Another Industry for Greenbrook

Norm...as usual coming from you, this is a wonderful work of art.  Thanks so much for being part of this hobby and inspiring the rest of us!

 

Alan

Hey Alan, glad you liked it! Thanks for the kind words. I've been wanting to make a building based on the real one for years...

 

Now I need to work on the surrounding scenery...

Norm looks great!

I honestly think your building has more character than the original. Very nice, Norm. What type of industry does Wilcox Precision Gage represent?

Once again Norm, outstanding work!

Norm,

 

If we were to break you open and shake your contents over York we might bring the average layout quality up by a magnitude of 10.

 

Great stuff as usual.

I like it a lot!

 

Any insights to how to build that and operate it with boxcars?

Thanks again everyone...

 

Jumijo, I don't know really, maybe machine tools or production machinery. Most of the Village Industry plants made machine tools for Ford production lines and also auto parts. Another nearby plant made starters and voltage regulators and was staffed by an all female workforce at one time.

That is a very nice building that is made even better by the research you did and the history you uncovered.  Kind of like having a bit of history on your layout.

 

It is always a treat to see photos of new additions to your layout. 

 

Thanks for sharing,

Don

Norm, another nice model, it sure looks real...

Norm - is this building made from MDF sheets? We need a "how to" article.

Standard Norm!

 

Adjectives all used up!

 

Personally I think scratchbuilding something that is real and is personally meaningful is the only way to go.  I like how you handled both of those on this magnificent (not used yet) project!

 

- walt

Looks great Norm.

 

Fred

Very nice building Norm.

 

 

Alan Graziano

Beautiful model with real character!  From the Bing view, there appears to be a small waterway that passes underneath the building but I don't see how it could be used as a source of power.  Is there an explanation somewhere?

 

Hi Pete, in this view here you can see the water channel passing beneath the building. This is a photo of the graphics on the historical marker that was installed in front of the building a couple years ago. There's a bit of change in elevation at this site as witnessed by the waterfall across Hines. There appears to be a weir at the outlet of the pond to control flow and I'd imagine there was a water powered dynamo or two in the basement. There's several of these devices at the Henry Ford Museum that I've always been fascinated with. This is really an amazing little site.

 

Really nice model Norm.  Love the detail you put in all your models.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Norm - that's a great photo of the waterway.  From the Bing aerial view, it looks flat but the photo above answers the question very clearly.  You are right - it is amazing.  They were a pretty ingenious bunch back then. 

I hear ya Pete. Here's some progress shots of the surrounding scenery. I wanted to make more progress but had to do some other stuff around the layout last night..

 

Sadly, ol' Wilcox here doesn't have the benefit of water power and will have to plug into the local grid.

 

****, dood!  Building looks killer (as usual)!

 

I'd like to reiterate what others have said already: could we get a how-to article in one of the rags?

 

Brian

Thanks Brian! As for doing articles, I don't know, it's more fun to post in real time I guess.

 

I am about to head into a long weekend here, hoping to blaze some more progress before the D3 guys show up next Saturday!

 

Now that's what I call modeling realism. The setting the building and the presentation all blend perfectly together and the subtle weathering looks excellent.  As a scratchbuilder I would estimate that you have 40-50 hours of work in that building.

Thanks Dennis!

 

Here's an amazing and interesting site on water powered generator installations:

 

http://www.frenchriverland.com...general_electric.htm

 

Makes me wonder what was in the basement of this building.

No problem Norm. I just call it as I see it and in this case the work and result was fabulous. You bring up another point about model railroading that is seldom discussed. It is the history behind the structures that we build. When I look at any model railroad with realistic structures, I always wonder what life was like in those real life trackside industries. It iscorrect  that very many of them generated their own electricity both using coal powered steam turbines and water wheels. Today you could not use that power as the government bureaucrats, the environmentalists and the EPA would stop you from doing that but in the bygone age of industrial America this was quite common. Just goes to show how life has changed in the last 100 years.

Another point that we seldom touch upon is that Model Railroading can be like fine art. My model railroad is my sculpture, my canvas and my stage. I'm sure that you view it this way as well.