One of the challenges of fleshing out the fire scene on the train layout was finding fire engines that were either lettered for Milwaukee, or not lettered for any specific city! My layout is an homage to my hometown of Milwaukee so it's understandable that I would not want fire engines labeled for - let's say - New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, right? But toy manufacturer's nearly always put cities on the vehicles in their quest for authenticity. To be honest, Corgi makes several fire engines labeled for Milwaukee in 1/50 scale but generally speaking I tend to prefer the larger 1/43 scale. But hey, any port in a storm...
...case in point: this fire truck from Menard's is 1/48 scale. Good 'nuff! So for the next few days I'll post a few vehicles I bought specifically for the layout (but not Corgi - haven't gotten around to buying any of their fire engines yet).
Today's offering is from Menard's and for those who aren't too familiar with them, they are the nation's third largest Big Box home improvement center after Home Depot and Lowe's but the unusual thing about them is that they make and sell 3-rail O-gauge trains and accessories! This 1956 Fire Engine is from their Gold Line and is plastic not die-cast (to keep costs down). In that vein, Menard's makes a large series of O-scale buildings made from cheaper materials like cardboard, cardstock, etc. that allow them to be available at a lower cost than the traditional plastic buildings offered by other manufacturers. However, their designs are unique, they're all lighted, and they have exterior detailing (like figures and such) that add presence.
Anywho, what I like about this fire engine is that there is no mention of a specific city on it. It's simply labeled as 'FIRE DEPT' "LADDER 17'. I believe it's meant to represent a GMC 350-ish truck. Enjoy! Opa Fritz
Culled from the Internet
No comments:
Post a Comment