Favorite Structures

Buffal-031 Central Terminal. An art deco masterpiece!! 2nd photo is progress on making the passenger car sidings longer using a Ross 4way. JohnA

Arnold C., you are quite good at starting enjoyable threads.  And I do appreciate the George Washingmachine Bridge.

Seventeen years ago, as my Golden Prairie Railroad was starting to appear, because I didn't like messing with ground-cover goop, I simply painted all the ground "scenery" on the sound board.  My daughter-in-law chose the colors, all to fine effect except for the colors for prairie flowers.  The painted-on prairie reminded my friends of the unpleasant results of overeating at Mexican restaurants.  So the Golden Prairie Railroad has a town of Golden Prairie, but nearby is "Taco Prairie."

The Acme Anvil Company - a building flat constructed from just about every possible combination of different siding materials from my junk box! Their sign features their best customer who is often seen picking up an order.

When it comes to structures, I'm mostly, but not entirely, a Postwar guy.

This #38 water tower that uses real water is a favorite:

Thanks for another great post, Arnold!

The conductor has stepped out of his Berkshire Valley shanty to view an MPC era GG-1 pass at speed.

Yet another very enjoyable thread Arnold.  Thank you!!  

As I like to have as many "one of a kind structures" on my layout as possible, here are  some  that are favorites.   I will try to post a few more over the next few days as I come across the photos.  

This water tower is a one of a kind made by a friend.   I also enjoy the Plasticville coaling tower which IMHO is the best structure ever produced by Plasticville.  

This bridge is a favorite!  A ) Because the prototype is two blocks from my house.  B) The prototype is now a "one of a kind" and was the first iron truss railroad bridge system used by U.S. railroads, in particular the B&O which is my favorite railroad.  The bridge system was designed and patented by Wendall Bollman, Baltimorean.  C ) The purchase of this bridge ( at York ) inspired me to build the mountain which dwarfs the bridge and the rest of the layout for that matter.  

Another view of the water tower.

I love the movie "Tucker" about the Tucker Automobile Co., its' owner Preston Tucker,  and the company's rise and fall.  Preston Tucker had a vision and he designed a fabulous automobile IMHO.  I wanted to have a tribute to Mr. Tucker and his automobile manufacturing company on my layout so here it is.  Although a standard MTH building, it splendidly lends itself in allowing me to create my tribute.   That's Mr. Tucker wearing the suit and waving his hat.  I have 12 Tucker Torpedos in the lot and one in the showroom where a salesman is closing a deal with a customer.  

This cabin is almost identical to my brother's cabin at Deep Creek Lake in McHenry, Maryland.  This model was built by Richard Kreig of the Railroad Crossing who I discovered in the Orange Hall at York.  

Another of Richard Krieg's builds was this church which I named " Our Lady of Locomotion ".  This church has a striking similarity to an Episcopal church where my chamber music group hosts a summer music camp for kids.  I also host my student recitals at this church which has impeccable acoustic qualities.  

Although not visible in this photo, the stained glass windows are photos that Richard took inside a church.  He sized the photos to fit the windows in this model church which make  for a very pretty effect when running with the lights out in the train room.  

Another find in the Orange Hall at York was this fire station.  It's an OGR Ameritown building modified by Corky Dozier.  It sports interior lighting with a bunk room and rec room on the 3rd and 2nd floors respectively.  This is Engine Co. 5 which makes for a great way to showcase my Seagrave open cab pumper and 1949 Chevy fire chief car.  

My favorite structures were those that were made for my former model train business, Harrison Trains and Scenes, by a close friend of my late uncle and business partner, Thomas Edmonds, Mr. Richard Starsoneck, more commonly known by his nickname, Dick.

Dick was a former co-worker of Tom's at the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. Both Tom and Dick were retired when Tom and I formed our business. Dick was a self-taught artist, and a VERY good one. I thought that O scale models of Baltimore buildings and other well-known structures may sell to local train enthusiasts.

I would take photos with as much detail as I could include of buildings and send them to Dick. Dick, not being a model train guy, knew how large to make the models in a very unique way devised by me. I gave Dick an O Scale figure of a 6' tall man (1 1/2 inches) and said, "The door to your building must be just large enough for a person this tall to enter. Build the rest of the building in proportion with such a door." Using that as a standard, Dick never missed on the size.

The first 2 photos show "J" Tower on the Strasburg RR. In the second photo, Dick posed with his creation in the background. "J" tower and several other of Dick's creations were purchased by the Wise Avenue Volunteer Fire Department in Baltimore County for their massive annual Christmas train display. These photos and the following 2 were taken at the layout in December of 2009.

Dick's next magnum opus is in the following 2 photos, the Washington Monument at Mt. Vernon Place in downtown Baltimore Maryland. Unfortunately, I took the shot when the layout lights were set for night-time. So. the color appears to be purple and not its natural light tan stone color.

This is a close-up of George on the monument's top. Dick went as far as sculpting strands of hair in George's hair in the back.

Below is one of the photos of the prototype from which Dick made his model.

