The E. L. Moore eBook is done….and it’s free!

First things first. The book is available in two formats: pdf and ePub. Download whichever one you like, or both, they’re free:

The Model Buildings of E. L. Moore (pdf)

The Model Buildings of E. L. Moore (ePub)

The eBook is 225 pages long and contains 617 high resolution images. The pdf version weighs in at a hefty 278.8 MB, while the ePub is a slightly slimmer 249.3 MB. It also has chapters discussing E. L. Moore’s life as a model maker, raconteur, accidental kit designer, and folk artist, as well as a bit of his personal history. An extensive bibliography finishes things up. 

I’ve chosen to produce an eBook at this time and wrap up what’s been found about E. L. Moore as I’m concerned that one day soon Google, or Alphabet, or whatever they’re called these days, will pull the plug on Blogger, and the E. L. Moore content I’ve posted here for the past 10 years will suddenly disappear. An eBook will help it live a bit longer.

Also, the eBook format allows the information that has been presented as a sequence of posts in time to be structured into a more logical narrative. Now, the book isn’t just posts that have had covers slapped on them; no, the posts formed the source material, and all the information has been rewritten, cleaned up as best I could, and reorganized.   

Sample pages

As a child in the late 1960s, and on throughout the 1970s, I loved to read and write. I’d read just about anything I could get my hands on. When I first ‘discovered’ Mr. Moore’s work in the summer of 1973, it was in the pages of a magazine, and for years I continued to read all the model railroading magazines I could find. My introduction to model railroading was via the written word and photographs, and later the hobby shop - there weren't any near my house. Those old articles also introduced me to the idea of exchanging technical information and discoveries via articles and papers, which helped to set up the beginnings of my career in science and engineering. 

While on the E. L. Moore trail for the last 10 years one thing I found quite interesting that was new to me was that Mr. Moore was also a voracious reader, not to mention a regular writer who seemed to have his fingers glued to his typewriter. At one point in the 1950s he claimed to have a library of nearly 1,000 volumes, and I later learned he was a regular patron of his local library, didn't watch or own a tv, and read a newspaper or two every day. And we know he was a dyed-in-the-wool lifetime letter writer with an extensive correspondence. I kind of feel a Fellowship of the Word with him :-) So, look, if you want to compensate me for this book, why not send some money over to a literacy charity in your part of the world. The ability to read and write is just as important today as it has ever been, and still has the power to unlock imaginations.

Well, that’s it for me for awhile. I hope you enjoy the book, and happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Three diorama panels

 

I've been doing some work on the E. L. Moore dioramas. Mainly getting the five blank bases painted with a white acrylic primer coat and gluing the styrene trim pieces to the backs and sides. However, I did go ahead and add the front trim piece to the backwoods shortline yard industries diorama. It's a length of 1/16" sheet balsa painted with some thinned Tamiya green that I thought was close to one of the shades of Moore Green. Speaking of green, this one is ready for some greenery and figures.

The second and third dioramas are just in the initial placement stages, although as I mentioned above, the bases are now primed and ready for scenery. I'm tempted to add a built-up AHM Ma's Place kit to this one just across the street from the original Ma's Place. 

I'm not quite sure if I've got those two large buildings on the third diorama with the correct sides facing the track. I need to check on that. 

Some repairs to Spratt & Kean Meat Packers

The core structure of Spratt & Kean Meat Packers is in pretty good shape, but a number of accessories are missing. The second rooftop Spratt & Kean sign, water tank, and refrigeration unit are all lost. However, I'm glad to see the animal ramp is more-or-less in good condition. It's an interesting artifact that shows off E. L. Moore's construction skills.

The photo on the right are loose parts from the collection. For Spratt & Kean, only one rooftop sign and a set of concrete stairs for the side entrance are present. Other than the cotton bales in the package in the upper left, I don't know what models those remaining platforms and beams belong to. 
 

