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This blog presents my thoughts, information and activities in my model railroading world.

Friday, June 29, 2018

Cannery model planning

My next model will be a cannery.  This cannery processes vegetables and fruits as in season.  I am modeling it as a very old cannery, well weathered and deteriorated but still in operation.  My inspiration is the photo below.


This photo is from the early 1900's and apparently the staff is gathered for the photo.  My model will have substantial door openings in the main building to allow viewing of the canning machinery inside (I hope).  As you can see these early canneries had large manual labor with lots of women doing the work.  This will allow me to use some of the many female figures I have.

These old canneries had lots of interesting machinery and I will model some of these machines.


Above is a fruit and tomato washer.  It should make an interesting model.  This machine had revolving shafts and paddles to clean the fruit and vegetables.


Above is a processor or steam cooker.  You can see a basket containing products being loaded into the processor.

I have started building the main structure.




Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Tin shop model complete

My tin shop is now finished - a fairly simple model.  It will be added to the street.  The tin man works here.  The model has two parts, the main structure and an attached shed.  The shed was made board by board using a small sheet of veneer wood cut into strips.


The front doors and windows are commercial plastic parts.


The signs were parts of signs I found on the Internet.


Above is a rear view.


And above is a view of the shed under construction showing some interior details made from scraps to represent tin products.  I was not sure it would be visible through the open doors and that is mostly true.

Now again I need to decide what my next model will be.  At this point I am thinking of doing a small industry of some sort.



Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Street buildings installed

I have installed all of the buildings on the street and added some details.  The view below shows the end of the street nearest the edge of the layout.  There is a crew doing some digging next to the street and lots of junk next to the track.


Below is a view looking down the street.


And next is a view looking down the street showing the other side of the street.


And next is a view of the buildings at the other end of the street.


And lastly is a view with the rest of the layout extension in the background.


There is still a lot of scenery work to be done and I will be adding at least one more structure to the street.  It will be a tin shop.  I have sketched it out and started construction.


Thursday, June 14, 2018

His master's voice

This vintage advertising symbol is well known to most people and is still fascinating today.  I took the photo below years ago when traveling but sadly I did not note on the photo the location were it was.   It was fairly large and not far from the road.


I may add a sign/billboard of the image on my layout.  Below is a 1921 ad showing the symbol on a victrola.


I find vintage ads and equipment fascinating.  Years ago I bought an early jukebox which plays 78 RPM records.  It only plays one side of the records so if I want to play the other side I need to take the record out and turn it over.  This jukebox employs the old vacuum tubes which interestingly are still made though not widely available.  I have a modest collection of old 78 RPM records, a few of which have recordings on one side only.

I am slowly installing and scenicing the buildings on my layout street.  I have been slowed down by the need to cut down some trees,  one really large.  Not much fun.  I have decided there is room on the street for one more structure which has been designed.



Sunday, June 3, 2018

General store model complete

I have completed my general store model.  I added the porch roof, lots of signs, and lots of details.  As usual, I may later modify this or add more details - who knows.   On the front porch is a coke machine, a chair and some barrels along with two figures.


At the side is a fenced in area with lots of stuff.  At the back left is a shed with a work bench that has an open drawer with stuff in it.


I added a ground level side door under the stairs to allow the yard to be accessed from inside the building.


Above is a rear and side view.


Above you can see the right side where I added some signs.


And above is an elevated view of the front with a better look at what is in the yard.

I think this concludes the structures for my town street so I will next arrange the structures on the layout, install them and detail the street area.  This may be a little more complex than it sounds.