Latest progress on Chugman's Layout New Holiday Video Added 11/25/2018

I have been busy working on my towns of Spencer and Ruthven. I have been showing the first block to be completed and here are a couple more pictures. The first pictures shows the new street lights and the addition of the parking meters, fire hydrants, and people to the scene. The corner building became the new Spencer Maid-Rite sandwich shop as that was my favorite place to eat as a young boy in Spencer. It was destroyed by a natural gas explosion that killed everyone in the shop and was never replaced.

The second picture shows the right side of this block. It starts with the Maid-Rite shop followed by the local Woolworth's Five & Dime Store. This was a favorite of mine as a child. They had bins of plastic toys that I would drool over. The next business is Johnston Automotive which is where my dad worked for a long time. The last business has just been added to finish the block. It was an MTH radio station building, but it has been become the new Rexall Drug Store, another childhood favorite where we could go to the soda fountain and get cherry cokes and other goodies. If business picks up the store plans to add a Miller Rexall animated sign on the front of the building to draw attention down this side street. The completely remodeled Hotel Tangney is across the street and is expected to bring in a lot of travelers. Plus the Tangney is now a Greyhound Bus stop and that too will add to the traffic.

These are exciting days for Spencer. The neighboring town of Ruthven is concerned and is addressing making changes to better compete with Spencer. The first change was approving a new bar, Finnigan's. There are never too many bars in town. Power's Cafe is also requesting approval and it looks promising. 

Spencer turned on their new street lights for the first time and executives from Woodland Scenics were there to represent the manufacturer.  

The latest buzz is because traffic signal makers were spotted in town last week.  They even began testing one at the corner of 4th and Grand Ave. as can be seen in this picture in front of the Spencer Maid-Rite.  Spencer is becoming quite the city.

Art

Beautiful!!!

Art,

The town section looks great. I like that you have included stores and businesses from your youth.

Always look froward to your updates, thanks for sharing.

-Tom

Art,

Great work and very clever to include establishments you frequented in your youth. Please share your road building technique because they look great! From what I see, you keep the sidewalks that come with the MTH buildings. Did you build your roads up to the sidewalks as to make them more scale and not so steep?

Dave

Hi Art, Your developing cityscape has a really pleasant and peaceful atmosphere to it, much like a hometown from my youth, McKeesport, PA. I include these photos with my reply because I am suggesting the same feel is apparent in the old photo of a main street in town as is in your town.You've done a marvelous job of making your creation look realistic and have atmosphere.

Congratulations on your continued success with your remarkable creativity!

FrankM

luvindemtrains posted:

Art,

Great work and very clever to include establishments you frequented in your youth. Please share your road building technique because they look great! From what I see, you keep the sidewalks that come with the MTH buildings. Did you build your roads up to the sidewalks as to make them more scale and not so steep?

Dave

Thanks, Dave.  Yes I build my roads up by 1/2" where it butts up against an MTH building base.  With other buildings I use 1/8" Masonite for my sidewalks on top of the 1/4" for my roads.  This gives me an 1/8" curb.

Art

Moonson posted:

Hi Art, Your developing cityscape has a really pleasant and peaceful atmosphere to it, much like a hometown from my youth, McKeesport, PA. I include these photos with my reply because I am suggesting the same feel is apparent in the old photo of a main street in town as is in your town.You've done a marvelous job of making your creation look realistic and have atmosphere.

Congratulations on your continued success with your remarkable creativity!

FrankM

Frank, thank you for your nice comments.  I love the pictures and that is what I am striving for.  I have to continually fight myself not to overdo some of the details as I want to maintain that "busy, small town look and feel."

Art

Glad you enjoyed the photos, Art. Here are a couple of a small town, Homer, NY. The main street has only one side of such structures,. but it has its own special feel, as I am sure you scan see here...

FrankM

Chugman posted:

luvindemtrains posted:

Art,

Great work and very clever to include establishments you frequented in your youth. Please share your road building technique because they look great! From what I see, you keep the sidewalks that come with the MTH buildings. Did you build your roads up to the sidewalks as to make them more scale and not so steep?

Dave

Thanks, Dave.  Yes I build my roads up by 1/2" where it butts up against an MTH building base.  With other buildings I use 1/8" Masonite for my sidewalks on top of the 1/4" for my roads.  This gives me an 1/8" curb.

