Building a city scene
is unsuccessful for people viewing a layout. I believe that it is too much of a suspension of reality to encounter the plastic jogger unmoved for several hours. Following my own opinions, I avoid “action” figures on my layout. I select plastic people in relaxed poses: the ladies talking across the fence are believable, as they remain in the same place for hours.
On my freelance layout, I want a small town typical of south central Pennsylvania. Adams and York coun- ties offer many localities for inspira- tion, such as Hanover, Red Lion and New Oxford. In 1955 railroads in the area included Pennsylvania (Northern Central), Western Maryland (Dutch Line),
Reading, Stewartstown, and
Maryland & Pennsylvania. Robert Ful- ton, of steamboat fame, was born and raised in Lancaster County. A county in south central Pennsylvania is named for him. I picked Fulton for the name of my town. The area available for modeling the town of Fulton is 2′-4″× 7′-0″. On the west end is the station and the retail part of town, and on the east end is the industrial area. Orchards and farms border the town. The main street serv- ing the retail stores and the station are central to the scene, and the buildings reflect the older part of a prosperous small town. It seems that as people moved into south-central Pennsylvania they car- ried their old street names with them. Some names (Spring Garden, Arch, Race) followed all the way from Philadelphia. My main street is Mar- ket; it dead-ends at Spring Garden, which connects to Arch going up the hill. On the east end of town George Street (named after the English kings) serves industries.
Market Street is a sheet of styrene pinned down at its edges and bowed up in the center with splines to give it a crown. Scribing denotes poured sec- tions of the pavement. It is painted concrete color with different tones for repaired sections. There are tar lines sealing cracks and joints, and manhole covers done with scribed circles which are roughened and painted. The street needs vehicles dated for October 17, 1955. A 1956 vehicle would be brand new and shiny, and unweath- ered on the layout. With the teenage boys in school, the jalopies and hot rods won’t be on the street at 12:15 p.m. Sedans from the early fifties are likely; pre-World War II cars are few. Many pickup trucks come in from the farms on a regular basis, but to maintain a rural, open look, I kept the number of vehicles low.
Styrene strip for granite-colored 76
An early view of Fulton shows the Campbell ties on Homasote (top). After sanding the ties, stain was applied, and code 70 rail and No. 5 handmade turnouts were built for the town. The furnace was replaced and new heating ducts run over the town (above). A valence with fluo- rescent lights was installed, and a fascia with lighted buttons for switch machine control was added along the layout’s edge. Market Street crosses the tracks between the turnouts, keep- ing the points clear of paving, and mock ups were used to test-fit the structure arrangement.
curbs are interrupted by storm drains. The sidewalks are nine feet wide with the styrene scribed for sections, paint- ed for concrete and distressed to show years of use. Street signs, parking me- ters, no parking signs, state highway signs, mail box, fire plugs, utility poles and driveways adorn the sidewalks. The sidewalk on the east side of Mar- ket Street has utility poles carrying
both electrical wires and telephone ca- bles. By today’s modeling standards these are crude with their lack of taper and the bead insulators. Two of the electric wires are real, as they supply power to the street lamps. (Their big grain-of-wheat bulbs are a gross intru- sion to the scale scene.) Hangers for the telephone cable were made by wrapping fine wire around a mandril,
MAY 2013
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