(1) I’ve clipped the blog post title from a chapter in the excellently written British Rail Architecture 1948-97 by David Lawrence.

“For centuries architects have used miniature versions of their designs to communicate their ideas to emperors, oligarchs, magnates, civil servants and audiences who must be engaged to ensure a project is approved for development. They may be the device which convinces a client to provide substantial investment for a project.”

“Many modelers will choose a station as one of their first buildings because it is a simulacrum of the interface between trains and human activity. It is an archetype for all stations. In this way the model — in fact an assembly of sundry materials and adhesives — is an imaginative threshold into the tiny world of the model railway, inviting the modeler and audience to step, like Alice in Wonderland, into a perfect version of an imperfect world.”

>>> Source File

(2) Continental’s BIG CITY H-O Scale Modern Architecture Series (Flickr)

I have the ‘Entrance Building’ (Model No. 104) which inspired this photo at Walt Disney World. What do you think happened to Continental Models at 1 Dupont Street in Plainview, NY?

(3) Artist rendering of the new concourse for Liverpool Street (1987) from British Rail Architecture 1948-97 by David Lawrence. I love the vintage engine. It reminds me of Playmobil 4052.