Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Choosing and modeling an era

I’ve mentioned several times in my posts that I have chosen to model 1953. There are a number of reasons, from locomotives to freight cars and to passenger trains. In this post I want to summarize how I’m attempting to achieve consistent modeling which reflects this choice of year.
     One aspect of era consistency is locomotives. I chose 1953 in part because it was the last year in which the majority of Coast Line power was steam. But the diesels which were present in that year are also part of era consistency. I described in a previous post the SP diesel chronology which is the basis for my modeling (see: http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2011/03/modeling-diesel-locomotive-chronology.html).
     On the SP as a whole, by 1953 the majority of locomotive miles were already powered by diesels (see graph below, from the 1954 SP Annual Report), but as dieselization progressed in desert and mountain territories, remaining steam migrated to California, where several divisions, including the Coast, continued to use a majority of steam power. Photographic evidence, along with conductor books and other historical material, support this statement.


     My own steam locomotive choices are derived from SP booklets of “Locomotive Assignments,” for the Coast Division in 1953 and thereabouts, but further refined with photos of specific locomotives seen multiple times at San Luis Obispo and thus likely candidates not only for mainline freights but for locals and for branchline service. San Luis was the closest division point to my branch line, and its roundhouse was the local servicing facility for locomotives assigned in the area. I will address specific locomotives in a future post.
     The choice of 1953 also constrains choices of freight and passenger cars. As others have observed, this can be liberating as much as constraining. Equipment delivered after the end of 1953 can be simply ignored in model form (unless I want to further populate my display case). I will say more about freight car selection in another future post.
     Another aspect, I think often neglected, is motor vehicles. Even those who could not name the year or model of any HO scale automobile by looking at it, nevertheless have a generic memory of automobile styles by era. The same goes for highway trucks, though truck models changed less frequently and often less distinctively. I have largely been careful to use only model autos and trucks of 1953 or earlier vintage. The exceptions are in some cases European vehicles (which I chose to have at least a vague resemblance to period American cars), and are always placed in background locations where they will hopefully attract less attention. I expect to eventually replace all of them.
     A further point to mention about cars is license plates. Yes, all automobiles had license plates, front and back, and of course they should be present on models. For any state or era, there are extensive and detailed Internet resources to provide both history and images of actual license plates, greatly simplifying the task of accurate HO scale license plates. For California, for example, the Wikipedia entry is extremely complete and helpful (see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_California). There is also a site offering reproduction plates for many states and many years, available at: http://www.licenseplates.tv/index, and this site has good plate images to view.
     The bottom line for California in 1953 is that the license plate was black with yellow numbers; actually it was the 1951 plate, with a lower right corner tab of stamped metal with the number “53” on it, covering up the “51” part of the year on the original stamped plate. All older plates had been replaced in 1951, so regardless of vehicle age, it got a 1951 plate in that year. The exceptions in 1953 were new plates, which did have the 1953 date stamped in. Thus the plates on any vehicle would have looked like one of these two examples:


Accordingly, this is the format for my HO scale plates. Like so many things in modeling, you may think adding plates to an auto or two now, and a few later on, can be a progressive project, but once your eye starts to notice the plates, you find you just have to go ahead and make plates for all of the cars on the layout.
     There are of course other era-consistency issues to recognize. Company names and emblems on buildings or billboards should neither post-date your chosen era, nor be too old (yes, old posters sometimes survived, and if so should be in decrepit condition, but billboards were revenue-producers and were updated). In fact, such advertising is an opportunity to identify your modeled year, with things like ads for new cars, or for political campaigns. For example, an “I Like Ike” ad on a 1952 layout would immediately bring to mind the presidential campaign of that year. But for 1953, as on my layout, such a sign, if included, would be faded and dirty.
Tony Thompson

7 comments:

  1. Tony,
    Have you found a good source for billboards for your era? Also, thanks for the link to the license plates, I hadn't even thought of that detail.
    Jim Pattison

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  2. You're welcome, Jim. For billboards, I've collected decals and other art for years and have many more than I can use--but most of them are not appropriate, either the wrong era or strongly eastern products. I do intend to have a couple of the layout but they're not there yet. I used to look through 1950s magazines at second-hand dealers, and have bought a few of those with an eye to using the ads.
    Tony Thompson

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  3. Tony, One source for billboards for your layout is Andersen's Split Pea soup in Buellton. My recollection of highway 101 in the 50's was lots of billboards announcing how many more miles it was to Buellton. Your branch is near enough to Buellton to support at least a couple of split pea soup billboards. If you can find a time to visit their gift shop I think you'll find old pictures and postcards that would give you a good idea for their billboards.
    Jim Pattison

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  4. Here are a couple of links for old billboards
    http://www.atimetoget.com/2009/10/caution-ad-men-at-work.html
    http://www.billboardsofthepast.com/
    billboards of the past has a lot that we can both use. As an example, click on cars, then Fords. Several 1953 ads for you and a couple from 56 for me
    Jim

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  5. Thanks, Jim for both comments. Good billboard sources, though as I mentioned in the post, you do have to dig down a bit (Google is your friend) to find out which advertising images and slogans fit YOUR era. Many model signs and billboards are chosen from the dramatic graphics of the 1920s and 1930s, fun to look at but IMO a real no-no for a 1950s layout.

    My internet friend Enzo Fortuna also sent me a link to a prolific source of billboard-type art (again, much of it NOT from the 1950s). It is at:

    http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?p=779738#post779738

    I don't have space for that many billboards on my own layout, so can afford to choose them very carefully. Things I remember with special relish from that era, such as the 1953 Mercury coupe, definitely deserve a billboard! I also have to have an example of the ubiquitous small highway sign of the era in southern California, "Visit Hussong's Cantina, Ensenada, B.C."
    Tony Thompson

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  6. If you have much of a highway then you want some of the Burma Shave signs, along with Andersen's. Those trips were enjoyable and you had love US 101 along the Coast Division.

    Tom VanWormer

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  7. Tom, you are right that Burma Shave signs were prevalent all over the U.S. prior to the freeway era, and survived in some places long after the coming of freeways. But I personally do not recall seeing them on U.S. 101 much when traveling with my parents. I loved it whether it was 101 or 99 in those days, as both highways paralleled busy SP tracks for part of their distance between southern California and the Bay Area.

    But realistically, the roads on my layout are not major highways, so probably the Burma Shave signs are a moot issue.
    Tony Thompson

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