Welcome to the O Scale Newark & E'port Connecting Railroad
a.k.a.
T
H E - I R O N B O U N D
This is a progress report in pictures
as of January 2, 2010
Layout
Tour
NEW PICTURES:
CNJ Baby-face Baldwin
Lenny
Two-tops' Trailer
Trailer-Train
Loading Facility
150-Ton
Crane
Beautifully
Seedy Hotel
New
Jersey Turnpike
The Ironbound
RR is a fictional urban
railroad set in the 1950-1960's, just after
the steam-to-Diesel era. This model
railroad was the cover and featured article
in O Scale Trains Magazine, issue #34. The name
Ironbound derives from an
actual section
of Newark, NJ which was
surrounded on all four sides
by the heavy
rails of the
Pennsylvania RR, Jersey Central
and the Lehigh Valley
Railroad.
This is primarily
an industrial area in the older
section of the city.
Here's
a wide view of the commercial area of town. This model area is
just 18" deep by less than four feet wide, showing that with a little
imagination you can do quite a lot in a small space, even in O scale!
The Ironbound's
reason for being is
simple: interchange with The Pennsylvania
RR
and CNJ from their freight lines running through the industrial
section of Newark.
Freight
is distributed to a number of industries such as the Dutch
Boy Paint Factory,
which lie along our very urban line, weaving its way through the back
yards
of the
Ironbound area, parts of Kearny and Elizabethport (E'port to Jerseyans).
We also host limited
CNJ passenger service at the Railway Express Agency Depot
which also serves as a modest
passenger
station for commuters who work in this area.
The Jersey Turnpike runs over top of the Pennsylvania RR freight line
in background.
This afternoon,
a handful of passengers await the four-times daily CNJ RDC which
provides basic
passenger service to the East
Newark Station via Ironbound tracks.
A couple of views of
the Ironbound's
not-yet-complete engine yard reveals
the old roundhouse, tonight hosting a chop-nose ALCo RS3 laid up with
serious
crankshaft problems, and an ex-CNJ 2-8-0 camelback. Another ex-CNJ
camelback,
this one a veteran 4-6-0, rolls toward the turntable after a railfan
special run.
Just beyond the old concrete coaling tower to the right of the
roundhouse, our new
sanding towers and
service platform are engaged in servicing
an SW1200RS.
After work, some of the crew likes to drop by Neville's
to shoot some pool.
Trains run behind old brick structures, well out of
sight of tower
operators, so it's not unusual to find train crews who might be
working
the late shifts making unauthorized stops at the
local White Castle.
Or maybe running into the
soda fountain for something to keep
'em going.
Well, well... there's Marion, waiting for one of her hoody
boyfriends no doubt.
My guess is the crew spotted our camera and wisely will wait till
they get to Zak's
for vittles. Then there is the corner
hang-out for the enthusiastically unemployed.
We won't even get into McGinty's
and its wicked upstairs!
Here's a wider view
of the
industrial yard. The massive Western
Electric
plant appears in the center background. The Kearny Steel Fabricators
building
stands like a rusting hulk on the far left, dwarfing Ironbound
Tower which controls
the over-all traffic movement in the rail yard. In the foreground,
little Newark
Terminal Rwy GE 45-tonner with side-rods brings ties to the
track gang, whose
work is never done in this busy yard. Our old pal Humph and his dog Duke
man the elevated crossing shanty protecting Railroad Ave. That's
Humph's
immaculately Simonized '49 Ford parked behind the tower. Here's
a closer
look at another of the smaller
structures in the industrial yard.
One of the customers
served by the
Ironbound is Debski & Sons Scrappers.
It's worth a closer look at Debski's
inventory, one of angles, twisted metal
and rust.
The
Clambucket makes quick work of
loading scrap metal into waiting gondola cars.
In the background you can see the long loading dock at Gilroy's
Warehouse,
another on-line customer located just before the line crosses
the Passaic River on
its way to the engine terminal. Located in the same area is Geiling
Chemicals.
Each industry
contributes its share to create that unique Essex County air
which on a warm summer day is thick enough to taste.
The Ironbound RR track
plan - crowded but really quite simple.
Some
of the more unique rolling stock on the Ironbound:
If
you were around back in the day, remember what a thrill it was
hearing the jingling bells of the Good
Humor truck comin' down your
street, and mom or dad would treat you to your favorite
ice cream?
Mine was the creamsicle. And lookit the hobby shop window!
A sale on Lobaugh model trains. Now that's what I call the good ol'
days!
Leave it to the Newark Police to know where the
good pizza places
are. They
liked Piancone's Pizzeria so much they put a station right next to it.
There's something
almost sexy about
a dump truck...don't you agree?
Now here's a view of Lobozzo's
newsstand with Maria behind the counter
chatting with a steady customer and getting ready to close up
for the night.
Farther on down the street, near the venerable Mt. Olive Cemetery,
you can
can get your '55 Crown Vic gassed up at Nick's
friendly Texaco Station.
Nick will cheerfully fill your tank, clean your
windshield and check your tires
all for under five bucks! Here's a view of the same
corner later in the day.
Nick's getting ready to close for the night. And I'll take my
cue from that.
Come
back again,
we'll be adding more Ironbound pic's as soon as time allows!
The
Ironbound's biggest fans,
Lenny,
Wilbur and Spike.
It's hard to
remember a
day when these three weren't hanging around the engine yard,
pestering our engineers for a ride in the cab, or otherwise making
general nuisances
of themselves. They can be unbearable. If they weren't so... well...
just plain lovable
we'd have tossed them off the property on their big fuzzy butts
a long time ago.
"trainutz.com"
and "The Ironbound RR" © 2010 by Andy Romano.
Images at this site may not be copied without my written consent.
010210~814878
