CRESSMONT
From the railroad's perspective, Cressmont wasn't much more than a grade crossing and a siding. There were a few structures, most notably the dairy and farm, and a few houses. The railroad siding, the dairy and the farm are represented on the layout.
In the prototype view (above) looking toward Widen the foundation of the dairy is still visible on the left. A siding once stood between the main and the road to the right. To the left is the view from the same spot on the layout.
On the layout the barn near the dairy was freelanced The road actually crossed to the left side of the dairy when facing it as can be seen in the photo above. The wooden highway bridge was also freelanced.
Motor "A" called regularly at the Cressmont dairy, picking up milk for delivery to Dundon, Swandale and Widen. The bus also carried mail.
The MAGIC OF MODEL RAILROADING
"In 1955 I had a chance to take a one day trip down to the BC&G with my dad. He loved trains as much as I did. I was only 8 years old at the time, but the memory of that Saturday are still vivid. Dad had just puchased a new Chevy two door sedan and I was surprised that he was willing to take it on the back roads of the WV mountains, but I'm glad he did. We spent the day railfaning at Cressmont, mostly because it was one of the easiest places to get to due to the decent road. We arrived in time to catch #14 roll through with 53 empty hoppers for the mine...I counted 'em while dad took the picture!"
"I'll never forget the next sound I heard...the strange rumbling and sputtering that sounded like a truck coming down the tracks. It was Motor 'A' and the first time I saw it I chuckled...I'd never seen a bus on rails before! Over the years I got to ride on her several times and each trip was fun. That day in 1955 a number of milk cans were loaded into the baggage compartment at the rear of the bus while the driver, Ray Connor, I believe, watched".
"But my favorite photo that Dad got that day is this one. Consolidation #4 had gone through eastbound earlier in the day with a short work train and we suspected she'd be coming back before the end of the day. We hung around Cressmont just enjoying the mountains and our patience paid off. Sure enough, just as the sun was dropping behind the hills, #4 came whistling back through on her way home. Her consist was just a couple of box cars and one of the Clark gons. Dad snapped the shutter just before 'ole Slobberface dipped into the shadow! Good work, Dad!"
INTERESTING NOTE ABOUT THIS PHOTO: The photo above is unique among all the photographs of the layout that appear on this website in that it was illuminated only by direct ambient sunlight! There is a small glass-block window in the basement to the left of this scene. At certain times of the year light from the setting sun comes through this window and falls directly on the layout. So this photo was actually taken in the evening just before sunset, just like the 'story' says, and with only natural light.
This lean-to maintenance shed was photographed by David Marquis in the late 1950's. It appears on the layout...just the corner of the roof is visible in the photo above. It sat across the tracks from the dairy and so is correctly positioned on the layout. The model is also visible in the low angle photo of the layout near the top of this page.
Hoppers were sometimes stored on the Cressmont siding. The Howard Ameling photo above is one of the few showing setouts actually being made, a scene duplicated on the layout in the photo to the left.
