Brunswick, the city that almost wasn’t
get better since Woodland Scenics en- tered the market some years ago.
Visit the B&T I have been interested in trains since
There is plenty of action on the streets of Brunswick. Just beyond the Pennsy L1s Mikado Mr. Peanut watches as Elvis drives by in his Pink Cadillac, a motor cycle officer issues a ticket for overtime parking, and a tow truck has arrived to help a stranded motorist.
build. The sidewalks came from Small- town, U.S.A.
Once these buildings, mock ups and
sidewalks were located, it was time to paint the streets. The sidewalks were outlined and everything was removed from the surface. Using Crape Tape® from Chart Pac, the center lines, cross walks and 89 parking spaces were masked, and spaces were left for fire hydrants and bus stops. The street sur- faces were air brushed with a mixture of Floquil Weathered Black and White.
The details Cities grow over time, and
Brunswick was no exception. As time went on, other structures were built and it was time to add details. Al- though several of the store fronts have interiors, most do not. They needed something, and to the rescue came Signs Galore with its nice selection of signs and window treatments. Period signs, made from photographs pro- duced by The Rensselaer Model Rail- road Club at Troy, New York, were also useful.
As soon as I began applying the win- dow treatments I found them to be too bright. This drew one’s eyes to them and not the building. This problem was solved by airbrushing very diluted black paint to the inside of the clear plastic glass, then installing the win- dow details. I was extremely satisfied with the results.
Every building eventually had a sign indicating the type of business it was. (This is one of the things that makes
80
looking at old photos of streetscapes such fun, so signs had to be on the lay- out’s buildings.) Some of the more sig- nificant signs are “Aunt Mary’s World Renowned Home Bakes,” after my sis- ter who is super at baking cookies. I could not leave out her husband, Peter, who loves to eat, with “Peter Losurdo’s Ristorante, Fine Italian Cuisine.” My favorite is “Dinosaur Bar-B-Que,” an actual local biker bar and restaurant with patrons of all walks of life, includ- ing senators, and congressmen. Presi- dent Bill Clinton vacationed several times at a home on Skaneateles Lake, just 20 miles west of Syracuse, and on every visit he had ribs and other good- ies delivered from “The Dinosaur.” Upon completing his eight years as president, he opened an office in Harlem and the Dinosaur followed with a restaurant across the street. (I’ll bet he became one of their best cus- tomers.) My model of the Dinosaur has no resemblance to the original but for the sign, but it is there and it is fun. Twenty years ago, when most of Brunswick was nearing completion, good HO scale vehicles for the tradition- al era were scarce. I did as much as I could to add traffic to the streets using plaster, resin, and a few cast metal kits from Alloy Forms. Things started to change about ten years ago when a con- tinuous flow of 1940’s and 1950’s vehi- cles were introduced by Classic Metal Works. Sylvan has also become a major supplier of cars and trucks for the time period. Figures for HO scale have never been a problem and that continues to
I was a toddler. My family would al- ways visit my grandmother on Sun- days, and I would run to the back door when the house would shake. I was mesmerized by the powerful and noisy New York Central Hudson steam loco- motives (yes, I’m that old) and the E8’s pulling the 20th Century Limited and other name passenger trains to or from the station in Syracuse. Memories like that get translated into model rail- roads for many of us. They have for me. Moving to our current home helped me advance from being an average model railroader to a serious one since the new layout project offered opportu- nities to explore what I envisioned and it led to acquiring new skills. For an- other, my wife Arlene has always sup- ported me in my pursuit of this hobby, and for the past several years we have both gone to the big Amherst show in Springfield, Massachusetts, making it a four day trip to see friends and other modelers. We spend two days visiting the layouts of Dick Elwell, Don Irace, Bob Davis, Earl Smallshaw, George Se- lios, Mike Tylick and many others. Through this hobby I have developed many friendships throughout this country, Canada, and Great Britain, and these men and women have given me great support and encouragement. Through a bit of nit-picking now and then, but really through well-seasoned critiques of my work, they have encour- aged me to do better, and all share a part in my accomplishments with the layout. I have been lucky to have my rail- road published in the top two model railroad magazines. It was featured in Model Railroader in December, 2002, and in “On the waterfront” in RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN for July, 2002, and a photo of Horseshoe Curve appeared in September 2002, issue of RMC. You are invited
to come see the
Brunswick & Tuscan R.R. for yourself. It is on the tours of “Empire Junction 2012,” the fall convention of the Nation- al Model Railroad Association’s North Eastern Region, September 6-9 in Syra- cuse, New York. Along with the over 40 layouts that will be open, there will be more than 80 opportunities to operate on many of these fabulous layouts. In addition to the “on the rails” attrac- tions, there will be an array of clinics, hands-on sessions with “Modeling with the Masters,” model contests, displays, and prototype and non rail tours. More information is available on the website,
www.empirejunction.org.
AUGUST 2012
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