New eyes: Historical modeling

In July of 1999, I wrote a much commented-on article entitled, "The Modeler as Historian." I wrote the article because I have become more involved in the modeling world over the past two years when the C&O Historical Society adopted a much more pro-active position in producing and selling specialty models.

As a result of this modeling interest, I have begun to look at images of the past in a different way. I am beginning to notice things to which I never paid the slightest attention previously. These are the minutiae, that is, the details of ordinary life in different eras. I tended previously to look at the locomotive, or train, or station that was the primary subject of the photo, without noticing the other things scattered or placed about that were part of the day and time the photo was taken. These could be stacks of ties, kegs of spikes, tools, carts, handcars and velocipedes, small buildings, stacks of freight, parts, piles of sand, a particular kind of ballast, crossings, boxes, or even litter and trash.

The modeler who wants to be an historian and the historian who wants to be a modeler must consider these small, seemingly inconsequential elements as well. It seems, looking at modeling from the outside over more than 30 years, that there has been a steady improvement in realism on the part of manufacturers and modelers. Yet neither has come to consider significantly the creation of truly authentic scenes, whether in a diorama or on an operating layout, in a way that would lead to the birth of a "movemeet.

There is, however, a movement that I see rising in the model railroading community called "Prototype Model-ing" which has as its aim the very detailed and accurate recreation of the prototype. I wish to call what I have in mind, "Historical Modeling." In Historical Modeling, I propose that the modeler consider the context of his work. For example, while the use of a particular locomotive is assiduously adhered to by those who model a certain period, the question of why the train's consist is made up as depicted is only now being given the consideration it deserves.

There are many questions that need to be asked when engaged in Historical Modeling. Does a freight consist, for example, have cattle cars because that was a considerable business in the region being modeled? Should coal be in different type cars based on its various destinations? What kind of industries populated the region depicted that would naturally get raw materials and ship finished products by rail? What interaction is there with highway transport? What about LCL freight?

When modeling passenger trains, there, are additional questions: What volume of express and mail should be handled on passenger trains, for example? Should there be separate freight and passenger buildings at a particular station? And beyond this, what infrastructure was needed to take care of the main structures and equipment of railroading? Water tanks must have pump houses or some other source of water. Buildings need coal houses in the era before central heating; shops have to have large parts yards and materials storage areas; car repair shops need lumber yards; cinders have to be carried away from steam facilities; and track men need tool houses and motorcar sheds. Watchmen need shanties; yard switchmen need shanties to keep warm between moves. The list can go on and on.

These examples are to illustrate what I mean by looking at the past with new eyes; what I mean in calling us to examine the small, the ordinary, the usual, the commonplace, the unremarkable of a certain era. These once common elements of everyday life in past times are now frequently forgotten in modeling projects.

Some may say that this is all too intricate, unglamorous, and unexciting. That is what I thought about the "rivet counter" modelers for many years. I came recently, however, to the realization that there is a tremendous potential for modeling (on both the micro and macro scales) to contribute to the cause of historical preservation. I now find it exciting, enlightening, and educational to pick out the many elements of these wonderful images of the past and realize how they all were part of the scene and of how life was lived in past times.

We often have a jaundiced view of the past. We see it through our own education, experiences, prejudices, and moral judgements, and we tend to assign the practices, mores, and knowledge of our own times to other times. This thinking is anachronistic. While this may be "natural," it is wrong if we seek to have any real appreciation of the past.

MORE THAN AN ALLEGHENY

The first case study includes the official C&O photographs, taken in connection with the arrival of the first H-8 Allegheny locomotives, in early 1942 (all photos in this article are from the C&OHS collection). The location is the sweeping curve at Tuckahoe, WVa., just west of Alleghany Tunnel, near the top of the grade. These photos have appeared in countless publications, and I have looked at them and written captions about them for as long as I can remember, but just this past month did I take a look at the cars in the train, and the surroundings of the train.