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London Bridge Model Railroaders Seek Help
Jim asks readers:
“Our new model railroad club, the London Bridge Model Railroaders, is building the Needles subdivision in HO. We are having a lot of trouble finding our centerpiece, El Garces Hotel in Needles, Ca. We would love to find a kit or at least plans for the building. Any suggestions would be appreciated.”
3 Responses to London Bridge Model Railroaders Seek Help
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Hi Jim, Well if there is still what you are looking for in Needles then I suggest you go to google earth and see if you can find the building you are looking for. Then select street view and look around and see if you have any views of it there. If you are lucky enough then print the view or views for your planning purposes. I have an old model of the NMRA Headquarters building next to the Tennessee Valley Railroad. I found it still there and went to street view and printed a couple different angles and straight on view of it. Although the brick is cleaned up and a different name on the building and stuff, I have that building to correctly finish the model. With those pictures and a model that I paid only 2 dollars for will become a wonderful building. My idea is to fix it up with the roof that opens to show model railroads and a library with research tables and a few proto cars and such on display inside.
I am going to do the same with the old Union Station Building in Seattle, Washington. Which sitts next to the current Kings station. There I plan to do a backdrop low profile of it sitting beside the Kings Station on my layout.
Your other choice if that stuff is not available for you check for Historical books of Needles and see if there might be a photo in there of the building you want. and if you find it you can scratch build or a combination of several kits and scratch building might get the job done.
from Newman
Hi Jim, Have you checked with the California or local historical societies? The local newspaper archives may have pictures or articles about the hotel. Good hunting; Tim
If it’s a historic building, it may be on the HABS/HAER site of the Library of Congress. They have a lot of photos and drawings and you may get lucky. If the building is newer than the building and safety department in its location, the blueprints may be available there. If the building underwent a restoration by the city (building and safety), they may have put out a request for proposals/bids which may have included accurate drawings (that’s how I found the Torrance, CA Pacific Electric Bridge drawings).
Hope this helps.