Art

Thanks for the reply Art! Can you tell me what material you used for the roads and also the yellow and white striping used? It too, looks like it could be masonite but you have put your artistic touch on it so well I am unsure.

Dave

Chugman posted:

T

 

Art -  These pictures are excellent.  

I would say that you are just about ready for a Hollywood production.     

Outstanding craftsmanship!!! It is always fun to be able to tie in business you do or did frequent. 

Not meant as a criticism in any way because your creativity, craftmanship and photography are excellent, but just wondering for designing my own mid-fifties layout why the center line road striping is yellow.

Does anyone know if yellow road stripes were used back then ?

luvindemtrains posted:

Thanks for the reply Art! Can you tell me what material you used for the roads and also the yellow and white striping used? It too, looks like it could be masonite but you have put your artistic touch on it so well I am unsure.

Dave

I do use Masonite.  I paint it with an aged concrete color paint, then stripe it with model airplane striping, and then weather it with black chalk.  It takes some experimentation with the chalk, but it will wipe off or you can repaint it if it just won't cooperate.

Art

Richie C. posted:

Not meant as a criticism in any way because your creativity, craftmanship and photography are excellent, but just wondering for designing my own mid-fifties layout why the center line road striping is yellow.

Does anyone know if yellow road stripes were used back then ?

I suspect that you are correct about the center yellow striping.  I am modeling 1960 to 1970 and I didn't research it very well.  In fact, you aren't the first one to call me on that.  Thanks.

Art

Art, the street scene looks great!  That is one of the many ways this hobby takes us back to our youth!  

Frank, the pictures of McKeesport are quite fitting.  The Model Railroad Museum in Gibsonia Pennsylvania did a real nice job on a section of McKeesport.

Returning to our youth theme, my youth was spent in the rural area that is North of Pittsburgh now being enveloped by suburbs.  Many of us old Mars High School alumni lament the growth on our Facebook page.  I have recreated my family homestead in N scale at least 25 years ago.  

So sorry to digress on Art’s wonderful topic!!

Chugman posted:

I have been busy working on my towns of Spencer and Ruthven. I have been showing the first block to be completed and here are a couple more pictures. The first pictures shows the new street lights and the addition of the parking meters, fire hydrants, and people to the scene. The corner building became the new Spencer Maid-Rite sandwich shop as that was my favorite place to eat as a young boy in Spencer. It was destroyed by a natural gas explosion that killed everyone in the shop and was never replaced.

The second picture shows the right side of this block. It starts with the Maid-Rite shop followed by the local Woolworth's Five & Dime Store. This was a favorite of mine as a child. They had bins of plastic toys that I would drool over. The next business is Johnston Automotive which is where my dad worked for a long time. The last business has just been added to finish the block. It was an MTH radio station building, but it has been become the new Rexall Drug Store, another childhood favorite where we could go to the soda fountain and get cherry cokes and other goodies. If business picks up the store plans to add a Miller Rexall animated sign on the front of the building to draw attention down this side street. The completely remodeled Hotel Tangney is across the street and is expected to bring in a lot of travelers. Plus the Tangney is now a Greyhound Bus stop and that too will add to the traffic.

These are exciting days for Spencer. The neighboring town of Ruthven is concerned and is addressing making changes to better compete with Spencer. The first change was approving a new bar, Finnigan's. There are never too many bars in town. Power's Cafe is also requesting approval and it looks promising. 

Spencer turned on their new street lights for the first time and executives from Woodland Scenics were there to represent the manufacturer.  

The latest buzz is because traffic signal makers were spotted in town last week.  They even began testing one at the corner of 4th and Grand Ave. as can be seen in this picture in front of the Spencer Maid-Rite.  Spencer is becoming quite the city.

Art

 

I always enjoy small-town downtown scenes, so I’m grateful Lionel and MTH have offered a nice variety of these 19th century buildings. But Woodland Scenics really adds nicely to the mix.

Despite all of that, what really caught my attention from your post was the Maid-Rite diner. The sandwich shop apparently generated a significant loyal following among Iowans over the years. Why else would a Waukesha alderman have decided to open a Maid Rite in 2012 in a territory where no Maid-Rite had been before. So, yes, thanks to Vance Skinner, I had the chance to eat at a Maid-Rite up here in southeast Wisconsin far, far away from the Iowa border.

