Long before multi-screen cinemas,videos and color TV, the brightestbuilding on Main Street was oftenthe movie theater. Built during the1920s and 30s when theaterowners spared no expense tomake their buildings stand out,these structures featured elaboratefacades with brightly paintedpanels, frescos, statues and otherarchitectural ornaments. At night,bright marquees, flashy chaselights, moving neon starbursts anda huge sign brought the glitz andglamour of Hollywood to yourhometown.

The new Cornerstone Series®

Built-up Palace Theater ushersyou back to the days when goingto the show was a big event.Featuring an illuminated marquee,complete with spectacularanimated chase lights and a tallname sign that erupts from astarburst with changing rays ofcolor, the Palace Theater grabs the attention of all who see it.

A lighted entryway with windowsfor posters beckons moviegoersinside. A sheet of self-clingingletters is included so you can

customize the illuminatedmarquee with your favorite

movie titles. The buildingfeatures a facade with

colorful panels,brick side and

rear walls, a tall roof over thestage area and a rear stage door.The model also has its owntransformer and plug for thelights. The power socket is locatedon the rear wall, so the building

will sit flat with no cutting intothe layout base necessary.

Available in both HO and OScales, the two structures areslightly different. The HO modelhas four entry doors behind theticket booth and a few more colorpanels on the facade. The O Scaleversion is modeled after a smallertheater with fewer seats, but it’sjust as impressive. It has a pair ofentry doors.

With its bright dancing lights, thePalace Theater adds action alongMain Street or in business districtsof large cities. Because many ofthese structures are still around,Palace Theater will look at homeon your steam- or diesel-eralayout. Just place it alongsideother Built-ups such as Melissa’sEastside Deli and the SilverDollar Cafe, or among otherCornerstone Series storefrontbuildings. ■

t h e m o d e l i n g s t o p

933-2713 O Scale Palace Theater, $129.98

933-2817 HO Scale Palace Theater, $99.98

O/O-2712-3/4" x 7-3/8"

9-3/8" TALL

SIDEWALK

HO SCALE9-3/4" x 6-1/8"

7-1/2" TALL

SIDEWALK

Light Up the Night!

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®

Built-ups

In many small towns, the tall citywater tower is the first thing visi-tors see. Proudly displaying thevillage’s name, the tower tellseverybody where they are—a feweven have names on the roof toaid airplane pilots. Some towns

have made their towers a point ofcivic pride by including them intheir coat of arms or logo. Evencountry music star Joe Diffie sangthe story of lovestruck teenagers,who proclaimed their everlastingdevotion by painting their nameson the town tower in “JohnDeere” green.

So what makes the water towersuch a big part of our culture?They’re everywhere. That’s whyevery town on your layout shouldhave one too. The new Corner-stone Series® Built-up HO ScaleCity Water Tower makes adding

one of these landmarks to yourlayout as easy as opening the box.

How do they Work? The city water tower acts as apeak-demand reserve tank.Town water pumps, housedin a nearby structure,pump water at a fixedrate. During peakdemand, such as themorning when mostpeople shower, waterflowing by gravityfrom the tank supple-ments what the pumpscan supply. Thepumps refill the towerduring periods of lowdemand. Each tank,standing as high as180 feet, holds about aday’s supply of water.Water towers like thenew Built-up modelwere constructedbeginning in the 1920s,when plate steel becameeconomical to produce,and continued into the1960s.

Water Towers addRealism to your LayoutOn your model railroad, placethe tower on the highest point inyour town. They’re also found incommercial areas, residentialneighborhoods or along the tracks.

Paper mills, steelmills, colleges, rail-road shop facilitiesand large users havetheir own privatetowers too.

Because pumps feedthe tower, you mightwant to add a pump-house or treatmentplant near the base.Here are a fewstructure sugges-tions: AM Models129-115 StorageShed, Depots byJohn 87-136InterurbanSubstation, Pola578-310841 FactoryHall or one section

of the Life-Like 433-1337 Mt.Vernon Manufacturing Co. kit, all available from Walthers.

The Built-up Water Tower isloaded with detail including finemetal stabilizing rods on the legsand a concrete foundation. Foradded authenticity, you can use thesupplied decals to add your townname. Towers are available in twoof the most widely used colors—black and silver. Weathering iseasy; just add a little dark graychalk on the roof and walkway, alight coating of dust and a fewsmall rust streaks on metal seamsand on the concrete footings. As afinal touch, add some graffiti justabove the walkway such as “Classof...” or initials with decals orpaint. ■

®

Built-ups

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HO Scale City Water Tower, $29.98 each: 933-2825 Black (shown); 933-2826 Silver

Detail of the City Water Towertank, silver with black lettering.

