Some pictures of the Ramsey Journal Building

Last week's post that started off about Malcolm Furlow and quickly digressed into another E. L. Moore story stimulated a lot of discussion in the comments section about Moore's Ramsey Journal Building, both prototype and model.

Martin did some research and noted that the prototype was built in 1896. A 1979 fire caused it to be rebuilt in 1980, which likely explains the different 2nd floor, and maybe the missing clock tower (more on the disappearing clock tower below).

I realized I had a few images of the building and that it might be interesting to post them in one place to see how the structure has changed over the years.

Snipped from RMC July '63

E. L. Moore noted in his article that he only came across this photo on the right when he was just about finished his model. He had been using the Don Wallworth painting we'll discuss next as his primary reference.

The photo on the right was snipped from a much larger one that appeared in the article Station Stop on the Erie Past & Present - Ramsey that ran in the July '63 issue of RMC. The article's unidentified writer notes that the photo dates from around 1898, and that the tower on top of the building - the clock tower in the model and kit - was long gone by the time RMC moved in not long before the article was written. In his construction article Moore notes he took artistic license when he put clocks in that tower. So, the obvious question: Did the building have a clock(s) in the tower? I see circular indentations up there, but maybe there's heraldry in that space, not a clock. It looks rather clock-free.

From RMC Dec '64

The image on the right is snipped from the centrefold painting called "Ramsey Depot - 1905" that appeared in the Dec '64 issue of RMC. You can see the depot mentioned in the title in the complete painting, but in this snippet I've removed it to focus on the Ramsey Journal Building. I'm going to state the obvious - for reasons of excessive thoroughness :-) - and assume this is what the building looked like in 1905, 9 years after construction.

The painting was done by Don  Wallworth, and on page 35 of that issue there's a brief biographical note about him. I searched for him on the internet, but was only able to find this obituary.

RMC notes that although Mr. Wallworth had been painting for a few years when this one was published, it was "his first railroad painting to appear anywhere in color", and that it "was done in designers colors or tempera."

In his construction article E. L. Moore notes he used this painting as the reference for his model.

Is there a clock in that painted tower? It's a little obscure.

From Postcards Of Historical Ramsey, NJ.

Martin found this image. I've snipped the portion showing the Ramsey Journal Building from the larger image of Main St., and converted the picture to black and white. The source notes the picture dates from 1908.

As with the 1898 photo, you can clearly see that E. L. Moore's model is just of the end section.

I don't see a clock in that tower circle.

From E. L. Moore Archives

This is a photo of the model shot by E. L. Moore for use in his construction article that appeared in the Dec '67 issue of RMC. He submitted the typescript on 13 August 1967, soon after he had finished the model in late July 1967. As I noted earlier he used the Wallworth painting as his reference material.

Snipped from RMC Mar '83

This image was snipped from a larger one that appeared in the Jan '83 50th anniversary issue of RMC.

It's not mentioned when this photo was taken other than sometime when RMC was headquartered there. Based on that, my guess would be it's from sometime in the mid '60s (that portion of parked car in the photo looks familiar, but I can't place it)*. It is noted in the magazine that, 

"Following Penn's retirement, the new publisher, Hal Carstens, moved the headquarters to 6 E. Main St. in Ramsey, to a venerable Victorian structure later immortalized by an E. L. Moore article and a subsequent kit from AHM. Only a portion of the building was modeled by E. L., but it included the part occupied by RMC, which overlooked the Erie mainline."

This information was reiterated in RMC's Mar 2023 90th anniversary issue.

It's pretty clear the clocktower - maybe we should just call it the tower and drop the clock reference - is gone, and some new windows have been installed.

Snipped from the box art for AHM kit #5819

This image - which is slightly distorted - is snipped from the box art of AHM kit #5819, Ramsey Journal Building. The kit was based on the E. L. Moore project of the same name. I believe the kit was released in either 1968 or 1969.

Sourced from Google Street View (taken Sept 2008)

Beginning in Sept 2008 Google Street View has a record of how the building has looked since then. You can see in this inaugural image that the second floor is quite different than that of the original. Likely, as Martin noted, due to the 1979 fire and subsequent restoration in 1980.

Sourced from Google Street View (taken Oct 2021)

According to the Google Street View images from Sept 2008 to Oct 2021, the building hasn't changed over those years, but the tenants have.

No doubt there are other photos still out there, so if you come across any, please let me know.

*[10 May 2023 update: Vince informs me that the photo was likely taken no earlier than 1972 given the possible date of manufacture of the locomotive.]

Sheds & Garages I have known: #1 in a series

 I figured I'd start with an easy one: our backyard garden shed.

The Ramsey Journal Building Then and Now

Now: From Google Streetviews (Google notes the image is from Oct 2021)

Paul contacted me a few days ago to tell me that Malcolm Furlow had died and suggested I might write a post about him. I've always admired Furlow's work, although I haven't built any of his projects as he seemed to focus on the American west and southwest, which isn't my area. 