On to Fells Point at the foot of Broadway in Baltimore, the water-front, the oldest section of the city. The area is now historically preserved and is a popular district to visit bars and have a drink (or many) in an old-world atmosphere. The bar below is Bertha's, a bar and restaurant famous for their mussels in garlic sauce as well as the ghosts that haunt the place. The model in the photo below was purchased from us by Tony Norris, the real Bertha's owner. After the sale, my good friend Pat Whitehead, aka trumptrain on our forum, wanted one for the town of Patsburg, So, Dick made Pat another one.

The building behind Bertha's, above and the ones in the next 2 photos are from the historic section of Ellicot City, an old community in Howard County, Maryland.

Dick also painted the base of the lake in the following photo using skillful color gradations to indicate shallow and deeper water.

Dick is now in his 90's and can no longer paint or sculpt due to physical infirmities. He was a great artist and friend.

Max Foods……built from 7 Lionel kits (either the Municipal Building or the Electrical Substation). Max was my son’s Golden Doodle (2006-2020) that I took care of for 7 years. We became Best Buds. In the summer of 2017, he was at my side in every phase of the construction, making suggestions, including the name…..

Have a great Sunday, folks!

Peter

My favorite railroad structures are "prairie sentinels", grain elevators, that stood and still stand beside the tracks, from Ohio to the Rockies' eastern slope,. I have tracked down and built all but the one most expensive of the commercial kits for these, most with some bashed modification.   And have scratch built several others.  My second favorite structure, with a few models, is the mining stamp mill.  Third, of course, is the tremendous variety of railroad stations, preferring the inhabited two story versions, also a version seen in the prairie country.  This would be a lot of photos, so .......

I have posted this pic before, but it is special to me. It represents the cabin my great aunt and grandmother were born in.  The section on the left was the original cabin 1888 the right a 2 story addition added about 1898 , was sided in clapboard in the late 1915 , and burned down in the early 1960's, I worked off an old photograph and description

@colorado hirailer posted:

My favorite railroad structures are "prairie sentinels", grain elevators, that stood and still stand beside the tracks, from Ohio to the Rockies' eastern slope,. I have tracked down and built all but the one most expensive of the commercial kits for these, most with some bashed modification.   And have scratch built several others.  My second favorite structure, with a few models, is the mining stamp mill.  Third, of course, is the tremendous variety of railroad stations, preferring the inhabited two story versions, also a version seen in the prairie country.  This would be a lot of photos, so .......

I still remember the old grain elevators, I have one planned for my layout scratch built, to scale

Trying to pick my favorite structure is challenging given that I have many neat and interesting structures, each with special stories and memories. With that said, I seem to find myself patronizing one rather ordinary-looking building every time I visit Basementville, Stella's House of Fine Art. It seems to always have cars parked around it, and at night, well, when the interior lights are on, let's just say the view through the windows may appear risque to some.

Since I like to scratch build structures, my favorite is usually most recently finished project.  But perhaps my favorite really is the model of the still existing train station in my home town in Arizona.  Here is a shot of the original after trail service stopped and of the model.  Other than a few areas, it is a full quarter inch scale reproduction.

@PeterA posted:

Since I like to scratch build structures, my favorite is usually most recently finished project.  But perhaps my favorite really is the model of the still existing train station in my home town in Arizona.  Here is a shot of the original after trail service stopped and of the model.  Other than a few areas, it is a full quarter inch scale reproduction.

Amazing !

Great modeling Peter! JohnA

Ordered Korber parts from Mr. Muffin. Wanted a small engine shop.

Peter, Arizona train station is stunning!

My favorites,

Woodbourne Gallery based on Bronx Documentation Center in NYC.

Nighthawks Cafe:

The engine house: Designed and scratch-built to conform to Ross Custom Switches 3.5" Center to center ladder switch distance.

And lastly, Bernheim Distillery Complex. All of these buildings are my designs and scratch-built. For this one I made a duplicate that resides in the Heaven Hill Distilleries Bourbon Experience Center at their Bardstown, KY corporate headquarters.

There are more, but four entries are enough for now.

Trainman2001: was the NightHawks Cafe a kit? A few years ago the modelers/train addicts who meet every Tuesday at my house (Make Modeling Mediocre Again) were passing around some scale plans and discussing the possible prototype for the Edward Hopper painting (at the Chicago Art Institute).  And then, there are many enjoyable imitations of the famous painting, e.g. this below. (I am sorry that I cannot find the copy artist's name.)

Nope! Drawn and hand built by me. Old school using Plastruct brick sheeting. All the buildings posted are my designs and construction. The only techy stuff in Nighthawks are the tiny laser cut bar stools. Today, I’d 3D print those.

When I was a kid, I walked to school every day, crossing the tracks where Main Street in Ashley PA intersected the CNJ "Back Track". This crossing was protected by manually-controlled gates, operated from an ancient gateman's shanty tower. As far as I know, only one clear photo exists of this structure, shown on the left below.

Although most of my scratch-built structures are freelance (often bordering on fantasy), I wished to honor my memory of this old familiar structure with as close a replica as my skills permitted. The result is on the right. This is without doubt my favorite project.

You did it justice! It lives on!