Americana / RoadSide Route-66

[arealgijoe]

I went to the Nscale train show in Columbus OH (Hilliard) yesterday. Found NOTHING I had on my want list, overall prices were high & higher. Quality was poor to great, but often way overpriced IMO.

On the brighter side, I found some very interesting structures. They fit very well with the direction I am heading with my layout. A teepee Motel, ice cream stand, coffee pot & Mexican (hat) restraint. All novel things one might expect to see along route-66 in its heydays.

I shot a photo of them in a temp setting (for now) with some other Higher-Q buildings that are more recent additions to my layout. I may do a separate route-66 diorama of these structures. I am thinking of a eastern city/industrial to western transition area?

At least I made the trip worthwhile, otherwise it would have been a total waste/bust.

 

[arealgijoe]

Here is a photo;

 

[Iron Horseman]

On the brighter side, I found some very interesting structures. They fit very well with the direction I am heading with my layout. A teepee Motel, ice cream stand, coffee pot & Mexican (hat) restraint. All novel things one might expect to see along route-66 in its heydays.

Those types of structures were everywhere along the highways in the 1940s-1950s. I have a coffee table book of ones that were still standing at the turn of the century. The photos were from all over, so one would not have to do route-66 to use them. I personally remember some of them on a trip going from Wichita to Nashville in the late 1960s. Don't remember the route but that had to be US highway 63, 64, 70, or 77. Today it would be 400 and 412.

 

[arealgijoe]

Oh its just that such novel things beg the route 66 theme. I remember seeing teepee structure/motel far from route 66 when I traveled between Tenn & Ky way back in the 60s.

I just may make a route-66 like diorama somewhere on my layout. I sorely need to work more on scenery on my layout for a better balance.

 

[montanan]

Back Late 60's I drove a good portion of the old Route 66 just for the heck of it and many of the old attractions were still pretty numerous, but unfortunately the interstate system bypassed most of the small towns where these could be found. It was a different era back then. Highway travel was a lot different back in the 40's and 50's. There was no interstate system like we have today and the roads and vehicles were also a bit different.

This is one of the major reasons we used to take the train from Montana to visit relatives in northern Indiana instead of driving. Speed limits were a low lower on the roads back then and motels weren't as numerous as they are today. On the roads back in the 50's, from where we were in Montana to go to Indiana could take from three to four hard days of driving whereas a train trip would take two days.