I've seen that one on a layout photo somewhere. I'll dig through my stuff and see if I can locate it.
Cannot think of his name right now. Isn't it a fellow who has been published in MR, GMR and MRP? B&M and MEC themed HO layouts.... Argh. Well known name and I am drawing up a blank right now. Was it Paul Dolkos?
I'm right with you. Drawing a complete blank on it, but I know I've got it here somewhere. I'll ask my son. He's been reading these things cover-to-cover. This would make a neat, easy, and fun cardstock model. Anyone close enough to get straight-on photos of all 4 sides?
Does that tall pole behind the building have spot lights at the top. It does appear so. Of course that would be modern. Would there have been some sort of lighting in the past?
Paul Dolkos definitely had one on his former B&M layout. Believe he had it on a "dummy" crossing with another New England railroad.
I found a picture of the shed from the back....no window!!! What was in that thing? Can't send a message in the dark !
Candy, I assume there was only a phone just inside the door that connected directly to either the MEC dispatcher in Portland, ME, or the B&M dispatcher in Billerica, MA, possibly both. There also may have been a chair and writing shelf, but these would have been considered luxuries. I base this assumption on my 60-year old memories of the B&M Fitchburg Division section house in Hoosick, NY. The section house contained a motor car, trailer, tools, writing shelf, and a dispatcher phone next to the door, but no window. The section crew seemed to do quite well without a window because they left the door open for light, even in mid-winter. The problem with windows is that they tend to leak after a few years. This can cause numerous problems, especially in northern climates such as yours, but even worse in northern New Hampshire. Get a blowing rain followed by a snap freeze, and you have an icy mess on the motor car, dispatcher phone, and other critical equipment.
Something needs to be pointed out..We tend to think of something like this as a potential surprise to an engine crew moving down the line in the cab..But ,if you think about it..all crews 'know the road' ,the stations, sidings, bridges, tight curves, water tower locations, mile markers, etc...So, the crew is also going to know that they will be approaching this or that crossing (diamonds) and would naturally slow down and be on the lookout for a "low ball" signal at this particular diamond, to boot. They're mile out . They KNOW about this crossing and so , are ready for it..and the others along the line..It's part of the job...
Yup. I believe this most likely and wired for communications as I noted earlier. The building, if it can be called that, is little more than a glorified enclosed block phone booth. Where a conductor or temporary block type operator can be out of weather briefly. It might even have had a light bulb.
The hut probably is wired for a lightbulb since there appears to be a floodlight in the photos at the top of the pole above the balls. However, I assume a lantern was used for any night time operation "back in the day" before Coos County was wired by the REA. My Grandmother didn't get electricity in rural Carroll County (next county south of Coos) until 1947. IIRC, REA didn't start stringing wire in rural New Hampshire until the mid-30s, and Coos County is still considered "rural" today. Whitefield had a population of 2,306 in the 2010 census, not what one considers a major metropolis....LOL
