Book Review, NEB&W Guide to Scenery, Structures & Details Last Update: 2007-12-13
The following review of this appeared in the May '96 Railroad Model Craftsman: (reprinted courtesy of Don Spiro):
It's been quite sometime since I've had the pure unadulterated pleasure of opening a book and becoming so totally absorbed by the second or third page, that I literally couldn't put it down. This new 450 page volume by John Nehrich is just such a pleasure.
Many of you are aware of Nehrich's unlimited modeling talents and scholarly approach to historically accurate modeling through the many fine articles he's written for this, and other magazines over the past twenty or so years. Nehrich has been one of the creative guiding forces behind the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's exquisite model railroad, The New England Berkshire & Western. The NEB&W is one of the "premier" steam to diesel era model railroads in the country. This new work is a compilation of what Nehrich has learned during his involvement with the design, construction, and ongoing historical research of the NEB&W.
Now don't let the title fool you into believing that this is just another "how-to" book on slinging plaster, a few yet undiscovered techniques to kitbash and weather structures, or how to cram as much detail into a scene as possible. While the book certainly offers all of the above in spades, it is the logical and intuitive approach that Nehrich takes towards "historically accurate" modeling that sets this work apart from all other similar works dealing with the subject.
Nehrich takes an almost scientific approach to historically accurate modeling, far beyond the normal practice of "era-correctness" of locomotives and rolling stock most modelers are familiar with. Nehrich weaves the schools of industrial archaeology, sociology, history, philosophy, a little psychology, and a healthy dose of humor into a tapestry that would have many a school teacher envious in its ability to capture the attention of the student.
The text, based on the era of the NEB&W, relates modeling to "the every day life" of a society 50 years ago. Just about every facet that would go into a scene depicting that specific era from the "who, why, what, where, and when" of lineside industries that are the very basis of a railroads existence, to the little and often overlooked items such as mail boxes, trash cans, and fashion of the era, are dealt with in depth.
Some areas such as entertainment, the history of food, and insects, I never once gave a fleeting thought to as having any relevance whatsoever to my modeling efforts. In fact, there were indeed moments while reading some of the text that I found myself asking, "Where the heck is he going with this idea?" And yet, when I finished the section, I was amazed at Nehrich's uncanny ability to use these seemingly unrelated items to expand my understanding of time in history that I never experienced first hand but was attempting to piece together and portray on my own railroad.
Nehrich is able to hold up many currently accepted ideas to close scrutiny and in the process, redefine them. For example, mention "transition era" or "late steam era" and we immediately think of that time in the late forties and early fifties when diesels replaced steam as motive power on our nations railroads. A definition seemingly etched in stone and one that we all have come to accept without question. Not Nehrich. He redefines this term to mean the "several decade shift from steam railroading to the internal combustion automobile." By including the automobile into the definition, we acknowledge the diminishing role railroads will have, regardless of the type of power on the head and, once the Interstate Highway System is in place. After all, wasn't the diesel locomotive in actuality, just a cost effective measure used to deal with the railroads already declining role and revenues? Makes one ask, "Why didn't I think of that?"
How about our romantic notion of what Depression era America really looked like? Many fine modelers depict this time by modeling decrepit buildings, cracked pavement and sidewalks, and trash strewn everywhere. Nehrich cautions this view encourages us to "free ourselves from today's mind set. By no fault of our own, our view of the past is colored by our sense of the present. Poverty back in the thirties carried an enormous stigma, left over from the Puritan work ethic which said God rewarded good people with wealth. Hence, poor people must be terrible sinners. Therefore, people tried to keep up appearance at all costs.
Industries during the Depression kept up this appearance as well. Labor was cheap and plentiful, and in spite of the very bleakest of economy, companies could easily afford to keep up a healthy appearance by meticulously maintaining their physical properties. "Nobody wants to do business with a company on its last legs." It was a time of "make work", losing a job without the safety net of Unemployment Insurance, Food Stamps, or welfare was "akin to the death sentence".
Cracked and crumbling sidewalks? The WPA was started as just such a "make work" program and many streets, sidewalks, and other infrastructures were brand new at the time as a result of this nationwide program. If we truly want to model the Depression era as it really was, our current romantic notion of Depression era decay might just be far removed from the true reality of that time."
These are but a two of the many accepted notions Nehrich reexamines and refines throughout the text. His objective willingness to question and explore that much deeper into the past yields a greater understanding of just what a society was like fifty years ago. As a result, a far greater degree of historical accuracy is achieved in his modeling efforts.
Let's move beyond the cerebral and into the hands-on portions of the book. The actual modeling information in this text is staggering. There are over 120 pages alone dealing with architecture. In this section, Nehrich breaks each of the varied architectural styles down into very digestible explanations. There are diagrams that illustrate the major spotting features of Victorian, Beaux, Arts, Gothic, Tudor, Italianate, and all of the other popular styles. Then to further illustrate these styles and make them more recognizable to the reader, examples of commercially available structure kits featuring that particular style are listed. I found this to be the most informative breakdown and explanation of architectural styles I've ever read. A recent drive through downtown Newton, New Jersey, had my kids in awe of their Dad's ability to point out buildings and refer to them in rather unusual and often bizarre sounding terms beyond the usual "drug store, clothing store, and pizzeria."
The architecture chapters further explore all elements of buildings such as windows, doors, foundations, roofs, types of sidings, shutters, ornamental decorations, and more. Throughout this text, as before, commercially available models are used to illustrate the text. For the scratchbuilder, this section alone is worth the asking price of the book in useful and easy to understand information.
Other chapters explore details and again, I am truly amazed at the thoroughness of the coverage. Just about every little item you could place into a scene is explored. Vehicles, signage, animals, figures, fire hydrants, fences, clothing, lawn decorations, license plates, chickens-you name it-the list is endless. Once again, as in the architecture section, available models are listed to support the text. Want to know what a typical mailbox looked like in the late 1940's? What color were they? It's here. How about painted lines and correct signage on a highway circa 1950? Yep, it's here too.
Other chapters deal with the nuts and bolts of layout planning, track laying, creating backdrops, scenery, tree making techniques, bridges, industries, and developing "specific" scenes. Again, Nehrich presents an array of thoughtful and logical approaches.
Another section is devoted to how the NEB&W evolved to become the railroad that it is today and gives the reader an open window into how a club, whose members change every four years, is able to maintain continuity, make decisions and still achieve a high level of modeling experience.
The books 450 plus pages are professionally photocopied and bound in a pale blue strap binder. The full explanation for this is offered in the introduction. This is a work in progress, similar in design and concept to his previous published Freight Car Guide. Nehrich will be revising this work periodically as new information is discovered, and an open invitation is extended to all readers to send in their own relevant information and be part of this ongoing work. As each new section is revised, you will be able to purchase and add the to the original text. The Freight Car Guide had doubled in size since its first release and those with the first printing have been able to update their copy with the new sections as they are released.
The photo reproduction, and there are many photos throughout, suffers somewhat because of photo copying. But, as this volume is professionally photocopied on the best quality copiers currently in use, the photos are more than adequate in supporting and illustrating the text. Besides, this a really a hands on book and it belongs on or right beside your layout or workbench, not elegantly displayed on a coffee table.
The combination of the intellectual approach that Nehrich applies to historical research, the ability to question accepted ideas and notions, and the willingness to make changes as new information avails itself are what makes this book special
- Don Spiro (courtesy of the author).