Lots of old trucks

Here are some photos of old trucks.  I find old trucks to be interesting and have modeled several of them.  I cut these photos out of old books and magazines years ago and do not recall any specifics about the locations or exact time frames.

The photo above shows lots of trucks in a big city location, apparently near the waterfront since the buildings on the left advertise steamship lines to Boston.  That would indicate this is near the North east U. S.   The street area seems a little chaotic.  Those people walking in the street seem to be taking a risk.

The above photo shows a truck either being loaded or unloaded at perhaps a warehouse.  The roof of the truck cab is apparently collapsible - perhaps canvas with a frame.  The windshield also looks to be  partially folded back.  That is a really big box they are handling.  There seems to be a front license plate at the top of the radiator - different from what I am used to seeing.

Next model

I have decided to build a trackside platform for my next model.  It has a roof and structures at each end.

Wheel Company factory on the layout

The Wheel Company factory is now complete and installed on the layout with a little scenery around it.  I added an ice delivery wagon at the right in front of the factory.  The wagon is having it's left front wheel replaced.  There is a support under the axle since the wheel has not yet been installed.  The figure installing the wheel was a figure originally designed to install a wheel on a car but I repainted him in more vintage clothing and made a hat for his head.  The brim of the hat was made from Kleenex painted with acrylic paint and the top of the hate is from successive drops of white glue.  The wagon driver is leaning on the back of the wagon watching the process.

I placed a number of weathered wheels around the factory leaning on the walls.  I made a sawhorse out of wood scraps and placed it in the front.

In the view above you can see the used wheels against the left wall and there is a pile of scrap wood against the wall behind the walking figure.  Both standing figures were Plasticville figures that had been carrying suitcases which I removed before painting the figures.

Above is a view of the right wall and you can see the horse which pulls the wagon eating grass against the wall.  I installed two barrels - one on each side,  The barrels were made from plastic soda straws with a circle of paper glued to the base.

Above is the ad which inspired my model.  I found it is a 1917 industrial book.  The Archibald company apparently went out of business in the 1920's.

I have been planning my next model and at this point have only a germ of an idea.

Wheel Company factory

I have decided that the factory I have been building will be a Wheel Company factory.  This company's business has been declining due to the dwindling demand for wagon type wheels in my 1939 era.  The company was founded in the late 1800's and for many years it was quite profitable.  The deterioration of the business has been accompanied by the deterioration  of the buildings.  I remember when I was a small boy in the early 1940's living with my mother and brother in rented rooms on the upper floor of a suburban home, that an ice vendor would periodically stop on our street to deliver ice.  He would also give small pieces of ice to us kids.  He used a horse and wagon to do his business, so wagons were in use into the 1940's despite the growing use of trucks and automobiles.

Above is building #2 with updates for details and signs.  I added a stack and a roof top access to the roof as well as signs.

And above is building number 3.  It is a brick structure built using left over kit parts (do not recall what kits) for the front of the structure and plastic brick sheet (interestingly a Vollmer product marked "made in West Germany" on the back) for the right side.  The other side and back are made from card stock, as is the roof.  

Above is the first wood structure adjoining the 3rd structure.

Next I will install all three buildings on the layout with a little scenery.  That should be posted perhaps by this weekend depending on what else life has in store for me.

Factory building #2

This is the second of three buildings in this factory complex.  It will be located behind the prior wood factory building, separated by an alley.  It will be to the right of the abandoned building.  This building was constructed using a variety of components.  The left side is from an old resin kit building part.  There is a wood addition in the lower front of this section.  The right side was made using plastic brick sheet.  The center section was built from card stock then covered with pieces of corrugated metal by Campbell.  The windows are plastic commercial parts of long forgotten origin.

This structure is purposely built to represent an old and deteriorated building.  To achieve the deteriorated look I covered the painted brick with a wash of white acrylic paint.  The wood parts were painted gray and then given a coat of india ink & alcohol.  The corrugated metal was painted various colors then given washes of other colors, mostly rusty.  Lastly I applied various chalk weathering.

There is still more work to be done on this structure including signs and other details.

Wooden factory building

This wooden factory building is the first of three structures that comprise the next model complex to adjoin the abandoned building.  The structures in this complex will be run down but operational.  I still need to add signs and other details to this building but, to tell the truth, I have not yet decided what the factory produces.

This is the front of the structure.  The right side and rear are plain card stock walls.  There will be another structure attached to this one on the right side.  The third structure will be behind these two separated by an alley.

The walls are commercial clapboard and the widows by Tichey.  The stack is a plastic insert from a mechanical pencil.