SCRATCH BUILDING

All of my structures are scratch built; that is, they aren't built from kits.  However, I have made extensive use of commercial materials such as plastic brick sheets, doors, windows, etc.  Grandt Line has (had, anyway) S Scale doors and windows and in 1998 I acquired a supply that has lasted until now.  In fact, I'm down to my last window!

Also, I've done a bit of recycling.  My last three completed layouts have reflected where we lived, in order, Oregon, Idaho and Texas.  Some of the buildings that would be appropriate for one area didn't necessarily work in another, though most have served on all three layouts.  But I've reconfigured some in order to make them appropriate to a layout set on the Texas coast.  My Idaho layout had a feed mill and a grain elevator.  I combined the two buildings and added a dock to produce Southern Maritime Supply.  My power company service center incorporates sections from my Idaho passenger depot.

Trees were reused, too, though I could no longer use the autumn-hued deciduous trees from my Idaho layout, since my layout is set in April 1947 and there isn't much autumn color down here, anyway.  My Northwest fir trees were another casualty.

SOME BUILDINGS ON THE GULF HARBOR TERMINAL RAILWAY

 

Top: This is a model of a theater in Pasco, Washington where my mother worked as a teenager in the 1930s.  The movie billed, "My Favorite Brunette," was released in early April 1947, the exact month and year of the setting for my layout.

 

Second from Top:  The Hillier Hotel (named in honor of one of my sons-in-law) is a model based on a hotel in Lewiston, Idaho.

 

Third from Top:  The Gulf Harbor Methodist Church is based on a Lutheran church in Silverton, Oregon.  Since I happen to be Methodist, I changed the denomination...modeler's license, I guess!

 

Fourth from Top:  I modeled this Texaco station based on photos of a late-1930s station I found in a book on vintage gas stations.  Emily's Fine Fashions, in the background, is named after one of my granddaughters.

 

Bottom:  Another view of the Texaco station.  I fashioned the gas pumps out of balsa wood blocks and styrene.  The figures are from Artistta Associates S Scale offerings.  The Lazy Susan Café is a joke on my wife, Susie, who is most definitely not lazy!

THE POWER COMPANY

Top Photo: Harborland Power & Light west harbor service center.  This represents an aging structure.  The Reddy Kilowatt logo was used by electric utilities across the nation in the 1940s and later.

Middle Photo: Overall view of the Harborland Power & Light service center, including the utility pole storage, seen near the top of the photo.  The chain link fences were made using styrene rods, along with plastic screen purchased from a home improvement store.

Bottom Photo:  The main entrance to the Harborland service center yard is adjacent to the tail track at the far west end of the layout, across the street from the Texas Gulf Cotton Co.  The land side of Pier 2 is on the opposite side of the service center.

POWER COMPANY UPDATE

I'll post photos soon of my power company service center.  I found a Reddy Kilowatt logo and created a sign.  Turns out that I couldn't get away from the use of "harbor" and so "Harborland Power & Light" now exists on the layout, and the name does make sense, given the fictional port I'm modeling.  The chain link fence is done and all that remains is to place a stack of utility poles on the property.