Not only is the fire engine "a clean machine" to quote from the Beatles' "Penny Lane," but the Memphis police have arrived in a brand-new cruiser to direct traffic and support the fire department. Ken McElreath
The Memphis Union Station complex is now completed and operational, serving the MoPac and the Rock Island. The station and post office are patterned after the Omaha Burlington Station, but the engine house and power plant are authentic duplicates of the Memphis Union Station facilities. Here are some shots of the finished area. Ken McElreath
Here is a sequence of photographs showing the Memphis section of the "Texas Eagle" being readied for its evening departure to Little Rock, AR. There the cars, a RPO, an express, two coaches and a sleeper, will be switched into the mainline train from St. Louis, MO for Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston, TX. That is also the Rock's "Choctaw Rockette" awaiting departure for Amarillo TX. Ken McElreath
Ken, really like what you have done and are doing with this. I have always had a fondness for the solemn, plain and simple MoP passenger livery of Jenks blue with white stripe and sawtooth. Hope things are getting back to normal up your way. How did your property fare? I heard Max Armstrong on his “Midwest Digest” talking about how the city of Cedar Rapids, IA has a pretty mind-boggling number of trees to replace after the derecho.
Pretty severe loss of mature beautiful trees. However, the Lord spared our house. The city looks like a war zone, and the "derecho" straight line windstorm was the worst ever recorded in this country. It had 140 mph winds for half an hour. Ken
Like Tony Koester, I have been doing this hobby long enough to become philosophical about it. Two things that I have noticed in the larger scale that I am doing now are 1) the handling of backgrounds, and 2) the impact of small details that draw one into the scene instead of looking in from outside. With respect to backgrounds, I find that scenic backdrops can detract from the main elements I want to notice, so a plain wall is not such a bad thing. On the other hand, it is important to not have the wall itself interfere with the realism of the scene. The solution I have found is to have a "backstop" rather than a "backdrop" to stop the eye from straying farther away from the foreground. All it takes is a fence, small row of shrubs or trees, or signs to say, "stop here" when viewing. Here is an example, using my Fourth Street scene. With respect to details, consider this image of a switch ground throw at the Rock Island yard. At 27 times the size of an HO scale throw, it is quite compelling. I do not mind at all walking over to it and throwing it prototypically. Even the mass of the thing is satisfying. Sometimes I find myself throwing switches as I am walking around the layout, just for enjoyment. So much for my cerebral observations of the day. Enjoy. Ken McElreath
Not having a background so busy that it is distracting is a good point. Although the blank wall does give it something of a “Twilight Zone” aspect.
I am trying to finish my uptown Memphis scene so that I can have it decorated for Christmas. I wanted it to represent a suburban stop in a major city, similar to Delmar Street or Tower Grove in St. Louis. Here is the Memphis neighborhood of "Cooper-Young", named after the crossing of two streets there. My model is an amalgamation of various suburban scenes that I have loved, most particularly the MoPac station area of Kirkwood, MO. The general arrangement reflects that site, with the station itself modeled after the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) station at Winton Place, on the north side of Cincinnati, OH and a convenient stop for the University of Cincinnati students. The fountain plaza also recalls a scene at Mariemont, OH a classy suburb on the Norfolk and Western (N&W) on the northeast side of Cincinnati. Enjoy. Ken McElreath
The foreground models are 1/24 and the background ones are 1/32, for a most interesting forced perspective on the scene. Likewise, the figures. Note the VW bus behind the station, compared to the foreground. Ken McElreath
So now it is "Christmas in the City," with a nativity scene, some musicians, people shopping and decorations of strings of lights over the streets and wreaths on the shop doors. All memories of my childhood, but pretty much gone now with virus fears and online shopping replacing the personal interaction and large family gatherings that accompanied the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Happy Thanksgiving and Christmas to all! Ken McElreath
Ken, these last scenes are something I like. To this day, I feel like a little something is missing if I do not make it to see the window display at Hutson’s. Very well done!
Chris, We drove by Hutson’s on Christmas Eve after a wonderful caroling service at Trinity Lutheran, and there were NO TRAINS! Only animated Santa’s Workshop figures. An era has passed. Ken McElreath
The A&MRB&T Co. layout is completely operational, and I am completing the scenery in stages, starting from Memphis westward. I will post photographs of the progress as it happens. The first place in Arkansas is called "Bridge Junction" on the prototype, where the Frisco and MoPac/Rock Island cross before approaching their respective Mississippi River bridges to Memphis. Here is my model version with the RI tower protecting the interlocking, also the curving lead into the joint West Memphis Yard (MP and SSW.) That is the Mississippi River levee in the background, with a service road on top. That is also a local service road crossing over the junction on a one-lane truss bridge. The Post Office vehicle is waiting for the Rock's westbound "Choctaw Rockette" RDC-3 to stop, load and retrieve mail for West Memphis. More on that later. I will show some of the details and a few of the trains passing in coming posts. Enjoy. Ken McElreath
This is the Choctaw Rockette making its brief mail-and-passenger stop at the interlocking tower, on its way to Little Rock, AR and Amarillo, TX. Also the Rock's little engine facility nearby at the Fourth Street Yard. How about those two rail fans on the bridge? Memories of my youth, for sure. Ken McElreath
Nice layout and pictures! Sure do miss the old Rock Island. When living at Howe, OK, I was able to see them from our kitchen window when a train passed through town.
Here is the real Bridge Junction and tower in photographs, from Mike Condren's collection. https://www.condrenrails.com/MRP/Memphis Towers & Junctions/Bridge-Jct.htm Ken McElreath
