Essay
As an elementary school student my walk to school took me through some gritty streets (one-story factories and warehouses).
Permit me some personal asides. My dad was an older man of very poor health – I guess you would say he was on his death bed – that said, he picked a row house for us with only one factor in mind – its proximity to a subway station and so living close to warehouses and light industry was a negative that he just accepted.
One wintery walk, or should I say "crawl" took me to P.S. 152 through a waist-high blizzard (at least waist high or more through snow drifts) only to find my school had been closed. Such was my mother's devotion to education for me that even a blizzard - or perhaps it was only a snow storm, would not deter us.
What I recall vividly growing up is that these Woodside, Queens factories were smelly and fork lifts were constantly darting in and out of their open roll-down doors. Most North East cities likely had similar neighborhoods.
First Detail - Many light industry roll-down doors in Woodside and I would venture even more in Brooklyn were protected by cast iron buffers – sort of like buoys New England lobster men used to mark their cages. The pointy part was up and their round building body was down – usually painted green? Or red? Perhaps their manufacturer’s name in raised lettering? One quarter of the “buoy” was missing so that it could be fitted to the corner of the door opening. I once pointed this out to one modeler but sensed he did not like my suggestion or saw it as nitpicking or criticism. I would guess 70% to 90% of factory truck openings had these.
Trouble is I once checked the internet and could not find photos of same – perhaps because I don’t know the right terminology for them.
Second detail – show forklifts darting in and out of modeled factories both in the street and on wide sidewalks. Don't forget that in industrial areas, sidewalks could be wider than those found in older parts of town.
A Third detail I can point out that model railroaders seldom get right – roll down doors at one-story (light industry) factories and warehouses, rather than closed as on most models, were almost always open during working hours – keeping the doors closed would have hindered operations to an unacceptable degree! Even warehouses storing somewhat valuable merchandise were kept open all day long! Some slippery friends would try to steal things through those open doors. I recall that the employees were quite accessible. As a Boy Scout, I recall selling light bulb packs to the one or two employees - yes, I know light bulbs seem a strange fund raising device but light bulbs it was. I recall one kindly purchaser tested each bulb to make sure they worked.
Oh, a fourth detail never seen – in New York factory districts boys would use chalk to draw a batter's rectangle to play stickball – brick walls did double duty as “catcher” returning the ball to the pitcher. My friends and I were such boys. Eventually the rain would remove the chalk batter's rectangle, so no permanent harm was done. This would be a neat and easy detail to model in almost any scale except for Z scale.
Fifth detail - employees (all men) on a smoking break outside the warehouse/factory walls - and this was probably a bit rare, and these factories were operated as a well-run ship. Women on a smoking break at one of these industries were just not seen.
Sixth detail - Concrete sidewalks (with expansion joints) could be extra wide - not to accommodate heavy foot traffic but to leave ample room for temporary outdoor storage of materials and to allow trucks extra room to park while being loaded/unloaded. Sidewalks were wider because land costs could be less in later developed industrial areas and wide sidewalks had utility - they allowed temporary storage of boxes going out and in and even as parking for trucks making deliveries or pickups.
Seventh Detail - Gritty small storage yards characterized by a mix of asphalt and dirt pavement, weeds poking up everywhere; a banged-up chain link fence; and some dumped auto or truck parts in most corners. Perhaps a leaning utility pole in one corner.
Eight Detail - Don't forget bars on windows - at least on ground level.
Revised November 22 2020
Revised October 28 2023
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