Scrounger's Baseball Field

Great ideas! We have stadium seat kits available that may work in certain applications. They are laser cut PolyBak material and are actually made in S Scale so they work really well for tight areas.

Great start Arnold, honestly baseball pretty much led me into this hobby as my high school field had a set of tracks right behind the left field fence.  It was always something rather interesting when trains would come through during a game.  That is what peaked my curiosity into railroads.  I always said if I ever built a layout a baseball field would be a focal point on it.  I am still working on the surrounding areas of mine and adding more detail.  I had a thread when I had it "working done".

Doug, great seats if I had the room I would have used them for a "reserved section" behind home plate. 

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

If you love baseball and trains and want a simple, inexpensive baseball field on your layout, you might consider something like this:

Woodland Scenics makes the green Fine Turf, the clay colored product for the basepaths 

Arnold

 

It turns out that the reddish brown baseball dirt is Woodland Scenics Fine Ballast.

I am very happy with all the Woodland Scenics products I have purchased over the years from LHSs and at train shows.

I have a few baseball figures who have not yet started playing games. Here they are sitting in the stands and playing catching in the outfield:

I believe the figures are by Scenic Express (unfortunately I did not save the box), which I purchased at the Big E train show last January.

Arnold 

Arnold! It just occurred to me that this is Not your Yankee Stadium. 

This could be Ebbets field! Brooklyn NY.

Did you know that Ebbets was nicknamed  Pig-town? apparently the major pig farms that served Brooklyn were there before Ebbits field was. You could have a pig farm on the outskirts of the ball field in memory of the pigs that made it to the dinning tables of NYC. Lol. 

looking well lit there, PLAY BALL!

btw, those two umpires look like they mean business.

Leroof posted:

Arnold! It just occurred to me that this is Not your Yankee Stadium. 

This could be Ebbets field! Brooklyn NY.

Did you know that Ebbets was nicknamed  Pig-town? apparently the major pig farms that served Brooklyn were there before Ebbits field was. You could have a pig farm on the outskirts of the ball field in memory of the pigs that made it to the dinning tables of NYC. Lol. 

looking well lit there, PLAY BALL!

btw, those two umpires look like they mean business.

 

Leroof, Ebbets Field is a good idea, and I thought of that, but my long term and challenging goal is to make the 2nd baseball field into the Polo Grounds.

The Polo Grounds was near Yankee Stadium on the other side (Manhattan side) of the Harlem River. Yankee Stadium was on the Bronx side of that river. Those 2 stadiums could be seen in the southern-most stop of the Put railroad.

Also, another long term goal is to make my whole layout more like a model of the Putnam Division of the NY Central (the Put). I already have equipment for the Put, which would include a Rico Station (Pocantico Hills Station), operating milk cars and platform (dairy farm in Northern Westchester County), ore dump cars (Tilly Foster iron ore mine in Brewster, NY), small steam engines and small 44 tonner center cab diesel).

Arnold

Pologrounds! Of course. Right across the Harlem river.

I think Putnam division will be a welcome possibility to your layout, so much history. Living there and knowing Putnam historians will make this flow! 

I am excited by this idea.

Looks great, Arnold!

 

I believe the figures are by Scenic Express (unfortunately I did not save the box), which I purchased at the Big E train show last January.

Arnold 

Arnold,

One way to tell who produced your players is by the weight.  If they are lighter then probably scenic express.  If they are heavier (sort of like artista)  then they are probably Kramer products.  They have long since stopped producing them, but you can sometimes get lucky and find them around.  Not the cheapest but really well made.  Here are the Kramer Products players that have been repainted to reflect the school colors of the High School I coached at.

The Polo Grounds would be a great addition to your layout, Arnold!  I didn't realize how close in proximity the Polo Grounds was to Yankee Stadium.  I'm a huge baseball fan and love learning all I can about the great stadiums of the past.

I think you can pull of the Polo Grounds, just like you did for your Yankee Stadium.  While I really appreciate those who can recreate perfect scale models of buildings - literally recreating a smaller version of reality - your job building this stadium is to give the audience the "feeling" of the stadium, not recreate reality.  I view this similar to the different painting styles over the years.  While realism has it's place and is impressive in its own right, an expressionist painting such as "The Scream" by Edvard Munch evokes an emotional feeling.  You accomplished the feeling of Yankee Stadium with Monument Park and the white facade above the scoreboard, but it also maintains a sandlot feel - reminding us of the days when we would play with our friends and dream of playing in Yankee Stadium.

