Every town big or small needs a church

the picture or electronic lash up (Link) to the church did not come through!

The little churches look great on a layout, small town look.

I have picked up some from Lemax for the Christmas layout. Middle of photo 1 and right of 3rd photo.

And a 3D puzzle for a huge church for the city scene a couple of spot lights make it look great. on left of photo 2.

Click on photos for a larger view.

Need to get a little one for a smaller town like photos earlier in this post.

  I'm a bit surprised that no one has thought of putting your churches on wheels.  A scratchbuild or a kitbash of one of the railroad chapel cars would not only give you a church on your layout it would also allow you to pull it behind a train.

  There are prototype drawings of the cars and you can find pictures of them on the web (a couple still survive in museums) and if you want to get a sense of what it was like to be a minister on one you could check out A Church on Wheels; or Ten years on a Chapel Car by Charles Rust

Oh yes!  That would be spectacular.

As to synagogues, I just don't have the room, but I think it would be so cool to do "one of each" - big Christian church, a synagogue, a Buddhist temple, mosque, a Shinto temple, etc.  Religious structures are very often the premier architecture of a period or country, so they would/could all be very good looking and fun to model.  

I just wish I had the room.

But a railroad chapel: that I can do.  It's on my list now.   

Once again Lee, standing by your signature "If no one has ever done it that way, it might be fun to try." I for one can't wait to see the results.

In terms of model Churches that could be integrated into an O-Gauge layout, D56 did many throughout it's several villages. Churches were an obvious good seller in their product lines because of the Christmas theme of most of their villages. As the product matured over the years, they did issue several Churches without the snow effect, so they can be used in year-round displays.

D56 did recognize there was a demand for a synagogue in their product lines and selected the Christmas in the City collection to release one. As I mentioned above, they did an outstanding job with the architecture of this structure. If a Forum member wants to add a synagogue to their layout, I am sure they are available on the D56 secondary market.

One could always pitch a model tent such as the traveling evangelist did in my hometown back in the late 1930s. Even better, the A&Y RR allowed him to pitch it in the mostly unused rail park across from the Depot where we played ball among other things.

A prototypical site if there ever was one. 

He would tell us boys that we could "get in free" if we helped with the setup work. His theme was to play his trumpet and loudly preach that his mission was: "save them old mossy-back, galvanized, church going, fake Christians from the devil".

My Methodist mom wouldn't let me attend but one could hear it well from a distance. Nevertheless I am still a "mossybacked" Methodist.

here are two cathedrals i built for clients a couple of years ago...they are feature structures in their villages and train layouts under the Christmas tree...

these cathedrals are mostly cardboard...both are fully illuminated with LEDs...

howard...

http://www.littleglitterhouses.com

Brian - That is a beautiful cathedral!  I didn't realize that that Dept. 56 had buildings without snow?  Is it just a random thing or do they have whole collections that way?  Snow on their structures was a deal breaker for me.  Ones I can remember wanting were the Red Owl grocery store and the Krispy Kreme donut shop.

Art

A Mosque? A Buddha Temple? Shinto Shrine? What about Zoastrianism? Heck, throw in Existentialism.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, as the saying goes.

How about United Brethern?

or Lutheran

or Church of God

or Methodist Episcopal

or  more Lutheran

or Quakers

or Catholic

or the Reformed Church (and bank, )

or an AEM church?

Art:

To answer your question, yes D56 issued a village named Seasons Bay that depicted a seaside town set in summertime with obviously no snow effect on any of these buildings. This village included a very nice church. Additionally, there are many D56 Churches without the snow effect. One of the most notable without snow is the St. Paul's cathedral, a replica of the one in St. Paul, MN. This is a large structure and fits well into an O-Gauge layout.

I personally like the villages that contain the porcelain buildings. The detail achieved with porcelain gives a high level of realism. Any Forum member who is looking to add a Church to their layout should consider D56 as a viable option.

Season Bay Church (no snow effect)

This one is high on my '2-do' list...

It's the April 1938 issue.  Love it!  I'm just not sure where the real estate will come from, but it'll be found!

