAN. 

The concrete shanty is pretty neat. I remember seeing one a long time ago but no idea now where. Nice project.

http://citizensvoice.com/polop...dscape_490/image.jpg

This is a link to an article a friend wrote about the ongoing progress of the shanty. After more then a week of not working on it, I'll be starting the window sashes this evening.

Don 

I have two color photos of the shanty that I somehow missed on another forum. One is from July of 72, and the other is from 82. These were provided by a friend who is a member of the Northeast Railway Preservation Society. The July 72 photo is of the shanty in its designated spot in the CNJ Ashley yard. I believe the second photo also shows it in the yard, but it must have been moved shortly after, as I have lived in Ashley since about 83, and it was in a remote location some 200 yards southwest, on the opposite side of the tracks shown in the first photo. The shanty was recently moved to its new home in the Minors Memorial Park a little further east of its original location. I also recall someone mentioning that there were two shanties, but only one remains. As the project progresses, I continually stumble on new information. Hopefully by the end of the restoration, I will have the whole story!

Don

Photos provided by Walt Kierzkowski

Cool shanty !!

Back in the day, were these just empty structures were the switchman went to get out of the weather? Did they used to have a telephone to contact the dispatcher, of any other equipment or a coal stove?  In the one Rail is restoring, is there any evidence of anything? (Other than maybe wasp nests?)

Quite a bit of progress this hot Saturday morning. My young assistant and I completed a substantial portion of the concrete repairs around the door and window frames. We secured eight inch sections of 1/4" luan plywood and filled the cavities with 5000 PSI concrete, adding another section of form as each cavity was filled. Nick and I worked on several areas to allow the concrete sufficient time to set. 

As each section of form was removed, a sand and cement mortar mixture was applied to fill the voids. A piece of cedar shake shingle was used to smooth the mortar and blend the repair to the existing concrete and wood framework. There are a few areas left to complete, but the blazing sun took its toll, and we finished for the day just before noon. We had a record high of 92 just after one PM.

Nice work, even with the elevated temperatures!

Dan

A lot has been accomplished recently: Sherwin Williams donated the primer and topcoat, and I have all the sashes done, and some of the stop. The concrete and cement repairs are complete, and a new concrete floor raised to the height of the threshold was completed this afternoon. I plan to prime the door and window frames tomorrow. I missed my assistant Nick D today, and this sixty year old body is feeling the burn of sixteen bags of concrete mixed in a wheelbarrow. Since I'll be up at five to take Theresa to work, I'll be cutting and installing glass in the sashes.

The first photo is the height line around the walls. The second and third photos show the wet screed, which is used to level the concrete. The screed was made from a scrap piece of composite decking. I used Black Beauty sand blast grit as an additional anti skid measure with the mag swirl finish, since this will be open to the public.

Don

The door and window frames have been primed and top coated. I am working on the trim boards, and hope to have them primed today.

Just caught this.  Very cool and very nice work.  I had never seen a switch-man's shanty like this, so it is interesting for sure.

Don,

   Very nice. thanks for sharing this with us.

Tom

Chuck Sartor posted:

Back in the day, were these just empty structures were the switchman went to get out of the weather? Did they used to have a telephone to contact the dispatcher, of any other equipment or a coal stove?  In the one Rail is restoring, is there any evidence of anything? (Other than maybe wasp nests?)

Good questions Chuck.    I suspect yard crews or even main line crews could use the phone in the shanty to contact the Yardmaster for additional switching moves. Even main line train entering the yard might use it for yarding instructions.This would before the days of 2 way radios. Or different Railroads on different frequencies  .. Might even have  been the odd game of cards  however I don't think it would replace the lunch room or caboose. 

Chuck Sartor posted:

Back in the day, were these just empty structures were the switchman went to get out of the weather? Did they used to have a telephone to contact the dispatcher, of any other equipment or a coal stove?  In the one Rail is restoring, is there any evidence of anything? (Other than maybe wasp nests?)

Hi Chuck,

  Here is a picture of a PRR crossing guard's shanty which is similar in size. You can see a pot belly stove through the doorway.

Tom

Don,

Simply outstanding work !!!!!!!!!!!!!! it looks great !!!

Alex

Wow, looking REALLY good, Don!  Can't believe the progress you've made on this restoration project...keep up the great work!!

Way to go DON!!!  Keep up the good work!!!

Awesome job Don.

Chuck,

This is a kit that was done by a member of another forum. He included several things that were found in one of these shanties. There was a pot belly stove, a phone, a light, a desk, benches, and some type of control for a light that stood just outside the shanty. 

