In Perry Mason, Toronto does not play itself

Over the course of the year we've probably watched every episode of the old Perry Mason tv series twice. Looking for fresh stories we're now trying to watch the Perry Mason made-for-tv movies. Trying is the key word here.

The old series ran from 1957 to 1966, and the tv movies debuted in 1985. There were 30 of these movies made up until 1995. Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale reprise their roles as Perry and Della, but everything else is more-or-less new. Including the locales. I've only watched 4 1/8 of these 'movies', but so far the real Los Angeles is nowhere in sight. In the premier, Perry Mason Returns, Toronto stands in for LA, and in the third movie, The Case of the Shooting Star, Toronto plays New York City. Colorado, maybe Denver, seems to be the setting for the other movies, but I'm not sure about that, or where they were shot.

Anyway, other than the pleasure of seeing performances from Burr and Hale in their old roles, these movies leave a lot to be desired. My watching has devolved into seeing if I can spot Toronto locales. I hit a low when I spotted that scene above in The Case of the Shooting Star where a TTC bus drives down a street in NYC! I also recall a scene where I saw streetcar track in a road. I need to go back and see if any TTC streetcars are making cameo appearances in the background :-)

We paused this movie marathon about 1/8th of the way through The Case of the Sinister Spirit. I couldn't take any more, and there were no misplaced buses to raise my own spirits.

Grusom Casket becomes a country store

Snipped from a larger image in June '87 RMC

The winner of the June '87 RMC / Dremel Kitbashing Award was Richard Bower for his kitbash of E. L. Moore's Grusom Casket kit into a country store. Well, it's more of a country store complex made up of a store from the 2-storey part of Grusom's (aka, the Ramsey Journal part of the kit), and a gas station and garage made from the 1-storey part (aka, the Machine Shop). It's a handsome and ingenious bash that turns a single Grusom Casket kit into something completely different. 

E. L. Moore's Machine Shop on The Franklin & South Manchester

Snipped from a much larger photo in the Nov '86 issue of RMC.

There's an excellent photo essay by Steve Sint in the Nov '86 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman on George Sellios' famous Franklin & South Manchester Railroad. Buried off to the corner in one of the photos on page 71 is our old friend the E. L. Moore designed Machine Shop squeezed between two taller buildings. The roof is a little different, but the walls make it clear what building this is. This little building seems to be popping up on some of the largest layouts. Hopefully there're still surprises ahead.

A very long E. L. Moore Machine Shop

Snipped from Massive HO layout with almost a mile of track.

I was watching Toy Man Television's episode on Verryl Fosnight's HO scale layout of the Wyoming Division of the Union Pacific and at around the 4:10 mark I saw this kitbash of the Machine Shop. It's the most extreme bash of the kit I've seen so far, but look at the layout it's on, it's amazing.

I'm a big fan of Toy Man Television and its relaxed vibe: highly recommended.

The Elevator Building is actually...

From RMC Nov '85

 ... the staircase tower in Vollmer's Modern Parking Structure kit #770-3802. Back in May 2019 I made many wild speculations as to the Elevator Building's roots and was dead wrong on all counts. Hilarious!