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I Found Ray Bradbury Journals/Blogs
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New member 18 posts greentowner New member 18 posts
greentowner

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I went into one of the local model shops yesterday to find an S or O scale figure to use as a statue on my N Scale Green Town Railway. There is a triangular space where Glen Rock runs between Washington and Park which I knew would be a small grassed area and I thought a statue would be a fitting focal point there.

There wasn't a lot of choice in larger scales but then I found a set of O scale sitting figures from Woodland Scenics. Among them was this chap reading a book. Can I hear a "Hallelujah"? I certainly felt one of those eureka moments. Here was Ray perfectly poised for what I had in mind. He has now become a mascot for the railway as well as  its  inspiration and although I intend to paint him in brass, for the time being I'm quite pleased to have him as he is, helping to conjure up the town.

A New Zealander modelling Ray Bradbury's Green Town Illinois in N Scale.

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billm Active Member 55 posts
billm

One of my favorite authors.

One of my favorite authors.

Cheers

Bill
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Mike C Regular poster 115 posts
Mike C

SF authors

Ray Bradbury , Edmond Hamilton , Leigh Bracket.  Were some of the best. Wish more people wrote like that....Mike
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Norman46 Regular poster 233 posts
Norman46

SF Authors

Neat idea! I was always more of a Heinlein fan, but given the way he shunned publicity, I doubt he would approve. Norman L&N circa 1954
Norman Modeling L&N in HO circa 1953 We don't stop playing with trains because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing with trains. Webmaster for http://www.locallocomodelrr.org
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jwhitten Frequent poster 555 posts
jwhitten

Wow, nice figure. Too bad

Wow, nice figure. Too bad you're going to paint over it..

John
Modeling the South Pennsylvania Railroad ("The Hilltop Route") in its final days of steam. Heavy patronage by the Pennsy and Norfolk & Western. Coal, sand/gravel/minerals, wood, coke, light industry, finished goods, dairy, mail and light passenger service. Interchanges with the PRR, N&W, WM and Montour.
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billm Active Member 55 posts
billm

A nice fire ...

What would be fun would be to have a small fire on the ground or in a fire pit in front of the reading character.

Fans of Bradbury will know why.

Cheers

Bill
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Rick Mugele Regular poster 255 posts
Rick Mugele

Fire House

Maybe Ray should be facing the Fire House?
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greentowner New member 18 posts
greentowner

Fire Station

I'm still wondering about including a Fire Station even though it steps beyond the bounds of Green Town. Simply capturing the town as it appeared in the novels and short stories (along with nods to Waukegan) could more than fill my available space, without reaching to his other works, no matter how important they are. However Fahrenheit 451 is so quintessentially Bradbury, and probably represents him at his visionary best that it would be a shame not to give at least a nod to it. For now though it will be a "watch this space". 

A New Zealander modelling Ray Bradbury's Green Town Illinois in N Scale.

0_083348.jpg 

 
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George J Frequent poster 741 posts
George J

Of Course...

If you include a firehouse, the address on it would have to be 451...

George

 

"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers, ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."

Milwaukee Road : Cascade Summit- Modeling the Milwaukee Road in the 1970s from Cle Elum WA to Snoqualmie Summit at Hyak WA.
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yardplan Active Member 83 posts
yardplan

Or remnants to suggest F-451

Remnants of a burned out firetruck.  On the ground, in a junk yard, or perhaps even on a lo-boy truck or on a flat, in a gon, ,,, the labeling somehow still visible, "Ladder 451," etc.

Or, a new commercial or governmental building going up, with waste from the old one waiting for pickup, ,,,, the front signage, damaged as to lettering with something like "Station 451" or "House,"  "Ladder," etc. 

To call more attention to it, which you probably don't want to do (as in 'wasting valuable scenery space'), a crane of some sort, depending or era, lifting said signage remnant on to a truck, from truck to gon, from truck to recycling center or collectibles / recyclables junk yard.

This is really bad.  But I saw one the other day.  A largish truck which hauled away paper from office buildings for shredding and/or for disposal of shredded paper.  Your imagination can do a lot (just not too corny) --

"R Bradbury Bulk Paper Disposition ," but better and subtler.

And on and on.  A GREAT FIND, by the way

 
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jwhitten Frequent poster 555 posts
jwhitten

Why not put the public

Why not put the public library right next door and make the street address on the front say 451?
Modeling the South Pennsylvania Railroad ("The Hilltop Route") in its final days of steam. Heavy patronage by the Pennsy and Norfolk & Western. Coal, sand/gravel/minerals, wood, coke, light industry, finished goods, dairy, mail and light passenger service. Interchanges with the PRR, N&W, WM and Montour.
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greentowner New member 18 posts
greentowner

Fahrenheit 451

I like the idea of subtle, a small tip of the hat maybe with tongue in cheek. The library and surrounds will be out of bounds for this though. The Carnegie Library is a pretty famous building in Waukegan and an integral part of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. There is a theatre next door which I have already built. The Library itself will be one of the more challenging scratch builds for the layout.

Set in the Summer of 1928, I do need to be careful at how I make reference, if at all, to his science fiction work. I have thought about using signage for this. So it's quite nice to have someone else suggest this too. 

S is for Space - Rentals
Toynbee Toys
 

It's one of the joys of this hobby, finding solutions to questions that initially seem grey and vague. Sites like this certainly help shed some light on those darker places.

A New Zealander modelling Ray Bradbury's Green Town Illinois in N Scale.

0_083348.jpg 

 
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