E. L. Moore's Legacy in the 21st Century: Two cabins

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

Two cabins: a large one on the left, and a much smaller one on the right. Both are HO scale. Both were built by E. L. Moore. It appears that they were made using methods outlined in his articles Easy to build Cottage or Cabin that was published in the December 1963 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman, Backwoods Log Cabins that appeared in the September 1968 issue, and Under the spreading chestnut tree (about a village smithy) that appeared in the June 1964 issue of Model Railroader. As well, he used the same method on a few other projects. The Spumoni's house in Spumoni Country Estate that appeared in the July 1955 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman is a good example.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

This is the larger of the two. It's an unassuming and utilitarian building. It looks like something pioneers in the northern US states or Canada might have built to get through a long, hard winter. Small windows. One door. Massive fireplace. Wood pile near the door because when you're buried in snow and it's freezing outside you don't want to go far when the fire needs replenishing. Although, the wood pile would need to be considerably larger to get through an entire winter. This isn't a dilettante's weekend get-away place.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

This photo gives a much better view of that fireplace. It's massive.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

Here's a detail shot of the fireplace exterior. It appears to have been carved from wood - likely balsa given that this is an E. L. Moore build - and the stones are individually painted. The blue ones are a nice touch. You can also see that Mr. Moore spent some time adding the chinking between the logs for a little extra realism, and the logs themselves have a pleasant variation in tone. 

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

The roof lifts off to reveal a detailed interior. There are two beds in the loft, and it looks like a bench or chest to help keep sleepwalkers from falling though the ceiling! 

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

This shot gives a good idea of how small those details are.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

The ceiling / loft floor lifts out to show a fully detailed interior.The inside is rather homey compared to the exterior. Table cloth, oil painting, curtains and a large, well-stocked bookcase. Not to mention a clock on the mantel and a rifle for hunting game. There is a red light bulb in the fireplace to make it look like an actual fire, and the owner added a another small bulb to light-up the interior. 

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

That Sharpie pen gives an idea of the size. It's rather small. The model is in very good condition, and the owner informs me that for many years it was part of the in-store layout at the North Hills Hobby Shop in Raleigh, North Carolina.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

The second cabin is HO-size as well, but it's much smaller and doesn't have a detailed interior. It looks like it has some sort of shake roof whereas its big brother had boards for roofing.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

But, like its big brother, the fireplace is also quite large in comparison to the building. 

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

There's only one window and one door - the back wall is solid logs.

[Private collection - Posted with permission of the owner.]

The opposite end wall is just as solid. Wintering over would be tough in this little cabin.

As I've read through the E. L. Moore construction articles I'm starting to think his work on buildings falls into two broad categories: the first were highly selectively compressed, used simple materials and were very low cost, and the second were more finely detailed, less idiosyncratic and fit better into the mainstream of where model making was going. The first group I'd call his classic style, and things like Bunn's Feed and Seed, Jones' Chemical Company and Caleb's Cabbage Company fit into that category. The second group includes projects like The old red barn from the January '66 issue of Model Railroader, and Nova Scotian Lighthouse from the October '69 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. These two cabins seem to be a little more in the second category than the first.