Pola's American Designer Series kit building contest

In the September 1983 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman this Pola ad appeared for a new contest they were holding. All you had to do was build any of their kits that had the American Designer Series eagle sticker on it (it's the eagle image shown in the ad), and send them photos of your finished project. Box-stock or kitbashed, HO or N scale, it didn't matter as long as the photos make our kits look good. They were going to announce two winners every month (1 for MR and 1 for RMC) until June 1984. 

This ad doesn't identify any more of their kits that were designed by famous American model railroaders as did their previous one. But, maybe the months leading up to June '84 will.

A comment was posted on my earlier story about the American Designer Series that the price of E. L. Moore's Grusom Casket kit seemed rather high at $19.98. I couldn't find another ad to confirm the price, but I did find the following Model Power ad for the E. L. Moore Brewery in the Jan '83 issue of RMC

Model Power had changed the brewing company to Budweiser, and the price was listed as $8.00. In the Pola contest ad they note that one of their kits suitable for entry was #806, Brewery. That is the same E. L. Moore brewery kit, and they were listing it for $15.00, which is getting close to double Model Power's price. An internet inflation calculator tells me that $15US in 1984 is today about the same as $37.50US.

It looks like my trek to June 1984 is going to be an interesting one. Stay tuned!

Selective Impression

Selective Impression: The art of constructing a model building using only a hastily taken photograph as source material.

Usage: Since Madwood's client provided just a few photos taken from the backseat of a moving car as reference material, selective impression was the only tool left for cobbling together a reasonable model.

Source: The term was first coined by George Franke in Modeling Sycamore Feeds that appeared in the October 1982 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Mr. Franke notes I was behind schedule when I took the pictures so I neglected to take any measurements. He also elaborates that the prototype wasn't served by rail so he left off a small shed to accommodate boxcars, put the office on the first floor, and shortened the storage building among other adjustments that suited his model railroad's needs. Selective impression is not for creating exact replicas of buildings, but is for capturing what caught your attention, and making appropriate adjustments to fit your layout's world. Selective impression is not to be confused with either selective compression or selective staging.

from The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, 2nd ed., 1999.

Pola's American Designer Series

I was quite surprised to see this Pola ad in the November 1982 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. 

It starts off by stating: Pola manufactures over 200 HO & N structure kits. Many of these are American designs originally published in MRR (their acronym for Model Railroader) and RMC. We are re-issuing these on a limited basis, at special prices. 

Amongst the pictures it notes that the coal mine in the upper left is a Jack Work design from a 1959 issue of Model Railroader, although it doesn't say which issue. And in the lower left there is the good old Grusom Casket Co. from an E. L. Moore design in Railroad Model Craftsman. It doesn't say who designed that coaling station in the lower right, but the overall implication is that it came from somewhere in the pages of MR or RMC. I wonder if these were released in special American Designer Series boxes, or if there are any further ads with more about this series? An interesting twist. The search continues :-)

[30 October 2020 update: Vince informs me, and I confirm, that the Jack Work coal mine article was actually a 3-parter that appeared in the Oct, Nov, and Dec '59 issues of MR. And, the same ad also appeared in the Nov. '82 issue of MR.]

Hovelology 101

Hovelology: The non-science of measuring, drawing, and photographing old buildings for future modelling use.

Useage: When asked why he was measuring the bank's doors at 1:15am the defendant claimed to be a student of hovelology.

Source: First introduced by William C. Schaumberg in the June 1981 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. Mr. Schaumberg notes on the creation of the term: Unusual things require unusual explanations. It's not scientific, but works in line with the, "if you can't convince 'em, confuse 'em" theory.

from The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms, 2nd ed., 1999.

Hangin' around

I played around a bit with some thin wire to see if I could cobble together a few hangers for the overhead streetcar wire. After some fiddling, I think I've settled on those in the photo. They're basically just a loop of wire with ears on each end - if I was smart I should have worked out this detail before building up and installing the street posts. I'll either glue or solder them in place. Luckily this is all just decoration, and they don't actually work. I can see why the classic model traction pioneers preferred O scale as HO seems far too small for maintaining one's sanity :-)