E. L. Moore's Old Red Barn

All model photos courtesy of James L. Dixon

You might recall that back in May Paul figured out that one of the E. L. Moore mystery pieces was the cowshed from the barn described in ELM's article, The Old Red Barn, that appeared in the January 1966 issue of Model Railroader. Recently, I generously received some detail photos of the rest of the barn from E. L. Moore's grandson.

A photo of this view of the barn's end wall is clearly shown in the article, and one thing that strikes me about the model on the left is that it has no window in the peak, and the decorative circular designs on the middle of the wall are missing. So, I'm wondering if this is a duplicate of the model that appeared in the article. As Mr. Moore notes in the article's opening paragraph,

I really built two barns, one for a fellow modeler who wanted a bit classier barn with matched siding and a cupola to set it off. But both barns are basically the same, with similar skeletons serving both. The difference is in the finish.

So, I'm thinking this is the less classier one.

You can see from this interior shot that there are no cutouts for windows near the end wall peaks.

But, I do like that interior, and the straw is still there.

Here's a closer look at the straw and interior framing around it, which is quite neatly done and precise.

It's even got a curious pig, and what looks like a rooster.

Here's a view of the framing looking in the opposite direction. Again, the joinery is quite well done.

Animals abound in this barn. Here's a collie.

A chicken looking for some seed.

Another chicken and what looks like a goat, or maybe that's the animal I thought was a pig in a previous photo.

Looks like it's feeding time. 

As you know, I consider E. L. Moore an American folk artist who plied his art in the world of model railroading. A number of his builds are more in the folk art vein than strictly model railroading, and this is another example in the folk art category. In the article's introductory paragraph ELM notes as much,

I wanted a souvenir to recall a phase of my wasted youth, so I set about building a barn with memory - it being some 40 years since I was last down on the farm - as my only guide.

ELM was raised on a farm in rural Michigan in the early years of the 20th century, so this sounds like it was a model of the barn on his parents' farm.