Topside Creeper

My new creeper ready to access the far reaches of Milton.

Santa (my wife, Becky) was good to me this year in several ways. One of the more interesting ways was this Topside Creeper from Micro-Mark. Most of the benchwork on the Stockton & Copperopolis is two feet wide or less, easily accessible for operation and for work. There are a few places, though, at CP Junction, Farmington and Milton which are deeper and less accessible. This handy tool allows me to lay over the layout and do whatever work need to be done without the risk of falling through the railroad.
     I tried using it at Milton yesterday to get to some of the scenery and backdrop. It works great! There's even a tool pouch at the end so you don't have to lay your stuff on wet scenery or on the roofs of your structures. When you are done with it, the Creeper folds up into a much smaller package for storage. It is a little pricey but, since Santa bought it, the cost doesn't matter. . . . There's a fallacy with that argument but I'm still working it out.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Last Structure Before Scenery

My model of the Mason's hall will sit prominently on the highest part of town strategically placed so that arriving train passengers will see the inviting signs of the Plaza Saloon.

What was to become home to the Masons in Milton was built shortly after the railroad arrived in 1871. There is an 1871 photo which was obviously taken from the building's balcony showing the railroad depot. In 1881, the Free and Accepted Masons Keystone Lodge No. 161 of Copperopolis voted to move to Milton and did so. They were not the only tenants of the building, however. The Plaza Saloon occupied the southern portion of the first floor while a dance-cum-meeting hall had the rest. The Masons were on the second floor. Here they continued to meet until January 2016 when a fire broke out and burned the structure to the ground.
     Being the single largest and most prominent building in town, it had to be modeled. I had to the good fortune to visit Milton a few times and, during one of these visits, was invited to tour the interior of the building. I was also allowed to copy some of the old photos on the walls of the structure, some of which have been shown in this blog.
   

This photo, taken in November 2014, shows the southeast corner of the building. The entrance to the Masonic Lodge is through the door on the side of the building instead of the front as is portrayed on the model. 

My model of the hall was built of styrene, the only real tricky part being the fabrication of the decorations around the soffits of the building front. I only shingled one side of the roof and left the off side of the building blank since it cannot be seen from the viewing angles. Finding the right size ball to use on top of the flag pole was tricky but my wife's daughter produced a tray of beads which yielded one of the proper size.
      Milton was built on the side of a slightly rolling hill with the railroad being at the lowest part. Now I need to flesh out that hillside. I plan to use foam to build up and shape the hill which I have never done before. It should be interesting. After Christmas, I think.

Spotted While Traveling

The wagon of the well-known balloonist and alleged charlatan, Professor Marvel, was noted on the road adjacent to the S&C tracks. The professor appears to be waiting for his horse to return.

While roaming around the tracks of the Stockton & Copperopolis the other day, the wagon of Professor Marvel was sighted. A well-known charlatan and balloonist, the last known location of the professor was reportedly somewhere in Kansas.
   

A frame from the movie, Wizard of Oz showing the good professor's wagon.

    For those of you into old movies, you might recognize the wagon from the Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland. Recently, our daughter's high school put on the play with her daughter appearing as one of the flying monkeys. I was inspired to dig out this picture along with some original MGM Studio plans of the prop wagon and build up the model.
   

MGM Studios plans for the prop department.

The model was built from styrene with Jordan wheels. It looks a bit out of proportion but it follows the dimensions given on the studio drawings. I imagine that MGM just put together whatever they wanted to meet the story's requirements without regard for functionality. It was a nice diversion from working on the structures for Milton.