Re-zoning comes to my layout (new pics of progress so far)

A scale version of Urban renewal?!?!?!

What's the world coming to, rezoning on model train layouts!

How long did your request take to pass the Zoning Commission?

If that area is considered to be blighted, then Tax Increment Financing may be available.  Let the citizens pay for the improvements. 

Rumor has it money passed under the table.  If I can find a spare detective, I'll put them on the case!

I figured that Veranda was sent in to the zoning meeting ( a private session..) to convince the commissioners that they should go along with the new zoning. 

 

Alan

Hold on, Lee.  Did you file an Environmental Impact Statement? 

 

Gotta keep the 1:48 bureaucrats busy! 

 

Did you ever wonder why no figure company makes those?

 

Me neither. 

 

George

I got the dark green '68 Mustang Fastback (Bullitt) in the mail today and found a very Steve-McQueen looking figure and painted him to match the outfit McQueen had when driving the car in the movie.  I'll assign him to look into this corruption thing - he has experience with bureaucrats and politicians who say one thing and do another!.

Re-construction is proceeding rapidly, as shown below.  The railway station, its outbuildings and platforms and track, are gone and crews are just cleaning up the last of the debris.  Construction of the new street into the area should start tomorrow or next week.  The Zoning Commission completed its evaluation and reclassified this entire area for car dealerships.  All but one will be moving from other parts of the layout to this locale.

That was a historical building!

By what authority did you destroy that cherished landmark?!?

I agree chipset and the Forum should require a group vote on such a radical rezoning of an Historic structure and site.

And was/is the area a Superfund Site because of the heavy concentrations of Simple Green? Was the EPA notified?

 

Jerry

Wow, good job at the moving.  Your skills (and creativity) are way beyond mine.  I love how you didn't just move it, but actually modeled the working crews and the cite under construction.  The news clip was just cream on top.  Do you keep a scrapbook with all of these things in it as a history of your layout's world?  I haven't gotten to start mine yet, but I may just enlist my wife and older son's help and do this type of thing.  Which would also mean I need to sit down and remember my railroad's history as it started in N scale almost 20 years ago...

Congrats on the relocation of that historic depot. Nice fit in the new location.

 

BTW, Is Councilman Howard Freeride related to Congressman Harold Freeride who was indicted for taking all of those complimentary first class railroad trips on "Fact Finding" missions?

Sure seems that way, doesn't it.    The Councilman, it is rumored, is "persuadable" if the right argument is presented - usually in the thick envelope!

Lee, there had to be cost overruns. After all, there always are.

Well, yes, there have been cost overruns.  But City Council and particularly Chairperson Freeride don't seem to mind.  In fact, they point to the rapid rate of construction.  The new street into the area is probably a day or two from completion.  As you can see the concrete is poured and even one sidewalk is done.  Camera crews from the local TV evening news were out to report the much faster than expected pace of the work.

Sidewalks already poured??

 

Why does that make me keep thinking about that old saying from my engineering days:

 

"You can have it fast, you can have it cheap, you can have it right. Pick two."

 

Len - it's a truth.  Always has been, always will be the way it is.  Let's just hope the contractor, who happens to be Harold Freeride's brother-in-law, can get two out of three right! 

Sometimes - things don't work out . . .

Lee I too am amazed you took the time to actually build and model the interim phase.  I'm curious what your thoughts are behind the move?  It's excellent entertainment for us here on the forum, but frankly it's also something that is so short term and likely to be forgotten.  I wonder is it worth it?  What do you get out of it? (I don't mean that last question negatively in any way.)  To me part of the joys of the layout is being able to see your work and show it off.  In this case you built something that lasted for a day or 2.

 

Since you seem to document your work so well (not just this case), have you considered a book or something to document the history of the layout? 

One other thing - Given Lee's profile picture, I can't help but always imagine him doing all the work in a jacket and tie!

