Tillman's Parkway Diner - 35 LRG Pics ~ 1.5 woo woo woo

rlmonts · Feb 13, 2005

Hello Forumites (And Dee's termites)

I recently began building Micro Structures Parkway Diner and Detail Kit By Miller Engineering. I was documenting it for a friend so I thougt I would share it with you.

First off, I want to preface this with a little back groud info. I work in a hobby shop part time and one of my good HO customers had invited me several times to his see his layout. In the month of December his wife of 30+ years passed away after an illness. He would invite my wife and I to diner at a local diner, Parkway Diner as luck would have it is the name of the diner. Mr. Tillman recently moved to Ohio to work in a power plant, but My time with him was well treasured. I thought I would pay tribute to our friendship and time together on my newest N-scale layout by building the Miller kit and calling it Tillman's Parkway Diner, In honor of my good friend.....

First we have the interior, unpainted.

And the General Structure, unpainted.

A little rough fitting of the structure parts, to get the general jist of it.

And some rough fitting of the interior, agian for an idea of what the finished product will be.

Now having eaten in my share of greasy spoons across this great land of ours, I love the retro 50's look many of these diners have, bright reds, blues, etc. So I figured on turquoise booths and ruby red counter stools. But half way throught the booths, I decided on some ruby red for them as well.

Next, I "tile" the floor in white speckled tiles, with every fourth tile being a black one.

rlmonts · Feb 13, 2005

For part two we lay a few bricks at the rear of the diner

Now that the interior parts are dry, I place them back into the interior, for a few shots.

rlmonts · Feb 13, 2005

Now I don't know about you, but if I pull up to an open restaurant, and it appears empty, I am very skeptical about eating there. So now we populate it with a few of the regulars.

Here the crew of TG042Z grabs a quick cup of coffee before their shift. While getting coffee, the find the oncoming dispatcher.

Here we have Millie getting a bit of breakfast for some of the local gals on their way to the bridge club. (Millie was Dr. Tillman’s Wife)

And a few more shots of the folks at Parkway. (BTW, that’s Tiny in the middle. Tiny is the local mechanic. Every day he has breakfast and lunch at Parkway. Due to his, Eh, girth, the center counter stool is slightly lower that the others.

rlmonts · Feb 13, 2005

OK, so we tar papered the roof (old leaky roof as it is) using thinly cut pieces of masking tape painted semi-flat black. Further assemblies were added such as the awning, and then some of the stainless steel exterior of this diner car were painted that turquoise. Then, to give the diner the appearance of being old, much of the paint was scratch off, or peeled in spots.

rlmonts · Feb 13, 2005

So, Lets put 'er all together and turn on the interior lights.

Then we turn on the Diner Sign, to get more customers.

And finally, a few day light shots, lights off, on, etc.

Looking in the Side window.

The End.

I can't wait for the layout to get to the point where this old diner can take its place. I just heard the bell, so it must be time for Millie to get my Pork Chops and Mashed Potoates. Thanks for letting me ramble on and share this great hobby with you fine folks. As always comments are appreciated, compliments are paid for, and critism is......