Making a high street

[nhdesigns]

So after a year out of action, I have finally got my layout back up and running. So far I have a corner scene consisting of two terraced houses and the backs of them and a long space to fill again. I am going to be rebuilding a top level street with a number of shops and other buildings as I had done previously, but will be using MDF for the top/road instead of hardboard like I had done previously. I only have some issue with buildings. I intend to have them low relief again but don't know whether or not to go down the same route as before and use commercial available buildings and kits from scalescenes, Hornby and Bachmann scenecraft. I am wondering if having some low relief buildings and a larger low relief structure, like a shopping center would work. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Mike Storey]

So after a year out of action, I have finally got my layout back up and running. So far I have a corner scene consisting of two terraced houses and the backs of them and a long space to fill again. I am going to be rebuilding a top level street with a number of shops and other buildings as I had done previously, but will be using MDF for the top/road instead of hardboard like I had done previously. I only have some issue with buildings. I intend to have them low relief again but don't know whether or not to go down the same route as before and use commercial available buildings and kits from scalescenes, Hornby and Bachmann scenecraft. I am wondering if having some low relief buildings and a larger low relief structure, like a shopping center would work. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

I guess it would help us to know what period you are modelling, what scale, and roughly what size of town is being represented?

[nhdesigns]

I guess it would help us to know what period you are modelling, what scale, and roughly what size of town is being represented?

Well I'm mostly modelling the 1980s through to the present day. The width is around 1 - 2ft by 6ft in length

[Mike Storey]

OK, that may limit your options a bit, as high streets have changed an awful lot in that time. A fairly generic, white concrete, small shopping centre entrance with perhaps a Boots to one side and maybe the entrance to a small multi-storey car park on the other? Newbryford is a thread on here you may find useful - he did much the same on the layout of the same name?

 

Construction in display card and plastruct, or similar, should not be too difficult for that. Otherwise, how about the Scalescenes (and a few other sites) parts and walling prints for scratchbuilders?

[nhdesigns]

I might look into that. I have seen the work on Newbryford and was very impressed with how it looked. That is something I might look into as I have done it before. Though I did this when I was still a novice and the whole thing looked more like a cereal box with windows! But I got the high street kit from scalescenes that I can kitbash along with the new CLASP modular buildings that I might turn into a series of shops with offices on top. One I have in mind is perhaps a small supermarket like Netto or Quicksave or the like for it would blend in with the urban housing I have on the corner of my layout.

 

The corner is still in place but the main street itself got damaged badly during a move around and was dismantled. Hence the reason why I'm looking for something more unique and not like a set of ready made buildings and kits glued onto wood.

[steam-driven boy]

Hi,

Some nice Kingsway Models modern stuff if you've not seen them, might be adaptable?

http://www.kingswaymodels.com/page32.htm

Depending on developers, the newer commercial units could be stripped in below much earlier upper facades.

 

Regards, Gerry.

[Norm81]

WH Smith have been around a long time, Beatties for a model shop, John Menzies (geographical area dependent). Tesco, Presto for supermarkets. BHS, C&A in larger towns. Local family owned butchers, greengrocers (there was a chain but I can't remember the name). Most banks have been around a long time too.

 

You can sometimes find pictures of a high street in the area you're modelling on flickr, if you do the advanced search and restrict the dates of the results too.

[Siberian Snooper]

Google street view will give you most present day shopping streets, if they haven't been pedestrianised.

[Mike Storey]

WH Smith have been around a long time, Beatties for a model shop, John Menzies (geographical area dependent). Tesco, Presto for supermarkets. BHS, C&A in larger towns. Local family owned butchers, greengrocers (there was a chain but I can't remember the name). Most banks have been around a long time too.

 

You can sometimes find pictures of a high street in the area you're modelling on flickr, if you do the advanced search and restrict the dates of the results too.

 

But there's the problem - the OP says he is portraying a period from the 80's to the current day. Beatties, BHS and C&A will not suit half that period at least. I was going to suggest Woolworth, but that too has long demised. Tricky.

[nhdesigns]

But there's the problem - the OP says he is portraying a period from the 80's to the current day. Beatties, BHS and C&A will not suit half that period at least. I was going to suggest Woolworth, but that too has long demised. Tricky.

I do agree with that. The only possible thing I can do is to perhaps make the signage removable and interchangable as time permits. So in a way I would go from running 1980s stock with shops like C&A and woolworths and then swap the signs around when running more modern era stock, e.g. poundland and the like.

[NIK]

Hi,

 

If the high street is immediately behind some railway tracks then it may not be next to and parallel to the railway but pointing away from it. Most high streets have shops either side.