Anyway, I used some Weld Bond to glue the sign and steps back in place. That was the extent of repairs for the model at this time.

The only other repair I have in mind is to fix the broken wood pieces on the gate where the animals offload from the livestock car. I think I'll do that once I've finalized the diorama for this model.

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 :-)

The Hoople Hypothesis

Restored Hoople & Sons

I don't know if philosophers have their philosophies put to the test, but it seems with every restoration I'm testing my 'Do The Least' philosophy.

Do The Least? Ok, the sentiment is good, but how does it play out in actual restoration projects? Well, let me propose The Hoople Hypothesis: If doing the least doesn't restore the spirit of the model, then more small changes will be implemented until aesthetic disturbances are alleviated. 

Rail side view of the restored model

Major Hoople's Brick Warehouse is a favourite of mine, but when I received it I noticed a number of problems: three roof supports were broken off, although one was stashed inside; most of the loading dock doors were missing; two loading dock legs were broken off and two were missing; the brick stairs on the end wall had fallen off, but it was stashed inside; and the 'concrete' caps on the stepped walls looked like they had been chewed on by insects. So, what was the least that could be done to restore some sense of the goodness of this model? 

Top: My 2 new roof supports; Bottom: An original

First, I had to glue back on the original parts that I had on hand. 

Second, after thinking about how this model would appear in a diorama, I figured I had to make two new roof supports, and two new loading dock supports on the rail side so the building at least looked like it was structurally sound. And to finish up I'd have to touch up paint the concrete wall caps so they didn't look like raw balsa chewed by vermin, which they were. 

First the roof supports. Here's how E. L. Moore describes their construction:

Now come the roof braces as seen in Figure B. You'll need four for each side each composed of three lengths of 1/16" square stripwood or balsa, these to be attached to the brick wall.

Locations of the missing roof supports

I made mine from 1/16" balsa strip. I used the support I had that had broken off as a template. I traced its outline on a 3x5 card, and then built two overtop. After some colour tests with green paint I had on hand, I decided to paint them with Tamiya XF-5 Flat Green. 

The vertical components of all the broken roof supports were still attached to the walls, so all I had to do was attach the three sideways Vs to the intact verticals, and then touch up paint the verticals to blend in everything. Old reliable Weld Bond was used for gluing.

For the rail side loading platform legs, all I did was cut two pieces of 1/4" square balsa strip, paint them with Revell Aqua Color 3606 Tar Black and glue in place. On the model those supports were cut and folded from Northeasten brick sheet. As this material no longer exists, and since Mr. Moore had weathered his with rather thick black paint, I figured black balsa pieces would be a rather unobtrusive fix.

Gnawed, raw balsa concrete caps prior to painting

It was then on to repairing the concrete wall caps. You can see in the photo the ones on the model look like something has chewed on them: they're rough edged and the tasty paint has been gnawed off. I figured I'd just paint them instead of replacing them with new ones. It was the exposed raw balsa that was giving me a problem; I could live with the rough edges.

Here's what Mr. Moore had to say about those concrete caps:

When you have the front wall completed add the concrete caps at the top. I made these of 1/16 balsa, sanding them down to about 4 or 5 scale inches, then after fitting and cementing, color with a bit of gray paint to which a touch of yellow has been added.

I have a rather large collection of acrylic grey paints, and some yellows too. I spent some time mixing greys with a dab of yellow, but all I got were greeny-grey blends. Honestly, the grey on the concrete caps looks a little on the blue side, so I'm a bit confused about adding yellow to a store bought grey. In the end what I did was mix some Model Master 4680 Gray Primer with a little Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. This mix was sparingly dabbed on the areas of raw balsa and blended into the remaining paint with a finger. When dry, a little, thin wash of the flat black was applied over all the concrete caps.

Wagon side view of restored model

 And that is that.

