Last post for this year

Merry Christmas 

and 

Happy New Year

Thanks for stopping by throughout the year. I'll be back online sometime after Christmas or in the New Year, but I'll be around. If there's any breaking news I'll put down the egg nog and post about it here.

Now, where did I put my snowshoes?

Armature for Vickis tree

I worked up the branch structure on the tree to be planted between Vickis Veggies and the street. Now it's on to barking :-)

Coles on Yonge: The Shell

Left: Coles on Yonge St. near Edward circa late 60s to early 70s | Right: Its HO shell

I've wanted to make a model of this building for quite a long time. I recently realized I was stalled on modelling this building because I was fixated on the problems associated with making the Coles sign. The building itself is rather easy to make because it's basically just a box much like the one the A&A Records model is based on. So, I decided the way to kickstart myself was to go ahead and make the building's shell and worry about the sign later. I may eventually regret this approach, but I thought it was better to get started than to continue pondering.

My father took me to this store many times in the late 60s and early 70s. I seem to recall it was located on Yonge St. near Edward. I think it closed sometime in the late 70s when the company that owned the Coles bookstore chain opened the World's Biggest Bookstore a stone's throw away on Edward. I admit that the above geographical and chronological memories are on the sketchy side, so if you have more accurate information please leave a comment.

I thought I'd go digital with this project and draw up the facade in Inkscape. However, I got frustrated with all the hoops I had to jump through and graphic designer minutiae I had to master just to draw a simple white rectangle surrounded with a black border that I gave up, apologized to my T-square for abandoning it, and sat myself down at the drafting table and got to work.

I searched the internet and downloaded what images I could find of the Coles facade. I enlarged and printed them so I could measure and draw on them as my understanding of their overall dimensions developed.

To begin the sizing process I assumed the entry doors were the average size for these sort of commercial items: 36" x 80". I used that to figure out dimensions for the rest of the building. It was an iterative process of estimating proportions and sizes until I had laid out the major lines in a drawing.

I arbitrarily decided the building would have a square footprint. I'm only interested in the facade, signs, and some of the interior, so the rest of the model is fabricated straight from my imagination to make the building seem plausible under casual examination.

The walls were drawn on a sheet of scrap 0.060" thick sheet styrene. In the past I've had a bad habit of making my walls too thin. I felt 0.060" was thick enough to be substantial and strong for this relatively small model, but not too thick to cut and shape with my trusty #11 Xacto knife.

One can never be too experienced to make a newbie mistake and that photo proves it!

I was in such a rush to cut out the openings for the lower sign and front windows that I broke the facade at its weakest points. This was no cause for tears. It was glued back together, and since styrene glue actually welds styrene, it's as if the break never occurred. Well, ok, the facade needed to be handled carefully until it was glued up into the complete structure, but in the end it's as if the break never occurred.

The inside corners and top support edge for the removable roof are 0.080" x 0.080" styrene strips. I used Revell Contacta Professional glue on this structure, and use it for all jobs where styrene needs to be glued together. I find it bonds quickly and the resulting joints are very strong

At this stage the structure is quite rigid, but it'll firm up even more once the interior box and braces are added in a future step.

The final task was to glue textured styrene surface panels to the shell.

The top half of the facade and the sides are surfaced with Evergreen Scale Model's product #4529, Metal Siding. This styrene sheet is 0.040" thick, so the model is now rather thick where these panels are glued on.

You'll also notice that the side pillars below either end of lower sign opening have been faced with pieces of 0.020" plain styrene sheet.

The back wall and the lower halves of the side walls are panelled with sheet brick styrene.

That door on the back wall is one of the leftover pieces from the melted Superior Bakery. Stylistically it really doesn't fit in here, but I liked it, and liked having a piece of the Superior Bakery on this model.

If you look inside you'll see that I've built up the frame where the street windows will eventually go. The prototype photos indicate those windows are set back a little from the main plane of the facade.

