Street Scene (1:1 Scale)

[Len]

This is a street scene of an older part of Wentzville MO, where I grew up near the Wabash tracks (now NS), back in the 50's:


You'd almost think these were prototypes for the DPM and Small Town USA modular building pieces. At any rate, I thought it might give some ideas for anyone looking to "kit bash" their own buildings using such modular wall and building entrance pieces.

Len

[jonathan]

Looks very much like main street in my home town in Minnesota. I'm betting just about any town looks like this, that was established in the early 20th century, and survived into the 50's and beyond.

It is no wonder so many of the plastic structure kits available resemble this architecture.  I built a lot of these kits trying to recreate that look, but could never quite get the feel of these small, once bustling, towns.

BTW the tracks, that ran right through the middle of my town, were pulled up in the early 80's. 

Regards,

Jonathan

[Len]

I find mixing the peaces from the DPM and Small Town USA kits gives better results than either one  by themselves.

Len

[Trainman203]

Look at the photo and prototypes in general, and then look at most model railroad towns and you'll immediately see why 95% of the model towns look wrong.  Look really hard at both now.  It jumps right out at you but many modelers get it wrong when it is so easy to do right.

Test yourself.  What is it?

[Terry Toenges]

It kind of reminds of the town I live in now - Park Hills MO. On rare occasions, a freight train passes by on those tracks. There is an electric power plant a few miles away to the right and the train takes stuff there. The old depot is just off to the right and is now used as a community center.

[Terry Toenges]

I'm at a loss as to what it is that I should see different for model railroad towns.
Cracks in the street or oil spots? The sidewalk dips for wheelchairs?
Trees? In our town, they pulled up the trees because the roots were tearing up the sidewalks.

[WoundedBear]

Modelers set their models well apart from each other. In real life, there was seldom 18 inches between the walls. Sometimes they actually shared walls.

Did I win?

Sid

[Trainman203]

That's a good one Sid but what I was thinking of was the muted colors of the brick colored prototypes compared to the too-bright colors of a lot of models.  Wood buildings like yours got painted bright colors early in their lives but by mid 20th century they had weathered down or were repainted more subdued colors like tans or grey or white.  Tony koester first pointed this in in MR several years ago.

[Maletrain]

Painting structures rather than using the cast plastic color was always my practice, so i can model these buildings in whatever color and level of decay fits my era for the building style.

What always seems "off" to me about model railroad buildings it their small depth back from the street.  Real buildings like the DPM models tended to be at least twice as deep as the models, often much more than that.  In particular, the model of the "movie theater" looks like it would need an unusually wide projection lens to fill a screen something near the width of the building, given the depth available in the building, especially if there is a popcorn stand in the lobby.

The DPM modular components can be used to extend these buildings toward the rear.  Or, multiple kits can be kit bashed into one deeper building.  But, either option is costly.

[Trainman203]

Yes I paint mine too.  But a whole lot of people don't .  That kind of over the top building coloration on a "fall foliage " layout makes my head spin and my eyes contra-rotate.

[Trainman203]

To me, what's missing in the prototype photo is awnings or galleries on the buildings protecting the sidewalk from sun and rain ..... probably a Deep South affectation  but since I'm accustomed to sidewalk protection all my town buildings have it added.

I've always liked the "Western Union" building.  It has the Deep South covered sidewalk and 2nd story gallery I've always liked .  Mine was by Model Power but others had the molds too.  I simplified the porch columns and the window muntins, got rid of the horse tie up rails, painted it dark brick red with dark green columns/railings/window trim, and got a raunchy railroad hotel for one of my towns.  Named it "Hattie's" after a disreputable joint back home us 8th grade boys used to snicker about as only 8th grade boys can.

[Len]

The pic is an older part of town that's seen better days. If you blow the picture up, you can see where the mountings for awnings used to be on some of the buildings. The white building towards the back still has a smallish awning. When a business area starts to age, and costs go up, often money for maintenance of things like awnings is the first to take a hit. Which is also something to consider when figuring out what you want to model in a particular area.

Len

[Terry Toenges]

I'm guessing there were balconies on the three story building on the corner since there are doors.

[Trainman203]

Good catch Terry.  The task would be to find the historical photograph with the galleries in place.

This town has seen better days?  You oughta see the run down ones in the Mississippi delta.😱

[Len]

I'm guessing there were balconies on the three story building on the corner since there are doors.

They're narrower than the windows, so I suspect they were sign alcoves for whatever used to be in the building back in they day.


I take it back. I found a similar Wentzville building still in current use, with the identical front layout, and you can see the mounting points for the balconies along the front of the building. The doors have been bricked up, and the upper space is being used for a sign. Just plug "2 E Main St Wentzville MO" into Google maps, then go to street view for a good look.

Len