The local diner, sadly, closed in late 2013. Waukesha never developed a taste for those loose-meat sandwiches. Maybe if had been located in the heart of the downtown ... .

Art, the streets and town are looking Great! Thanks for explaining how you go about doing the streets!

Chugman: I take  this is Spencer IA. ? That's only 70 miles away from me !

cabinet Bob posted:

Chugman: I take  this is Spencer IA. ? That's only 70 miles away from me !

Yes, that was my home town before we started moving with the company I worked for.   I thought it was a great place to grow up.  Not exactly a railroad mecca, but the Milwaukee Road was a fun railroad to watch.

Art

Moonson posted:

Glad you enjoyed the photos, Art. Here are a couple of a small town, Homer, NY. The main street has only one side of such structures,. but it has its own special feel, as I am sure you scan see here...

FrankM

Hmmm, Homer, NY???? why does that ring a bell?

Ooops, wrong Homer.

https://www.chamberofcommerce....6255-jims-train-shop

Art,

I had not looked at your updates in a while - I really like what you have done so far!

Thank you for sharing.

Alex

Good to see someone modeling towns in Iowa like I do!

Really great Chugman.

Work has continued at Spencer over the Fourth of July.  Construction has been brisk as a second block of business buildings has been added in spite of the hot weather.

In the new block are Sportsman's of Spencer where it is rumored that they will be carrying Lionel train sets this year for the first time.  They are also having a sale on golf clubs this week.  Next is Hansen's a fine clothing store for men and women.  Then the local favorite cafe Stub's House of Plenty.  Stub says to be sure and visit him at the Clay County Fair this year.  And last is the Coast To Coast store where we bought my first bicycle and my first Lionel train set. 

The Bandbox theater is on 4th street where Gone With the Wind is playing for the umpteenth time.  Oh the great 10 cent movies they had on Saturday afternoon.  Next is Matt Furniture and then the Hotel Tangney.  The Tangney is where we boarded Greyhound buses in Spencer.

Looking down the other side of 4th street we can just see the new Rexall Drug store that opened over the weekend.

A quick glance at the corner of 5th & Grand shows some activity on the "other side of the tracks".  Williams Motors has closed and the Pershing Bakery next door is still open by starting to look a little shabby with peeling paint.  Arnold Motor Supply is still open for business and doing well.  The old man walking in front of the Coast To Coast store is headed to the senior center to play bridge with the boys.

Art

Looking real good, Art.

It all looks great, Art!!!

More late breaking news from Spencer.  The Spencer Municipal Utilities sent an inspector over to check the wiring on the new street lights and it didn't pass.  According to electrical inspector John "Short" Fuse, there were numerous code violations and he had to shut the project down to prevent another Spencer fire.

Just when it looked like Spencer was going to be in the dark for quite some time, my son, Jim, a commercial electrician saved the day.  He came to work on the Fourth of July, donated his time and services, and only asked for a cup of decaf coffee for his sacrifice.  Jim was able to clean up the wiring mess in spite of numerous OSHA and other work site issues.  He made the previous electrician stay and serve as his apprentice while he brought everything up to code.

The Milwaukee Road learned of his arrival on the scene and begged him to start installing new crossing signals too while he was working on cleaning up the wiring mess left behind by yours truly.  At the close of day, all four new traffic signals had been erected and one of the crossing gates.  Work was halted waiting for Spencer Ready Mix to pour a concrete pad for the signal on the other side of the tracks.

Art

cabinet Bob posted:

Chugman: I take  this is Spencer IA. ? That's only 70 miles away from me !

Bob I am curious as to which town.  Mason City is the largest town in that area and my grandfather and uncle lived in Sheffield which is south.  Other relatives lived in Hampton further south.  They were all railroad people that worked for the M&STL which became the C&NW and now the UP.

Art

                             GREAT looking town !   very NICE !!

Art,

The town scene is coming along and looks like you have put a lot of thought into it. I have to agree with the inspector on this one. The town is such a wonderful area and safety for all employees, consumers, and visitors is of first priority. I'm sure crew "Art" will have everything back up and running in no time, lol.

Great work!

Dave

Phenomenal work Art! 

It looks like your son left you off easy! 😉 usually when I mess up some electrical or plumbing work my friends mock me to no end and then charge me for my incompetence and then take significant amounts my beer!!!

