Restoring E. L. Moore's Norfolk & Southern yard office

After some restoration work

Until recently I looked down on E. L. Moore’s Norfolk & Southern yard office that was published in the Feb ’66 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. It seemed a simple, two-page space filler project. I shouldn’t have been so snobby. As Mr. Moore points out in the article, it’s a model of an actual Norfolk & Southern building, but what he only mentions in a letter to Hal Carstens, dated May 16, 1965, is that the prototype, along with the blacksmith shop, was one he himself discovered in Charlotte. Much like the HOJ POJ MFG CO. and the 1900’s Foundry, those two little buildings were Charlotte structures he saw, measured, and modelled. So, there’s a little thread of Charlotte history running through a subset of his models that should be given some consideration on my part.

Before restoration

The model as received wasn’t in too bad shape. The end walls have warped a bit. Some parts had broken off, but were included along with the fence section that stands in the landscape outside the front door, so it was complete. 

The more concerning problem were the discoloured edges to the end walls and the slopes on their upper brick work. At first I thought they were exposed raw wood from where the Northeastern brick sheet was cut, but looking closer with a magnifying glass showed faint brick work. It turns out Mr. Moore painted bricks on those edges to finish them, and he outlines the procedure in the article:

Now you will need a paint mixture to cover the raw surfaces to match the brick. Take a few brushfuls of red, a couple of yellow, then a touch of green - and maybe a bit of white if it needs lightening. When you’ve got a close match cover the surfaces and stripe, using a fine pointed brush, and an off white paint to simulate mortar joints.

He doesn’t say what kind of paint was used, but after 56 years it appears to have almost faded away. However, from the article’s photos, it looks like he did a good job of matching the Northeastern brick pattern. I decided not to overpaint these edges, but just leave them as is. I think I’d do more harm than good if I tried to match the brick.

I did do a little touchup painting on those two sets of concrete steps. It looks like their lower edges collected a little plaster from sitting on somebody’s layout, so I overpainted those areas with some thin flat black to blend them into the black washes Mr. Moore had already applied to the stairs. You can also see a little plaster on the lower edge of the front wall. I’ll leave it for now as I’m not sure how to remove it without damaging the brick surface.

So, not much to see here. Glued a few pieces back on and touched up some stairs. 

But, there’s one last thing. Take a look at this cover letter E. L. Moore sent to Hal Carstens with the yard office manuscript:

August 25, 1965

Major H. Hoople Carsten,

Ye Editor,

Railroad Model Craftsman

Ramsey, N. J.

Dear Major . . .

By golly, I didn’t think you’d do it — really dunno as it was worth the extra wordage but I wuz not in the mood to be factual . . . but I can understand now why Mr. Zip (JDL: aka Linn Westcott, editor of Model Railroader magazine), if, as according to one of his readers, he writes three quarters of what goes into his mag, has little time or desire for humor.

But here is one in the approved style, short and terse, to make up for Major Hoople’s excesses (JDL: The ‘excess’ was a long, tall tale in the Hoople Warehouse article; no tall tale in the yard office article). And it’s from the same yard in which I discovered the blacksmith shop.

Y’know why I kinda like RMC best? Not because of your shiny coated paper or your plastic bags — but because it ain’t so damned technical that it gives one an inferiority complex — so keep it kinda that way for us more simple minded folks. But this ain’t no testimonial because now and then I gotta pat my friend, Bill Rau (JDL: Bill Rau was an associate editor at MR at that time), on the back too.

Mud in your eye . . . 

{signed E. L. Moore}

(Had this article ready but held it about a month so as not to push too much into the old boy’s craw at a time)

Yes, that last bit in red was actually typed in red at the bottom of the copy of the letter. He’s done that on a few letters, and I’ve wondered for what reason? A note to himself? A note to a relative? A note to me? I can’t say I know anything about the complexities of the space-time continuum, but one wonders :-)