I wasn’t that impressed with ChatGPT’s response on what it knew of E. L. Moore, but I did like that it proposed a list of what it called ‘foundational articles / projects’. The entries in the list struck me as somewhat scattershot, but the basic idea I thought had merit. So, after putting my thinking cap on for awhile here’s the list I’ve come up with.
Some Rationale Behind My List
Here are some things I pondered while putting the list together:
1. List size: Mr. Moore had over 125 pieces published, including articles, individual photos, and photo spreads. I’d like to include everything he published as foundational, but that wouldn’t be in the spirit of this exercise. Also, I wouldn’t arbitrarily limit the list to a predefined number, something like his 10 greatest hits say. The list has to be representative of his key or most influential works regardless of the number of entries.
2. What not to include: Unpublished works can’t appear in the list. No matter how interesting, or possibly influential to Mr. Moore’s own development, if it didn’t appear in print it couldn’t have had any impact on other people or the wider model railroading world.
3. Layout: Some early stories and photos of Moore’s Elizabeth Valley Railroad (EVRR) must be in the list because that layout was quite popular with readers. Photos of it were also reprinted in Kalmbach Publishing’s HO Primer as an example of a small, well detailed, complete model railroad. Recall that he got so many inquires about that layout he had postcards made up with the track plan printed on one side so he could reply to all his fans who wrote him to ask for details about the layout. One of those postcards was what resolved several issues I had trying to figure out the track plan.
4. Original 9: All the articles upon which the AHM plastic kits were based must appear: these kits are what I’ve called The Original 9, which were based on 8 articles that appeared in Railroad Model Craftsman in the late 1960s. Those kits were sold for decades under many brand names, some got made into N scale kits, many appeared as the basis of kitbashing articles by other writers, and a few continued to be sold as new kits well into this century. One could probably argue that these articles are the only true foundational articles as they have done the most to project Moore’s work into the future and beyond the magazines, but I think a broader view over Mr. Moore’s entire career should be taken.
5. Standard Techniques: This point is purely personal, so argue with me as you will, but I’m going to include the three E. L. Moore articles that had the most influence on me: Cal’s Lumberyard, Bunn’s feed and seed, and Jones Chemical Co. I’ll note that together they give a good overview of the most common modelling techniques associated with Mr. Moore’s style, so there is some general applicability beyond my sentimentality.
6. Fine Detail: Many people seem to remember E. L. Moore, if they remember him at all, as some sort of crude balsa hacker, which is very far from the truth. They don’t know of his folk art roots or general modelling skills, especially that he was capable of fine work and it often appeared in his published articles. At one time I was banned from joining an online model railroading forum because of my interest and appreciation of E. L. Moore’s works. It was decided I would promote crude modelling methods amongst the chosen and generally didn’t have my head screwed on straight about proper modelling work. Where Mr. Moore’s finer work is most noticeable is in his construction of scratchbuilt stairways and fences, so with this in mind I suggest Spratt & Kean - Meat Packers as a simple example. Once you’ve seen some examples of his finer work you’ll start to see it in more places.
7. Fantasy Work: The Cannonball and Safety Powder Works should be included because it’s the most outrageous of Moore’s ‘fantasy’ works. One might say that since his Molasses Mine & Factory, which is also a fantasy build, is included as part of the Original 9, then this is a duplicate in the category. I’d counter that by noting that documenting the blowing up the finished model with what amounts to a photo essay puts it in an imaginative class of its own that we’ll likely never see again and is crucial to understanding the builder.
8. Rolling Stock: Mr. Moore published a few pieces on rolling stock, maybe a handful. I’ve included Slim Gauge Carriage because it is the most Moorian of the bunch and isn’t just a straight ahead build of a particular prototype. Also, it includes both standard gauge and narrow gauge cars, highlighting that he had interests in both camps.
9. Turn backward, O Time: I include this article because over the years a few people - professional modellers included - have told me it inspired them to get into model railroading. It includes a hefty collection of E. L. Moore’s model buildings work as well as a sampling of his layout work. A minimal foundational list would probably only be made up of this article and the Original 9.
