You can get 48-star flags from Microscale:
Recruiting offices for the military existed before, during and after the the second world war, they’re still around today. It’s not a period piece.
BTW many boys joined the military during the Depression because there was no work available. I had a friend who joined the Navy in 1940 because there was no work; but for a fluke he would have been at Pearl Harbon on Dec 7 1941.
I know about the flag decals. I was mainly talking a real flag like you see with HO scale version in N. My next idea was to use two flags together with styrene and make a flag on a pole.
I knew something about that.
I make my flags out of 0.005" brass soldered to a 0.047" brass tube.
I cut the brass to the same size as the flag decal, work it into a “wavy” pose, and then apply the decal to the shape.
-Kevin
Not a 1940’s era modeler, but I will throw my two cents in.
I think the 1950’s have that appeal for being the only era for steam and diesel to mix, but the further we are removed from that the more I think that appeal of mixing traction is dying off a bit. We see this with the surge of 1970’s-1990’s modeling right now, with a lot of people firmly planting their flag in an all-diesel era. Even in the 1950’s, dieslization was so fast once the GP’s began to arrive en-masse I think from a prototypical depiction the image of lots of steam trains mixing with the GP’s was something which in reality only lasted a few months of time before the steam engines were sent to scrap lines on many railroads, particularly in the American west were railroads were happy to dump off as many steam engines and their water chugging nature as fast as they could.
So in turn, I think the 1940’s has an appeal as being an era that can be fully steam focused with a “taste of diesel.” The transition had not started in full, but a few diesels were being ran on passenger and some freight services. However other than that, the rest of the era is proudly still steam powered, and I like to dig through UtahRail’s archive of Emil Albrecht photos just to drool at the variety of steam power in the era that ruled the rails. I think likewise the 1900’s-1930’s have a similar appeal, to just embrace a fully steam era and celebrate when steam was king.
I always have in the back of my head a debate on if I could model the local shortline if I would do it in the 1950’s when I could mix some diesel action in there, or in the 1920’s when the railroad was a 24/7 operation with four steam engines constantly on property and a mix of freight and passenger moves. Honestly while I like the colors of the diesel era, I think operations and buildwise the 1920’s would just be more fun. My British OO9 project is also leaning towards the 1920’s as well, to
You make some really good points Travis.
I model the 1950s for exactly the reason you stated. I like steam locomotives, but my Stewart Kato F units run reliably and flawlessly. I plan to keep a roundhouse full of steam to play with, but nearly all the staged trains will be powered by diesels.
I think the immediate post-war years would be fascinating to model with the railroads working to get back to normal, but all-steam does not appeal to me.
-Kevin
Railroads changed to diesels as quickly as possible, staring in earnest in the early 1930’s. You might be surprised how many diesel decal sets are in the 1942 Walthers decal catalogue (later reprinted as “PLD 1”). Diesel switchers and passenger engines were usually the first. After WW2, there was a several year backlog in getting new equipment, so for example Great Northern’s Empire Builder 1945-47 was an all-heavyweight train pulled by E-units because GN couldn’t get streamlined cars right away.
Although we tend to think of the 1950s as the decade of transition, it would be more accurate to say it was the 10 years from about 1947-1957.
By the time my family moved to a house across the street from the Minneapolis Northfield and Southern Ry. in April 1951, that railroad was already all diesel.
Refering to George Selios’ Franklin and South Manchester
I agree. Many of the private buildings and facilities during the Depression were at most only a few years old. Labor was cheap so it wasn’t expensive to keep things repaired and cleaned up. PWA started in 1933. Under it there were many projects building and improving public facilities and infrastructure.
Did you ever see that “Popeye” movie with Robin Williams? George Sellios’ big city areas kinda remind me of that. Kind of an exageration. In the 1930s there would be quite a few brick and/or stone buildings from the 1880s to 1920s - city hall, libraries, office buildings etc. Maybe not so much old rickety wood buildings? I don’t know, maybe it was more true on the east coast than here in the Midwest.
BTW re recruiting offices & war…remember the draft started in early 1940, so the military had a steady stream of boys coming in via conscription. When the U.S. entered the war, there actually were not enough training facilities to train in new recruits and draftees, so many boys who volunteered right after Pearl Harbor had to wait a while until a place opened up for them to actually begin basic training.
That’s why a lot of major league baseball players played in the 1942 season. They were able to get a one-year deferment pretty easily; usually they put their salary for that year into a trust of some kind to provide for their families “just in case”.
I model the New Haven RR in all eras. I don’t currently have my own layout, but I am a member of a large club that’s visually set in the Transition Era (but anyone can run anything on it). My goal is to be able to run any specific NH train accurately, and I’ve gotten a long way towards that goal. Except for freight cars. I’ll leave those 'til last. [:)]
As for Sellios… I knew someone who both lived through the Great Depression and visited George’s layout. He said, “The Great Depression wasn’t that bad.”