the modeling stop Roadside Treasures for your Railroad To many Eastern vacationers, the word West, was synonymous with adventure. Endless desert vistas, Native American villages, cowboys, rugged scenery and, at the end of the road, Hollywood, lured throngs of tourists west on U.S. Highway 66 between Chicago and Los Angeles. At the heart of towns like Kingman, Arizona, and Grants, New Mexico, Route 66 attracted new businesses that catered to tourists. These were the roadside establishments along motel row. A Cozy Overnight Stop After screaming down the blacktop on a hot, dry and dusty day, there was nothing more inviting than the colorful, dancing lights of a motel sign against the sunset sky. Their bright neon letters and moving chase lights could be seen ahead for miles. As more people took to the highways, and competing motels opened, it was as if every motel owner felt that a bigger and brighter sign would attract more travelers. Sometimes they were almost larger than the businesses they served! The new Built-up Route 66 Motel is patterned after a typical roadside stop found in many towns along the U.S. highway system. Its large, freestanding sign does just what a prototype sign does it catches the eye of those who see it. Patterned after many along the Mother Road, it features screaming simulated neon letters and logos, a flashing No Vacancy sign and moving chase lights showing drivers which way to turn. The motel office includes an interior light and its own rooftop Motel sign. Like many lodging businesses of the era, the main building has living quarters for the owner and a separate courtyard entrance; guests enter under the canopy. The guest cabins have their own carports so lodgers can unload their vehicles 16 out of the elements. For post- 1960s scenes, the model also includes a propane tank. Route 66 Motel is sized to fit most layouts. The assembled model includes the sign, office and propane tank; the HO version includes two cabins, and the O/O-27 version includes one.expanding your motel is easy with additional Motel Cabins (HO Scale, 933-2824 $19.98, and O Scale, 933-2716 $24.98, both sold separately). Motel Row Along your Mainline Many towns along Route 66 and other U.S. highways were laid out by the railroads they paralleled. The main highway through town often occupied what was once Railroad Street which ran along the tracks past the depot. Route 66 was usually the heart of motel row where motels, restaurants, service stations, tourist traps and other new businesses were built on the strip of land between the highway and the tracks. Motel row on your layout is an ideal spot for adding action and animation and it s easy using Walthers structures. The new businesses built between the highway and the tracks include the Route 66 Motel and a gas station like the Al s Victory Service kit (933-3072, HO Scale) or the Built-up Dave s Super Service (933-2714, O/O-27 Scale). In HO Scale, another ideal addition is the Arnold s Drive-In Deluxe kit (933-3708). This popular model features interior details and light, plus a neon rooftop sign. Check out the diagram accompanying this article for a look at how many highway business districts were laid out. On the older side of the highway, add the Palace Theater (933-2817 HO Scale; Route 66 Motel 933-2822 HO Scale $79.98 933-2715 O Scale $89.98 933-2713 O/O-27 Scale); Al s Victory Service 933-3072 HO Scale $21.98
Alley Palace Theater Worthington Hotel Merchant s Row II Alley Median Strip Highway Route 66 Lighted Sign Route 66 Motel Office Arnold s Drive-In Al s Victory Service Station Additional Cabins are optional Route 66 Motel Cabins Here s a map of how several motel row areas along Route 66 and other highways were laid out. The strip of vacant land between the tracks and the highway was often specified in the original plat of many towns. When roadside businesses began to blossom, this land was cheap and strategically placed. That s why the early storefronts were usually across the street. RR Tracks Arnold s Drive-In 933-3709 HO Scale $49.98 Palace Theater 933-2817 HO Scale $99.98 933-2713 O/O-27 Scale $129.98 HO Scale Motel 5-7/8" Motel Office 1-3/4" Tall O/O-27 Scale Motel 10-1/2" 3-3/8" Cabin 2-5/8" 7/8" 4-1/4" 3-5/8" Tall 1-3/4" Tall 1-3/8" Sign (2 Included) 1/2" Propane Tank 6-1/4" 2" Motel Office 3-1/4" Tall 7-1/2" Cabin 3" Tall 4-3/8" 1-1/2" 3-1/2" 7" Tall Sign 2-1/2" 3/4" Propane Tank 17
