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Hi guys:

I am starting to get into kit building, and am looking to do some items on the Lionel showroom layouts. I know Korber reproduces the JLC Manufacturing kit, and that's one I plan to do.

 

I have read that Skyline kits were also utilized. Some of these kits were wood, and others litho cardboard. I have seen a couple cardboard litho churches on eBay (kit 626), but none that were wood. Did Skyline produce a wooden church kit? 

 

If they did not, does anyone know anything about the church included on the Lionel 1949 showroom layout? Scratch built? A different manufacturer's kit?

 

Thanks in advance.

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Yes, Skyline did make a cardstock church....a nice white colonial style.  I've seen it pass by on Ebay occasionally. 

I had Skyline structure kits to complement my first Lionel, given to me in the late 1940's, but not the church.  They're shown in all their glory on my simple oval layout on the family's 8mm color movies from that era. 

Good memories.

KD

A friend and I bought a package of skyline kits as teenagers that included a tower, station, water tower, and freight station.   we split the set and I got the station and control tower.   I still have them.    I have done a little refurbish, but not much.   These were cardstock and still look pretty good to me.    I have also refurbished and put a new roof covering on an HO version of the station for a buddy.

I remember them well...as a matter of fact, the Skyline garage is on my current layout.  I started reading Model Railroader in 1944, and presently have copies of every issue since they began publishing.  I do not recall ever seeing wooden kits offered by Skyline.  It's possible they did, and my memory's faulty...that sometimes happens at 83...but I don't think they did.   Early on, there were many manufacturers who did offer wooden kits.  Yank had some very nice wooden house kits in the early postwar period.  I have one...but have never built it.  The Skyline church was a very popular model, seen frequently in photos in the model railroad magazines of the 40's and 50's.

          Logan

Skyline was a Philadelphia based manufacturer of cardstock building kits. I believe that they were in business in the 1950's and advertised in the model railroad magazines of the time.  I had one of of their switch tower building kits several years back but did not build it. I remember the box contained cardstock building sides, printed roof panels, cellophane windows, a few sticks for reinforcement and a couple of other wooden details. They were very inexpensive structure kits to build, were made to scale and looked pretty nice.  I believe that when interest in model railroading began to decline in the late 50's/early 60's , they closed up shop. 

I know this is an old post but I recently came across this page in my hunt for vintage buildings and scenery item for a small (4x8) late40s/early50s style of Christmas garden that has had an on again off again history with me. I recently purchased several packs of the old Life-Like sparkle-It mountain paper that I'm hoping are usable but if not I will have actual samples on hand to aid in the replication of it. If this Covid thing ever goes away and train shows become a regular thing again I will return to the hunt for buildings. As a side note it's good to be posting again and hopefully I'll be getting back into trains like I had been in the past, you think with being furloughed it would free up lots of time for ones hobbys but by the same token the uncertainty doesn't allow for the same freedom of expenses so the progress will be slower as will the scale of the projects.

http://www.binnsroad.co.uk/rai...s/skyline/index.html

Jerry

Thanks John, I had other things I had to tend to, several remodeling projects, dad and mom were sick (mom passed a few months ago and dads not doing too well, cancer), got furloughed and then in December "position eliminated due to downturn in business due to Covid" so this past year's been a bit rough. But I'm still in good health and hopefully things can't get much worse (knock wood). Bill, I have several Skyline buildings and kits I've accumulated over the years plus the old ones from my dads childhood, I've been planning to make plastic and/or wooden versions of them using what I have as templates and for the ones I don't have to be able to scale ones I have photos of. One thing I have learned about looking for Skyline is if you see one and the price isn't outrageous, buy it! But it's good to be back and hopefully I'll have some things to post about in the coming weeks.



Jerry

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