KD

When I was a kid we lived next door to the local Presbyterian church (listened to the organist practice at 5:30 every Sunday morning. I hated that woman.) and the Minister, Reverend Minor E. Bruner, drove a Mercury version of the glass topped Ford in your first couple of pictures.  It was his only "vanity", bought for him by the congregation when his '39 Plymouth business coupe went belly up.

Dewey, wouldn't you be "tinplated" ?

Jerry

Here is my scratch built version of my childhood country church.

Jim - That is a very nice looking church.  I love your scenery too.  The sign on the warehouse "Auction every Tues." is great.

Art

WOW Lee and AMC and others those are really awesome Churches!!!!!

My wife some years ago bought a ceramic Church that lights up and it's pretty big but we put it on the layout and it always draws attention.

Your Gothic Churches are really cool and I would love to add something like those.!!!

As for denomination--On the TM Celebrity series Train Layouts Mandy Patinkin has a nice church on his layout and he is jewish!!! It's one of the best videos I have seen because he is so personable and funny and he relates a story that many of us married hobbists can relate to!!!

This is a D56 model of St. Paul's Cathedral in At. Paul, MN. It is a beautiful Church.

Another example of a D56 Church. It is named the Trinity Church.

Here is another sample of a D56 Church. This belongs to their Christmas in the City collection. Take a look at the photo that was posted above and compare it to the D56 model. Pretty close.

Brian - Those are really great examples of churches.  How are the heights of the doors if you pose scale people in front of them?  They appear to be close enough to blend in well with other scale structures.

Art

Art:

The doors are perfect for figures such as Artista models. D56 porcelain Churches have wonderful detail and are available in a number of architectural styles.

I think they represent hidden gems as most O-Gauge enthusiasts have not considered these possibilities.

My church; MTH w/ lights added.

Looks like a lot of compression in the latter structure.  What's the actual footprint of it?

mwb:

The piece is named All Saints Corner Church. It was introduced by D56 in 1991, four years after the start of the Christmas in the City product line. The dimensions are 6.5 x 8.25" and it stands about 12" tall.

I have no idea if the building designer had the Church you posted in mind, but it is strikingly close. When I saw the picture you posted, I immediately recognized the similarity.

That's actually pretty small for that style of church, so that's a whole lot of compression of prototype.  I think that the BTS rural church kit that I'm finally wrapping up the scenery on might be a good bit bigger despite the fact that I wacked ~20% of the structure with the band saw.  Might get pictures later tonight, if I'm lucky...

My guess is there is no real connection between the D56 model and the Church pictured above. I think that it is a striking coincidence. 

Like many of the D56 structures, there has to be compression. The Empire State Building and the just released Chrysler Buildings are a perfect example of this.

Brian, I love all those NYC buildings you have. Just next to your Chrysler building it looks like you have the Flat iron building as well which is another one of my favorites. Very nice setup.

Johnny, you are very correct, the Flat Iron building is included in the photo.

I love these buildings as well.

I too love the Flat Iron building.  An HO layout I recently visited in Rockford, IL had several scratch-built buildings that were designed to fit on odd shaped lots.  And there is a building that I pass occasionally in Aurora, IL that is pie-shaped and very cool.

Art

Here's where my figures congregate.

I've read the Dept 56 All Saints Corner Church is based on this church.

Here is a larger photo. Not as close a likeness as a few of the other Dept. 56 churches, but you can see where the designer found the inspiration.

PTC, thanks for posting the photos of the Dept. 56 churches. I enjoy seeing them in a landscaped setting.

Here's the BTS rural church kit built up that I truncated the length of for the review in OST.  All ready to be installed into my town of Lemasters on the layout.  Looks like that new piano is going to get delivered, too.

trestrainfan:

When I saw the series of photos for Churches that mwb posted, I was struck how similar the photo of the Lutheran Church was to a D56 model displayed on our layout. It is nice to now know the model's origin. Thanks to you and mwb for bringing this to my attention.

mwb:

Love the model of the BTS rural Church. Nice job with this kit!!!!!

trestrainfan:

When I saw the series of photos for Churches that mwb posted, I was struck how similar the photo of the Lutheran Church was to a D56 model displayed on our layout. It is nice to now know the model's origin. Thanks to you and mwb for bringing this to my attention.

mwb:

Love the model of the BTS rural Church. Nice job with this kit!!!!!