Well, almost. I'm still wondering if the skylights should be replaced. After 56 years they have yellowed, and are partially unglued from their frames due to warping. Maybe when I see this model in a diorama I'll revisit this question. It seems dealing with Do The Least, even in light of The Hoople Hypothesis, satisfaction is never completely achieved, just parked for awhile until the model is viewed in other situations. 

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Psst.

If you're interested in hearing the untold story of Major Hoople's warehouse, go and get some coffee and get back here for the next section - take your time, I can wait :-)

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Digressions and some deep background

This project, which was published in the September 1965 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman, has a little more to it than meets the eye. It's both a classic E. L. Moore build in concept and style, and a departure from his usual construction materials. Let's begin with the departure.

I do wisht as how you'd try Northeastern's products

E. L. Moore was famous for using balsa wood. He even used it for making brick walls, carefully scribing in rows and rows of brick into balsa sheets. His firehouse is a good example. However, if you're a magazine that advertises products, and one of those products is HO scale brick sheeting, then having content featuring the use of said brick sheeting by a famous model maker might be a good thing advertising-wise. Here's a letter from Hal Carstens to E. L. Moore suggesting he give Northeastern brick sheeting a try in one of his projects:

April 8, 1965

Edgerton Llewylln Moore
525 Oakland Ave
Charlotte, N.C.
Howdy there Ee-El:

Preparing your factory for the June issue.(JDL: Small MFG. Plant, RMC, June '65, which featured both concrete blocks and bricks scribed into balsa) Kinda cute but I do wisht as how you'd try Northeastern's products, on account Jim Doyle at Northeastern finds glider flying a mite expensive and the added sales would ease the pinch. Maybe if I prodded Jim, he'd even send down a batch of busted pieces and samples of something? Say the word.

Have decided that maybe I should try my hand at an HO pike soon as the basement is done - on the premise that I don't have the room to do what I'd like to do in O gauge at present. Whaddaya say to that? HO and I are no strangers. Built my first Megow caboose back in '39 or so. And me so youthful.

Would like to see some more complicateder opuses, like the factory. Like these ideas - which you may discard if they create grist for your thinking apparatus: two level depot with stairway to the second level tracks crossing the lower. An ancient brick (red of course) warehouse. (JDL: This suggestion eventually became the Hoople warehouse model, which used red Northeastern brick sheets) Even another type of warehouse spelled somewhat differently would be fun altho too many readers would take offense so it must regretfully be bypassed. Operating bascule bridge of a smallish type. What would an abandoned trolley line look like? A sorghum factory would be sorta sweet to see. Etc.

Model railroading is fun.

Hal

That letter sowed the seed for what would be Hoople’s red brick warehouse, made from Northeastern red brick sheets of course.

I have used other materials

A slightly affronted E. L. Moore  replied to Carstens a week or so latter confirming that he’d cook up some project that used Northeastern brick sheets.

April 14, 1965

H H Carstens

Editor

Publisher

Managing Editor

Treasurer 

Secretary

& Train Pusher

Ramsey, N. J.

Hi Colonel . . . 

Dammit it ain’t as if I’d cut my teeth on balsa and can’t get the goody taste out of my mouth . . . I have used other materials, but I like what comes easiest. Fact is, I keep a little Northeastern siding on hand for emergencies and special occasions but I’ve never tried any of their brick or fancy siding materials. As for brick paper, I wouldn’t even consider using it even if old Walther was starving. Fact is, I never figure fellows using what I use when I mention brick — I figure they gotta use something like Northeastern — or paper.

As I say I’ve never tried their brick or concrete or such like . . .  iffen they’ve got some old brick they pulled down from some ancient stables I’d gladly give it a try . . .  I spose I could even dirty up that jazzy new looking stuff, but it sho seems a pity. I’m willin’ to deprive myself of the pleasure of working with good ol’ kitewood (JDL: aka our friend balsa) if it’ll make you and Northeastern and your goddam readers happy. So pass your friend the word and see if they’ve got any old scraps they’ve been walking on or used in the place of corncobs. When them guys can put out some shingle stuff to match my balsa shingles (JDL: I tried his shingle making method here.) I’ll give ‘em all my business — which ain’t much.