Some towns have more than one tank for addedcapacity. Eveleth, Minnesota, not only has twoadjacent tanks, but also a sense of humor. Photoby Dennis Pehoski.

The Highest Point in Town

Some city water towers arefenced at the base and othershave adjacent pumping/ treat-ment plants. Here’s a typicalmodern arrangement with asmall pumphouse; a treatmentplant would be slightly larger.

PassengerCars ShowPassengerRailroads’True ColorsStreamliners spurredrailroads past the drabcolors that adorned theirheavyweight passengercars. While the BuddCompany leapt forwardwith shiny stainless-steel, fluted-side cars, Pullman-Standard took a more colorful approach withsmooth-sided varnish dressed incustomers’ flashy paint schemes.Walthers new Pullman-Standard 4-4-2 and 6-6-4 Sleepers bringthese colorful, 1940s-builtlightweight cars to your HO Scalepassenger consists.

4-4-2s Offered Plenty ofRoom to Stretch OutConsidered the most luxurioussleepers, Pullman-Standard 4-4-2s had four two-person

bedrooms, four two-bedcompartments and two three-beddrawing rooms, for an overnightcapacity of 22 plus a porter.During the day, the cars seated 36passengers in parlor-style seating.Adjoining bedrooms could becombined for families or groups,and drawing rooms andcompartments allowed access toadjacent rooms, giving the cars aspacious feel.

ComfortableAccommodations for More TravelersSmooth-sided 6-6-4sleepers featured six opencompartments, sixroomettes and four doublebedrooms. Offering mid-range sleepingaccommodations onname trains like the“Golden State Limited”and the UP’s “City”trains, 6-6-4s also

operated across the country inthrough-sleeping car arrange-ments with connecting railroads.

Pullman-Standard 4-4-2 and6-6-4 Sleepers Add Color andVariety to your TrainsMatched cars were still the normfor passenger trains in the1950s, and Pullman

would happilycustomize exteriors to

make a sale. Buyers could choosesmooth or fluted sides, skirting andmore to match cars from other builders.

But by thelate 1960s, trains

with a mix of Pullman, Buddand ACF cars became common asmany runs were combined or

discontinued. While sleeperscontinued to serve long-distancetravelers, Amtrak® purchased veryfew 4-4-2s or 6-6-4s when itbegan operations in 1971. Thosein service were privately ownedby railroad clubs or individuals;Amtrak required that they be re-

painted in its newcolors.

Walthers 4-4-2 and6-6-4 Sleepers canbring this colorful

period to life onyour layout. Eachcar matches theprototype with

the proper sides,and includes full

underbody detail, workingdiaphragms and diecast replicas ofthe GS 41-HR trucks. For morerealism, car name and numberdecals, plus a full set of wire grabirons are included. ■

932-6727Pullman-Standard

6-6-4 Sleeper PRR, $34.98

Pullman-Standard Sleepers, $34.98 each

Roadname 4-4-2 6-6-4GN “Empire Builder” 932-6701 932-6721 ATSF 932-6702 932-6722 CNW Late Scheme 932-6703 932-6723 Amtrak Phase I 932-6704 932-6724SP “Daylight” 932-6705 932-6725NP 932-6706 932-6726PRR Late Scheme 932-6707 932-6727 DRGW “Four-Stripe” Scheme 932-6708 932-6728 C&O 932-6709 932-6729Rock Island 932-6710 932-6730 UP 932-6711 932-6731 NYC (two-tone gray w/single band) 932-6712 932-6732Undecorated 932-6700 932-6720

Wm K. Walthers, Inc. is an authorized Amtrak supplier. Amtrak is a registered service mark of theNational Railroad Passenger Corporation.

Pacific Railroad Society applied the mandated Amtrak colors to its 4-4-2sleeper in the early 1970s. Photo by Al Novak

HO READY-TO-RUN

932-6702 Pullman-Standard

4-4-2 Sleeper ATSF, $34.98

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A distinguishing feature of 6-6-4(shown above) and 4-4-2 sleeperswas their upper-berth windows.

t h e m o d e l i n g s t o p

Pullman-Standard passenger carsfeature new GS 41-HR trucks.

