Inspiring Elements

 

“The Bell Hotel,” RICHES, accessed June 6, 2026, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/4230.

With the Shifter done enough for now, it's time to begin the Summer Challenge 2026: Orange Avenue! in earnest.  Let's start this journey with a close examination of the photo above; the Bell Hotel in Sanford, Florida.  It includes several elements that are typical of the 1920s that I want to include in my street scene.  It also includes some humorous history, but we'll come to that later.

So what do I want to include that is visible in this photo?  The building itself bears a strong resemblance to my Rosenbaum building, which is actually based on the Carmichael building in Ocala in the image below.  The commonality is the canopy above the sidewalk mounted below the transom windows.  Of course many similar buildings existed in the 1920s which is why I'm including one in the scene.

However, the Bell Hotel also utilizes window awnings, something the Carmichael building does not.  I've got some Woodland Scenics vacuum-formed plastic awnings but I plan to use them on the tobacco shop next to the Rosenbaum building.  I want to leave the second floor windows on the Rosenbaum open for viewing inside as I plan to add an interior there and the canopy will obstruct the view through the first floor display windows.

Sharp-eyed viewers may have already noticed a familiar structure to the right of the Bell Hotel.  Stripped of its veranda, now with the second floor door bricked up, stands the Ensminger building.  Having studied the brickwork of that cornice I can say without a doubt it is the same structure, decades later.  And that brings us to the next important aspect of this photo: the date.

The RICHES site dates it at 1917.  Nope.  No way.  The Central Florida Memory site offers the same date, but more importantly offers a transcription of the information on the sign board in the street.  "YMCA diamond ball tonight 7:30 by the Zoo free E. Side Farmers vs. Piggly Wiggly"  That's more than enough to give a more accurate date to this image, or at least a good date range.

Piggly Wiggly was the first grocer to offer self-service and was established in 1916 but didn't spread far beyond Tennessee until the 1920s.  "Diamond Ball" was the name given in 1922 to an indoor ball game which, in 1926, would be renamed to its more common and current name, Softball.  It was heavily promoted by the YMCA as an alternative to baseball which was, at the time, associated with drinking and gambling, even during prohibition.  Okay, now we're getting closer.

What about that Zoo?  Here's where things get strange.  I'll link to the source here if you want more details, but this is what happened.  In 1923 a travelling carnival went bankrupt while stopped at Sanford.  As the troupe broke up, their Rhesus monkey was given to a custodian at the Elks club.  After mistreating the female guests there, it was given to the fire chief who brought it to live at the firehouse.  A man gave the firefighters a dog, which the monkey befriended and learned to ride bareback.  Oh but wait there's more.

One of the firefighters found a female monkey.  The local ice man began collecting animals and bringing them to the firehouse for their growing collection, including racoons, squirrels, even an alligator.  The city tried to put an end to it but due to public outcry the collection was relocated behind the firehouse to the site of the former city jail and given official status as a zoo.  Though the location has changed a couple times it remains a zoo to this day.

Speaking of animals, there's an elephant in this image that hasn't been mentioned yet; the popcorn wagon.  That's really what caught my eye when scanning through these old images.  It's the prototype for Jordan's HO scale Popcorn Wagon, a Cretor Model C.  Dates for the Model C vary online, wildly, but Jordan pegs it at 1912, so let's just go with that.  I grabbed one for the streetcar station, a likely location for such a vendor.

That brings us to the last clues to date the photo; the vehicles and the stoplight.  I'm no expert, but I suspect those aren't 1917 vintage cars.  The stoplight isn't much more of a help, except that the standard three-light unit was patented in 1923 and spread throughout the county by the 1930s.  This at least puts the kibosh on the 1917 date.  I'm going to guess and say....sometime after 1925.

In the end the exact date isn't really important.  As with so many things from years long gone, our understanding of them is more than simply a fixed point in time.  A popcorn wagon from the teens would still likely be in use in the twenties and beyond.  A popular regional sport might still be known by an outdated name long after it was officially changed in some far away city.  