To finish off, the top and bottom on the model were carefully sanded against a large sheet of sand paper placed on my workbench to even them off. This helps the model to sit squarely on the ground, and gives the upper edge a more even look.

Now I just need to find a source of miniature books :-)

Kelley's Folly and E. L. Moore in 1977

Left: Karl Osolinski's interpretation of Kelley's Folly | Right: E. L. Moore's original model

Back in July Paul sent me some photographs of a masterful interpretation of E. L. Moore's Kelley's Folly project by Karl Osolinski. Karl granted permission for me post his pictures here. 

Well, longtime readers will know I was on an extended hiatus in the summer, and when I returned to the saddle in September I had forgotten about Kelley's Folly. A few days ago Paul reminded me, and I started to feel bad that I had ignored this stunning model.

But, you know, I'm thinking it might have been good that I put off this story until now, even if it was caused by forgetfulness, because Kelley's Folly is a 1977 story. And a major one at that. Here's the headline:

Kelley's Folly was the last story E. L. Moore ever submitted to RMC

1977 was at the end of Mr. Moore's publishing career. He only submitted 3 articles to MR and 2 to RMC that year. The first one to RMC was The Firecracker Foundry, which became his very last published article appearing in the July 1980 issue, and the second, his last submission, was Kelley's Folly, which was published in the January 1979 issue. 1978 only saw one submission, and that was the North Conway Depot article to MR. E. L. Moore died in August 1979.

Hey, since we've come this far, let's take a trip back to 1977 to get a sense of how Kelley's Folly came to pass.

As I mentioned, Mr. Moore submitted the manuscript for the Firecracker Foundry to Railroad Model Craftsman sometime in 1977. There isn't a cover letter for this project in the archive even though the original typescript still exists. However, it looks like it was submitted in the spring of 1977. Later, on 26 May 1977, he sent a letter and photos off to Tony Koester at RMC to see if there might be any interest in the Kelley's Folly project: 

May 26, 1977

Tony Koester, Editor,

Railroad Model Craftsman,

P. O. Box Drawer 700,

Newton, N. J.

Hi Tony . . . . . . . .

Well, looks as though my "swan song" got side-track somewhere along the way. Anyway I'm sending you in somewhat abbreviated form, a resume of the beginning of KELLEY'S FOLLY, 2200 words, three photographs and four sheets of drawings, to see what you think of it.

My goddamed legs are going to remain numb but I can get around pretty well . . . worse is my numb finger tips . . . I gotta watch the keys pretty closely and still make mistakes . . . but I manage.

Why the hell do I have to spend all the time I do on those cussed drawings (except in the interests of accuracy) when you have them done over anyway. Still it ain't really work, just tedious, since I can sit in my easy chair and do them. But dammif I gotta move around a lot to photograph the stuff and printing the pictures is a helluva strain on the gut. I type a couple of pages then go lie down a while, then type a couple more but they eventually all get typed. It's much more fun writing longhand in bed. But hell, I got no complaints, much, I eat well, got plenty of leisure, lots of books and don't get up until I get damned good and ready . . . except to feed my cats. When they get hungry they won't let me sleep.

E. L. Moore.

525 Oakland Ave., Apt 3

Charlotte, N. C. 28204

Enc. 3 photos, resume on backs.

I believe the 'swan song' to be the typescript for the Firecracker Foundry. Mr. Moore was 79 when he wrote the letter.

On 10 June 1977 Tony Koester replied with a postcard filling in E. L. Moore about what happened to the Firecracker Foundry and expressing an interest in Kelley's Folly.

June 10, 1977

Dear E. L.:

We are indeed interested in the Kelly's (you said Kelley's?) Folly material. Frankly, after the MR piece on the fire, the other recently received material from you is too close at first-glance to publish right now. I will thus be happy to have something which is entirely different. The signs of weathering and age are also of interest.