the modeling stop A Home Away From Home Long before the likes of the Route 66 Motel were a twinkle in businessmen s eyes, the hotel was more than just an overnight stop. Victorian-era culture demanded a more formal approach to overnight lodgings. The Gold Ribbon Series Worthington Hotel kit adds a few moments of these bygone times to any steamor diesel-era HO Scale layout. More than an Overnight Stop Before 1900, establishments like the Worthington Hotel featured second-floor bedrooms with amenities like sofas, wardrobe and dressing tables. Guests had the use of a downstairs parlor for entertaining visitors. Often, the hotel also had an attached fullservice restaurant. The pace of life was slower and travel took longer, so customers often stayed for extended periods of time. A Welcome Addition to your Layout With its brick facade and contrasting stone cornice, the Worthington Hotel captures the essence of a typical 19th-century inn. Because Gold Ribbon Series kits include parts molded in multiple colors, the one-piece windows feature finescale frames molded onto clear glazing for added authenticity there s no need for detail painting. The angled corner allows easy placement on a city corner. A separate street entrance to the second story and a second streetlevel entrance are also included. Like all Gold Ribbon Series kits, Worthington Hotel features snaptogether main parts molded in appropriate colors, realistic decals and an interior light. The model looks great right out of the box, but a little weathering will make it look even more true to life. Because there are so few parts in these easy-to-build kits, weathering is easy. Before assembly, spray a light coat of dull finish like Testors Dullcote on the front of all parts except the windows, following the manufacturer s safety procedures. Structures similar to the Worthington Hotel can be found in towns across the continent. This one in the Pacific Northwest has seen better days (and better paint jobs as well)! This removes any shine from the plastic parts and gives you a good surface for brushing on weathering chalks. On your layout, place the model in the older section of your business district. Because buildings like Worthington Hotel are long lived, many have been converted to other uses, so on diesel-era layouts you can use the other business name decals in the kit to bring it up to date. 4-3/4" TALL SIDEWALK 7" 5-3/4" The Worthington Hotel 933-3609 HO Scale $59.98 18
The Railroad's Real Moneymaker Before UPS and Fed-Ex were household names, packages rolled into to town by train. Busier stations sometimes outgrew their small freight/baggage room. This spurred the addition of another common structure to the depot area the freight house. Easing a Capacity Crunch Freight and less-than-carload traffic were very lucrative for the railroads. A separate building allowed cars to be unloaded away from the passenger station. There was also room for short-term storage while customers carted away their shipments; after all, it often took several trips to move the contents of a box car. The freight house was usually a few hundred feet down from the passenger depot where it shared the siding or had its own house track, (shortened from freight house track). Because it was highly visible to the public, most roads built and painted their freight houses in company colors to match the depot and other trackside buildings. Few of these structures are in use today, but a handful still serve as storage buildings for maintenance gangs. The new Built-up Golden Valley Freight House is based on a typical wooden freight house. Its architectural detailing and available color schemes match the Golden Valley Depot and other Built-up railroad structures. The model features a loading dock with ramp, trackside freight doors and appropriate station name signs matching those included with the Golden Valley Depot. Just place the Golden Valley Freight House down the track from your passenger depot and add a few details like shipping crates and pallets (sold separately) on the dock. For added realism, spray the structure with Testors Dullcote and weather it with a light dusting of chalks. FREIGHT HOUSE 3-1/4" TALL 3-3/8" 8-3/8" Golden Valley Freight House, HO Scale, $29.98 Each: 933-2821 Yellow Ochre w/oxide Brown Trim 933-2827 Cream w/railroad Green Trim 933-2828 Light Gray w/dark Gray Trim Workhorses of the Consist Coaches are the reason passenger trains exist their sole purpose is to carry passengers from point A to point B. At the extreme, some commuter coaches handle upwards of 100 riders; on the other hand, some long-distance cars have as few as 44 seats, allowing for relatively spacious daytime travel. Pullman-Standard 