The International Mill
This view looks south, toward the Salmon Hole bridge, with a corner of the mill visible at the extreme left of the photograph. It is not clear that the SR&RL was still moving big logs in 1919 -- most of the good timber was played out by then -- but it does add some variety to operating sessions:
Looking north, toward the International Mill. Notice the dispatcher's desk at the left rear, with simulated window to the outside world, including a SR&RL box car:
Animal-related humor is always fun -- the failure of the scarecrow to scare the crows is fairly obvious:
The mill buildings are constructed from from styrene, and shortened on an angle to fit against the backdrop.
And a prototype photo, just for reference. According to a study of the photographic evidence, the large water tank and cyclone separator were not present in 1919, which is why I did not include them on the model:
Moving into the town of Phillips (which is in the next room, behind the wall), there is a large area of housing for mill workers. These structures are from MTH, and come ready-built. I simply added some weathering, lights, etc. For some reason, this area draws a lot of favorable comment from visitors, even though this area required minimal modelling effort.
A close-up of the garden, with rabbits enjoy the gardeners' efforts. No one has ever pointed out that the pumpkins would not be ripe in July . . .
The SR&RL crosses Sawyer Street. The blacksmith shop on the left did require some modelling skills, and is built from a Portland Locomotive Works Kit. The same is true of the REO truck, built from a Berkshire Valley Models kit:
The next crossing is at Pleasant Street. On the prototype, Sawyer Street and Pleasant Street are parallel to one another. Because of the need to bend the track around the wall into the next room, however, on the model the two streets actually meet at a right angle -- you van barely see the intersection in the center background of the photo below, as Pleasant Street dead-ends into Sawyer Street, just in front of the cream-colored house:
A close-up of the amorous young couple, with disapproving grandmother -- their behavior is, admittedly, pretty risque for 1919.
The horse is from The Aspen Modeling Company and the wagon is from Berkshire Valley Models, one of several on the layout. The encounter between the dog and the mailman (somewhat out of focus) is almost a model-railroading cliche, but I felt that I had to include it:
Every dog owner dreads an encounter with a skunk. A bath in tomato juice (for the dog, not the dog-owner) helps, a little, apparently:
