East Railroad Street Buildings Added in Oakdale

East Railroad Avenue runs behind the Stanislaus Warehouse. E Street is the road at the left of the photo.

My goal to "finish" Oakdale is proceeding and I'm discovering just how many buildings it takes for a large city. Oakdale is not a large city as those things go but it takes up about 20 feet on the S&C which means lots of structures. The latest addition has been some buildings on East Railroad Street behind the Stanislaus Warehouse. Some of these were completed a while back but they are now in their final position.

The H.H.H. Horse Medicine advertised on the barn was actually manufactured in Stockton for many years and used throughout the country.

The Yo-Semite (yes, that was one spelling for Yosemite used in the 1890s) Livery was scratchbuilt based on a real structure that stood on the corner of "F" and East Railroad Streets in the 1800s. At the other end of the block is "E" Street and a simple house was assembled from a Grandt Line kit for. In my era, houses and businesses were somewhat interspersed in a single block so the model will reflect that.

The Achegas building is located in the middle of the block. No one is still quite sure what Achegas is but the business seems to be moderately successful.

As mentioned in a previous posting, the Stearns & Harray Blacksmith & Carriage Shop is patterned after a prototype 1890s structure. The sign is an accurate reproduction of the prototype's sign right down to the giant horseshoe on the top. The apparatus on the sign post is a hoist for raising wagons and buggies when it becomes necessary to roll the wheels out.

The giant tooth and "Painless" Dentist sign clearly indicates a dentist on the second floor. Barely visible behind a porch post stands a cigar store Indian offering his wares.

The grocery and drug stores were older structures salvaged from my previous layout and rehabilitated. They fit right in across "E" Street from the warehouse. More structures are in the paint shop to continue populating the town.

More Oakdale Structures

In my current project to populate Oakdale with most of the structures it needs to look complete, I have been building. Over the last week or so, I've managed to put together a small dwelling, a store and a factory making an undetermined product.

The Cash Variety Store was built from the Classic Miniatures "Silver Plume Store" kit. Note the pigeon roosting on the ledge below the store sign.

The Tuolumne Cheap store was based on a real Oakdale business but was made from a Classic Miniatures kit. With the big front windows, I decided it was necessary to detail the interior so I made a store which was typical of nineteenth century small-town businesses. With its name, it's obvious that they will not extend credit to customers but do offer cheaper prices for cash. The Stanislaus Flour sign on the side is copied from a real sign on the side of a building in Coulterville, California. Stanislaus Flour was made in Oakdale and served by a spur from the S&C.

The Achegas plant is a bit of local humor which predates my moving to the Kansas City area. It is a play on one of the fellow's names. The plant name became so popular that decals were made and most layouts in the area have an Achegas franchise. The decals, unfortunately, were really of too modern a style to suit 1895 so I backdated the lettering style a bit and came up with that on the model. Now I just have to find a suitable spot for the building.