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Tall, Gray andHandsomeStand along the tracks in NorthAmerica’s breadbasket and looktoward the nearest town. Chancesare you’ll see a grain elevatorpeeking above the horizon. Upthrough the 1930s, it would havebeen a wooden elevator; after the1950s, you would likely see hugeconcrete “prairie skyscrapers.”

Between the 1930s and 1950s,corrugated-metal elevators sprangup in many granger towns.Durable and fire resistant,corrugated metal siding was all therage; new elevators and scores ofolder ones were sheathed with it.During this period of growth, thenew elevators were usually built tosupplement existing facilities.

The Cornerstone Series® ValleyGrowers Association is based onthese metal marvels. Popularacross the continent, metal

elevators still dot the lines ofmany railroads. They’re often avital part of grain handlingcomplexes where they workalongside newer concrete silos likethe ADM® Grain Elevator, 933-3225 $32.98, or older woodenelevators like the FarmersCooperative Rural Grain Elevator,933-3238 $24.98.

At Home on any LayoutBecause elevators like ValleyGrowers Association have been in use since the 1930s, this new kit will look great on any steam-or diesel-era layout or module. See the article in Volume 2, Issue 4 of Walthers InsidersReport (the predecessor ofWalthers Update) on the internet atwww.walthers.com for suggestionson using this structure to create arealistic grain-handling scene.

The easy-to-build kit includes acorrugated-metal grain elevatorwith a loading/weighing tunneland truck ramps. Positionable

sliding doors on thetunnel, a small

clapboard office and a woodengrain storage bin makecustomizing your grain sceneeasy. The kit also includes asegmented pipe for loadingbox cars or covered hoppersand realistic decals.

For added realism, paint thetops of the ramps aconcrete color. As afinal touch, darken thecorrugated sidingusing chalks orwashes. Refer toprototype photos forweathering andplacement ideas. ■

Bins are usually connected to the main structureby an underground auger. If you don’t have roomto add the bin next to the elevator, you can use italongside other elevators or feed mills.

933-3251 N Scale Valley Growers Association, $34.98

Scenes like this one at Grangeville, Idaho, are common. As grainbusinesses expanded, additional elevators were simply added to thecomplex. Notice the metal siding has weathered to a dark gray. Photoby Bob Gallegos

STORAGE BIN

4-1/4"x2-3/8"2-1/2" TALL

OFFICE 1-5/8"x7/8"

1" TALL

9-3/8''

4-1/2''

RAMP

RAMP

ELEVATOR6-5/8" TALL

®

The newest addition to the Badger family of air compressors is the Thayer & Chandler Air Star V. This piston compressor

incorporates a regulator and moisture trap asstandard equipment.

Air Star V’s adjustable air regulator andpressure gauge let you fine-tune airpressure as needed. With a pressurerange up to 40 psi, the versatile Air StarV can handle solvent or non-toxic acrylic

paints that require higher pressures. Ifyou’re planning to use solvent-based paints,

the built-in moisture trap keeps water out ofairflow, assuring consistent coverage even inhumid conditions.

A handy feature of the Air Star V is itsautomatic shut-off so the compressorruns only when you depress thebutton on your airbrush. This allowsyou to pause to change color bottlesor cups without shutting down thecompressor. For added convenience,a built-in holder gives you a place toset your airbrush while you repositionyour work. When you’re done painting, the master on-off switch lets you shutdown without unplugging the unit.

Other features of this quiet, lightweight compressor include abuilt-in handle for portability (housing measures only 12 x 6 x 6")and a powerful 1/8 horsepower, maintenance-free, oil-less motorfor reliability under demanding conditions.

B ilt i

165-909 Air Star V Air Compressor $295.00

Easy-to-Use Air Star V Compressor has the Features you Need

Built-in Mosture Trap

Built-in Airbrush Holder and Carrying Handle

Green Frog has begun re-releasing their railroad videos in DVDformat. This latest technology encompasses the use of DigitalVersatile Discs, a.k.a Digital Video Discs or DVDs. With highervideo and audio quality, each individual disc also includes chaptersearch and the ability to mute narration. Most feature 5.1 digitalsurround sound, and some will even include bonus interviews withrailroad personnel.

A leading producer of railroad video and audio tapes, Green Froghas catered to railfans and modelers since 1983.

The company does its own production editing, duplication andshipping to ensure quality products. Most of their tapes were madefrom footage shot by railfans as early as the 1920s, all the waythrough the 70s. Modern action, however, is captured using state-of-the-art technology.

As the times and technology change, Green Frog Productions willdo the same to bring the fascinating world of trains to everyone.

Green Frog Goes Digital