The accuracy of your drawings is appreciate [sic], in that we can usually trace them directly. You could do them only in pencil, however, and save the inking time.

Thanks for keeping us in mind, E.L.

Tony.

The 'MR piece on the fire' is the infamous Cannonball and Safety Powder Works that appeared in the April 1977 issue of Model Railroader - yes, 1977 was a curious year for E. L. Moore.

Once Mr. Moore heard of RMC's interest in Kelley's Folly he sent off the complete article:

June 16, 1977

Tony Koester, Editor,

Railroad Model Craftsman,

P. O. Drawer 700

Newton, N. J.

Hell, it's not my fault M R chose to publish that thing in their May issue . . . they've had it in their files two, three years awready [sic] yet.

Anyway here's KELLEY'S FOLLY, 2200 words, three photographs, four sheets drawings . . . they ain't got nothing similar to this, although they've got stuff dates back six, seven years . . . . 

Hell man I couldn't send in a drawing just done in pencil . . . take these for instance . . . they wouldn't look right except in good black and white . . . so I guess I'll stick to pen and inking 'em.

You're steadily making improvements in the old magazine . . . it's come a long way in the past few years . . . more power to yez!

E. L. Moore

525 Oakland Ave., Apt 3

Charlotte, N. C. 28204

That stuff that dates back six, seven years I believe he is referring to are what we now know as his lost articles. 

E. L. Moore signed his Kelley's Folly model on the bottom

It's great to see what Karl Osolinski has done with this classic E. L. Moore project from '77.

As I keep saying, 1977 is the year that keeps on giving.

Trefoil knot as trackplan?

Since writing about Bill Schopp's investigation into trefoil layout boards I've been looking online now-and-then for information about trefoils.

One interesting page I found was this one on trefoil knots. It got me thinking that trefoil layout boards are all well and good, but the important thing is having an interesting track plan running on them. I started wondering if any of those knots could be the basis of a trackplan. Clearly they  would need to be adjusted to account for the physical realities of track. They also might have a bit of the 'rabbit warren' about them, but for something like a Mt. Lowe inspired layout, that might be a good feature to have. 

Anyway, I parked those thoughts until last week when Voie Libre #115 dropped in my mailbox. Inside there's a gorgeous HO-9 circular layout - size unspecified, but it might have the same diameter as an extra-large pizza - by Frédéric Blandel whose trackplan seemed to me like a variation on one of those trefoil knots. Here's a side-by-side comparison of the layout's trackplan against one example knot:

Left: One possible trefoil knot | Right: M. Blandel's trackplan

M. Blandel's trackplan is not a pure trefoil knot, but it certainly appears to be in the spirit of one. It's ingenious and allows for both continuous scenic running as well as a little switching fun for when the mood strikes. And there doesn't appear to be a need for overly complex wiring as there are no reversing loops. This layout might be thought of as a trefoil knot trackplan on a circular board. It might be interesting to see what a trefoil knot based trackplan on a trefoil board would look like.

Trees at the Centennial Experimental Farm

Fits nicely on the living room coffee table. I see a trend :-)

The story so far

Back in the summer I started work on some tree armatures for the Centennial Experimental Farm layout. Throughout the summer I continued twisting up tree armatures and refining them while vegging on the back porch. Once I had 7, 3 large and 4 small, I decided to move on to applying bark.

That's when the trouble started.

Apprehensions

I tried some methods presented over at Boomer Dioramas and in Gordon Gravett's Modelling Trees for creating bark on the armatures. I was having trouble getting the hang of things. The trunks weren't looking that good. I realized I was in over my head and stopped. Stopped for a good long time. Months. 

I finally decided that even though I was having trouble learning how to coat the armature and model realistic looking bark, I should proceed. At the very least I needed the practice, and I wanted to continue on building the layout in accordance with the vision I had in mind. 

More importantly, from a learning standpoint, I wouldn't properly understand what to improve if I didn't complete the trees I currently was working on to the best of my current ability.