But, I have tried to study his photograph composition techniques as they're excellent. To learn more about them I highly recommend Kalmbach's 1991 book, A Treasury of Model Railroad Photos, that is co-authored by Dave Frary, Malcolm Furlow, John Olsen, and Paul Scoles - an all-star lineup of model railroad photographers if there ever was one. Vince gave me a copy of this book a few years ago, and I'm glad he did as it's a constant source of inspiration.

Anyway, for some unknown reason, mention of Furlow immediately makes me think of Model Railroader's 50th anniversary issue from January 1984, and Railroad Model Craftsman's 50th from March 1983. Furlow was a panelist at MR's 50th anniversary conference and featured prominently in their 50th issue, and he had a feature article in RMC's 50th issue called, 1950 Rio Chama Excursion.

The RMC 50th doesn't dwell much on being 50 other than a long editorial on RMC's history by Harold Carstens. Since in my mind all roads lead to E. L. Moore I took special note of Carsten's reminisces of their business locations over the years. He mentioned that E. L. Moore did a modelling project about one of their locations, the Ramsey Journal Building in Ramsey, New Jersey, and how the model was eventually made into a plastic kit sold by AHM. 

Carstens noted the Ramsey Journal Building was located at 6 E. Main St. in Ramsey. I was curious to see if the building was still standing. It is and I've shown it in the lead picture. It's snipped from Google StreetViews, which they tell me was taken in October 2021. For comparison, take at  look at this painting of the same location that was a centrefold in Dec '64 issue of RMC. Today's version is a mere shadow of its former self, but at least it still exists. If I was to get an E. L. Moore tattoo that would be the place to get it :-) Long live balsa or something like that.

No, I haven't forgotten about Malcolm Furlow. I just need to put my E. L. Moore blinders on before I investigate further :-)

The lost electric broughams of The Lost World

Edward Malone and Tarp Henry arrive at the Zoological Institute's Hall at around 8:30pm to hear what the infamous Professor Challenger has to say. Malone makes an interesting observation to this 21st century reader's ears:

When we arrived at the hall we found a much greater concourse than we had expected. A line of electric broughams discharged their little cargos of white-bearded professors, while the dark stream of humbler pedestrians, who crowded through the arched doorway, showed that the audience would be popular as well as scientific.

I was curious to find out what 'electric broughams' were. It turns out they were electric automobiles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I realize The Lost World is fiction from 1912, but I found it interesting that the only automobiles mentioned were electric examples, and not just one as a curiosity, but an entire line of them.

The Centennial Experimental Farm, aka LOL III, so far

I’ve been bouncing around a lot of blog topics over the last few weeks, so in the spirit of collecting my thoughts I figured I’d post this picture of what the HO-9 Centennial Experimental Farm layout looks like today and summarize its fictional history.

Layout construction started in September 2022, but research began in January 2022. It’s inspired by the streetcar line that ran through Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm from 1908 until 1929.

The farm was established in 1886, and is still in operation today. Its purpose is to perform scientific research for improving agricultural methods and crops for use in Canada. It must be unique in the world that a country’s capital city has a 400 hectare farm at its core. Parliament and the symbolic buildings of government are along the Ottawa river, but at the centre is a farm. As an expatriate Torontonian I find that quite delightful. The farm is a great place to wander around on a bicycle, and I’m hoping my shoulder and back are now up to it again.

My layout is a whimsical speculation on what the farm’s streetcar system might have looked like had it been re-established in 1967, the 100th year of Canada’s confederation, and continued to operate today. In 1967 the federal government sponsored many ‘Centennial Projects’ as part of that year’s celebrations. This layout is a look at one such project, albeit a fictional one. I’m not sure where Cousin Cal figures in this history, but I see his truck parked by the Insectary :-)

The layout uses Kato Unitram N-gauge track as its basis. I’ve repainted the track, and performed a few hacks on it, to run HO-9 streetcars in an Ottawa-like setting (with some Toronto influences). All the streetcars planned for this layout are HO scale ones re-motored with various Kato N-gauge drives. There is a problem that I can’t run streetcars side-by-side on this track as the rails are too close together along the straight sections, but it is possible to have operating sessions with streetcars running on both tracks as long as certain rules are followed - these could form the basic rules of a game, although that’s not really my thing.

I’m planning to try my hand at scratchbuilding models of local deciduous trees, and this layout will eventually be their home. The real farm has lots of trees and incorporates an extensive arboretum, so various sorts of trees will not be out of place on the layout.

When will it be ‘done’? There’s at least another year of work to go, but these days I’m more interested in seeing the layout develop than getting it finished. I’m still in a random activities frame-of-mind, so work on this will proceed at whatever pace seems right at the time.