Modeling the Atlantic & Yadkin Railway
Introduction
I have examples and suggestions for modeling A&Y equipment and for
designing an A&Y featured layout. See my own layout building experience
and that of several others on the A&Y layouts pages (link to left).
If you want to learn about the commercial models of which I am aware, click
on the link to Commercial Models link. If you wish to see what I and others
have done to customize, kitbash, or scratch build A&Y equipment, choose
the Custom Models link to the left.
General Hints and Tips to Model the A&Y.
The A&Y didn't own any freight equipment and the railroad was owned by
the Southern Railway and leased Southern Railway locomotives almost
exclusively. It bought 3
ex-Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac ten wheelers for passenger service. This means that any model of a Southern Railway prototype prior to 1950 would
be a candidate for an A&Y model. Flat cars, gondolas and boxcars would be
especially appropriate because of the mineral, forest and agricultural products shipped on
the A&Y. The thriving furniture, textile and tobacco industries along the line
also required lots of boxcars in that era. Greensboro hosted textile,
fertilizer, and metal working industries that would require boxcars and
gondolas. There were no active large scale coal mines
during the A&Y's existence, although the small scale Egypt mine did operate until
1928. There was a thriving clay-based terra cotta brick and pipe industry in
Greensboro and just below near Pleasant Garden. A clay pit serving those
industries was established near Gulf. Hoppers would not show up in long drags even for the Egypt
mine or the clay pits, but
there would be some hoppers in trains, especially south of Greensboro. Coal
hoppers for fueling the steam locomotives, the Duke Power plant in
Greensboro, and for distribution of coal for
domestic use like the story of a hopper load of coal sold for home use at Belews
Creek. The Southern wood hopper resin kit once offered by Smoky Mountain Model
Works and currently by Funaro & Camerlengo might be most appropriate to represent cars
loaded with coal at the Egypt coal mine for a 20's era or earlier layout or
loaded with clay from Gulf to Pomona for brick and terra cotta pipe. Any of the Southern Railway
or N&W or Virginian pre-1950 hoppers or even
gondolas would be acceptable for the occasional domestic or routine Duke
power plant coal deliveries.
The A&Y connected with five other Class 1 railroads including the
Southern, the ACL, SAL, original NS and the N&W. In addition some smaller lines
connected with the railroad in the steam era, especially around Sanford which was a hub of
small and big railroad activity. Freight cars from those lines
would likely show up on the A&Y. What is really
needed is someone to discover an A&Y conductor's wheel report that
details what trains and what cars with what loads were run on the rails.
If anyone has such a wheel report, I would pay to borrow and scan it for the
information! I keep looking on eBay, but it is more likely that such a book
is mixed in with someone's ancestors "things" and is just as soon
tossed as old paper nobody wants rather than recognized as the historical
record of a railroad lost in history. Ask around! You never know what
someone might have just laying around.
Until then, I will make do with conductor's logs
from the 1920-1935 era which detail trains on the Southern Railway's Winston-Salem
Division. This division interchanged with the A&Y at Rural Hall and also
connected with the Southern yard at Greensboro. These log books
provide a detailed list of exact
trains, locomotives, cars (including car reporting marks, car number, car type, commodity
if any carried, and the weight in tons!), and cabs. This means that I have an idea
of the type of cars interchanged with the Southern in the 20's and part of the 30's.
BUT KEEP LOOKING FOR THE A&Y CONDUCTOR WHEEL
REPORT! And then share with me for all to see.