slynch
June 1st, 2000, 06:36 AM
Thanks folks! Original Post:
Received a couple of the Classic Minature Woody cars. Neat item, and
certainly places a layout in the late 40's -50's. Same as a 65 Mustang
or a model-T sets the tone for the time era. Esso signs, Movie poster ads,
and antennas do this quickly also as an example.
What other items do you use to do this? Removable details (like cars)
and common items fire plugs in red/yellow, no zip codes, blue post office
drop boxes, etc.. The boxcars we use and corporate buildings (Mac Arches
for example) are stand outs. I am asking about the every day items. Milk
Man truck, newspaper boy, cop on the beat, coal delivery to a house, etc
Folks Wrote:
Steve:
The items you mentioned, especially autos, are all good ways to set
the layout's era. Non-railfans may have no idea about the railroad itself
but they usually can readily identify with these other details.
Types of structures set the time peiod well, including newer additions
to older buildings. Adding modern storefronts in place of those provided
with Design Preservation and other kits moves the entire structure into a
later period, as can such details as air conditioners or replacement
windows.
A close look at prototype photos will reveal the evolution of a
railroad's physical plant. A right of way maintained by a track gang with hand
tools appears much different than one maintained with today's equipment.
Railroads change the colors of structures over time. I model the WP as
of about 1980, when signals, lineside sheds and such were painted
turquoise.
Before the early 1970s, the color was usually silver, and the UP
repainted everything silver after the merger in 1982. Owing to the nonstop
curves in the Feather River Canyon, UP installed concrete ties to reduce
maintenance hassles. When double stack container cars arrived, UP notched the
tunnels to increase clearance, which changed the appearance of the portals.
A diesel railroad is likely to have mainline track with dark brownish
black rails and a streak of black from thrown lubrication down the center. A
steam railroad will not have the black streak and its rails will be
more rusty in appearance.
Early photos of the WP show a general lack of vegetation beside the
tracks in the Feather River Canyon due to the clearing of trees during
construction. Today, most of the line is surrounded by a much denser
cover of trees and shrubs.
A perusal of photos from prototypes that interest you can probably
turn up similar types of detail differences. This kind of research can really
be fun and is a great way to improve the layout.
------------------
Rob Spangler
WP 8th Sub
Not that I could tell you what's correct for what era but I'd say one
major item is the style and use of telephone poles and/or power lines. Even
I can tell that the big high tension power lines and their supports would
look out of place on a layout designed around early 1900's. I couldn't tell
you when they first began appearing around the countryside however.
FSM_addict_Bob
Oh, there's SO many! Example, no billboards
for Packards if you have an Edsel on your
layout. Yellow stop signs were of one era
and green highways signs are of another,
almost no overlap. In an urban area, trolley
tracks in the streets are a time tip-off.
And if the main streets show no tracks but
cross streets have tracks with filled-in
flangeways would say 50s in many cities.
And filling stations change. Not to mention
that the companies change regionally.
No SOCONY stations in the South, for example.
The lenght of womens dresses and whether
men are wearing hats is an era change.
Taxicabs, no Checker Metropolitans before
the 50s. Wooden phone booths disappeared
about then as well.
Crossing guard shanties are a relic
of the first half of the 20th century, with
hand signs or manual crossing gates.
Semaphore signals rarely saw a diesel, and
the lower quadrant signals largely went away
in the 20s and 30s. Some few manual
interlocking plants lasted into the 60s. FEW.
Drive-in movies, theaters advertising
"AIR CONDITIONED", and signs painted
directly on brick walls all signal an era.
Out houses were in most cities at one time,
but retreated to the suburbs and lastly in
small towns and on farms.
Wires. From the 'teens through into the
50s most of our cities were massive webs
of electric wires, telephone wires,
telegraph wires, etc. Once the phone cos
started laying underground, a lot of that
disappeared.
Enough for now, but that only scratches
the surface.
Chuck
In Northern WV (Grafton), first white on red signs appeared in 1954,
gradual
phase-over took until about 1962 or 1963. Some more remote signs lasted
into the 70's.
Norm
I believe many places in the US have always used the red and white stop
signs (or at least for a very long time). Other places used yellow and
black. Also, stop signs used to be round in some places. Somewhere
along the way it was decided to standardize on the red octagon, probably
because it stood out from the other yellow warning signs, and the places that
weren't already using it started changing over. I remember yellow stop
signs as late as the early 70's, mostly in small towns.
