King St. Station Layout Boxcab/Kurt, I kind of remember that layout. I can't remember which room it was in though. I do remember that it appeared that a great amount of time went into putting it together. Now you're reminding me of the hobby shops that used to be in Seattle. Bon Marche, Hale's up near Stewart St. And there was a shop on First Avenue, around Seneca, which was where I layed my pennies up on the counter and bought my first Athearn flatcar. Two-way streets were still the norm in Seattle and we caught our bus on that triangle that spans 2nd/4th/Jackson St. You could look over and see the steam engines below.
The layout was moved when they lost their space. But the group never got back together. I seem to recall them waning to set it up in part of an old school building or some such idea? I don't recall what eventually happened. I remember those stores. And also the the Christmas window displays of Lionel, etc. Bob Hale's Hobby Shop. A memory from long ago. Boxcab E50
You bet! Bob Hale's... I think it was upstairs in a building on Stewart and 5th Ave. Seattle was a great place for having so many hobby shops, and with 4 railroads, train watching. And of course, the weather to stay inside and model them! Being a Seattle native, I don't shy away from rain but it did make working on trains a lot easier...
Did you ever shop on the east side? In Bellevue there was Uncle Harold's Key & Cycle. That was just south of NE 8th and on the west side of 104th NE. Long, long before the latter was renamed Bellevue Way. Then just north of 8th, same side of 104th, was Marvel Morgan Drug. Down in their basement were the trains and toys. Ooooh what memories! Golden days of dreaming about trains. And sometimes being able to get a car, some track, or? Boxcab E50
The last I heard, they moved it to a big building just north of the SeaTac airport, but never went there. The layout was almost two story's tall, (too a kid!), and was King Street Station, along the Puget Sound, and over the mountains. Still see some of the old guy's at local swap meets, and get togethers. A good train store now is Seattle's Train Center, just before Interbay under the Magnolia bridge. Kirk and Wanda are awesome! Going over to the Eastside is just bad news, 24/7!!
King Street Station Never got to the Eastside although I had an uncle who actually lived on that street for many years. When I started modeling, I was too young to drive and when I did start driving, I was a struggling college student but after 3 years, the military called and I was on my way to the Navy bootcamp. When I returned to Seattle 4 years later, I confined most of my purchases to the Seattle side. I returned to the U of W but unlike before, I'd now become a husband and later, a father. And you know where that money went!
Glad to see this project is moving along, did Empire #7, #8 a month ago and it looked like some progress had bwwn made in main waiting room ... some of the interior ceilings are renewed and quite nice ...
Railroad Bill- Welcome to actively posting on TrainBoard! Did you happen to grab a picture or two? Boxcab E50
King Street Station ceiling revealed I just got back from King Street Station. The suspended-ceiling tiles and grid have been removed. Some of the supporting wires and the fluorescent tube lighting remain. When this is finished it will look fabulous. (More to come)
Thanks Mike, been through King Street this summer using Empire Builder to Glacier Nt'l Pk and the station was getting there, finally ... Your pix appreciated ... BTW: I'm doing Seattle passenger service in N-scale ... will look forward to seeing what Z-scale can do for such as us ... what do you have for Sounders?
So nice to see they are slowly regaining some past glory. Too bad modern buildings don't make this same style of statement. Classy. Boxcab E50
King Street Station & Sounder Glad to provide the photos, Bill. As for Sounders, American Z Lines (AZL) sells the 902 and 905 locomotives, as well as full trainsets: I have a 905 passenger set. I harbor a fantasy of an Amtrak Cascades set, but nobody makes 'em, so far.
Z-scale Sounder sets look great ... I've got 4 Sounder sets but need 1 more control car & a few more carriages ... for Cascades, I'm chasing "talgo" demonstrators from Renfre but out of production ... these match the single wheel/shared trucks of the Cascades ... quite distinctive ... I'll just run the demonstrator using F40's in old Amtrak livery ... the Cascades could be pulled from service before anyone models it ... have seen pictures of an HO Cascades but don't know how it was come by ... Anyway, its all what goes through KIng St. Station ...
Reviving this thread with some videos suggesting tremendous progress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yY5Isfzg3U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MC0FXVAhtc
2/2012 photo update The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has updated the previously-posted King Street Station renovation slideshow with some new photos. A second wave of renovation is coming.