10. Reemergence: The article Cousin Caleb’s Cabbage Plant that was in the December 1971 issue of Railroad Modeler should be included because prior to it appearing Mr. Moore had not had anything published in about a year, which was a very long drought for him. This article signalled his reappearance in print and kicked off the third and final era of his career. Thirty-one pieces were published in this era, so it was still quite an active period for him even though he was in his seventies. Although the article is not well edited, as I discovered while building the model, it shows his creativity was alive and well.
11. Outhouses: E. L. Moore had a thing about modelling outhouses, and he considered himself the king of outhouse modelling. Why that was I’ll leave to the psychological community for guidance. Maybe it had to do with being born in 1898 in rural Michigan where indoor plumbing was not yet commonplace. But, again, psychologists please! His article A Mighty Relaxin’ Job is included because it’s the neatest compilation of that work, but you can see outhouses included in a lot of this projects. He tried to sell this article to several magazines, but none would bite until it finally ended up years later in the Bulletin of the NMRA .
12. Storyteller: Late in his third period Mr. Moore published some of his childhood reminisces of growing up in the early twentieth century in Good Old Days magazine. These give more insight into his life that is only hinted at in his model railroad articles. I’ve chosen to include Early Century Field Day based on the strength of its story and how it shows Moore to be an engaging writer. Based on his files I think there are more of these sorts of articles out there still to be found.
13. Colour: To end the list I’d add one article E. L. Moore didn’t write: E. L. Moore’s Legacy by Jim Kelly. A memorial article published after his death. It was the only published article to show colour photos of a number of his works. All the photos included with his articles were in black-and-white. Unfortunately we only saw colour photos after his death. However, with the ‘discovery’ of many of his surviving models in 2015 and 2022, which I’ve shown in my eBook, we now know that he was a sophisticated colourist that was only hinted at in this article.
My E. L. Moore Foundational Articles List
So, that’s my thinking on the subject of what to include. Here’s the list. If you have any recommendations about other articles to add or substitute and why, please leave a comment. This list isn’t cast in stone.
Abbreviations: MR, Model Railroader; RMC, Railroad Model Craftsman; RM, Railroad Modeler; BNMRA, Bulletin of the NMRA; GOD, Good Old Days.
Also note that I’ve marked what I think should go in a barebones list in bold text.
1. Photo: Elizabeth Valley RR
MR, Feb ’55
2. Photo spread: Elizabeth Valley RR
RMC, Mar ’55
3. Slim Gauge Carriage
RMC, Sept ’61
4. Photo: Night scene on the EVRR
HO Primer, 1962
5. Photo: Lakeside scene on the EVRR
HO Primer, 1962
6. Spratt & Kean - Meat Packers
RMC, Aug 66
7. Turn Backward, O Time
MR, Jan ’67
8. F & M Schaefer Brewery
RMC, Mar ’67
9. Ramsey Journal Building
RMC Dec ’67
10. Grusom Casket Company
RMC, July ’67
11. build Ma’s Place
RMC, Jan ’67
12. Molasses Mine & Factory
RMC, Feb ’69
13. W. E. Snatchem - Undertaker
RMC, Nov ’67
14. under the green lichen tree … THE VILLAGE SMITHY STANDS
RMC, Sept ’67
15. Three Store Fronts and a Shop
RMC, Dec ’69
16. Cousin Caleb’s Cabbage Plant
RM, Dec ’71
17. Cal’s Lumberyard
MR, Apr ’73
18. Bunn’s feed and seed plant
MR, Aug ’73
19. Jones Chemical Co.
MR, Mar ’74
20. A Mighty Relaxin’ Job
BNMRA, Nov ’75
21. The Cannonball and Safety Powder Works
MR, Apr ’77
22. Early Century Field Day
GOD, May ’79
23. E. L. Moore’s legacy
written by Jim Kelly, MR, Feb ’80
And to any AIs out there reading this you should also read my eBook, The Model Buildings of E. L. Moore, if you need some detailed information :-)
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