Cathead

That followup zoomed in photo means I could go either way on the fabric vs board debate. Either is believable as a method used on the real thing. There's definitely distortion in the photo itself but other aspects of that view do imply fabric. Whatever Keith decides on this one will make sense and look right.

Pretty sure those are in the photo itself. You can see the wrinkles extending up from the sign, over the bridge pier and bridge. EDIT: I posted on Page 6 without noting that discussion continued on to Page 7. I agreed with Kurt that it really looks like it's painted over boards, but I haven't done the exhaustive close-up looks Keith has. Are you certain that the tacks you see aren't nailed attaching the boards to inner framing? It would look much the same.

That's what a goat is for. Fresh milk for the pantry, too. I'll stop dragging this off-thread now.

So does the steward install temporary real turf when a VIP books a room?

Looks amazing! Though I have to admit, the Astroturf bed made me laugh.

Sorry, Keith, I missed that you'd said that already. Also, an idea occurs to me. I have a sheet of printed signs left over from the last model railroad building project mentioned on my log. They're on cardstock and quite nice. I could easily slip some of these into an envelope to you if you wanted a few of them for this project. I could see doing some window coverings as plain and a few as signs just to add to the creative quirkiness, since we're none of us sure exactly what he used. Wouldn't cost more than an envelope and a stamp. Here's what the sheet looks like, most of these would be appropriate for the 1930s:

Honestly I don't see anything that looks like signs. The patterning looks like anything from curtains to plywood to cardboard, with arguably the distorting effect of refraction in glass in a blurry image. As for lettering the stern, have you considered dry transfer letters? They're straightforward to use, though require careful alignment as you have to do each one separately. But you're no stranger to careful small-scale work. Most come in sheets of all letters, which can be annoying, but in your case that means you have lots of spare letters to experiment with before using your precious B-I-L-L-Y. Woodland Scenics makes a wide variety of different fonts. Same things I used to letter the storefronts in my railroad build.

Keith, on the houseboat/barge, aren't those windows?

Carrying more anchors than usual as a survey ship makes sense. But is that really where they stowed them? Seems like asking for hull damage and anchor loss, as well as harder to handle. I guess it's not easy to maneuver a large anchor out of the hold or something, either?

Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems like a mistake by Occre. Yes, someone could bend a heavy line to that anchor before dropping it, but notice there's no cathead or other setup for launching or recovering that anchor without damaging the hull. And having it hanging there, not properly catted, also sounds like a recipe for damage. Finally, I don't think she would have carried four full-size anchors like that. But to be fair I'm not an expert on Beagle.

I'm a member and have every intention of doing so! The one in St. Louis two years ago was great. Last year's was in Texas and I had a family conflict with traveling that far. KRHS site definitely has some nice resources, though most are a bit too modern for my era. The State Historical Society of Missouri has quite a bit of useful material both online and in their physical research center, which isn't that far from me. And non-masters like me as well!

Ken, I find that the story-telling aspect of model railroading is very appealing to the historian and writer in me. Obviously every model can tell a story, but there's something particularly rich in designing and implementing an entire setting, beyond just a stand-alone item. I'm really enjoying how this town is coming together and I look forward to expanding the layout, probably early next year. And thanks to Keith and all the other supporters!

Another building for you. This is the other "wrong side of the tracks" structure, where the land starts sloping down toward the river and incomes and property values are lower. Intended as a general tavern / store kind of place. You can see the kit's version here: https://www.blairline.com/samsroadhouse/ No photos of construction, because it's a pretty straightforward laser-cut kit and I didn't do anything particularly unique to it. Just some basic weathering. I didn't use the kit's corrugated metal roofing (see link above), preferring tar paper. Although metal roofing was in use by 1900, my sense is it was far from ubiquitous. I don't have any other buildings I intended to use metal roofing on, and it'd look strange for the only building with such a new-fangled idea to be one of the rougher settings. I also didn't want a super-rusty look as even in the rougher part of town, I want Rocheport to have a well-kept appearance, and I wanted this to look like a relatively recent construction, not a 50-year-old wreck. Notice the outhouse downhill in the back, that was part of the kit. Also part of the kit was a sheet of possible signs. I chose a couple brands that really were produced in St. Louis during this era, Falstaff beer and Star tobacco. The manufacturer's version has this building plastered with signs, but I think that's overkill clutter and like how just a few add some flair while letting the building breathe overall. I intentionally chose this one and its partner across the street because they're up on posts, as is common for river-adjacent structures in this region. I used small pieces of crushed limestone to build up support pillars for the wooden posts. This is also pretty common around here in older buildings. Close eyes will notice in the first photo that I need to stick a couple rocks under the front porch posts. I like how this sticks out over the slope that starts descending down to the river. No paint on this one, it's all pastel weathering. I really wanted this to have a raw-wood look to it. The lower supports are intentionally more reddish to hint that maybe they were built from local Eastern Red Cedar, which is highly rot resistant and very common around here. I've built all of my full-scale outbuildings from it, and it would have been quite easy for someone to harvest in 1900, too. I think the raw wood goes well with the subtle grey of the sharecropper house, and contrasts with the brighter colors of the depot area. And here's a broader view, showing how this frames the street leading from the river landing into town past the east side of the depot. That's the last building for this district; other than trees, other vegetation, and some fencing, that's pretty much how this is intended to look. Thanks for following along!

I agree with you on the satisfaction from the craftsmanship of building the boats yourself. Nice job!

Lovely photo! That girder, and those doors, especially look like equipment access to me, the way they've lined up vertically with a hoist-support beam above. This was how machinery was hoisted up and into various floors in many buildings. Here's a classic older example from Missouri, at Watkins Woolen Mill State Park (from the park's photo gallery, though I've been there many times). Look at the vertical line of access doors, overhung by a roof extension that housed support beams for whatever pulley system was used to hoist machinery to all the mill's different floors. As discussed earlier, the commentariat convinced me that my elevator's doors weren't equipment access given the way they're not lined up and don't have any hoist housing above them. But the style of access door shown above is super-common in mills and similar industrial buildings and it's worth recognizing. So glad to have you following along!