Art,

Just great! Your work proves once again that you do not need to do trains in HO to make them look realistic.

Alex

Great work Art. Those inspectors can be real killjoys. Glad your local electrician could straighten everything out.

Bob

Richie C. posted:

Not meant as a criticism in any way because your creativity, craftmanship and photography are excellent, but just wondering for designing my own mid-fifties layout why the center line road striping is yellow.

Does anyone know if yellow road stripes were used back then ?

Your comments got me to thinking and questioning the double yellow striping.  I just found some pictures of Spencer in about 1964 that clearly show the double yellow stripes down the center of the main street in town.  I can't say about mid-fifties, but it appears to be correct for early 60's.  

Art

That's interesting, Art.  Now it has become obvious to me that some states adopted the yellow center line earlier than others.  I know it was way after 1964 for Pennsylvania.  Of course that is in keeping that most new ideas are late coming here.  

This thread never ceases to entertain and inform.

Based on the discussion above, I have good news and bad news:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...arking#United_States

According to the article, the good news is that yellow center lines were first used in Oregon in 1917.  The bad news is that between 1954 and 1958 white lines became the standard for center lines in the U.S.  There apparently was a transition between then and 1971 when the yellow center line became a codified standard.

I am so enamored of Art's layout that I and I'm sure most others are going to give him a pass under the general heading of "poetic license".

Richie C., thanks for pointing it out.  Any observation presented as politely as yours that causes us all to discuss and learn is always welcome.

Steven J. Serenska

Thank you Steve, I couldn’t find it.  I couldn’t remember if I was driving or not.  I was close, I started driving in ‘72.

I decided it was time to post a few updates.  I have been working on the layout regularly attempting to get as much done as possible prior to a video shoot and a future magazine article.  One of my problems is getting enough done but not trying to "super detail" it which takes a lot of time.

One of my major projects was building a model of Spencer Packing Co.  After finally getting Spencer Packing Co. reefers from Atlas, I had to have a building.  I agonized about this building and originally wanted to have a model built by one of the premier builders that was an exact copy of the original.  My family wanted me to build it myself.  It was to be located right at the front of my layout so it will receive a lot of scrutiny there.  I finally realized that I was one of the few people that knew what the real building looked like.  And I could make a model based on a scaled down footprint and if I didn't like it, it could be replaced later.  So I had forged ahead.  These two pictures show only the front where the offices are located.  I will add more pictures of the plant area soon.

In these pictures you can see that the plant is getting ready to open.  The landscaping has been done in front, the parking lot signs are up, and the crossing signals are working as a local Milwaukee Road freight ambles by.  The boss is waiting for his office furniture to arrive and his cow painting for his office wall.  His blue Caddy is parked in the no parking area reserved for him.  His office manager's Ranchero is parked in the visitor's area as he is interviewing people to work in the offices.

In Ruthven a new building is being completed to house Mrs. Finnegan's Boarding House.  This is a result of this house being flipped from an ugly MTH house with gold shutters into what you see here.  Landscaping is scheduled to be done early next week.  And the Ruthven city council has to change the zoning before it can open in this location.

There has been a flurry of activity near Chicago's Union Station too.  There is a fair amount of open land at the entrance to the Union Station yard and Railway Express has bought the land.  I am modeling 1960 to 1970 so REA has at least 5 years to go as it closed for good in 1975.  Chicago generated a lot of traffic for REA so they were delighted to get this prime location.  Workers are busy and have the land cleared and others are in the shop creating the building.  It will be a "pre-fab" built in the workshop and transported to the lot.  The picture in the shop shows the front wall built and it being masked in order to spray paint the windows and doors. 

Another project is the construction of a 3-track signal bridge for my version of the famous "race track" between Chicago and Aurora.  My son, Jim, is making one from several old Lionel signal bridges.  We were inspired when we saw that Elliot's was using some of these same bridges.  Jim is using the existing heads and hoods and installing new LED's in them.  He is also placing signals on both sides to make it bi-directional.  I am very excited about this and will most likely want to expand to using more 3-track and 2-track bridges. Here is a picture before he has completed redoing the heads.

There is a lot of additional progress that I will try to update you on soon.

Art

Art, Things are looking GREAT! I always love watching your progress and love to see your updates! Your eye for detail is amazing to bring out the realism !

Art, really looking good. In the one picture with the building flat what building flats did you use. Thanks Paul