Korber

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Korber Engine House

by Michael A. Scivoletti

I just put it together as single stall open at both ends as and the only finishing was using my finger as a paint brush to rub on signal red paint onto the molded brown brick work, trying to get some shading. I know there is a way to get the whitish mortar for between the bricks, but I did not remember how to do it, so all the brick work is a shade of signal red. All other pieces are the original plastic with no painting done to any other parts.

I believe with a little extra work at the building stage and using some I-beams, the interior might be made to look almost semi real. Back in 1996, I got the address for the Burlington Northern Public Relations Department and asked them if they had any material showing an engine service building. A Mr. David C. Letourneau was nice enough to send me a press release from the time of the Great Northern announcing the opening of a new two stall 280' by 60' enclosed structure that would be open to the public on December 14th, 1968. That building is very similar to the Korber Models structure in that it is brick and windows, the main difference is the windows on the Havre building are more vertical than horizontal as on the Korber Model. The pictures he sent along are really great. They show the different service levels and give a decent over view of what the building looks(ed) like inside. I have no idea if the building still exists and is used by BNSF. Except for the different floor levels, the inside of the building is very simple. It really is brick and glass surrounding a basic steel frame structure. The most intricate parts would be the roofing supports and overhead lighting and servicing equipment (fuel, sand, etc.)

He also sent along an article on the wheel truing shop that has some neat pixs, especially for a person who has never seen this kinda stuff. The Truing machine can do the job of truing the wheels while they are still on the locomotive. I assume you could not do this on an earlier wheel truing machine. If you are interested in attempting to build something like from scratch (I do not think it would be very difficult for a skilled person), I can make copies of the photos he sent of both inside and out and send along if you will provide a snail mail address. Just be aware, the pictures I got were copies to bring with and although the originals may have been in color, they are now shades of gray. They seem pretty clear.

The only thing I found with the Korber Model was because of the way the roof material is set up, there no really flat surfaces for the roof vents to glued onto, so I am always knocking one loose as I lean over to hand throw one of my crossover switches. "Michael A. Scivoletti" <cbat1244@nji.com>

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