The Real Gas and Electric Co? Unconfirmed Prototype for the CMR Kit

Continuing the series on CMR kits, I’ll title this one with a question since it’s somewhat of a stretch to say that the Custom Model Railroads Gas & Electric Co. N scale kit is definitely based on the prototype I’ve found.

I’m taking a guess that the Gas & Electric Kit is a modified version of the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company building in down town Baltimore. The main difference between the kit and the prototype is that the kit is triangular while the prototype is rectangular.

So, how am I making this leap?

Well, first, I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking at various Gas and Electric company buildings.  Not a single one looks architecturally similar to the CMR version.  But thus far CMR kit I’ve found have been based in St. Paul and Baltimore so I decided to spend a little more time looking in those areas specifically.  Since CMR is based in Maryland, it’s entirely reasonable to assume they would be doing research in the city closest to them.

I came across the Baltimore Gas and Electric and while there is quite a bit of creative license, I would say this is the closest Gas and Electric company building to what CMR has produced.  Of course, it’s entirely possible that this is an original design or that the kit is based on a structure that’s not actually a Gas and Electric building (in which case, I wasn’t looking for the right thing).

Anyway…here is the photo. You be the judge.

Filed under: Prototypes, Structures , Baltimore, Custom, model, model kit, model railroad, model railroading, N Scale, prototype, scale model, scale modeling, structure

Are Kits by Custom Model Railroads Under Scale?

There as been some discussion about whether the N scale kits produced by Custom Model Railroads — to which I have no affiliation, by the way — are under scale.  This is based on the reaction of readers here after seeing the CMR kits near structures produced by Design Preservation Models (now Woodland Scenics).

To me, the CMR kits also felt under scale — at first glance the floor height appears to be 7 scale feet or so when compared to other commercial kits. So, I did a bit of investigative work on floor height.

It seems that CMR is probably using one of the more prototypical measures compared to several other companies.  This is sort of like comparing apples to oranges because I don’t think some of these other manufacturers are in the same category of CMR, but this is what I’ve found.  Note: I am measuring story height from the bottom of one window to the bottom of the window above it.  That is essentially a point to point measurement using the windows as a guide since those would be consistently placed from floor to floor.

Custom Model Railroads (St. Paul Building) – 9.5′
Design Preservation Models (average of several buildings) – 10.5′
Model Power (Jackson Meat Packaging) – 13′
Walthers (American Hardware) – 12′

To further the comparison, I also measured the door height on the same structures:

Custom Model Railroads: 7′
Design Preservation Models: 8.5′
Model Power: 9′
Walthers: 8′

Typically, a commercial structure would have a floor height or 9-10‘ (maybe 11′) and an exterior door height of 7-8‘.  For a high rise like the St. Paul, I would actually expect floor height to be at least 10′ and exterior door height to be 8′. From that standpoint, I believe the CMR kits are in scale, but tend to be on the lower end of what would be prototypical.

But to CMR’s credit, I think the real issue is that so many N scale kits are well over scale — including the Asian/European kits that tend more toward 1:150 scale. I think we’ve become accustomed to seeing these larger kits and accepting them for N scale when they really aren’t.

Overall, I’m just fine with CMR’s interpretation of N scale and I’ll purchase from them again.

Filed under: Products, Structures , Custom Model Railroads, model, model kit, model railroad, model railroading, N Scale, scale model, scale modeling, structure

The Real Donaldson’s Department Store: Prototype for the CMR Kit

Keeping with the current series of posts highlighting the N scale kits by Custom Model Railroads, let’s take a look at Donaldson’s Department Store.

Again, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, this department store was known as “The Golden Rule” store prior to 1961 when it was renamed to Donaldson’s Golden Rule and eventually just Donaldson’s.  The building was built in 1886.

Filed under: Prototypes, Structures , Custom Model Railroads, prototype, St. Paul, structure, The Golden Rule