Here's the current status:
This is very much in the spirit of E.L.Moore, using leftover stuff from around the house. The main timbers are barbeque-fireplace matches, which I've found various uses for in modeling, mainly bracing behind sheetwood for structures and logging skids up to now, but they work OK for this project as well. I have some cardstock and a school compass that I can use for the wheel when the time comes -- I will just need to run out for some craft store beads to use for spacers.
One thing that began to grow in my mind was whether I could actually put it on my layout. It doesn't look like Moore actually used it on his, from the photos at 30 Squares. It's unusual and sort of era-specific, the sort of thing that Allen McClelland says you should not do, because then you have to justify things to visitors -- but then, as I pointed out in my last post, John Allen got away with a lot himself, and if visitors don't like my layout, they don't have to visit.
So I began to think about a spot I'd already prepared for a water tank on my dual-gauge branch:
It's the flat white area to the left of the general store. I was originally going to put a D&RGW style water tank here, but I have another place where I can use that. With a little finagling, I can fit the windmill in (the catenary line below it will be hidden behind scenery):
I'll need to trim the base very closely, but it's doable. I think I will also E.L.Moore-ize an enclosed base for an old Revell plastic water tank. This will be in the spirit of UP versions, but it'll be small enough to fit beside the windmill. Here's another photo of a UP windmill I found on the web, this one at Laramie:
The proportions suggest this is the one Moore followed for his model.
Hi John, your windmill is looking good! I agree, I don’t think ELM used it on his layout. He often built projects for friends, or just built things because he liked them. Building structures was his thing and he didn’t appear to pass up opportunities to build a particular model merely because he didn’t have a layout for it. I know it’s presumptuous of me to comment on Allen McClelland’s guidance about mixing and matching items from different eras on a layout, but it makes me think back to something a painting teacher said to our class once. Lots of students used photos as reference material (photos were the prototype) for paintings, and if the painting deviated too much from the photo, they’d often get upset and try - often in vain - to get the painting back to match the photo. Our teacher would mention that one has to realize that the majority of viewers have no idea what the reference image looks like, so what’s important is that the painting hang together and stand alone as a unified image. I guess the message for model railroaders might be that it’s their challenge to make the layout scenes hang together - to make their eclectic choices make visual sense and seem right - as you point out, that’s what John Allen had mastered. Looking forward to the next instalment!
ReplyDeleteA very interesting project John! Looking forward tpo the enxt installment!
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