My dad introduced me to trains and model railroading when I was around three years old. He had been a rail fan since his childhood in England, where he spent time train spotting through the end of the steam era. 35 years later, we still enjoy the hobby together.
San Francisco has been a frequent holiday destination for my parents for years. During those visits my father inevitably developed an interest in the railroad that had existed along the city's waterfront. When he introduced me to the State Belt Railroad of California (later called the San Francisco Belt Railroad), something immediately clicked.
Black and white images of Alco switchers running in busy streets through the fog, tight curves leading right in to brick buildings, and a backdrop of ships, piers and rail barges just beg to be recreated on a model railroad.
The area has a fascinating history, and the railroad that served the wharves and warehouses along the waterfront was full of character. For model railroaders that enjoy switching, the operations just beg to be modelled. Dozens of single-car customers, interesting track arrangements, unique structures filled with character, freight cars from a wide variety of North American railroads, and equipment that is readily available in almost every scale also make good arguments.
I know of only two other layouts depicting the operations of the State Belt Railroad: Bill Kaufman's exceptional layout in the Bay area (which I had the privilege to operate on in 2011), and David Zuhn's newer layout, both in standard HO scale.
What really sealed the decision for me was Bill Kaufman's fantastic new book State Belt: The History of San Francisco's Waterfront Railroad (Signature Press, 2014). Filled with vivid descriptions of the culture, history, and character of the city and railroad as they developed hand in hand, the narrative is sewn together with great photographs - many never before published. Aided by his daughter-in-law, an archivist by trade, the two Kaufman's deliver to both the modeller and railfan a wealth of information from many years of researching the prototype, and the book clearly reflects Bill's own fascination with the railroad and its unique operations.
With this new wealth of information for inspiration, it was time to set to work on a plan...
San Francisco has been a frequent holiday destination for my parents for years. During those visits my father inevitably developed an interest in the railroad that had existed along the city's waterfront. When he introduced me to the State Belt Railroad of California (later called the San Francisco Belt Railroad), something immediately clicked.
Black and white images of Alco switchers running in busy streets through the fog, tight curves leading right in to brick buildings, and a backdrop of ships, piers and rail barges just beg to be recreated on a model railroad.
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| State Belt's Alco S2 No. 22 in front of the engine facilities on the Embarcadero. From the California Historical Society's Digital Library. |
The area has a fascinating history, and the railroad that served the wharves and warehouses along the waterfront was full of character. For model railroaders that enjoy switching, the operations just beg to be modelled. Dozens of single-car customers, interesting track arrangements, unique structures filled with character, freight cars from a wide variety of North American railroads, and equipment that is readily available in almost every scale also make good arguments.
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| The State Belt RR and piers from a ca. 1913 Sanborn Map Index. North Point Street is the line to the left side running from the "3" in theupper centre third of the map, down to the "65" where the line crosses Columbus and jogs over to Beach Street. |
I know of only two other layouts depicting the operations of the State Belt Railroad: Bill Kaufman's exceptional layout in the Bay area (which I had the privilege to operate on in 2011), and David Zuhn's newer layout, both in standard HO scale.
What really sealed the decision for me was Bill Kaufman's fantastic new book State Belt: The History of San Francisco's Waterfront Railroad (Signature Press, 2014). Filled with vivid descriptions of the culture, history, and character of the city and railroad as they developed hand in hand, the narrative is sewn together with great photographs - many never before published. Aided by his daughter-in-law, an archivist by trade, the two Kaufman's deliver to both the modeller and railfan a wealth of information from many years of researching the prototype, and the book clearly reflects Bill's own fascination with the railroad and its unique operations.
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| Kauman, William H. and Michelle S. Kaufman. "The State Belt: San Francisco's Waterfront Railroad." Signature Press, 2014. ISBN 1930013345. Available directly through Signature Press. |
I'm absolutely floored to learn of you and David Zuhn modeling the Belt. I knew of Kaufman's layout but I was unaware of any other modeling interest in this fascinating railroad. I've been researching the Belt for 10 years, but my focus is on the three-rail era, from 1890 to 1909. I early on targeted North Point from Dupont to Mason (where the spur ended at that time) as a potential cameo layout opportunity and have been refining plans for an HO/HOn3 version of it as it was in 1903. So it is amazing to suddenly discover two other modelers who are focused on the same place--though my own efforts have been solely on paper so far. I am very excited to see your layout unfold.
ReplyDeleteDave Eggleston
Seattle
Hi Dave! One of my hopes in starting this blog was to find and share with others interested in this little railroad. I only just learned of David Zuhn's efforts myself. North Point Street has so much potential for a small switching layout, I'm not surprised that a few of us have found it. I didn't know until recently that the SBRR was dual-gauge for a while. I'd be very interested in seeing your planning and progress with replicating that - especially as the 1900s are such a rare era to model.
DeleteAll the best!
Brian
Brian, I'd love to chat about it. I know very little about the Belt after WWI. The period I'm interested in has a surprising amount of information--and a not-surprising lack of it, too! Years ago I found a trove of maps and Belt documents at the CA State Archives that appear to have been untouched for decades that includes letters, engine orders, maps and even some record books of monthly traffic that all give a much more complete picture of the Belt and especially the North Point development prior to the 1906 earthquake. In my world, north of Mason street was still open water, so it nicely limits the scope of the street to 3 blocks. In the process I've also done some digging on the AT&SF's tiny float yard that was built in ca 1900-01 and later absorbed by the Belt when it pushed past the Ferry Building in the teens. It is another very model-able operation akin to the New York City pocket float yards. Probably best to continue this on email, though I don't see one for you on the blog.
DeleteDave
The latest MR included a note by Eric White about Dave Zuhn's State Belt line, that sent on a search. In short, I seem to have found others modeling like worlds. While not the State Belt line I am modeling an HO scale version of C&O's Norfolk, VA based Brooke Avenue yard ala1959, Inspired by Bernie Kempinski's MRP article, my Brooke Ave is far enough along that operations have begun. I just about memorized Bill Kaufman's book. These track and ops heavy, float driven cramped but efficient scenes are compelling. If this reaches others with like interests, my email here in Easton, MD is risekera@gmail.com
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