52-seat coaches fall in the middle of the range, affording passengers plenty of leg room and reclining seats ideal for medium- and long-distance trips. Pride of the Postwar Fleet The Chesapeake & Ohio received its first new 52-Seat Coach from Pullman-Standard in 1949. The cars featured fluting below the windows, and had a unique feature that made them easy to spot a unique center bulkhead reduced bowling-alley effect echoes often heard in coaches. Two small centered windows on one side and a blank area on the other indicated the location of the bulkhead. Over the years, many cars lost their skirting and a few lost their fluting because of corrosion. The cars originally ran on the C&O (and affiliate B&O) and DRGW. As passenger service declined, some of the fleet was sold to the CNW, Seaboard Air Line, D&H and Penn Central, and many lasted into the Amtrak era. Similar cars operated for a variety of other railroads as well. The Walthers Pullman-Standard 52-Seat Coach captures the detail of these distinctive cars, right down to the interior bulkhead. The cars have all the features of other Walthers Pullman- Standard passenger cars including an accurate interior, Walthers Pullman-Standard 52- Seat Coaches, $34.98 each 932-6761 GN Empire Builder 932-6762 ATSF 932-6763 CNW Late Scheme 932-6764 Amtrak Phase I 932-6765 SP (silver w/red stripe) 932-6766 NP 932-6767 PRR Late Scheme appropriate underbody details and diecast GSC 41-N truck sideframes. The cars come fluted with or without skirting, or smooth-sided without skirting according to each prototype. 932-6768 DRGW Four-Stripe Scheme 932-6769 C&O 932-6770 Rock Island 932-6771 UP 932-6772 NYC (two-tone gray w/single band) 932-6760 Undecorated Wm K. Walthers, Inc. is an authorized Amtrak supplier. Amtrak is a registered service mark of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. The cars accept the Walthers Passenger Car Interior Lighting Kit (933-1049, $10.98, sold separately). 19
The Galloping Goose HO Scale Versions $169.98 each 223-4101 Rio Grande Southern #5 223-4102 DRGW 223-4103 ATSF 223-4104 PRR 223-4105 GN 223-4106 UP 223-4107 SP 223-4108 NYC 223-4109 MOW 223-4100 Undecorated (silver, no lettering) HOn3 Scale Versions $169.98 each 223-4121 Rio Grande Southern #5 223-4122 DRGW 223-4120 Undecorated (silver, no letting) Railbuses had their origins in the 1920s and 1930s, when mail and passengers had to be delivered to remote branch line areas. On slow business days or in the off-season when business was light, they took the place of an expensive steam locomotive and crew. Many railroads had railbuses in one version or another. They HO Scale Galloping Goose; Undecorated Version were used on both the branch lines of the major railroads and on the smaller local railroads and narrow gauge lines. Some of the most famous of all Railbuses, the Rio Grande Southern s Galloping Geese, are still around and some are even still running in tourist service. Con-Cor s model of the Galloping Goose is a faithful representation of the original freight and passenger version of Goose #5, which first hit the rails in 1933. Number 5 was virtually identical to Geese #3 and #4, which were built a bit earlier. Goose #5 presently lives in Dolores, Colorado, and is in full operating condition. Other Geese can be found in Telluride, Colorado, at Knott s Berry Farm in California and at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado. Other Railbuses can be seen in train museums across the United States, such as the one in St. Louis, Missouri. The models are ready-to-run and come with a factoryinstalled PC board meeting NMRA standards, so that it will be easy to install the DCC decoder of your choice. Create an Entire Dockside Scene Got a boat that needs repairs? Need gas in your outboard motor? Make a trip to Kilborn Marine Sales. Nestled along the shore of a lake on your HO Scale railroad, this new superdetailed kit will add realism to your marine scenes. The kit includes two buildings a sales office and a workshop/marine service station. Details include two JL Innovative Design Fishing Boat, Motor and Trailer sets, and loads of other marine details. For the final touch, the kit includes over 75 color vintage marine signs and a pair of large billboards. Walthers carries the complete line of JL Innovative Design kits and details; to see the complete selection, see the Walthers Reference Books or visit walthers.com. This detail view of the sales office shows the wealth of authentic signs included with this kit. 361-381 Kilborn Marine Sales $45.95