The Molasses Mine hidden in the Feed Mill Warehouse
Awhile back I mentioned that the only kitbashes of E. L. Moore based kits I was still going to note were those based on his Molasses Mine. I found this one, the Brose Feed Company by John Swanson, in the Oct '88 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. It's a subtle kitbash and I almost overlooked it. Most of the Molasses Mine's signature features aren't present, but the big, bulky main building gives it away. So, I guess even the weirdest kits can be put to good use by a creative imagination.
Interesting. He actually made a new front for it that resembled another ELM building, Butz Milling and Feeds. It just needs some silos and pipes.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! I didn't see that.
DeleteFor that matter, it also looks like Sim's Snuffery or Rube's Rhubarb Plant. I think he kinda got into a small rut for a while. Well, it did help sell similar articles to different magazines. Kinda like revamping his Figet's Cheese into a fireworks factory years later.
DeleteI think he got away with it because I have a letter somewhere that notes just having his name on the cover of RMC in the early '70s caused a spike in sales. Maybe they didn't care too much about uniqueness in that case. Also, I think RMC ran a reader survey in maybe '74 or'75 asking readers who their favourite writer was and the results were something like: Bill Schopp (who had died a couple of years earlier), Hayden and Frary were next (or tied depending on how one read things given they wrote many articles together at that time), and I think ELM was next - I need to go and look up that survey. Anyway, he seemed quite popular, in RMC anyway, so maybe he could write his own ticket more or less.
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