This is all to say that what follows is more a documentation of a learning experience than it is an expert tutorial on how to make trees. 

One tree

Across from Vickis Veggies is a model of a tree that's a few blocks down the street from my house. I've admired it for years, and wanted to have a go of at least making a simple representation.

Here it is sometime in the summer.

I should note that every tree I model I base on some real tree I've seen and photographed. As well as the tree on the left, I've used the two black walnut trees in my backyard as prototypes and a number of smaller trees that line the boulevards in my neighbourhood. I think it's important to use real trees as starting points instead of dreaming something up because the mind can be full of stereotypes.

This winter photograph gives a very clear idea of the trunk's structure.

You can see it is quite complex. Modelling it exactly as seen in HO scale would be a lengthy and daunting task, so simplification was in order.

The first thing I do is try and verbalize what the features are I like the most to help start the simplification process. In this case I particularly like the way the branch on the left arches over the road, how the trunk bifurcates near the ground, and the broad arc of the top of the leaf canopy. I figured if I could capture those aspects, and approximate the rest, I'd be happy.

There's the armature ready for the application of the leaf canopy. Let me point out a few things.

(Argh, I should have flipped the armature around before photographing so it was easier to compare to the real thing - sorry about that.)

The 'bark' consists of 4 coatings of Golden Coarse Modelling Paste. All I've managed to do fairly well is to get the trunk diameters about right. The texture and evenness of application need a lot of work.

The upper branch wires have been left extra long at this stage so I had enough material for securing the foliage. They were trimmed as I proceeded to shape the leaf canopy.

The bark is painted a mixture of Tamiya's XF-53 Neutral Grey and XF-49 Khaki. This mix was one suggested in Modelling Trees and I found it a good one for many of trees located here.

This is the tree partway through the process of adding volume to the canopy.

The fluffy, spidery structure is teased out Woodland Scenics Poly Fiber. Frankly, I haven't teased it out enough. I'd say it needs to be far less dense than I've applied. I had this problem with pine trees, and have still not overcome my reticence to have a far thinner, lacier canopy. It's some sort of mental block.

No glue is applied at this stage to hold the fibre in place. The wire branches hold it quite well by themselves. I trim the wires as I build out the canopy.

All done and ready for leaves.

I use both SuperLeaf and Noch's leaf products for texturing the canopy.

In this case I mixed some medium green leaves from SuperLeaf and Noch 50:50 to give a little subtle colour variation. It's indeed subtle, both products are very close in colour. 

I also sprinkled a little Noch dark green leaf material in areas inside the canopy to simulate shadow, and a little light green on the canopy's top to simulate dappled sunlight.

The first step is to spray on Mod Podge matte medium. It goes on white, but dries clear.

First, sprinkle a few dark leaves inside the canopy. You may need to turn the tree upside down to do this.

Then sprinkle on the medium green leaf mix, making sure no clumps fall on the canopy. 

Let dry.

A second application maybe required to even out the leaf cover.

The last application is a sprinkle of light green from relatively high above the tree.

When dry I usually need to do a final pruning to get rid of loose threads and clumps.

As you can see in the above photo, and in the others of the finished tree previously shown, the arched part is going to need to be reshaped a bit. I thought it was ok, but closer examination through taking photos highlights that work needs to be done to restore the arc I like.

Although my trees need work regarding bark and canopy density I am happy with the height, shape, basic branching structure, canopy volume, sky holes, and trunk diameter. I believe these are crucial to obtaining realistic trees, especially height as it more-or-less determines everything else. Scale-wise, real trees are much bigger than the typical items for sale at hobby shops.

Composition with trees

Before I started making tree armatures for this layout I had a plan in mind for types, sizes, number, and where they should be planted. I had to modify that when I finally had finished trees because their canopies took up more volume than I had anticipated. I modified my original arrangement to get the pleasing views I was after and still be able to gain access to the interior of the layout. 