It was temporary because it did not work - it was intended to be permanent.  I had not tried foamboard as a road surface before and wanted to try it.  I bought some at Staples and I easily cut and shaped it to bend it slightly to crown the road and get it in place quickly.  I used Liguid Nail foam adhesive which I figured would work with it, since its supposed to be okay with foam.  And it looked good when I finished it and turned the lights off the the night last evening.  But this morning - Ugh!  The foamboard expanded and melted in places during the night and the road is just ruined.  So I will remove this mess and rebuild it, and go back to my tried and true method of using 3/8 inch cabinet grade plywood for road foundations.

One other thing - Given Lee's profile picture, I can't help but always imagine him doing all the work in a jacket and tie!

hahaha... Me too! 

 

Lee, your threads are the highlight of my forum browsing.  I have to respect your creativity, and I especially enjoy the witty storyline (complete with newpaper articles) you create to go along with it. 

 

-Dustin

 

Thanks.  My goal is to have fun and newspaper articles and such help.  My foamboard road really did not work out, and I wanted to share that disaster with everyone, but in a fun way.  Liquid Nail Foam Glue may work with insulation type foam and such, but it did a big number on the foamboard I bought at Staples.  One good thing: it was all easy to remove - took only ten minutes.

 

I have the new road - straight, hard, 3/8 inch plywood covered with spackling to make a crown in the road - drying at home today while I am at work. Hopefully it will be in place by the end of the day.

Ha I too have pictured Lee working on his layout in a suit, maybe a tux on the weekend. Lee I think your layout needs a nightclub for Nick and Nora to go to.  something with a 1940s big band (Guy Lombardo)

Actually, I wear a tux and work only with a martini in my hand!

 

Actually, I have, once or twice, been caught in the train room with a tie on. I simply forget - come home from work wanting to see r if the paint worked out drying well during the day or whatever, and I rush right up to the train room, then get involved working on something, and an hour later . . .

 

As to the bar on the layout.  Absolutely!  I've got a two and a half inch space on my detective street on which I am going to build a narrow three-story brownstoney type building with a martini bar on the street level - The Thin Man. 

Hi Lee,  I'm ever so happy that you liked my idea of 'The Thin Man' for a narrow bar. 

 

If you decide to put a greasy spoon restaurant/diner in your car dealer district, perhaps you might consider 'Sam & Ella's' as a suitable name.  

Thanks - as I said previously about my plans (when I posted picture of the gap left for the Thin Man in my 17 Bottle Street/221B Baker STreet thread),  I could not remember who had that very inspired suggestion.  Every good neighborhood needs a Martini bar.

 

Here is the picture of its future location, again.

Or a "Shiny Diner", with overkill neon pole signs not hidden behind a bunch of trees for the 'greasy spoon' diner. (Note: Inside reference to a really weird zoning decision a few years back in the town where Lee lives.)

 

I'm thinking of getting the Plasticville diner and bashing it a bit in to the Shiny Diner.  I have a space it might fit in this new area of the layout: used car salesmen have to eat somewhere!  I'll try to drop by the store in the next few days and see if you guys have one.

Sorry to hear about the construction problem. Looks like another Freeride will be staying at the Graybar Hotel.

Lee, I love your modeling skills and really appreciate your sense of drama and humor.  God has blessed you with great talent.  I look forward to catching the next 'episode' each day like the old Flash Gordon serials that I watched as a kid on Sat. mornings.  You have taken model railroading to the next level.  

Added today: perhaps the single most recognizable detective-car combination on the layout.  He is talking to Stu Bailey, at the site of Stu's about-to-be-built office, a site that was, until an hour ago, Nigel Quick's British Motorcars (Nigel is moving to a bigger building and lot on the new Red Plateau car dealership area).  At midnight, a city ordinance will rename this fifteen inches of Main Street "Sunset Strip." 

And here I was worried about getting my layout right the first time.  Looks like a whole lot of fun can be had later on moving buildings and fixing mistakes.  Lee, you are amazing.  Inspiring too.

 

Nathan

After work I look forward to your progress as much as your newspaper reporting! I hope you keep them both coming Lee, they are fantastic! Terry