Even if they're not exactly right, those cars have the right look.  Sure, awnings and canopies are still used today but not to the same extent as back then.  Giving a historic scene the right flavor comes down to a careful selection of the elements that characterized the era.  I haven't mentioned the brick street or the broad sidewalks or the ornate multi-bulb sign on the corner of the hotel, all of which contribute to the feeling I'm after.

Up next, I prepare to install some sidewalks.  Thanks for reading.

Ensminger Preparations

As of the writing of this post I've got a short window in the winter weather for priming the Shifter over the next few days.  I do my priming work in the garage - search the blog for that keyword for more information on that space and its shortcomings.  It looks to be cold again after our current warm snap so I'm not sure when I'll get to actually paint it after allowing time for the primer to fully cure.  It could be a while.

With that in mind I've begun preparing for the next project.  Behold the "Ensminger Building" (my name for it based on the sign on the fence):

Sanford, Florida has been a gold mine of inspirational photos for modeling central Florida in the 1920s.  While perusing old photos online this structure caught my fancy and wouldn't let go.  I knew someday I'd have to model it.  To that end I contacted the Sanford Historical Society to see if more views of the building were available.  I was delighted to see this image arrive in my inbox:

  

Open in a new tab for a much larger image.  Photo courtesy of the Sanford Historical Society.

I've always maintained that no matter how neat a structure kit might be, that is, a structure created simply from the imagination of a kit designer, there's almost always a more interesting prototype structure waiting to be miniaturized.  Of course someone had to design the prototype but they're not thinking of how it might work on a train layout, rather how it would function in the real world where it will really be built and inhabited.  I think we lose something when we rely solely on our imaginations to create a structure kit instead of following a suitable prototype.

That said, I'm not recreating the town of Sanford in miniature, nor building a replica for a museum, so I won't be building a strictly accurate reproduction in miniature.  I could invest the time learning CAD and having those ornate porch railings laser cut no doubt at great expense, or creating the brick walls in 3D and resin printing them (I don't own a resin printer but have friends that do, so it isn't a far off notion).  However, while I might enjoy that process, that's not the direction I'm going to take on this building.  Inspired by a recent trip to the California State Railroad Museum, specifically standing in the presence of Malcolm Furlow's San Juan Central, I'm going to kitbash it.

I've got three donor kits for the cause: a Walthers Lee's Grocery kit, an SS Ltd Gazebo and a Life Like General Store.  These should allow me to get reasonably close to the prototype but more importantly will capture, I hope, the character of the place.  Features of the core core structure, such as the storefront and the tall arch-top windows, are interesting, but those elements are overshadowed by the signs, porches, ornate brick cornice and the photo studio tacked on the back.  

I measured the spot where the structure will sit, displacing the fire station that I had planned to put there.  It will fit - just - but that's even better.  I like the look of urban scenes in which the tracks seem a little too close to the structures, creating narrow passageways, alleys, etc.  See the image below for the tracing I made as a template.

I also took into account the porch extending over the sidewalk.  In my research into historic Florida buildings I found many such structures.  These verandahs were one way to manage the heat, providing shade for the structure itself and a place for its occupants to sit and catch a breeze.  However, it is a feature I see seldom modeled.  (That could be due to porches and verandahs falling out of favor as the air conditioner and changes in architectural style made them unnecessary or undesirable.  Not many modelers accurately model the 1920s.  However, they should be more prevalent on late 1800s or turn-of-the-century era layouts)  Another case of reality being more interesting than common kit stock.  Here's the ornate casting from the SS Ltd gazebo laying on the resin sidewalk casting; a perfect fit.

Meant to be.

I won't get into the details beyond this overview until I begin the project in earnest.  The other reason I'm choosing to kitbash and come close enough is time.  I don't want to take forever and a day to make the perfect structure, rather, I'll be happy with a unique structure that captures the flavor and character I'm looking for and is done in a reasonable amount of time.  

More to come as it happens.  Thanks for reading.