A Model Train Station from the 1910’s
Ian was showing off his motorcycle models, and got me nostalgic about some model railroading I did when I was laid up. My railroad was N scale, which is rather small really, but I had a friend in Florida who’s railroad was HO, (I think in England it’s sometimes called OO?)
I was a member of a chat group on Yahoo for Digitrax, a digital system for operating model railroads, super technical stuff! I got into model railroading because of the computer operation, I liked the technical aspect. But, once I was into it, I discovered I loved the modeling the most! Scenery and landscaping, buildings and period objects, weathering, etc. and the photography of said models. Seeing other’s work in magazines spurred me on.
Through this group I made a friend down in Florida, an elderly man in his late 80’s, nearly blind, he picked me out of the crowd to ask for help on his railroad, he was having trouble getting the digital stuff to work. I was more than happy to help, and we became good friends, at a distance. He was very kind, and even sent me his expensive camcorder so I could take movies of my railroad to send him. So I decided I would build him a model for his railroad! He could simply cut a square hole, and drop this model train station right next to his track. Well, I bit off more than I could chew.
He lived in Florida, his wife had severe Alzheimer’s and her doctors were in Florida, but he came from California, and talked about it all the time. So I chose a train station from the California desert. Capistrano in San Juan. I found an old model, maybe the last one on earth! What they call a “Craftsman”, model, of this train station in HO. I got it fairly cheap, and when I opened the box, I was a bit overwhelmed. There was nothing in the box, but thick cardboard and wooden sticks and blocks! And detailed drawings. I had to draw the walls on the cardboard, spray them with shellac to make them hard, and all the trim was hand made from individual tiny sticks of wood, the bell tower was carved from a solid block of wood. I sourced other parts from eBay and elsewhere like the floor and roof, lights and all the people and scenery. I worked on it for a while, and then put it away, the talent needed was over my head. As I worked on my own layout, I developed better modeling skills.
Then one day he told me he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was not going to do the chemo, he would accept his fate, at the age of 89. So! I got to working on this model! I estimate I’ve got 800 to 1000 hours involved! I made a custom crate for it, and shipped it off to Florida, and he was able to enjoy it for 3 weeks before he passed. His nurse told me later that she had to keep it setting where he could see it at all times. I figured I’d never see the model again, but the nurse and her husband were nice enough to box it back up and return it to me. It got a little banged up on the return trip, and it still needs repair. But all these pictures were taken before it left. My sister painted the sky on the backdrop for these photos.
A few years after this happened, I had an operation that saved my life, and got me back on my feet, and I’ve gotten back into playing music with the boys, and riding motorcycles, etc. but I’ve still got all my Model train stuff stashed away, for the day I get too old to rock and roll, or ride. A hobby that goes very well with stereo actually! I played a lot of music while working on all these things.
These are photos of the actual train station in San Juan, it’s still there but looks completely different now. These pictures were taken back in the 1910’s I do believe.
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So I took a few liberties, I didn’t include the fence, but I did make a Jonny house like the one in the photo
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I’ve got a ton more pictures! But I’ll add them in another post if needed.
Russell
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