Another hobby is to make scale models of all kinds of things. In 2008 I’ve started my own business after the company I worked for, went bankrupt. In 2008 the business went very well. In 2009 the recession started and business slowed down. In 2010 it’s even worse and I’ve got a lot of spare time. What to do….!
I started to make Lucille’s Roadhouse (1927) in Hydro OK (scale 1:25). The next project is a scale model of a renovated 66 Super Service Station (1930) in Alanreed TX (scale 1:25). There’s still no work at all so my next project is the Little Juarez diner (1950s) in the ghost town of Glenrio TX (scale 1:25). On the picture we made, it seems as if there is another name on the sign under the name that we can read and I’ve mailed to some Route 66 Associations if they know what the name of the diner was. And then we got an email from Judy….!!
Judy Wallmark, Treasure Hunter for the Route 66 Museum in Lebanon MO, mailed that there is an incomplete diorama in the museum and asked me if I was interested to complete the diorama! What an honor!! But I make models in scale 1:25 and after a lot of emails, I found out that this model is a lot smaller (scale 1:100)! In between I made another Route 66 icon, the Twin Arrows Trading Post (1955) near Winona AZ (scale 1:25).
After receiving a lot of pictures and the measurements of the diorama spaces the work began! Shopping for materials, wood, glue, paint and some tools. It took a lot of hours re-building the Nelson Tavern (1930). There were only some old postcards and pictures and mostly from the front. So…. how was the back of the Tavern looking? But after a lot of thinking, cutting, sawing, painting etc. the Tavern started to look like how it was on the pictures. In June 2010 me and Monique brought the Nelson Tavern personally to Lebanon and there was an official unveiling. We were celebs for a day!!!
Also in 2010 we were on the site of the burned-down Riviera Roadhouse (1928) in Gardner IL. It was burned down two weeks earlier. At home I’ve searched the internet for pictures and John Weiss (Route 66 Association of Illinois) send me some too. And I make a scale model of the Riviera Roadhouse and the Streetcar (scale 1:100). HELP, I need a bigger house……..!!
The Riviera is followed by another place that is closed unfortunately. It’s a place in Villa Ridge MO, the Diamonds, the biggest Roadside Restaurant in the world. Joe Sonderman made some pictures for me and took some measurements. That one I had to make scale 1:100 because else it’s too big. Now I’m working on a model of a Standard Oil Gasoline Station in Odell IL (1932) (scale 1:25). As I said before…..I need a bigger house because I can’t stop making scale models!!
