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Post date: Aug 03, 2015 6:37:20 PM
Tonight we will take a look at Brandon and BRA Junction. Brandon is named for my nephew Brandon Kamm who likes with his beautiful family in Memphis, Tennessee.
Here we see Brandon Depot. It is one of a very few designated Amtrak stops along with Sue Line.
This is a standard kit placed on a foundation/platform of plaster of Paris, paper mache' and hydrocal. The major improvement is the addition of details along foundation and platform.
The map above was developed and drawn by Sue Line Crew member Charlie DeVillbiss.
Here we see BRA Junction. Note that the signal head on the track to Underworld is different from the standard heads on the Sue Line.
BRA Junction is separated from Brandon by an elevated highway (above).
The left track leads to BRA Junction and on to Underworld.
The right track is the Sue Line mainline south to Robinson.
The highway bridge is scratch built from Masonite and plastic strips placed on wooden dowels.
The highway sign is a modified Tyco race car sign with custom printed signage.
We will begin by looking at industries on the east side of Brandon
beginning at the south end with the Brandon Co-Op (above).
Across the street from Brandon Co-Op is Findley's "Fast" Freight.
This is a Fine Scale Miniatures kit name for model railroading pioneer Jim Findley,
who lived in Dallas, Texas.
Next door is another Fine Scale Miniatures kit,
Barnstead Lumber (above).
Completing the industries on the south end of the east side of town is Kneipp's Klipboards (above).
This is also a Fine Scale Miniatures kit. Charles Kneipp is the chief mechanical engineer for the Sue Line and he is always keeping track of things that need to be repaired, hence the klipboards.
The town of Brandon is made up of four blocks of stores
which are not served directly by the railroad.
The first block (above) is made up of (from north to south),
a Rexall drug store,
an empty building,
a pool hall,
a post office and
McClamrock Tool Supply where many of the tools to build the railroad were purchased.
The second block (above) features-
A pawn shop,
a load store, and
a Kinko's Copy center-
at the time, one of our daughters work at a Kinko's.
The bus was a gift of Sue Line crew member Ken Ellison.
The third block (above) features-
a bank- very useful is building a model railroad,
L.C. Forman, Inc.,
the Hiawatha Lines Hobby Shop, named for
Deb (Dave) Fifield who brought many of us together originally
before moving to Nebraska.
The north most block of Brandon has-
a police station,
a lawyer's office, and
a garage/auto repair facility.
On the east side of the north end of Brandon is Howell's Whiskey Warehouse (above).
This was named for model railroad pioneer, Leo Howell of Dallas, Texas.
The logo was "Liquor Up With Leo".
Moving to the west side of Brandon, just south of the station is
Fuller Produce (above).
The industry was named for a histology technologist, Kathy Fuller,
who work for me when I was a practicing pathologist.
The red structure is scratch build and
the yellow and grey building was a gift of good friend and model railroad pioneer,
Cliff Robinson who lived in Dallas, Texas.
The final industry in Brandon is located just north of the depot and is
Cook Scrap Metal Company (above).
This complex was named for and built by Lew Cook,
a former Sue Line crew member who owned and operated
Cooks Trains.
Lew measured and cut out a piece of foam core board to build
the complex. When it brought it back, everything was perfect, except-
he had built it on the wrong side of the base.
Lew Cook took it back and rebuilt it!
Sadly we lost Lew Cook to Lyme Disease.
As we complete our tour of Brandon,
we see a couple of overview shots of Brandon (above).
Join us next week as we continue northward up the mainline to
Morgan, the City and Stonewall.
A special thank you to Ken Ellison
who supplied the photographs of Kneipp's Klipboards and
BRA Junction.
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