It turned out I only planted 2 of the 4 small trees I made otherwise the layout would have been overcrowded with small trees. The small ones are planted in the picnic area between the two curved sections of track (I should note there was already a maple planted near them.)

1 and 2 mark where two additional tall trees are needed

However, after planting and looking at the layout and thinking for awhile I realized I need two more trees to balance out the composition, at least to my eye.

Outside the actual Vickis Veggies in Prince Edward County is a massive old tree that I'd like very much to try to model, and have it over hang the street outside the farm. It'll be planted at spot #1.

Spot #2? Well, I'm not sure yet what's going to go there other than it'll be tall and it's canopy needs to be above the streetcar wires.

I've started the armature for Vickis tree. It's a massive thing by itself, but not out-of-scale with respect to the other trees on the layout. I have some ideas for how to proceed with bark on this one, so I'll see how that goes.

Ok, one last thing. You might be wondering why a farm has so many trees, and big ones too. It turns out Ottawa's Central Experimental Farm, which is the inspiration for the layout, has an associated arboretum, The Dominion Arboretum. Frankly, I like streetcars, the farm, the arboretum, and Kato's Unitram track, so I squeezed them into one layout as I don't have the space, time, or money to build something more true to prototype. One thing I do hope that is true is the good feeling I get from visiting these places.

Wood & Steel

James Wood and 1932 Chevrolet Series BA Confederate

I've seen a few automobiles in my photo journey. There was this Model T speeding down an unknown Toronto street and this Mercury parked in Waupoos and there was this one pulling up to a rural home. And there are many more I haven't posted, but I thought I'd post one last picture to wrap things up. That's my grandfather and namesake, James Wood, beside what I think is a 1932 Chevrolet Series BA Confederate. He was a chauffeur so I don't know if that's his own car, or one he drove for a living. I suspect it was one he drove for a living as I'd be surprised if he could afford it. 

I'm pretty confident that these photos were indeed taken in 1939 as up until 1973 plates were issued annually. 1973 saw the inauguration of annual validation stickers. If I'm wrong about the license plates, all I can then say is the photo was taken between 1939 and the end of the good weather in Toronto in 1947, as he died in early January 1948.

The letter 'A' in the plate I believe indicates the plate was issued in Toronto. If I ever come across a scan of the Ontario 1939 license plate registry I should be able to identify who owned that car.

I'm livin' on the air in Cincinnati; Cincinnati, D813C

 On the back of this photo is written:

I think this reads:

D813C. Cincinnati

Ohio from Carew Tower

I must admit I arrived at 'Carew' from the somewhat indistinct writing by looking for suitable matches to towers existing in Cincinnati in 1959. 

I don't know what 'D813C' refers to. A highway maybe?

Here's a closer look at the view, maybe that'll clear things up:

Got that image in your head?, Ok, have a look at this video posted to YouTube:

At around the 2:45 mark you'll begin the to see a view that has landmarks visible in the 1959 photo. Here's a snap from the video:

Snapshot from this YouTube video

Amazing.

Loonar Module story in OVAR's Nov '23 newsletter

An article I wrote that goes into many of the details about constructing the Loonar Module appears in this month's newsletter of the Ottawa Valley Associated Railroaders. It summarizes a lot of the story that appeared here last year as well as presents photos and anecdotes that didn't appear in the Voie Libre article.

Chicago & North Western boxcar 118268

Getting a high pressure stream of water or steam under control?

I came across this photo stuck amongst pictures of babies and stern great grandparents. No context, no related pictures nearby, no writing on the back, no date, no location, no explanation whatsoever.

Apparently the 'C & N W' stenciled on the end of the boxcar stands for the Chicago & North Western railroad. I don't know anything about this railroad other than the internet tells me it was in operation from 1859 to 1995, and at times sprawled over 11,000 to 12,000 miles of track throughout Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South & North Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, and Wyoming. 

