Train bulletin chalk boards?

Sorry it took so long for me to find this topic.

I found one good photo of a call board on the Nevada Northern.  Here is the link:

http://www.railpictures.net/vi...id=273092&nseq=7

The call board we had at the SLSF yard office in Oklahoma City used nameplates that hung on a large board in similar fashion to the photo.  The old heads had stamped metal plates.  The younger guys had engraved plastic plates.

I have seen a photo of the old roundhouse call board in Tulsa which was a huge chalkboard. I think that photo was in one of the Don Ball photo books.  The first time I saw that photo it made my hair stand up, because there were names I recognized from the stories that the old heads told while sitting around the yard office.

This may not be much help, but it's all I had.

Lee, as you may have figured out by now, a train order board is actually a signal, usually a semaphore, right in front of the Train Order Office, which displays different aspects to tell trains that there are or are not train orders to be picked up there.

Rob describes the crew boards common to crew offices (Switchmen and Trainmen) and roundhouses (Engineers and Firemen).  The board that showed the scheduled arrival and departure times of passenger trains at that station was called an Arrival and Departure Board.

So, which one do you want to model?

Okay, I used the wrong terminology.

I meant a train bulletin board (that term will confuse some, as I don't mean a cork board you put pins into).

I have made scale versions of them for my depots on my layout and like how they turned out as you can actually read them with a microscope, I'd just like a 1:1 scale version...

Maybe you mean a "Train Time chalk board"?

Train schedule board.

Schrader's may sell them.

http://railroadcatalog.com/ind...hp?route=common/home

Lee,

I saw your post and thought "coool idea", so I searched de bay and voila-so search slate chalkboard. If you can handle a little tablesaw work a guy could make a pretty cool item(oak would be my choice). Good luck...Now ya got me thinkin about another project!

Carl

Maybe just google "slate chalkboard.

They were actually called train bulletin boards, as it noted on the example photo you posted.

One of the companies like that makes them, but they used adhesive letters. I want mine done with paint.

Well, I've been looking for a long time now and can't find anyone who makes a new slate board with a wood frame with the tray for the chalk, in a small-ish size (my ideal wout be no larger than 24" wide and 36" tall)...

Have you tried Toys r Us? Don't laugh!!! Seriously.

Yeah, I've found plenty of kiddie and girlie-looking ones, but nothing that would look right in a 1940's railroad station...

If you're up for making your own this guy has some ideas.

Bulletin Board

Jerry

I was thinking that you could reframe and make your own.It wouldn't be that hard. Use one inch stencils  to paint the lettering. This way you can make it unique for your road.

Too bad you don't live in NE PA, I make chalk boards from old window frames, slate from the old chalk boards at our school, and wood chalk tray mounted at the bottom. I can take a picture if you'd like to see one.

Don

Don, where in NEPA are you?  Do you sell the boards?  Ty 

The Wilkes-Barre area. Yes I do sell them. This is a small one for the home crafter. My contact info is in my profile.

Don

Making a good slate chalkboard is way more complex than that. I once took a good look at a chalkboard removed from a 1920s school being torn down. I was shocked at how different the surface of the board really was.

Most chalkboards today are Masonite with flat black coating on one side. I'm looking for something better than that.

I'm also lacking most (if not all) the needed tools to be able to make my own that will look like I want.

This is one of those things that you'd think wouldn't be tough to find, but it is.

I don't know what shipping would be, but I could pre fab one and send disassembled with assembly instructions. I would need to know dimensions.

Also, in the class room, chalk boards were installed in sections. Some we have are about 4' square, others are about 2' X 4' The thickness is about 5/16", so a 4X4 is a bit heavy. The newer boards we have in our crica 1979 high school are steel with a black coating. We do have several framed masonite boards with the painted surface, but as they wear, we don't replace them. Most classrooms are now using the electronic "SMART"/ white boards.

Are there any salvage yards in your area? These are good places to find items like this. Good luck with your project.

Don

Yes.  I was going to mention that little detail earlier.

Real slate use in "blackboards", etc ended quite a while ago. Only one of the 3 I got out of surplus ~25 years ago to put in the hallway outside my office is slate.

I suspect that if you want real slate you will have to crack open the piggy bank......