Mark Alan Miller
Received a couple of the Classic Minature Woody cars. Neat item, and
certainly places a layout in the late 40's -50's. Same as a 65 Mustang
or a model-T sets the tone for the time era. Esso signs, Movie poster ads,
and antennas do this quickly also as an example.
What other items do you use to do this? Removable details (like cars)
and common items fire plugs in red/yellow, no zip codes, blue post office
drop boxes, etc.. The boxcars we use and corporate buildings (Mac Arches
for example) are stand outs. I am asking about the every day items. Milk
Man truck, newspaper boy, cop on the beat, coal delivery to a house, etc
Folks Wrote:
Steve:
The items you mentioned, especially autos, are all good ways to set
the layout's era. Non-railfans may have no idea about the railroad itself
but they usually can readily identify with these other details.
Types of structures set the time peiod well, including newer additions
to older buildings. Adding modern storefronts in place of those provided
with Design Preservation and other kits moves the entire structure into a
later period, as can such details as air conditioners or replacement
windows.
A close look at prototype photos will reveal the evolution of a
railroad's physical plant. A right of way maintained by a track gang with hand
tools appears much different than one maintained with today's equipment.
Railroads change the colors of structures over time. I model the WP as
of about 1980, when signals, lineside sheds and such were painted
turquoise.
Before the early 1970s, the color was usually silver, and the UP
repainted everything silver after the merger in 1982. Owing to the nonstop
curves in the Feather River Canyon, UP installed concrete ties to reduce
maintenance hassles. When double stack container cars arrived, UP notched the
tunnels to increase clearance, which changed the appearance of the portals.
A diesel railroad is likely to have mainline track with dark brownish
black rails and a streak of black from thrown lubrication down the center. A
steam railroad will not have the black streak and its rails will be
more rusty in appearance.
Early photos of the WP show a general lack of vegetation beside the
tracks in the Feather River Canyon due to the clearing of trees during
construction. Today, most of the line is surrounded by a much denser
cover of trees and shrubs.
A perusal of photos from prototypes that interest you can probably
turn up similar types of detail differences. This kind of research can really
be fun and is a great way to improve the layout.
------------------
Rob Spangler
WP 8th Sub
Not that I could tell you what's correct for what era but I'd say one
major item is the style and use of telephone poles and/or power lines. Even
I can tell that the big high tension power lines and their supports would
look out of place on a layout designed around early 1900's. I couldn't tell
you when they first began appearing around the countryside however.
FSM_addict_Bob
Oh, there's SO many! Example, no billboards
for Packards if you have an Edsel on your
layout. Yellow stop signs were of one era
and green highways signs are of another,
almost no overlap. In an urban area, trolley
tracks in the streets are a time tip-off.
And if the main streets show no tracks but
cross streets have tracks with filled-in
flangeways would say 50s in many cities.
And filling stations change. Not to mention
that the companies change regionally.
No SOCONY stations in the South, for example.
The lenght of womens dresses and whether
men are wearing hats is an era change.
Taxicabs, no Checker Metropolitans before
the 50s. Wooden phone booths disappeared
about then as well.
Crossing guard shanties are a relic
of the first half of the 20th century, with
hand signs or manual crossing gates.
Semaphore signals rarely saw a diesel, and
the lower quadrant signals largely went away
in the 20s and 30s. Some few manual
interlocking plants lasted into the 60s. FEW.
Drive-in movies, theaters advertising
"AIR CONDITIONED", and signs painted
directly on brick walls all signal an era.
Out houses were in most cities at one time,
but retreated to the suburbs and lastly in
small towns and on farms.
Wires. From the 'teens through into the
50s most of our cities were massive webs
of electric wires, telephone wires,
telegraph wires, etc. Once the phone cos
started laying underground, a lot of that
disappeared.
Enough for now, but that only scratches
the surface.
Chuck
In Northern WV (Grafton), first white on red signs appeared in 1954,
gradual
phase-over took until about 1962 or 1963. Some more remote signs lasted
into the 70's.
Norm
I believe many places in the US have always used the red and white stop
signs (or at least for a very long time). Other places used yellow and
black. Also, stop signs used to be round in some places. Somewhere
along the way it was decided to standardize on the red octagon, probably
because it stood out from the other yellow warning signs, and the places that
weren't already using it started changing over. I remember yellow stop
signs as late as the early 70's, mostly in small towns.
Mark Alan Miller