Leadville Freight Depot

[Keith Hayes]

Jim:

Thanks for the offer of images of the Leadville Freight Depot. I have a similar standing offer from Doug Junda.

I made several trips to photograph the depot and already have many images, both in and out:





I already built what I have come to think of as the Explosives Shed:

This building is built of styrene and weathered with Pan Pastels.

The 3D printed brackets for the Freight Depot have been in hand for some time. They were really easy to make, and even the fire chamfers turned out nicely. I had previously laid in a stock of Grandt freight doors, but as the 3D printing is working out so well, I will probably make my own custom doors to more closely resemble the real thing. And...though I initially thought I would scale the building down to fit between the tracks, upon reflect, I will build the model full scale.

That only leaves the sign on each end to figure out. If you have a good, square image of the sign from years ago, please post it!

Work on this model will start soon.

[Keith Hayes]

Here is a close up of the Freight Depot bracket. The platform faces the backdrop,  so these will not be visible.

[Robert McFarland]

There's a few photos of the Freight Station in the Dorman Collection.

[Ken Martin]

In 2013 the DSP&PHS got in the Freight house which is today being used as a warehouse for a lumber company.

the interior



and a view of an old date on a beam.



Ken Martin

[South Park]

  Do we know what the measurements are for those knee brace/roof support
brackets ?  I really like this design and need to make eleventy-hundred of them
for my place.  What is the overhang on the service docks ?  Roof pitch looks
like 6/12 (?).

[Keith Hayes]

Espee, I tried to take the photo as square as possible. The overhang is wide--eight or ten feet th of my recollection. They are big pieces of wood too. I would get started soon if you need eleventy-hundred.

[Jim Courtney]

Several years ago, Dave Grandt posted these two images on the DSP-P Yahoo Groups page:




The freight house sign, about 1910.  Not sure it was on both ends of the freight house or just on the depot end. Notice the square periods after "Ry" and "Depot".

Can image software correct the perspective enough to allow printing a decal from this image?




This image, dated 1939, shows the freight house was already being used by a lumber yard.

Jim

[Jeff Young]

Hi Jim,

On 14 Jun 2016, at 21:59, Jim Courtney [via C&Sng Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Can image software correct the perspective enough to allow printing a decal from this image? 

Is it possible?  Yes.

Would it be worth the effort?  Likely not.  A huge amount of work would be involved in getting all the kinks around the battens worked out.

Might be easier to try and re-create it with some historic fonts….

Cheers,

Jeff.

[Mike McKenzie]

The image itself is no problem, getting around the battens is the tough part. Given the width and depth of the battens, a decal could be adjusted to fit, but would try anyone's patience to apply. What I would do is apply the decal (or stencil, hand paint, whatever) to the flat surface of the wall, then attach the battens over the sign, touching up with a fine brush (or apply slices of a second decal?) where the letterforms intersect with the battens. Lotta work but it would be a cool effect.



Mike

[Keith Hayes]

You guys are making modelling Leadville too easy.

[Jeff Young]

Wow, I’m impressed.  Well done, Mike.

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jim Courtney]

Well done, Mike, well done!

But . . err . . . you forgot the second period.  After "Depot". Hiding behind the pile of wood or ties. (See second photo from 1936).
They sure liked their periods back it the 19aughties.

Now Keith will have the perfect lettering set for the Freight House.


It looks to me that the sign was only on the depot end of the freight house, not the roundhouse end, judging from this early 1920s photo:



Derrell Poole Collection, in Narrow Gauge Pictorial Volume VIII


Looks like a small square window on the attic gable of the round house end of the freight house. And the two little cupola vents and the ladders make a nice detailing touch as well.

Wait a minute, Keith, is this the same building??

[Mike McKenzie]

Sign revised with period after DEPOT. The outline is really faded, practically gone, in the 1936 photo. Neat building.



Mike

[Jim Courtney]

Perfection!

[Robert McFarland]

Could they laser cut a stencil?

[Robert McFarland]

If you google "stencil maker" there are several  ads for stencil making machines with fantastic possibilities.Martronics was one of the company ads that I read about.

[Chris Walker]

Jim Courtney wrote

Derrell Poole Collection, in Narrow Gauge Pictorial Volume VIII

Wait a minute, Keith, is this the same building??

Err not to me.  A is the Leadville Freighthouse: B is the building shown in the photo from Jim's post with the #60 Switcher alongside.   This building is always just out of sight in all the great views by McClure.


http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/729/rv/singleitem/rec/2328


http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/29515/rv/singleitem/rec/5




http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p15330coll22/id/983/rv/singleitem/rec/2

[Jim Courtney]

You're right, Chris!

In the photo that I posted, there appears to be a heavy beam protruding out from the roof ridge to the left. And I can see now that there is no trackside platform with overhanging roof. Anyone know what this building was?

Just think, another structure for Keith to build.

Jim

[Keith Hayes]

Yeah, I will add that to the list too, Jim. Thanks.

Yes, there are two, long gabled, barn-like structures in the Leadville yard. The larger one is the Freight Depot; I think the smaller one is a private warehouse, though I believe it appears on the valuation maps. The smaller building is the one in the photo of locomotive 60, and is easily characterized by the two vents along the ridge. It also appears to have a steeper roof.

When I took my photos, there were remnants of the freight depot sign on both ends of the building. Thanks again for the artwork, Mike.

Back from vacation, and so now back to the salt mine....

[Keith Hayes]

"Leadville: ten months of winter followed by two months of almost fall."