To me, a baseball nut, but not intimately familiar with NY, the Polo Grounds has the following distinctive characteristics:

1. The field's shape in general, but specifically the unusually deep center field and equally unusual short distance to the foul poles...actually it would fit nicely within an 031 oval.  The scale is less important than the actual shape.

2. The clubhouse building, plastered with advertising (Chesterfield Cigarettes?), nestled into the center field bleachers

3. Willy Mays making the catch in deep center

4. Bobby Thompson's shot heard round the world "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" over the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Maybe you could have a little sound clip play there with a push of a button?

5. People sneaking a peak from Coogan's Bluff

6. I didn't realize this before, but there was a huge rail yard right next to the Polo Grounds!

There are some nice pictures here: https://www.nydailynews.com/sp...on-article-1.2287046

Thanks JD and Bryan.

Bryan, I already have  the Kramer Products baseball figures on my first baseball field (my Popsicle Stick Yankee Stadium) as shown below:

IMO, Kramer (no longer in business) made the best O scale metal baseball figures.

JD, I agree with everything you say. I will be able to decorate my Polo Grounds, and shape the fencing to have a short distance down the foul lines, and a deep center field, to create the feel of the real thing, like I did with my Yankee Stadium.

A more ambitious modeling project would be to add stadium fronts and an upper deck to each ball park. Arnold

Arnold, agreed Kramer was the best.  I was very lucky a few York's ago to find a few rare pieces under a members table that he was happy to get rid of.  I think I paid 5 dollars for 4 additional people including one I had never seen before (the first baseman reaching high for an overthrown ball and it included a base that his foot stayed on.  

Although far from finished, I made progress today on my Polo Grounds.

Several months ago, my good friend, Melgar, introduced me to modeling with bass wood and a razor saw, and I made a trip to a local A C Moore Art Supply Store and bought a bass wood modeling starter kit. I never did anything with that kit until today.

The photographs below show the temporary structure that I made with the bass wood, which is held together with Elmer's Rubber Cement. I used rubber cement so I could easily take it apart, re-use the basswood and try again if I did not like the results the first time.

The top photo is without the lights on in the light towers, and the bottom photos have those lights on:

I will soon add fencing, including outfield fencing with the deep centerfielder like the Polo Grounds had, yellow straws for foul poles, signs on the outfield fence indicating the Polo Grounds  distances from home plate, and billboards that show similar adds (knickerbocker Beer, Chesterfield Cigarettes, etc.) like those the Polo Grounds had in the early 1950s.

Later on, I will paint the bleachers, fences and upper deck in Polo Grounds colors (mostly green, and over time I will get more baseball player figures and more fans seated in the bleachers. 

I may also add a roof to the upper deck, and may use material I have from a kitbashed engine house to make that roof.

Since this is the first time I have ever used basswood, I am relatively pleased with what I did today. Most importantly, I had fun. Arnold 

When the acrylic paint dries, I'll post photos of fencing made of cardboard from a pizza box. LOL

I love using something in the trash or recycle bin on the layout. Arnold

What a great ball field.  Don't forget to add two guys having a (drunken) fight in the bleachers with a big (usually Irish) policeman standing by to let them finish so he can haul them both to jail.  This is one of the things I remember from a trip to the Polo Grounds with my dad when I was 9 or 10 (1953-54).  Great work, really loved seeing your efforts.

Don

Arnold,

The new baseball field is already looking great. And the plan to model the "Put" is also an excellent idea. It will give you an excuse to purchase more New York Central locomotives. The Polo Grounds center field clubhouse will be instantly recognizable. Please include number 24 on the field and enjoy the journey.

MELGAR

Don McErlean posted:

What a great ball field.  Don't forget to add two guys having a (drunken) fight in the bleachers with a big (usually Irish) policeman standing by to let them finish so he can haul them both to jail.  This is one of the things I remember from a trip to the Polo Grounds with my dad when I was 9 or 10 (1953-54).  Great work, really loved seeing your efforts.

Don

Glad you are enjoying the thread, Don. The fight you describe reminds me of an incident I witnessed at Yankee Stadium. A guy in the stands was being disorderly so security dealt with it. The troublemaker was foolish enough to throw a punch at one of the security guards, who looked like he could play defensive tackle in the NFL. The security guard picked up the troublemaker off the ground and threw him several rows below in the stands. When he did that, the fans cheered. LOL.

