Those are great shots. The pre-1930's shots are interesting because they show that at one time there was a balcony, there were doors out onto the balcony, and the brick detail was much more ornate. When you look at the 'new' Commercial Hotel photos, all that was greatly simplified. Still puzzled. Progress to report: the barber pole idea is a GO. I was able to successfully thread a 1/16" brass tube between the edge of the building and three levels underground to poke out from underneath the table. That's easier said than done when that meant I had to dodge two levels of hidden track in the middle and I can't see if I was clearing it OK until I ran trains through it to test. So I'll drive it from underneath, wire directly into the bottom of the pole, put a figure in front of it to hide the wire. But it will work. For sure. I'm adapting the whole exterior concept of David Smith's pole but driving it from under the sidewalk. Yesterday I also successfully whacked SIX FEET of height out of the middle of the other two structures on the block and reassembled them. That makes the Hotel taller by comparison as it should. It beat them up pretty bad so I have repairs to make. The other discovery I've made - painfully - is that you can see in the distance of the fire shots that the corner building was painted differently than what I have. It's tan, not dark brown. Probably a different business, too. I have it as a bookstore, hard to say, it may have still been the drugstore then like in the above shot. Look in the background of the fire shot with the truck in it and you'll see it. Not sure what it is.... I also raised the roof, literally, on the hotel, so that the roof sign is higher, and also put the plugs in the roof just as high as they could go. That's the value of taking model shots on the layout during construction because it shows- early - what doesn't look quite right.
OK, folks, here's where we are at now. A lot has been done lately. Note that the ENTIRE BLOCK to the left has been shortened. I took six feet out of the middle top of all those buildings, and repainted and reassembled them. That makes the Commercial look as 'big' as it should. You can see it dominated the historic shots. The 'chop house' is still a cardboard-front rough cut. But it is much smaller than its predecessor. The odd thing inside is the pair of transformers for the Miller Engineering roof signs. With that lowered block, the smaller chop house, and the right-size Commercial, the entire Santa Fe Ave. scene is about as close to history as I can fit on what I have: These shots have started a new upgrade. The railings on the "Wigwam Curios" were pretty bad and I replaced those with GMM etchings after I studied my old photos again. Likewise, the pipe railings all along Santa Fe Ave. are pretty crude - I used HO scale ladder stock back in the late 80's when I did this shot. Those will now be all torn out and replaced with GMM industrial railings, which as far as I can tell in the 'cowboys sitting on the railing' fire shot, just about right on and much finer detail. Close-up on the hotel shows a lot of changes. I finished up the window treatments with blinds on the top. The "El Patio" lettering is up. The lighting system is rewired and on the inside, as well as the sound system for the grade crossing is rewired and put in place. I raised the roof signs about two feet. They are lit in these shots. I haven't done the barber pole thing... yet. But I've got a hole in the sidewalk and a 1/16 tube going all the way to the bottom of the benchwork underneath to facilitate it. I also put in a couple extra wires in the plug sets to light it even if I have no idea how just yet.
Beautifully done!! An incredible scene and have enjoyed the history lessons and old photos shown in this thread.
Extremely well done, Randy! Almost makes me wish my road wasn't fantasy...almost. A perfect example of why a layout is never done.
