I just got back from my Houston vacation this afternoon, spent a Thursday and half of Friday photographing Galveston scenes and structures I want to include on my new layout. (long-winded discussion titled "Island Seaport Plan B" under Layout Design a few weeks ago.) I usually just make day trips to Galveston, staying overnight in my mother's house in Houston, but we needed to spend a night in Galveston. Decided to stay in a picturesque place I am trying to fit on the layout, a hotel on Galveston's Seawall Boulevard built in the shape of a ship. It's getting a little old, probably not as nice as your average Motel 6, but it would be interesting. Good news and bad news. I drove up and down the Seawall looking for the place. I was pretty sure I would recognize it-- I had been poring over a Sanborn's Insurance map of the place just a few days ago. It turned out to be just a pile of rubble with a sign, luxury living accomodations to be built on this site. The good news? I photographed it in 1998. I left the pictures from this trip in the photofinishers drop box this Sunday evening so I don't have them yet. I still use film. Here are some pictures I have tsaken in the past of scenes I plan to include in the layout. These are now all gone. As a motor traveler came off the causeway onto Galveston Island, he would be greeted by a five block long array of attractive warehouses-- the compress sheds of the Cotton Concentration Company. Attractive warehouses? Yes! They were simple but somewhat elegant concrete structures covered with corona vine, along a boulevard lined with rows of palm trees and oleanders. The Champs Elysee of the industrial district. A must for the layout, both for the scene and the cotton traffic. Photographed in 1995 when at least a shell remained, now all torn down. Another major traffic source, grain being exported through Elevator B, built 1931, the second tallest structure in Galveston. Photographed from an arriving train in 1991, imploded 2003. In the same picture-- an offshore oil rig which was positioned next to the grain elevator in the 1990s as a tourist attraction. Rigs like that were built in Galveston in the 1950s period I am modeling through not in that exact location-- however, that is exactly the location I have available for that model on the layout. The rig museum is still in Galveston but it has been moved. A building that dated from the civil war, used by the gas company. I hope to kitbash it, use it as something connected with city utilities, deliver gas and water pipe and chlorine for water purification. Photographed in 1998, now long gone. I'm glad I got them when I could, and got a few more this trip.
Smart fellow! Looks like you've captured some jewels. We all should be taking these types of photos. Boxcab E50
Tower 121, San Antonio, Texas. Now gone, too. BTW, at the base of the tower on the right side, you can see some timbers and pilings that have been cut. These are the remains of the old Olive Street wooden bridge that is between East Yard and the Espee engine shops. The Olive Street bridge is where George Elwood (Fallen Flags website) took many of his pictures in the 1960s.
The old CTC signals installed on Denver & Salt Lake in the 40's are still around, but are disappearing fast. Witness East Radium, CO Mar '07: But their replacements were already installed. Just a matter of time: Likely long gone by now. I shot all the D&SL/D&RGW items of interest that I could find. I'm glad I did!
Going, going, gone Great thread and great pics. I suppose I have the typical railfan/modeler's chip on my shoulder, but it seems to me that industrial & railway buildings aren't exactly at the top of the list of historical preservationists, without whose activism these structures can't be preserved. I'm modeling the D&RGW's run from Helper, Utah to the Gilluly Loops. Helper is a historical preservation district, which is great, but here's just a tiny fraction of what's gone: * The D&RGW roundhouse and mallet house in Helper * The D&RGW car shop building in Helper * The YMCA trainmen's hotel in Helper * The D&RGW chapel in Helper * The Castle Gate mine buildings, including the washer/sorter complex, company store, employee houses (OK, the whole area had to be subjected to environmental remediation, but still, it's a loss) * The stations at Royal and Colton In some cases, only a handful of pictures of these structures remain. The truth is that the railway-related structures we've come to love are irrelevant to today's railway economics: boxcars, lcl, local freights --> trucks manifest freights --> unit trains human effort --> mechanization etc. Our history as a people is being swept away. --Bryan
That hotel is wonderful looking. A real signature piece. Here in denver we've lost alot of beautiful old architecture to "progress" (progress=developers cashing in) About to be destroyed is the old Gates rubber company building. The claim is that it is too expensive to clean it up and redevelop it. I really question that. I have seen some beautiful renovations of old factories and wharehouses into modern loft spaces and even stores. Or they could have saved a portion of it for a historical look to their new development. We were fortunate enough to have the Tivoli beer plant saved and turned into a mall. It's a major landmark just west of downtown. Too bad for Gates. Is it that much cheaper to rebuild? Exactly how good is the quality of what is being built? Most newer buildings don't seem to be planned for the long haul. It's a get your money now and leave sort of deal for developers. I could be wrong though. Can't back it up with data. I just like old buildings.
