You Wouldn't Believe It!

 Week 50 (Dec. 10-16): “You Wouldn’t Believe It” for 52 Ancestors 52 Weeks

This story is one told by a friend, who we'll call Sam. Sam is retired from an architectural career, and I recently asked what kind of hobby he might have. He also spends quite a lot of time helping his wife who has a disability, so he cooks most of the meals and takes care of the house. But Sam has a good handle on his masculinity.

Over dinner he said he had found some enjoyment in forming some miniature paper buildings. He began by constructing some Main Street buildings and two houses from Cut & Assemble books.  They are completely printed in color, but need to be cut exactly (cue the X-acto blade) and folded precisely.  Those books were very popular in the 1980s and are no longer being published – but given the large numbers originally printed, they can still be found on Amazon and Ebay – here’s a sample link: Cut & Assemble Main Street by A.G. Smith.  The Main Street buildings are based on downtown Rocky Mount, NC – Mr. Smith's hometown – as they appeared in his 1930s childhood. 

The other buildings in Sam’s setup (train stations, roundhouse, Cortland Desk Company, etc.) he drew up himself with AutoCAD (architectural drafting software) and printed on cardstock, using the cut & assemble methods he learned from the books.  Above is a photo of a building that is a replica of one from the town where he grew up, Cortland NY.

 

He even had a reproduction of a catalog for the Cortland Desk Company at Archive.org Cortland Desk Catalog.  They manufactured a variety of wall-hung desks, resembling Victorian curio cabinets, which would open down to provide a writing surface and pigeon holes for paper, pencils envelopes and all kinds of things! 

Did I mention he said he had an aerial map of that town, drawn in 1892 of how it appeared at that time, based on exact flat maps, but showing the three dimensions of the town. This is the center portion of the map.

And here's a close-up showing the building of the Desk Factory...but don't miss the railroad roundhouse also (both toward the bottom.)

Sam didn't stop with building models of historic buildings, some of which weren't from Courtland. He also got into model trains. So this is what his hobby has resulted in so far...(sorry, the Panorama makes the front of the straight table look curved)

His rail yard, roundhouse, and the rotating bridge for turning locomotives (called a “turntable”) are all based on the map on the wall. The HO gauge trains work, and he showed me how one steam engine would go onto the turntable.  In the 1890s, before electric or hydraulic motors were added to the system, the turntable was rotated by the “Armstrong” method.  Two men man on each end of the bridge would simply push on projecting wooden handles!

See the little tilted post at each end of the turntable track? That's where they'd push it around!

Sam even went a bit further than just building model buildings...he built an HO gauge Snow Plow.  These snowplows were essentially heavily constructed boxcars pushed by a locomotive.   The Strasburg Railroad, in Strasburg Pennsylvania, has several operating steam engines a working Russell snow plow.  Here is a YouTube video of their 1890s snowplow in action: 

As is the case in many railroad towns, the actual depot has been abandoned. But Sam's looks ready for freight and passengers.

Thanks for sharing your hobby, with its truly amazing craftsmanship. A lot of little boys (and girls) and the "inner child" of a lot of us adults would love seeing this! Congratulations, 'Sam!'

Today's quote:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

MARCEL PROUST This is the third night of hanukkah