Shedding a little light

I just completed work on a small navigational structure which will be installed at the end of my copper smelter dock. This type of aid to navigation was typical of such structures used throughout the Great Lakes beginning in 1910.

The light at the top was powered by acetylene which was provided by four tanks stored in the small shed at the base of the tower. 

Note the prototypical liberal addition of seagull poop one every possible perching location. Here in the Great Lakes, our nickname for seagulls flying rats!

More on the company houses

The short row of scratch-built company houses I originally posted a week ago have all been refinished to reflect the stark similarity that would have been evident when the Copper smelter was a going concern, and before the houses were sold into private ownership.
 

As was the case with the copper smelting complex itself, it was not my intent to faithfully duplicate the original buildings of the Quincy Smelter, but to rather use them as the inspiration for my interpretation. As such. I designed these three structures as an amalgam of the two prototypes shown in the historical images below.

 All will be outfitted with privies out back and their foundations will be planted into the hillside, with steps added up to the front porches. It's time to give them a rest and onto something different.

Glad to be back at the workbench

After an eleven month hiatus battling lung cancer, I am glad to be back at my workbench playing with trains. The first project to regain whatever skills I may have - a row of scratch built company houses for the Copper Smelter employees.

 

I was coloring these company houses to reflect the way they look in the real world today, in which individuals now own the houses and have painted them to reflect their personal color choices. A couple of days after this photo was taken, it dawned on me that during the period I am modeling ,they would all have been painted in a similar color scheme which reflected company standards.

I have since disassembled them as much as possible, and am in the process of painting them all a nondescript beige color with the same maroon trim coloration as was used on all the smelter buildings.