Currently, I am thinking of building a layout based on Detroit as it was in the early 1950s. Can any of you give me Ideas for the buildings and scenes that I should have for the town - Kyle
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Kyle. There are many directions you could go.
Down river was (is) heavily associated with the auto industry. Rouge plant at Ford come to mind.
Mid-town had International Milling, Robinhood Flour, Central Steel and was the hub for commuter trains running to Pontiac and points north. Four morning trains, four afternoon trains plus two international trains made for interesting traffic.
Northeast had much auto associated stamping and material suppliers. Ryerson, Copper & Brass, Rotary Electric Steel (J&L stainless) and the Dodge plants for military equipment.
Eastern Market had dozens of tracks serving the stock yard and processing plant. Milwaukee Junction had the engine service facilities and exchanges with major railroads.
Then there is the MC depot area with much passenger traffic for the MC/NYC. Fort Street station had passenger trains from several lines such as Wabash, B&O, C&O.
Personally, I thought the GTW terminal at Brush Street offered the best selection of traffic. There was a ferry terminal for cross-river traffic from Canada for stuff that couldn't go through the tunnel.
Have fun with your design!
"Eastern Market had dozens of tracks serving the stock yard and processing plant. Milwaukee Junction had the engine service facilities and exchanges with major railroads." what were these "major railroads" specifically?
Sounds like an exciting project.
I bought a number of Morning Sun books on the region and roads I model. The trackside ones are great. Lots of pictures to get the feel of the RR. . Most pictures feature an engine but there are long captions about operations and what’s going on in the picture. I just looked at their site. There are 2 books on Detroit Railroading.