Thanks for the compliments: TEXASSP, Tom, Alex, Joe A, LAZ, and NJCJOE. I just delivered the sashes to a guy in nearby Plains PA to do the glazing. He has been following the project on the Huber Breaker Preservation Society Facebook page, and offered to cut and install the glass. I had already done that with glass from the 30's that a friend gave me. I asked if he would do the glazing, and he accepted. He also gave me one of the ceramic insulators from the breaker. He also has the insulator from the shanty. When he finds it amongst his collection, he is going to return it to the project. 

I was on vacation, so nothing was done in the last few days, but I'll be back at it tomorrow.

Don

Thanks guys for the information on what was inside these little trackside shanties. Interesting details.

I am willing to bet there was a bottle stashed somewhere, too.

Nice post and nice results

PSU1980 posted:

Nice post and nice results

Thank you, this is a cool project. 

Don

Great project.

been in a few in my day as signal maintainer for The CNJ

Don

You and your helper have made great deal progress on your 1:1 scale project. Does the Pennsy Red have a Sherwin Williams number? I have been trying to source that color to finish up a small station model.

Gerry G

 PS; What store in the Wilkes-Barre area did you use?

aznjbill posted:

Great project.

been in a few in my day as signal maintainer for The CNJ

Bill,

I have a few questions about the interior that you may be able to answer. We're trying to determine where the phone was located, how many benches there were, where the desk was, and was it on legs or wall brackets.  One fellow said he played in ours as a kid, and said there was a light hung from the ceiling.  Was the signal in the photo below controlled from the shanty? There is a hole in the floor that corresponds with the signal location, so we are guessing that it was for conduit. Any other details that you might remember would be helpful. 

Thank you,

Don

SGMret posted:

Don

You and your helper have made great deal progress on your 1:1 scale project. Does the Pennsy Red have a Sherwin Williams number? I have been trying to source that color to finish up a small station model.

Gerry G

 PS; What store in the Wilkes-Barre area did you use?

 

Gerry,

Here is all the info for the paint. It was matched from over-spray on a piece of glass that was found in the shanty.

Sherwin Williams store # 3766 570 823 3169 Manager Steve Dotzel

Order # 0081744 Custom manual match

CCC   Colorant                 02       32      64        128

           W-1 White                        30

           B-1 Black                4

           N-1 Raw Umber               24

           R-2 Maroon            2        30

One gallon A89T00154      Ultra Deep 640392379

Any other questions, my contact info is listed in my profile.

Don

Vacation days found me doing a lot of work on the shanty this past week. The trim for the door and windows is painted and installed. The door is refitted for the opening, and one side is primed. The door had to be by far the most involved part of the project. I found an old door at my church, and completely dismantled it and reconstructed it to fit. Originally, it was a two wood panel 30" door that I cut down to fit the height and width of the narrow door opening.

Dowel holes had to be re drilled for the top and center rails. The center rail was moved to match the bottoms of the windows. I had to enlarge the mortise for the knob assembly, and I made a new panel for the bottom. My young assistant Nick, did the putty work on the nail holes and gaps. 

All that remains for the door is to have a piece of 1/4" safety glass cut for the top, and assemble and finish painting. I do have to get a skeleton key for the dead bolt function of the knob assembly.

Don

Amazing- I saw a similar one at the NC  Transportation Museum in Spencer today. I think it is slimmer and needs some repair work.

Don 

sorry for not responding faster.

what I remember of the shanty ( late 60's/ early 70's ) was it only had a light in the ceiling and a phone on the back wall that was connected to the yardmaster.one little bench seat and small shelve that was mounted to the wall.

no signal were controlled from the shanty

pot belly stoves , desks , etc were in Crossing shanty's

keep up the great work

Some great woodworking going on there!

Dan Weinhold

aznjbill posted:

Don 

sorry for not responding faster.

what I remember of the shanty ( late 60's/ early 70's ) was it only had a light in the ceiling and a phone on the back wall that was connected to the yardmaster.one little bench seat and small shelve that was mounted to the wall.

no signal were controlled from the shanty

pot belly stoves , desks , etc were in Crossing shanty's

keep up the great work

Thank you Bill. This one did have a pot belly stove, as it has the hole in the roof for the pipe. 

Don

sleepmac posted:

Some great woodworking going on there!

Dan Weinhold

Thank you Dan.

Don

Don,

  Your hard work is paying off. It looks great.

Tom 

Any clue as to the original built date?