Evolution of the Richmond Sand House

Richmond had at least three different sand houses during the steam era and now has modern diesel sanding facilities.  The modern stuff is outside the scope of this post.  These three houses were built as replacements for each other.  The first, circa 1900 with the original facilities.  

In a recent post on Locomotive Sand, I showed a 1903 view of the round house with what looks like a large rectangular sand tower and pile mounted water tank to its left.  The 1912 Station plat shows the relative locations of the sand house & bin, round house and other structures in the engine servicing area at Richmond. 

 1912 Station Plat, California State Archives, RR Maps 177-42

Richmond 1900 Sand House circa 1903

The original layout did not include a means to unload sand into the bin alongside the Round House other than shear muscle power.  This may have been OK in 1903 when the typical locomotive was a 2-8-0 with a small sand dome, traffic was light, and manpower was cheap.  It was still OK in 1918 when the next sand house was built. Photos from circa 1940 show it in the same general location as its predecessor.  The Coast Lines Terminal Division Building records document this house as having a 58x16' sand bin, shortened to 40' under authorizations C-272-28 in 1928.  The 1918 sand house was 50'x16', including the drying room on the north side.  It sat on a concrete foundation, was of wood construction with a tin shingle roof.  The peak of the sand tower portion had a nearly 1:1 pitch with it's axis perpendicular to the tracks.  

1918 Sand House and bin

1918 Sand House in 1941

     But by 1944, the situation was different.  Rosie was riveting away in the adjacent shipyards as most of the men had marched off to war.  Locomotives had increased in size, with the large 3400 class Pacifics doing the honors on the daily trans-continental passenger trains, 3500 class Pacifics were at the head of the freight pool, and plans were afoot to bring heavier power to the Valley Division as the FTs displaced steam in the desert divisions.  To aid the servicing of this power, the locomotive facilities at Richmond were remodeled with an extended turntable to accommodate turning the longer locomotives.  Elevating the track to the sand bin would mean one operator could empty a full GS gondola of sand directly into the supply in a matter of moments rather than hours of effort by a crew of laborers with shovels.  But the layout as shown above would not allow such a track as it would run into the turntable.  How to solve that problem?  Move the bin to the other side where a longer grade was possible.  As shown below in a 1952 track chart sketch, the wooden water tank was gone, the oil tanks replaced by three vertical ones, and the sand house and bin (#28 below) rebuilt and relocated RR west of the earlier location.

  

ATSF 1952 Track Chart

The 1944 annual report to the California RR commission shows an expenditure for a new sand house in Richmond as well as the turntable extension documented in the Warbonnet turntable article.

1944 ATSF report to Cal State RR Commision

The final steam era sand house is nearly a mirror image of the 1918 version with the drying room on the south side away from the round house.  It has a large sand bin supplied by an elevated trestle as shown in my earlier post Locomotive Sand at Richmond.

1944 Sand House in 1947

Modeling the 1944 Sand House:  

Mountaineer Precision Products produced a laser cut kit, number MTN990HO, of the San Bernadino Sand House as modified in the late 40s.  This kit is very similar to the 1944 Richmond sand house and could be modified with little difficulty. 

Unfortunately, MPP's owner had some health issues a couple years back and MPP has ceased production.  If any of you have a spare sand house, I missed out and am in need.

Modeling the 1918 Sand House:

To the best of my knowledge there is no commercial kit.  But you can use the Standard Sand House Plans published in Vol 3 of the Systems Standards, originally by Kachina Press, republished by the ATSFH&MS.  Dated 1918, they appear on page 365 and are a good match to the photos and the dimensions shown in the building records.

Modeling the 1900 Sand House:

The photos posted here are the best I have available.  Any die hard 1900 modelers have a significant scratch effort in front of you.  Good Luck 

I hope you have enjoyed this little bit of locomotive servicing history and its evolution at Richmond.

John Barry

Cameron Park, CA

20 June 2014