Regarding this baseball field, one of the reasons I am posting photos and commenting about it, is to show how simple and inexpensive it is to create it. The cost of the Woodland Scenics products is modest. You want to put your money into good quality O Scale baseball figures, and if you like night games, good quality light towers with metal, not plastic, sheathing around the light bulbs. The other thing you need is enough space for a ball field, but it is not as much space as you might initially think you need.

In a few minutes, I will post more photos and explain how I used stuff around the house that cost nothing to make this ball park. Arnold

MELGAR posted:

Arnold,

The new baseball field is already looking great. And the plan to model the "Put" is also an excellent idea. It will give you an excuse to purchase more New York Central locomotives. The Polo Grounds center field clubhouse will be instantly recognizable. Please include number 24 on the field and enjoy the journey.

MELGAR

Thanks Melgar. #24 in O Scale is essential and will be fun to hunt down at train shows or possibly create. Ideally, the figure would be in center field with his back to home plate making "the catch." Arnold

Arnold,

Even better might be Willie, Mickey, and The Duke (24, 7, 4). The greatest years ever for baseball in New York City - in my opinion.

MELGAR

I agree, Mel. 

Here are my latest photos of the ball park. First, a panoramic shot:

Next, the view from the stands along the 3rd base line:

The coloring and shape of the field of play are often distinguishing features of a baseball park.

I am pleased with the coloring, specifically the green cardboard fencing (cut from pizza box cardboard painted green with acrylic paint), and Popsicle stick bleachers painted with burnt sienna acrylic paint. After looking at many color images of the Polo Grounds in the early to mid 1950s, green was the predominant color of the fencing, and the color of the bleachers in a couple of those images was reddish brown, which I like.

The dimensions of the field of play includes a very deep center field (483 feet) and my model replicates the shape of the old Pole Grounds deep centerfield. It also was very short down the foul lines (258 feet and 279 feet)

To my delight, I found more O Scale baseball figures in my basement so there is a whole team on the field and even a batter. Here's a photo taken from behind the catcher and home plate umpire:

I don't know where I got the plastic batter, and his bat had broke off, so I glued a piece of a wooden toothpick to his hands so he has a bat.  I believe the other figures are plastic Scenic Express O Scale baseball figures, with one exception.

Take a look at this photo of the centerfielder:

That figure is a Kramer metal outfielder making an over the shoulder catch. I found him in a jar of layout junk in my basement. He was in that jar because he is missing his left foot which had broken off years ago when I removed him from the layout after gluing him in place.

To get the centerfielder without his left foot to stand again was a painstaking task. I got him to stand by gluing small pieces of wood to his right foot and the bottom of his left leg.

Here are some more photos of my Polo Grounds:

It will be fun adding details down the road. I will post photos of them when I add those details.

The overriding theme is to put on your layout what you love. Doing so will make your layout special for you.

If you love baseball like I do, adding a ballpark will be great fun. It is also a relatively easy and affordable project. Arnold

Really cool. Shallow outfield, would love to bat there.

Bryan in Ohio posted:

Great start Arnold, honestly baseball pretty much led me into this hobby as my high school field had a set of tracks right behind the left field fence.  It was always something rather interesting when trains would come through during a game.  That is what peaked my curiosity into railroads.  I always said if I ever built a layout a baseball field would be a focal point on it.  I am still working on the surrounding areas of mine and adding more detail.  I had a thread when I had it "working done".

Bryan, I just clicked on your above link to your thread that took me to the photos of your baseball field.

I think you did a great job with your ball park.. I particularly liked your fencing, the dugout with players that look like they are yelling at the umpire, and the scoreboard. Also, I recognized some of your figures by Kramer, which are very nice. Arnold

JD, I agree completely with all your comments. I shared them with my wife because, like you and unlike me, she knows some things about impressionists, expressionists and art history. She also agrees with your comments. 

I love your idea of having people watching the game on Coogan's Bluff through a peep hole. I will try to make that happen down the road.

Arnold

I purchased a beautiful backdrop with an urban scene that I will put up within the next few days behind my Pollo Grounds.

In the meantime I just noticed that the current backdrop that I have, which I painted, is quite good, IMO. Here is a photo of it:

Notice the pine trees and sky behind the ballpark.

I share this to make the point that if I can paint a backdrop, anyone can do it. I have no artistic talent in painting, drawing and fine art. All I did was read about painting backdrops in model railroad publications, followed the directions to the best of my ability, and did it over and over again many times using acrylic paints until I ended up with something I liked.

Once I got started and saw I was making progress, I found that making a backdrop was one of my favorite model railroad activities. Arnold

Arnold, your painted backdrop is beautiful. I am impressed. It looks just like 

my forest I live in!

nice work.

 Leroof

Arnold your backdrop is quite nice.  It looks as if your forest is inhabited by Bob Ross's "Happy Little Trees."

Did you remember you had the broken "Willie Mays" in your junk pile or did you happen upon him while scrounging for this project?

I applaud your work, Arnold! It definitely has the feel of the polo grounds. The second deck is great. 

Hi Coach Joe 

That Kramer centerfielder with the broken foot had been forgotten and was recently found rummaging through a container of odds and ends. He does have his back to home plate like Willie and my center fielder is making a great catch, but it's over the shoulder, not a basket catch the way Willie did it. My recollection is that "the catch" in the 1954 World Series was a basket catch with Willie's back to home plate.

I have not decided yet whether to try and repaint my Kramer center fielder so he wears number 24, and otherwise looks more like Willie.  I would definitely do it if he was making a basket catch. Arnold

coach joe posted:

Arnold your backdrop is quite nice.  It looks as if your forest is inhabited by Bob Ross's "Happy Little Trees."

Although I never attempted a painting as an adult, I enjoyed watching Bob Ross's program where he demonstrated his painting techniques. He could do beautiful paintings luckily split, often using a palette knife instead of brushes. 

Wouldn't it be nice to hire an artist with Bob Ross's talent and skills to paint our model railroad backdrops? Arnold 

Arnold D. Cribari posted:

coach joe posted:

Arnold your backdrop is quite nice.  It looks as if your forest is inhabited by Bob Ross's "Happy Little Trees."

Although I never attempted a painting as an adult, I enjoyed watching Bob Ross's program where he demonstrated his painting techniques. He could do beautiful paintings luckily split, often using a palette knife instead of brushes. 

Wouldn't it be nice to hire an artist with Bob Ross's talent and skills to paint our model railroad backdrops? Arnold 

I like your style Arnold.  Bob Ross..."Everybody can paint, you only need  a dream in your heart and some practice."

Fendermain

"The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant!" LOL.

Here are some photos of the Polo Grounds with the new roof I put on last night.

From behind home plate:

From down the 3rd base line:

From down the 1st base line:

Deep center field:

Arnold

Looks good Arnold. And certainly was accomplished quickly.

MELGAR

It looks fantastic! Is that all within a reverse loop? The Say Hey Kid returns!

MELGAR posted:

Looks good Arnold. And certainly was accomplished quickly.

MELGAR

It's a house of cards, not structurally sound, but as long as the big bad wolf does not blow it down, it should be OK.  LOL

JD2035RR posted:

It looks fantastic! Is that all within a reverse loop? The Say Hey kid returns!

Yes, JD. A reverse loop surrounds the ballpark.

My original plan was to have Field of Dreams there. Even went to the Big E last year and bought O Scale corn stalks. But, I didn't do it because it did not work for me to have my Field of Dreams surrounded by a reverse loop, which I wanted to retain for continuous train running.

For Field of Dreams, having a highway with automobiles nearby would be good to have, not trains.

Although there also was no reverse loop near the Polo Grounds, at least there were plenty of trains in its vicinity. Arnold

The thought just occurred to me that it would be easy to convert my Polo Grounds into Fenway Park. Both ballparks have  green coloring, and it would be simple to add the Green Monster, which is Fenway's most distinguishing feature. Fenway also has a deep centerfield, albeit not as deep as the Polo Grounds.

For Fenway, we can run New Haven passenger trains from NYC to Boston, and back.

So, I will also be on the hunt for the Splendid Splinter as well as the Yankee Clipper. 1941 was a great baseball year: Ted batted .407, and Joe had his 56 game hitting streak that year. Arnold

Arnold, I like it!  Love the addition of the upper decks!  So, now you have TWO ballparks on your layout?  I'm very jealous.  As before, no more room for one on my table layout.

Bryan, your layout and ballpark look fabulous.

You guys may need some vendors for all the fans.  What could go better than hot dogs?  Working on this small module for the table layout.  Took the brewery tunnel insert and used it to build the Nathan's display.

The guys have been asking Menard's for a brewery for years.  Just received it yesterday.  Got the car and Nathan's sign this Wednesday.  Many details still to go on this little project.

Jerry

I know you said you like listening to music as you run trains, these songs came to mind as I read your posts. I’m sure you’ve heard them numerous times before!

Thanks, JD, for the baseball songs. It will be fun to play them when running trains past Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. Arnold