One of the more "visible" buildings close to Tacoma Union Station was the Hotel Savoy. It is clearly visible in a number of pictures as it stood prominently at 15th street tower in Tacoma at the beginning of the "Prairie Line". This is how it looked from trackside: There are many more pictures in Jim Fredrickson's books on the NP and the Pacific Northwest. The street-side looked like this: As there is no kit available (of course) a major kitbash / scratchbuild was in order. The trackside is a scratchbuild first floor with Walthers Modular side panels. The narrow front is scratchbuild, using plastic brick sheets. I decided against using the Walthers windows as they look too "industrial" for a hotel. So I will need to add some window sashes. It will be nearly impossible to see the street-side of the building so I decided on a "good enough" approach for that side. The first floor are leftover DPM parts: I just used the shop windows plus a few doors. The second and third floor are actually a casting of the Walthers modular sides: I decided that casting a full wall was more cost effective than buying the necessary moduls for a wall that will probably never be seen (call me cheap....) The careful observer will have noted that a rear corner is missing: The building sits next to the curved backdrop, so the backdrop will go right through the roof. Next stop: Windows, paint and a roof.... Thanks for watching. Cheers Dirk
It's going to be really beautiful when you finished it Dirk. The bus looks similar to the new Athearn N Scale bus with some minor exceptions. Can't wait to see it finished and thank you for all your suggestions on my LAUPT project.
First thing that struck me was the fire escapes - I'd recommend the GMM ones - they are really nice looking. Second thing was the graphics - and that sign can be lifted and reprinted to scale with Photoshop. I'm studying that "ATA" billboard - what the heck was that? ATA airlines? If it was, that's a great period-establishing billboard right where you need it. Anyway, great start!
Bravo! Looks like a great start and I love the building. I can't wait to show my wife. We love old buildings and the times they represent. Heh- the Tacoma Public Library shot reminds me of an Abbott & Costello movie. Looking forward to more. Mark
Thanks for the encouragement! I have painted the buidling yesterday night and will try to post pics later today. I plan to use GMM fire esape kits: They look really good. In the late 1940s there was a refreshment stand in front of the building, you can see it in the right-hand corber of the "streetside" photo. The billboard replaced this later (not exactly sure when), so I will go with the refreshment stand. For a good number of years there was abig "7 UP" sign on top of the hotel. I will need to date that and potentially include it as well. It looks like the billboard is indeed for an "ATA" airline, but I could not find any reference on the web to an ATA airline that operated in the 1950s. Mysterie.... Cheers Drik
I'm not sure what that snack bar looked like - but remember that Miller Engineering has the interior and lighting kit available separately for the Parkway Diner. I got one and adapted it for my Grand Canyon Cafe and it worked great. It's a really cool 50's style kit. N-100-Dint
Painted and weathered I have painted and lightly weathered the Hotel. The colors are a little "guesswork", so I have used a color-scheme that blends in with the rest of the buildings whilst capturing the general look of the available color pictures (see first post). This is how it looks like from the tracks / the aisle: I still need to add details, the fire-escapes,the Hotel signs and advertising posters. Oh yes, there is more to do in the general area, like ballasting and adding 15th street tower, but I work from the backdrop forward so I do not destroy the details up front. This is the painted streetside. You will notice that there is little detail as this side is hard to see. I have put the camera nearly in front of the backdrop to do this shot: And here is a general overview shot: Randgust, many thanks for the link to the Diner interior. I might actually use one for 2 small diner on my layout: The tiny red corner building is kind of a soda-fountain / diner which could use an interior as well. Thanks for watching Cheers Dirk
That looks great!! Very cool recreation of an actual scene - excellent work! I like the blinds in the windows in various positions. Are you gonna do the fire escapes? And yes, that billboard is way cool, and it looks like you've got room on the layout for it.
Fotheringill, yes, I plan to do the bus as well. The new Athearn bus seems to be close. Currently I have two small busses I bought in Tokyo for less than 3 dollars each doing the honors... Dave, The GMM Fire escapes are waiting to be painted and installed. I agree, the billboard is cool, but based on the photos I have it did not exist in 1949. So I will build a small diner that was sitting right in front of the hotel next to the tracks... Cheers Dirk
Wow Dirk that is one SWEET! kitbash you've done there. Very much like the original building Well done. Thanks for sharing:thumbs_up:
Dirk, The buses you bought in Tokyo look more like the ones in the photo better than the Athearn buses with some minor exceptions.
Hello Bob, yes, I like the busses, though they have the doors on the wrong side... I plan to paint a very thin door-outline on them, which will be probably good enough even for the one-foot rule. subwayaz, thanks for the cudos! Cheers Dirk
Your hotel is looking great, got a real 50's feel to it. Good to see work in progress. You are doing a fine job, thanks for sharing.
Wheels of Time also announced a city bus: http://www.pbase.com/atsf_arizona/image/100441188 I have no other info - availability, etc. - but it looks pretty good so far. The Athearn bus, a Flxible Visicoach, was mostly used for tours and airport transportation. This site: http://www.flxibleowners.org/ has excellent documentation on who purchased each bus.
Hello Phil, that is an excellent link for the Flxible coach page, thanks for sharing! Now I can check which companxy owned this coach in Washington State. Cheers Dirk