 

If the town you are portraying has a lot of independent retailers in a town with a conservative with a small c attitude to rebuilding and nationwide chains then it might be possible to do a stretch of shops. Horley in Surrey according to the photos on the internet still has a lot of independent shops with various architectural styles although some have had the top stories rebuilt  or refaced to make more modern looking flats. There are some nationwide companies from the 1980's still on some older style high streets  - Corals I think and Lloyds bank. Maybe bung in a town pub (free house), local launderette, indy department store (Horley still has one), model shop, greengrocers, hairdressers, opticians, knitting supplies, funeral directors, old established charity shops, second hand shops, car parts, local estate agents, local café,  specialist record shop, newsagent, solicitors, library, police station, local council offices, car repair garage (cars behind premises with entrance through front of building), shop that nobody seems to go in - not sure what they specialise in, shop being refurbished, shops to let, antiques shop, interior lighting shop, carpet/curtain/fabric shop.

 

Here's a photo from a previous club layout I worked on: SE28:

I build the three shops mid right based on independent shops on the main street in Horley. Making the roofs for the attic rooms was difficult but that and the bow fronted second floor windows was worth it. If I'd been doing 1980's to the present day I will have left out the supporting struts to represent an end of the terrace which may have been bombed out during the war.

 

Of course if its a new town its very difficult plus the station may be surrounded by station car parking.

 

 

Regards

 

Nick

Edited December 11, 2018 by NIK

[Norm81]

But there's the problem - the OP says he is portraying a period from the 80's to the current day. Beatties, BHS and C&A will not suit half that period at least. I was going to suggest Woolworth, but that too has long demised. Tricky.

I don't think it's possible in that case, as even long standing stores have changed signage and branding over the years.

[LBRJ]

One slight problem is that the High Street, by definition, tend to be in the centre of a town while the railway is further out (often built at the then edge of town)

[HillsideDepot]

The rear access to various shops, by a combination of narrow alleys, back lanes, archways and so on could be a great thing to model. Not as impressive as the shop fronts, but plenty of detailing. Shop names would be less obvious, and signage could easily display the previous logo, or even the one before that, if anything is displayed. I remember when I had a Saturday job at Boots the back entrance had an old fashioned sign, although probably more to the sign-writers whim than any corporate design. There was room for the lorry to get the the loading bay, but only just, with a triangular scrap of land alongside for the manager's car and just one other.

 

I'm probably in a minority here, but I'd find the backs much more fun to model that the fronts!    

[nhdesigns]

Hi,

 

If the high street is immediately behind some railway tracks then it may not be next to and parallel to the railway but pointing away from it. Most high streets have shops either side.

 

If the town you are portraying has a lot of independent retailers in a town with a conservative with a small c attitude to rebuilding and nationwide chains then it might be possible to do a stretch of shops. Horley in Surrey according to the photos on the internet still has a lot of independent shops with various architectural styles although some have had the top stories rebuilt  or refaced to make more modern looking flats. There are some nationwide companies from the 1980's still on some older style high streets  - Corals I think and Lloyds bank. Maybe bung in a town pub (free house), local launderette, indy department store (Horley still has one), model shop, greengrocers, hairdressers, opticians, knitting supplies, funeral directors, old established charity shops, second hand shops, car parts, local estate agents, local café,  specialist record shop, newsagent, solicitors, library, police station, local council offices, car repair garage (cars behind premises with entrance through front of building), shop that nobody seems to go in - not sure what they specialise in, shop being refurbished, shops to let, antiques shop, interior lighting shop, carpet/curtain/fabric shop.

 

Here's a photo from a previous club layout I worked on: SE28:

SE28 STATION AND SHOPS A 1.jpg

I build the three shops mid right based on independent shops on the main street in Horley. Making the roofs for the attic rooms was difficult but that and the bow fronted second floor windows was worth it. If I'd been doing 1980's to the present day I will have left out the supporting struts to represent an end of the terrace which may have been bombed out during the war.

 

Of course if its a new town its very difficult plus the station may be surrounded by station car parking.

 

 

Regards

 

Nick

 

Well fortunately I'm not modelling anywhere in particular and am using modellers license in a way for a fictional layout based loosely in the west midlands. It mostly consists of two tracks splitting into four that have slower speeds because of the proximity to a nearby mainline station. I think I've seen shops and houses close to railway lines before, but couldn't quite remember when and where.

[NIK]

Hi,

 

There are towns/villages where due to various circumstances there are rows of shops in the high street where each shop is small enough that nationwide shops that have been and gone were located elsewhere.

 

If you want to make an entire high street that covers the 1980's to the present day that may be a challenge - antiquey towns and villages might be a possibility.

 

When we built SE28 a 1960's Woolworths building was included - we didn't know Woolworths would later fold like an MFI bookcase.

 

But we did have a Northern Line tube station based on Morden next to it which I think still exists but that is a bit of a special case.

 

 

Regards

 

Nick

[katwigan]

I agree with HD on the interesting variety of the rear views of commercial premises, no matter what the era.