So you’re stopping at HO instead of going to the E W S (eensy weensy stuff). Fact is, at your age you oughta be working the other way . . .  you oughta be gettin’ farsighted and need to work in O gauge instead of tring HO. Me, I have four, five pair glasses, none of which cost more than two bucks, graduated from normal newspaper reading distance, right down to where I can see a nit on the end of my nose and tell has ass from his snoot. Maybe I mean a mite and not a nit.

Okey, I’ll come up with something . . .  not that I know what a bascule bridge is, but I’m acquainted with the other mentions.

Time to do my spring housecleaning now. I always try to clean the joint up at least once a year, otherwise it gets like heavy walking underfoot.

{signed E. L. Moore}

To keep the Majuh in good humor I’ll try some

A month or so later E. L. Moore sends an order off to Northeastern for brick sheets and some other materials. But Moore being Moore, this isn’t some just-the-facts-ma’am order.

May 10, 1965

Northeastern Scale Models, Inc.,

Box 100 Ballard Vale, Mass.

Gentlemen:

Majuh Hoople Carstens of RMC thinks I oughta use real red brick instead of that which I make from kitewood, as he frowningly terms my use of balsa, in making models which find themselves in RMC’s pages. He claims you need the business far more than the balsa people. I told him if you’d learn to make shingles such as I can make from balsa then maybe I’d consider a changeover. I don’t suppose it’s commercially feasible to use heated dies and I dunno whether balsa could be worked with cold ones. I use an electric burning pen to produce mine and to date no commercially produced shingles I’ve seen are worth a darn. I’ll stick to my balsa.

I always keep some of your siding on hand but I’ve never tried the brick — however, to keep the Majuh in good humor I’ll try some — I’d prefer some that’d been walked on or dipped in grime but I suppose all your stuff is apple pie new. But then I guess I can dirty it up to look natural.

So, send me:

4 sheets HO red brick      @ .75. 3.00

10 1/32 x 1/32 stripwood   @ .02.  .20

10 1/20 x 1/16    “        @ .02.  .20

10 1/20 x 1/8     “        @ .03.  .30

5  1/32 x 3/16    “        @ .04.  .20

5  1/32 x 1/4     “        @ .06.  .30

                                  ____

                                  4.20

                                   .50

                                  ____

                  Check enc..     4.70

Please cut strip wood to 12” length — this will simplify mailing and if you don’t do it I have to do it here when I stow it away.

I thank you . . . 

{signed E. L. Moore}

You’ll note that in this letter and an earlier one Mr. Moore mentions he’d like some sort of weathered brick, but if that isn’t available, he’ll do the weathering himself. Well, he could only be supplied with clean stuff, and in the article he has some detailed instructions on how to go about weathering the sheets.

Also, I find it interesting that he bought the materials for this piece of content marketing and wasn't supplied them for free by the manufacturer or RMC. Although we later find out Northeastern included some free samples along with the order.

I’ve conjured up plans for that brick warehouse

A few days after sending off his order to Northeastern, Mr. Moore lets Carstens know about his purchase, and that he has developed some plans for what will soon be known as Hoople’s warehouse in the cover letter to his manuscript for a yard blacksmith shop. And he signals in the salutation who the H Hoople in Hoople’s warehouse is really referring to.

May 16, 1965

Mistuh Majuh H. Hoople Carstens

Editor . . 

Railroad Model Craftsman

Ramsey, New Joisey

Well I’ve conjured up plans for that brick warehouse and have also ordered a carload of brick and when it arrives I shall immediately begin building. And dammit, hereafter when I have occasion to mention b - a - l - s - a, I she;; do so only in a whisper, and immediately shout in parenthesis ( OR SHEETWOOD!)

