Trackside platform sheds model complete

I have completed the trackside platform sheds.  It was interesting - now I need to decide where to install it on the layout.  One end is a storage shed and the other an ice cream business, which also sells soft drinks and hot dogs.  The roof is made from card stock and covered with the venerable Campbell paper shingles.

There are two figures in the ice cream stand and a woman and child figures outside buying ice cream. There are two figures in the center section, one is sitting on the small loading dock and the other is sitting on a bench at the right-side back of the center section.  

Although it is hard to seem them there are a number of items sitting on the counter,  including a cola bottle, a mustard bottle, a ketchup bottle, a hot dog in a bun, and a cup of ice cream.  The cola bottle is a commercial part.  The other two bottles are small pieces of plastic dowel slightly shaped.  The hot dog is a piece of wire wrapped in a bit of card stock.  The ice cream cup is a short piece of plastic sprue with a dob of putty on top.

Above you can barely see the figure on the bench.  There is a open top metal barrel with junk sticking out beside the storage shed and there is a wood barrel next to one of the support posts - both are commercial parts.  There are also two boxes sitting on the loading dock.

Now that this is done I again need to decide what to build next - always a challenge.

Trackside platform sheds start

The model I am building was inspired from an old photo in a relatively new book about York Pennsylvania.  The photo shows a market shed vintage 1880's which no longer exists.  The market shed was not trackside, but my model will be trackside.  My platform has a small structure on each end of the platform similar to the "prototype" but the similarity stops there.

This model is still in the early stages of construction, and at this point the roof is sitting loosely on the  two structures.  The left structure is a storage shed and the right structure is an ice cream and refreshment stand (the market shed had that also).  There will be a raised loading platform in the center area for loading items onto railroad cars.  Not sure at this point what else will be there.  The structures are made from wood and the roof from card stock.  Models at this stage in construction often look crude but at least you can get some idea of what I am doing.

Above is a view of the back of the model which will face away from the edge of the layout.  As you can see the ice cream stand extends away from the platform.

As is often the case, I am building this using only a sketch so I have only a vague idea of what the finished model will look like.  I am planning to have lots of signs and several figures.   This is a really small model so it is a relatively quick project.

Those of you who are members of the NMRA may have noticed that the April photo on the NMRA calendar was from my layout.  I was pleased they selected my photo.  I have also been doing articles for the NMRA Magazine.  The first a few months ago was on the gas station you saw on  the blog last year.  The next article will be on an abandoned shed on my layout.  That was also on the blog some time ago.  The articles have additional information beyond what I published on my blog.  The third article I wrote was on the N scale structure I built.  That article will probably not be published until fall of this year.  After it is published, I will put something about it on the blog.  Since I am a life member of the NMRA and no longer pay them anything I thought I would contribute.

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.