I have been fortunate enough to find some decent photos of these shown below from back in the 30's and 40's, many of them are still in existence, some the same , some updated.

 

As can be seen there is a lot of work in progress but it is slowly coming together

 

 

 

 

However, as always, Rule 1 applies !

 

Cheers 

Kevan

 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

Have a look around Smethwick Tollhouse Way on street view, you have the railway running parallel to it and a parade of shops on the West side.

[Mike Storey]

The rear access to various shops, by a combination of narrow alleys, back lanes, archways and so on could be a great thing to model. Not as impressive as the shop fronts, but plenty of detailing. Shop names would be less obvious, and signage could easily display the previous logo, or even the one before that, if anything is displayed. I remember when I had a Saturday job at Boots the back entrance had an old fashioned sign, although probably more to the sign-writers whim than any corporate design. There was room for the lorry to get the the loading bay, but only just, with a triangular scrap of land alongside for the manager's car and just one other.

 

I'm probably in a minority here, but I'd find the backs much more fun to model that the fronts!    

 

I like that idea a lot. In my teens, I worked as a greengrocer's lad in one of a row of shops next to Totteridge tube station, in North London. There was a newsagents, butchers, small restaurant/cafe, hairdressers, hardware and a few others I can't remember. I spent a lot of my time in the back yards, sorting and storing fruit and veg, washing spuds and oranges, etc etc and forever sweeping up there and next door in the butcher's yard, which was used a burning and spillover yard. A lot of sawdust was involved, to keep the dust down and soak up water. The entire back row, with a pot-holed service lane, was a world that the customers never saw (thank goodness....). It was like a shanty town. The last time I had a poke round, for nostalgia's sake, about three years ago, the scene was much the same, although many of the shops had changed obviously. That sort of scene would make a terrific and unusual model.

[vulcanbomber]

I scratch built this to go at back of my station

 

 

I have detailed the build on "Barkham Green"

[Mike Storey]

I scratch built this to go at back of my station

 

St.Shops 60.jpg

 

I have detailed the build on "Barkham Green"

 

Remarkable - that looks so similar to a row of independent shops that still exists in Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Margate, including the furniture store on the corner (although not a furniture store as such, but a TV rentals etc, and not Sid, but another similarly nostalgic name). Most excellent modelling! Thanks for sharing.

 

This may provide further inspiration. It cannot have changed much from the 1980's!!

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.3874737,1.3988113,3a,75y,202.96h,89.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssg8TmbK_Sy5R-BZnwtSGEQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[vulcanbomber]

The whole thing is not based on any, but is rather a mishmash of bits and uses pictures I found on the web, from various places

[jmh67]

There were a few stations called "So-and-so High Street". Uxbridge comes to mind, although that's in the London area, and the High Street station has long gone. Watford High Street is still a busy place. Then there was Rickmansworth Church Street which is long gone, too. Not on High Street, of course, but on a major street anyway. What they have in common is this: they are or were located at an outer end of the major street they are or were named after, at the edge of the town centre. That seems to be a place where smallish, independent, family-run businesses may conceivably have kept their place, while the more expensive plots further down the road towards the centre have been snapped up by the big chains. Such smaller shops may keep their signage almost unchanged over many years, and most of the change observed over time would probably down to the road vehicles. You may want to have a few car and lorry models matching the eras of the rail vehicles.

[doilum]

There were a few stations called "So-and-so High Street". Uxbridge comes to mind, although that's in the London area, and the High Street station has long gone. Watford High Street is still a busy place. Then there was Rickmansworth Church Street which is long gone, too. Not on High Street, of course, but on a major street anyway. What they have in common is this: they are or were located at an outer end of the major street they are or were named after, at the edge of the town centre. That seems to be a place where smallish, independent, family-run businesses may conceivably have kept their place, while the more expensive plots further down the road towards the centre have been snapped up by the big chains. Such smaller shops may keep their signage almost unchanged over many years, and most of the change observed over time would probably down to the road vehicles. You may want to have a few car and lorry models matching the eras of the rail vehicles.

This would be the place to find a hhairdresser, pet food supplies or newsagent. A model shop or bicycle specialist. In fact any specialist outlet that needed an accessible location without high street costs.

Pre supermarkets you might find butcher, baker and grocer or even a ladies and children clothes shop. These supplied the daily needs of the local population without having to travel into town.

[ianmacc]

Spar and coop (the blue and white one)!logos are almost unchanged since the 1980s so that covers off two. I have both on mine.

 

Independents also make sense. Even ‘central’ stations were almost never truly central. Think Piccadilly and Victoria in Manchester for example. And definitely all the ‘centrals’ on the GCR!!

 

Another thread could be for high streets that set an era perfectly.

Edited December 22, 2018 by ianmacc