These
drawings are based on photographic evidence, older people's personal
recollections and ICC Valuation Map information. I've drawn the station
as it might appear in 1950. Depending on the period you are modeling,
there will be additions/omissions necessary to keep the model prototypical.
A special thanks
to Dave Bathgate, Joe Codella, Gene Deimling and
Mr. Dick Roy for assisting me in making these plans as complete
and accurate as humanly possible!
If anyone knows
something I missed, please speak
up. My goal is to make these station plans as accurate as
possible.
And if you
or someone you know is modeling this station, I'd appreciate knowing
about it.
If you ever
had opportunity to be INSIDE this station, I'd love
to attempt a floor plan.
Buy this station
in Kit form. The N-Scale Architect has created a laser cut wood
kit of the Branchville station in HO and N Scales. Discounttrainsonline
has a good deal. (I recieve no compensation for this plug. I do
it for my own pleasure.)
Read my review
of the Branchville station kit.
Drawings:
Pictures
Colors:
Empirical
evidence shows that the Branchville depot was originally painted red.
However, there is a newspaper item which states that all the stations
on the Sussex Branch wee once painted red.
Around 1916,
the Lackawanna painted all the stations on the Sussex Branch light
gray with dark green trim.
After World
War II, the stations were painted dark green with red trim.
If you plan
on modeling the station in the 1970's (abandoned,) paint it blue
with pinkish red trim. The green had faded to blue and the town
painted it in the blue scheme for the U.S. bicentennial.
Alterations
through time:
1869:
Branchville's depot was constructed on the western side of the track.
1922:
A photograph from this year shows the Branchville depot with a 15-20
foot addition on the freight end. This addition was not in evidence
on the 1918 Val Map, and no one knows when it was removed. Likely
it was gone by 1939.
1939:
Station moved across the tracks to allow construction of the Sussex
Milk & Cream Co.
1940s:
I'm guessing that somewhere during this period the track side loading
platform was extended to block the center door of the station. It
previously stopped at the end of the freight door and had a ramp
down the the edge of the center door.
1950s:
By this time, the lightning rods or 'spikes' had been removed from
the gable ends. They were each 3 feet long. The chimneys on the
center and freight end of the station were also gone by this time.
The gingerbread below the peak of each gable survived until the
end.
To
compensate for the hours of research and work I put into these drawings,
I'm offering paper prints of them for sale. Information here:
Donations of
photographs or scans of photographs of this or any other Sussex County,
New Jersey railroad station are always welcome.
Photos used for
these plans came from: