As many of you know, I like scratchbuilding. So I am always on the lookout for new and interesting examples of structures. Not always photos of real buildings, often times it's modeled structures. Primarily I like wood structures, this is maily because I find it more difficult to work with sheet brick and completely scratch a brick building. Not to say I haven't but it's much harder, for me anyway, to do it convincingly.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of the interesting photos I have found in case anyone else has the same quest that I do. i'm also hoping others will add to the list any interesting or otherwise just plain buildings that you have always wanted to, or have built.

I think most of these were photographed circa 1940, no telling how old the buildings actually are.

This first one I have been itching to build since I first saw it. I think it would make a great flat. I think it is from Massachusetts.





Also from Mass.


Houston, Texas.


Louisiana.

Vulcan, they are all cool but the one from Louisiana is priceless! I am going to have to do a better job of photographing prospective buildings. Usually when I see one, I either don't have my camera, plan to come back later and do it, or some other silly excuse. The end result is that I don't get the picture.

I have documented my wife's home town of Ruthven, Iowa for future modeling projects but they are all in prints. I may get a burst of energy and scan some of them for the forum. My favorites are the grain elevators and downtown streets. It's a very small town of about 700 people. No traffic lights except for a flashing red light at the intersection of the main street and the highway.

My vision is to model the one block long main street with the 1959 Homecoming Parade marching. Have a banner strung across the street Homecoming 1959, convertibles with the homecoming queens and the high school band. The next block runs perpendicular for two blocks along the RR tracks with a multitude of grain elevators and feed stores.

Art

I have this dream of building a model of the Redlands Depot -- including all 300 feet of the passenger shelter -- in O Scale. I've taken measurements, modeled it electronically (amazing what you can do with RR-Track) and have dozens of photos. The base depot is a wood/stucco construction and would be fairly straight-forward.

The passenger shelter is the challenge. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to make the component parts -- columns, capitals, roof tiles. The depot is almost 100 years old.




The base depot itself is a relatively simple building.


ATSF had one in Rialto which is really basic and I have the measurements somewhere. The station was closed decades ago, but escaped the wrecking ball and is now the office of a precast concrete company near the original location.
Fortunately, I was able to obtain pictures of its two sister stations with the original trackside bay window and freight doors in place.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AGHRMatt,

Art, your wife's hometown sounds a lot like mine was when we moved here in the early 60's. So much has changed since it would do me no good to photograph much now, since I model the 50's. I was only 9 or 10 back then. So I didn't think to carry a camera around with me.

Matt, that would be a great build. But I can see where the challenge lies, no doubt. Is the station stucco?

I'm hoping oneday my station will look like this. A good study in dilapidation.

Properity Depot, South Carolina. (No kidding, that's it's name. )

MATT-THERE IS A ARTICLE IN MODEL RAILROADER MAGAZINE OF SOMEONE SCRATCH BUILDING A SANTA FE STATION THAT YOU ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH .
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE COLUMNS-WOODEN DOWELS-STUCCO LOOK ON BUILDING-WALL SPACKLE SANDED OR READ THE ABOVE ARTICLE SUGGESTED.JOE

Joe, are you referring to the San Bernardino station build in the June and July issues?

quote:

Originally posted by challenger:
MATT-THERE IS A ARTICLE IN MODEL RAILROADER MAGAZINE OF SOMEONE SCRATCH BUILDING A SANTA FE STATION THAT YOU ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH .
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE COLUMNS-WOODEN DOWELS-STUCCO LOOK ON BUILDING-WALL SPACKLE SANDED OR READ THE ABOVE ARTICLE SUGGESTED.JOE

This guy was pretty bold -- built San Bernardino in H.O. including parts of the yards. Very impressive. San Bernardino City Hall had an H.O. model in their lobby for a while which appeared to be made of foam. I have the drawings of this depot but have no plans to tackle it -- it's bigger than Redlands.

Vulc, cool structures. I would like to see the one with the Second Empire roof style done. I bet that would be tough doing.

matt and vulcan-yes-i beleive the way he tackled making the san bernadino station with the materials and methods is the way matt can go. he used foam board for the walls,plastic strene strips for trim,grandt line windows and wood doles are perfect for pillars and alot of patience.i couldn't imagine doing a building in ho.i have no idea for the spanish roof tiles although i thought i saw a article by someone using them or some company producing these shingles.

Here are couple of more...





Kurt

Somewhere I've seen that some one is bringing out a kit for that lovely orange Saba Hardware building...can't recall where...

Particularly like the doghouse on the roof next to the birdbath,

But I doubt that you'll get enough castings to recreate that yard w/o visiting your loan officer,

Kurt, those are some neat pics. Especially the first small station. That could fit in anywhere.

Martin, good eye on the doghouse. I bet they went through a lot of pets.

I'd be a little concerned over buying used plumbing myself.

Al, I like your contribution. Sorta reminds me of one I've already built, but many years later.

One more for the City folks...
Quincy/Wells Station, Chicago, IL.


Kurt

I knew I had seen this building before as a kit

Saba Supply is available either built up:

http://www.finishedmodels.com/hoscalesabasupplycoscenefinisheddiorama.aspx

or as a kit $149, from Model Tech --->> but in HO!

Cool! right down to the doghouse!

It would be nice if they'd bring it out in O scale; not a hard thing to do since they've got the programming for the laser already.

Matt,
My memory could be playing tricks; but I think that Redlands passenger shelter is a carbon copy of the one in Sanford, FL. It would make a nice building for a layout.

quote:

I knew I had seen this building before as a kit

Saba Supply is available either built up:

[quote]It would be nice if they'd bring it out in O scale; not a hard thing to do since they've got the programming for the laser already.[/quote

They already have. Look on their site under O Scale and there she be!

You're right, there she be. And as I expected, the building is nearly twice as large as the HO model so the price rose proportionately from $149 to $599.

I'll stick to scratchbuilding.

quote:

Originally posted by mosby:
[QUOTE]I knew I had seen this building before as a kit

Saba Supply is available either built up:

quote:

It would be nice if they'd bring it out in O scale; not a hard thing to do since they've got the programming for the laser already.[/quote

They already have. Look on their site under O Scale and there she be!

I looked for Saba Supply on their site and it was running so slowly that I could not locate it! And, I even tried some of my web page search routines to locate it - seems like their web page has always been slightly faster than a slug in January,

Hmmm....only $599. Twice HO, if I can still do complex math comes out to ~$300, and then double that again to account cubic volume....why certainly that price makjes perfectly good sense now,

If anyone can get pix of the other 2 sides, yup, I'm with Vulcan - scratchbuilding time again.

It makes sense now. They were obviously looking at the same pic we are. The other $300 is for making a well paid educated guess at what the other two walls look like. I'd pay the extra for that. Yeah, right!

The HO building would have only been $100 without the education charge.

The SABA building is available in O scale.
Modeltech Studios
$255 each as a kit.

...Pete

quote:

Originally posted by PJMB:
The SABA building is available in O scale.
Modeltech Studios
$255 each as a kit.

...Pete

Thanks! So the $599 was for it built I guess....

Well, I guess I could stand to charge 100%+ markup for building my own kits,