looking layout, modelers will often make mock-up structures. These substitutes range from the boxes our rolling stock comes in placed on the layout, to maybe a piece of cardboard folded over to rep- resent Acme Industries alongside a spur track. The more ambitious may cut up pieces of foam-core board to make tem- porary structures. Some even go a step further, making photocopies of various kit walls and attach to the foam core or other wall material to give them a more accurate look. Others go further still and paint or color the walls, cut out win- dows, and maybe add a detail or two, then…okay, Mike, time to stop a mo- ment here. I will admit, I have done all of those
things myself. Looking back, I feel that I’ve probably wasted a lot of time toward my goal of having that elusive “finished” model railroad. I am compelled to give some points on this subject. First, in the time it took you to read these two paragraphs, you could have already glued four walls together of a finished structure. Now you’re on your way. I’ve seen it quite often — and I know you have also — mock-up structures on lay- outs remain in the same position… for years… waiting to be replaced by a su- per-detailed, finished structure. My fa- vorite example of this is Mike’s I&StL State Line Tower — two boxes of nails — that graced the pages of a very well- known model-railroad planning annual about a decade ago. While operating the State Line yard on the I&StL, I saw those corny, dilapidated boxes every session in the same place for years. It made me think they should be listed on the National Register of Historic Places since they had been there so long. Alas, the bulldozers just got it, and it’s now lost forever, replaced by another stand- in 3D structure. All too often, visitors considered my
mock-ups to be the final structure. Not too long ago, a longtime friend and mod- eler asked me to do some structures for his layout. He said he thought some of the structures in one of my towns looked great and wanted something similar for his. “What structures?” I asked. Upon further review, he thought the temporary flats I had put up were the final product. The flats are foam-core board with pho- tocopies of kit walls attached. They have
Above: The Springfield, Illinois, yard on Bill Navigato’s Chicago, Peoria & Southern shows several complet- ed structures. All were built prior to installing the yard. The structures are not completely detailed yet, but having them mostly complete allowed proper track placement once the structures were positioned. The diversion from other, more tedious, aspects was enjoyable too. — Bill Navigato photo
been there for years and have come to be known as the finished product. Had I known then what I know now, I would have just plowed ahead and kitbashed the flats from the kits in the first place — using the time for a truly finished product. Another advantage — and a big one,
I think — of building the finished struc- ture from the get-go is that you can then lay track in the correct location — es- pecially true for lineside structures and industries. Again, experience has shown me this usually works better overall. When I rebuilt my city of Springfield, Illi- nois, with its industrial center and small yard, I built nearly every structure prior to laying all the track. The centerpiece is a very large mill complex. I had a good idea of about how big the main struc- ture would be along the wall and built it. Once I was satisfied where the indus- tries went, I installed the track. I don’t always add every bit of detail
to every structure, and there are some relocations necessary from time to time. Once I get an idea that everything in an area is how I want it to stay, I do go back and fill in the details. It may take a while before the final details are done, but as
a train crew passes by, they have an overall better view. Let’s be honest here. Those boxes of nails don’t really add a whole lot to the scene, now, do they? Why not just bite the bullet and finish the tower? As many have seen in the pages of
RMC, Bob Walker’s phenomenal layouts feature about the finest-looking struc- tures to be seen on a layout. Offhand, I don’t recall ever seeing a temporary fill-in structure anywhere on his layouts. He’s always adding more structures, and one never notices something is missing; see- ing his craftsmanship draws the viewer’s eyes. So, the idea of having to put in that stand-in structure may not be necessary. Of course, we can all go back to the
basics, as the early modelers did. We can always obtain those pre-built struc- tures and place them on the layout if you feel you have to fill in some large struc- tureless area. In fact, Mike, maybe you should consider buying some HO-scale Plasticville structures and put them on your layout. They would be far better than those nail-box “interlocking tow- ers,” oatmeal container “grain elevators,” and toilet-paper tube “fuel tanks” you now have all over the I&StL!
AUGUST 2015 81
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