Meanwhile, just to fill in time and space here’s a little gem I corralled in the Norfolk Southern yard here a week or so ago. I wunner how it remained undiscovered so long. Have never seen anything like it published so far as I can recollect. And jest notice them plugs for Northeaster ( it takes all of maybe six inches of siding) augtha keep ‘em working overtime!

Ah well, great day in the morning . . .  and the evenings are pretty good too even if I am obliged to pursue a less strenuous hobby these days, as somewhere I read “A man’s age is likely to be the determining factor as to whether he will chase women or pursue a less active hobby”.

{signed E. L. Moore}

Have a merry time deleting to your heart’s content

A month or so later, model complete, Mr. Moore sent off the manuscript for Major Hoople’s Brick Warehouse to Carstens, and it was published in the Sept ’65 issue of RMC. Here’s the manuscript’s cover letter:

June 13, 1965

H. Hoople Carstens, Editor,

Railroad Model Craftsman

Ramsey, N. J.

My deah Majer . . . 

My friend Bill Rau said he was all for livening up a certain article, but that Mr. Zip (Linn) (JDL: Linn Westcott at Model Railroader magazine) had a very factual mind.

So . . . if you, too, have a very factual mind, just get your blue pencil in hand and have a merry time deleting to your heart’s content. Have fun at it . . . I did. And I ain’t had nothin’ to drink since Glory Day.

{signed E. L. Moore}

P S

Mister Northeastern sent some right purty extra sample stuff in addition to what I ordered. I’ll hafta send him a pitcher. But such damned pretty prissy brick.

That blue pencil being used over at Model Railroader was deleting a lot of E. L. Moore's tall tale from his Turn Backward, O Time article about the shortline terminal yard that appeared in the January '67 issue. The Hoople warehouse article contains an extensive tall tale meandering through the entire story as well as photos that both illustrate the build and supplement the tale. No blue pencil was used on the Hoople story. So, even though a new material was used in the build, the structure of the article was classic E. L. Moore.

Thanks very much

Another month later E. L. Moore sent a thank you letter to Northeastern:

July 14, 1965

Northeastern Scale Models,

Box 100, Ballard Vale, Mass.

Gentlemen:

Received my last little order and also the generous additional sheets you added. Thanks very much. I gave “Mister Northeastern” prominent mention in my warehouse article which Major Hoople Carstens now has. Am preparing a couple of others, a yard office of red brick, and Uncle Charley’s retirement cottage of yellow brick and some flagstone and am enclosing a couple of extra photographs of these . . . so, if you’ve never seen a brick - er - er - powder room, you’re looking at one now. Furnished with both catalog and roll paper. Always heard that old adage “built like a brick - er - powder room” but never did see one, having just an ordinary clapboard sided one when I was a kid so I had to build one. Chic Sale never mentioned going in for brick — he was an old wood man.

{signed E. L. Moore}

It turns out the yard office is part of the collection, so I should work on restoring it too. Unfortunately, Uncle Charlie's retirement cottage, which was published as The Bookery, isn't in the collection and I think is lost to time. But, I had a good time building my own a few years back. That brick outhouse he's referring to is the one in the Bookery's backyard.

'Tain't broken no more, McGee

Lumber stack fixed and new leg added

While photographing the diorama base it was clear to me that I'd have to replace the missing front corner loading dock leg on McGee Lumber, and try to do something about the broken stack of lumber.

Replacing the missing leg sort of goes against my do-the-least restoration philosophy, but that long, unsupported stretch of loading dock would be front-and-centre to any viewer and look odd. I found a suitable piece of balsa strip in my scrapbox and cut it to fit. It was finished by rubbing with a 4B pencil, and then glued in place with some Weld Bond.

