SpaceMouse
Fun Lover
Steve B asked a question about the buildings on my layout so I thought I might start a thread.
Here is the current plan for the layout. I realize not while my selective compression is off and although I don't need to change the trackwork, I will have to adjust the street locations and some of the rim structures will fall off the layout.
What is going to make this layout interesting is that most of the buildings on the layout were destroyed in 1964, when the whole place was leveled to make way for the Courthouse, Police, and Fire Department Complex. However, some of the more interesting buildings were left standing. Still I need to find photos of the buildings at the time they were standing. This has proven challenging in that the local library and the Indiana Historical Society have little in the way of photos. Recently however, I heard that a stash of uncatalogued photos was donated to the Historical Society and that I might be given access.
Anyway, I fear my research has only started.
But let's start with the buildings still standing. Use the building code on the layout plan for reference.
6--The Indiana Community Building--Now the Indiana Free Library and home of the Jimmy Stewart Museum. This will be the tallest structure on the layout and probably the second hardest to build. But since it is still standing, I should be able to get a good representation.
I have pictures of several other buildings mostly houses and several other non-descript buildings that have been heavily remodeled that I am not including here.
18. Lauderbach, Barber and Company Wholesale Produce & Fruit--Now the Indiana County Annex Building--This building is highly misrepresented on the layout plan and should include both 18 and 19. It is a very long building that would go off the layout as drawn. I may have to abbreviate it's length on the layout.
This may be the first building I attempt to scratch even if I cannot find pictures. Even though it has been remodeled, it looks as though the windows are the original shape. If you look closely, you can see where the warehouse doors were located and I assume that the line that separates the basement from the building was the height of the dock.
20. Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation Offices--Now houses the smaller courtrooms used for civil litigation. This I suspect will be the hardest building to build accurately. Check out the detail. The third picture is a relief that is repeated all around the building. I don't know how I'm going to put it off...yet.
Now we start the what I have of the destroyed buildings.
4. Stewart Hardware. Because of the fame of Jimmy Stewart and the fact that Indiana's current publicity theme is the home of Jimmy Stewart, I suspect that if I keep digging that I will be able to get some good representations of at least the front of the building. What to me is interesting is the interior area of the block, where it looks like contractors drove their trucks to pick up building supplies. Pictures of that area might be hard to come by, but we'll see.
10. The PRR station. This photo was taken of the Indiana Gazette paperboys, but still gives a pretty good detail of the station
All of the photos have the look that the last photo has of the ground area leading me to believe that the paved areas might be brick, but in asking the old-timers in the area, I only got vague recollections like, there was around the station house, or around the freight house.
In this aerial photo taken in 1938, look at the areas around the station and freight house and notice how extremely bright they are. My suspicion is that these areas are yellow brick. However, other photos, such as the one above, make me think that there was a combination of yellow and red brick and that the streets are red brick. Although, I have not seen a lot of red brick in the buildings.
Here is the current plan for the layout. I realize not while my selective compression is off and although I don't need to change the trackwork, I will have to adjust the street locations and some of the rim structures will fall off the layout.
What is going to make this layout interesting is that most of the buildings on the layout were destroyed in 1964, when the whole place was leveled to make way for the Courthouse, Police, and Fire Department Complex. However, some of the more interesting buildings were left standing. Still I need to find photos of the buildings at the time they were standing. This has proven challenging in that the local library and the Indiana Historical Society have little in the way of photos. Recently however, I heard that a stash of uncatalogued photos was donated to the Historical Society and that I might be given access.
Anyway, I fear my research has only started.
But let's start with the buildings still standing. Use the building code on the layout plan for reference.
6--The Indiana Community Building--Now the Indiana Free Library and home of the Jimmy Stewart Museum. This will be the tallest structure on the layout and probably the second hardest to build. But since it is still standing, I should be able to get a good representation.
I have pictures of several other buildings mostly houses and several other non-descript buildings that have been heavily remodeled that I am not including here.
18. Lauderbach, Barber and Company Wholesale Produce & Fruit--Now the Indiana County Annex Building--This building is highly misrepresented on the layout plan and should include both 18 and 19. It is a very long building that would go off the layout as drawn. I may have to abbreviate it's length on the layout.
This may be the first building I attempt to scratch even if I cannot find pictures. Even though it has been remodeled, it looks as though the windows are the original shape. If you look closely, you can see where the warehouse doors were located and I assume that the line that separates the basement from the building was the height of the dock.
20. Clearfield Bituminous Coal Corporation Offices--Now houses the smaller courtrooms used for civil litigation. This I suspect will be the hardest building to build accurately. Check out the detail. The third picture is a relief that is repeated all around the building. I don't know how I'm going to put it off...yet.
Now we start the what I have of the destroyed buildings.
4. Stewart Hardware. Because of the fame of Jimmy Stewart and the fact that Indiana's current publicity theme is the home of Jimmy Stewart, I suspect that if I keep digging that I will be able to get some good representations of at least the front of the building. What to me is interesting is the interior area of the block, where it looks like contractors drove their trucks to pick up building supplies. Pictures of that area might be hard to come by, but we'll see.
10. The PRR station. This photo was taken of the Indiana Gazette paperboys, but still gives a pretty good detail of the station
All of the photos have the look that the last photo has of the ground area leading me to believe that the paved areas might be brick, but in asking the old-timers in the area, I only got vague recollections like, there was around the station house, or around the freight house.
In this aerial photo taken in 1938, look at the areas around the station and freight house and notice how extremely bright they are. My suspicion is that these areas are yellow brick. However, other photos, such as the one above, make me think that there was a combination of yellow and red brick and that the streets are red brick. Although, I have not seen a lot of red brick in the buildings.
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