I wondered if Lucius Beebe had anything to note about the C&NW in his classic 1947 book, Mixed Train Daily. He had a little bit to say, Beebe-style, in an aside about the railroads' vanishing individualism:

The cachet of individualism, a national characteristic somewhat in general abeyance, can no longer be said to obtain among the mainline railroads of the United States, their operations, motive power or other distinguishing identifications. The Milwaukee, to be sure, still cleaves to the bright-orange rolling stock that has so long been its hallmark; the Chicago and North Western holds to left-hand operations, a sort of ancestral mortmain from its days of English capitalization; the Santa Fe is celebrated for the Fred Harvey Restaurants on its de luxe varnish hauls and, almost alone among the great trunk lines of the Southwest, the Frisco adheres to the tradition of beautifully maintained motive power and its engines glitter in the noble old manner with blue paint and red trim, gold leaf, gleaming brass and burnished rod assemblies. 

By and large, however, the main lines have surrendered to the expediency of uniform and interchangeable styles and properties, and the day when they indulged in spacious personal mannerisms, from motives of both pride and promotion, has vanished.

Canadian Pacific's Montreal Windsor Street Station & HQ

I found this postcard* in amongst the family photos I've been sorting through. The caption reads:

Windsor Street Station and Head Office Can. Pac. Ry., Montreal

There's an interesting Wikipedia entry on this old station. I'm glad to see the building still exists. I'll have to visit one day.

*It isn't actually a postcard. The photo is printed on a card, but it's about the size of a playing card or a pack of cigarettes, and its flip side is blank. An internet search shows this image did appear on postcards, so this example does have postcard DNA.

Revisiting Bryce's Home Made Bread

What appears to be the business end of a Bryce's Home Made Bread facility

Longtime readers may recall that back around this time in 2014 I posted some pictures of Bryce's Home Made Bread that my uncle, William Henry Wood, took in the 1940s. While on my current dig through family photos I think I may have unearthed some photos of what appears to be another Bryce's facility. 

You might ask why didn't I find these on my first pass through the photos 9 years ago? Because I didn't know what I was looking at, didn't examine them with a magnifying glass, and the photos don't appear to have any organization. They're just scattered here-and-there throughout a variety of albums. I know a bit more now about what I'm looking at in these pictures, so new aspects pop out that I didn't appreciate before.

Cropped version of the opening photo

The connection to Bryce's was clear once I closely looked at the logos on the wagons and truck.

The wagon on blocks (on the right) has written on the side: Bryce's Bread

The wagon on the left doesn't appear to have a company logo, but the one up on blocks to the right does.

'Bryce's Bread' appears on the truck

The same logo that's on the derelict wagon appears on the truck.

A slightly modernized delivery wagon

The deal was sealed when I stumbled across the above photo.

A cropping of the previous photo. That's Mr. Bill Paterson on the right

The other tip off was the presence of Mr. Bill Paterson as he accompanied my uncle on this audit trip.

Outside Bryce's. Left to right: Mr. W. B. Foster, Bill Paterson, William Henry Wood

In the above photo we also saw Mr. W. B. Foster standing for a portrait outside the other Bryce's Facility.

A cleaned up and cropped version of the previous photo

The next 3 photos give an interesting view of an office inside the building. No PCs, laptops, smartphones, or much of anything we'd associated with today's office life.

My uncle with a mountain of paper work

I suspect the two were having a good time staging the next two photos, but if nothing else you get a good idea of what typical office equipment was like in the 1940s.

My uncle again with a lot less paper, and many more office tools. That thing that looks like a tire beside his elbow is likely an ash tray

And here's Mr. Paterson taking his turn at the desk:

Bill Paterson looking concerned

As I've noted before, the puzzling continues.

[21 Nov 2023 update: I discovered another photo album with annotated photographs. It turns out this facility was located in Calgary, not Winnipeg, and the photos were shot on August 4, 1944.]