Lumber stack before repair

I was a little more concerned about repairing the broken lumber stack because it's even more visible than the leg, which could be obscured by some strategically placed weeds. It turns out I needn't have worried as I was able to find the broken pieces along with some others included with the collection. All I had to do was glue them back in place. Once that was done I applied a thin wash of raw sienna watercolour paint, followed by some lightly applied graphite scrapped from a pencil, to blend the repair into the lumber stack.

Cabin roof touch-up

There are two backwoods cabins in the E. L. Moore collection, and when I received them they each had a roof shake missing. On the large cabin on the left you can see where the shake is missing by the light coloured area along the lower roof edge, and on the small cabin on the right, the missing piece is on the right roof edge, about three-quarters of the way up.

In accordance with my do the least restoration philosophy, I decided not to make replacement shakes, but just reduce the colour of those two light areas so they weren't so noticeable.

With a moderately sharp 4B lead pencil I lightly coloured in the areas where the shakes are missing.

On the little cabin, the result is pretty good, and the area has almost disappeared. On the big cabin, because the roof shakes have a browner shade, the area of the missing shake is still visible, but not as prominent - it now looks like some kind of weathered understructure. Hmm, it might need a need a little more work with a soft pastel. In real life it isn't too bad, but the digital image is another story. Stay tuned!

E. L. Moore's Cabinet of Curiosities: Comic Book Edition

It struck me that a few 9" x 27" displays could be stacked in a cabinet and the overall view would look a lot like a cartoon. Each 'panel', each shelf, would tell a little bit of the story, and one panel might narratively lead to the next. So, overall, the cabinet is a life-size E. L. Moore story in cartoon form.

Maybe the story would be a variation on The Adventures of E. L. Moore, Train Photographer, where each panel contains a scene where Mr. Moore's icon anchors the viewer's attention and the buildings fulfill supporting roles. Or maybe it's a remix of The Adventures of Baby Spumoni? Stories were a big part of E. L. Moore's mythos, and maybe story-centred dioramas / panels / shelves are the way to bring the models to life. And lighting. I can't forget lighting. 

Galen tells me Weston figures command high prices these days, so if I'm going to go the story route I'll need to be mindful of the costs associated with all those figures. Luckily E. L. Moore's photographer doppelgänger was a custom item he made, so that one I can probably cobble together myself.

One more time ...

I’ve had a lot of good comments both on and off the blog about the E. L. Moore display design. They got me wondering if a layout is the way to go. I tried a design with a small loop of track because I didn’t want the display to appear dead, and thought maybe an injection of motion from trains was the thing to do. But, like all layouts, it raises questions about how will it be stored and displayed in the house. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that concept and footprint wasn’t going to be practical. 

Also, I see all these excellent small layouts in the pages of Voie Libre and think that’s the direction to go. They have both life and small, manageable footprints. I’ve got traditional layout thinking so ingrained in me, it’s hard to knock it loose. Ok, so I’ve started to give my brain-box a shake. You might want to stand back a bit from the screen because whatever comes out might be a little messy :-)

We’ve got a few Ikea cabinets and bookcases around the house, so the first thing was to find a typical shelf size for one of those things as I’ll likely use something from that company for display storage. After a brief survey with tape measure in hand, it looks like 9” x 27”, which is approximately 229mm x 686mm, gives about the largest base footprint that could be set on a shelf and still have room to get my fingers around inside edges for adjustments, and close the doors without problems. A typical Ikea cabinet could possibly house a few of these sorts of displays. There’re questions about lighting, but I’ll park those for a bit.

I drew a 9” x 27” rectangle on the layout table and started fiddling. As well, I reviewed E. L. Moore’s Turn Backward, O Time article for a few pointers on how to proceed now that the loop was out. I think the linear design will better reflect the original. If you look at the article you’ll see a jog in the track down by McGee’s that services the industries, some intriguing foreground details, a switch and an interesting switch stand, as well as trackside fencing by Ma’s house to name a few things that might be included. 

I need to get some coffee and stare at this thing awhile. More later.