Brad - Do you have any pics of your station models? Would love to see your model of the Grotto. Are there any drawings or sketches of how the entire Alhambra Grotto complex was arranged? I've stood there along the tracks several times trying to figure everything out. One goes into the weeds to look closer at the station ruins only at your own peril ..... chigger city! My wife's late parents vacationed at Alhambra Grotto during WW2 for a few days with another couple, probably 1944 or 1945. I asked them to describe the place, but they could remember few details. One thing they did remember - lots of noise from almost continual trains. I bet! Ken
Thanks to all of you who have built the Blair Line depot kits. I really appreciate your support. I scratchbuilt a styrene model of the Blairstown depot in N scale a few years before I started my company, Blair Line. I also built up pre-production test kits for the Grandview and Blairstown depots in HO and N scale but I suppose this doesn't count either. I've wondered if it is considered scratchbuilding when I build a pre-production prototype? I have also built our Leeton depot which was based on a Rock Island prototype. But it looks virtually identical to the Cliquot, MO Frisco depot photo posted on this website. Anyone have any theories on why they would be the same? I need to build models of the Bolivar (concrete/stucco?), Osceola (stone) and Harrisonville and Clinton depots. Any of which could become future Blair Line kits, especially the Harrisonville and Clinton depots. The Osceola depot with all the etching required to mimic stone would probably not be commercially feasable. If I don't offer them as kits I could offer them to anyone interested in trying to build one with laser cut parts but without instructions. Still much easier than trying to scratchbuild one. And if anyone is intersted I could mirror the walls of the Blairstown depot so you could model the East Lynne depot. Dale Rush - modeling the High Line in N scale Blair Line Carthage, MO
Dale, I had to go take a look at the Osceola depot... http://www.frisco.org/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=3056&d=1144793098 Now that would be a challenge! Somewhere I have a Mainline Modeler article from the 80s on building the LaGrange, IL (?) stone depot in HO-Scale. It involved a lot of carving and rubber molds. Osceola looks a little more straightforward but would definitely be a labor of love.
In response to the original post, I have completed the Lenexa depot in its last paint scheme. The depot was scratchbuilt using Evergreen styrene, Micromark roofing and SS Ltd detail parts. Most of the windows are Grandt Line except for the transom and the freight room window. The door is also Grand Line and the freight room door is scratchbuilt. I worked from measurements that I was able to get from the depot itself which was relocated to Legler Park in Lenexa, KS. I decided to paint it in the 1960s/70s paint as I was operating in the 1975-78 time frame. I need to build another Lenexa depot and paint it in the gray and white trim scheme for my 1950 session. Mike Fyten of Kaw Valley Designs has all my info on the depot and is interested in making a laser cut wood kit. That makes me want to wait a bit and see how it is going with him. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Rick - Your Lenexa depot looks great. Is the prototype still there in Legler Park? If so, I'll run up there and take a look the next time we are in Olathe visiting son Kurt's family ..... if I can pull myself away from our little granddaughter! Ken
Superb job, Rick, right down to the gas meter(I think?) on the back and the wooden car posts between the depot and highway. I like the outstanding prototype modeling examples I've been seeing lately. Time for me to put up and get a few done as well. Best Regards,
Ken, Yes the Lenexa depot is still at Legler Park, 87th and Lackman in Lenexa. It sits next to an NP caboose. Not sure why they didn't get a Frisco cab. You can walk all around the depot but you will have to check with the ladies in the Barn Museum if you want to get inside. They keep it locked otherwise. I live about 8 miles due west of the park so let me know when you are in town so I can open up the layout to you. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Ken, Unfortunately I don't have a camera of sufficent quality to take any decent photos, maybe eventually I can figure something out. As far as the Grotto, the depot set on the south side of the tracks, with the motel and dance hall setting to the NW along the county road. I have a few poor photo's of the area I will see if I can dig up. I took the simple route as far as the model, as I kitbashed it from a Life Like station kit. Brad
Am I turned around? I thought the burned out hotel is on the south side and the depot was on the north side?????
The ruins are on the south side (Little Piney side) of the tracks, west of Newburg. Were those ruins the Alhambra Grotto depot, or was that the Alhambra Grotto hotel? What was on the other side of the tracks? I'm totally confused about what was at Alhambra and what the layout was. Wish we could come up with a diagram. Ken
These are the only two photo's of the Grotto that I have, granted they are not the best, but photo's of the place are had to come by! In looking at the first photo, I always assumed that the photo was taken looking west. However with the hill rolling to the background behind the depot and the tracks curving to the right, I can see where this would be facing east towards Newburg. One more item of interest is the cattle guard across the tracks in the background. Brad
Great Brad - thanks a bunch! My confusion is solved! The pics prove Don is correct - the hotel was on the river side, the depot was on the same side of the tracks as Newburg is up the line a bit. Agree that the view is looking east in the direction of Newburg, not west in the direction of Arlington. The hotel looks like it was much bigger than the impression you get from the ruins. I'll bet the front part of the hotel was brick, while the taller structure behind it looks like it might have been of wood. The remaining ruins are the brick part; the wood structure is long gone after the fire and the ravages of time. Ken
A follow-up ..... I took the bold opportunity to do a Google search on "Alhambra Grotto". Bingo! Sould have done that long ago. Check the site out: http://www.homeatthegrotto.com/History/current.php Lots of good history on the Alhambra Grotto. Apparently it was a recreation area. Reminds me of what Mrs. Beemer of Newburg told me many years ago - the house on the north side of the tracks, across from the hotel, behind the station, was also part of the complex. It was part of the complex for housing guests - now it's a house. My in-laws must have stayed in it, as I recall they said they stayed in a building on the same side of the tracks as Newburg. They said they had to cross the tracks to get down to the Little Piney - that's how they remembered that. The last time I was down there, the house was still standing. To the east of it, were some grounds for playing sports and having picnics, etc. All of this was to the west of the road that crosses there - probably where the cattle guard Brad mentions is in the one photo. Ken
Imagine staying at that hotel before dismals. The westbounds would already be working hard to get a run for Dixon Hill. What a symphony!
I'll bet one of the main activities for guests at the Grotto was chigger bite scratching. I can personally say that, per a visit to the area a few years ago, the Grotto's chigger relatives are still there and are quite hungry for railfan meat! Even my wife got a few, and she was smart enough to stay near the tracks and not to go into the hotel ruins. Ken
I've added a separate post for my depot project. Hopefully I'll have finished photos before the kids start college. http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?p=16810#post16810 Best Regards,
