I remember that Walthers once released a kit of the building of the offices of Kalmbach (later I think it was released as build up), was this the same as the Walthers building at Water street?
Yours sincerely
That must have been a long LONG time ago, I've been in the hobby 40 years and don't remember such a model. Walthers as you note came out with a model of their (Walthers) building on Water St. in Milwaukee many years ago. I think it originally was a Magnuson kit??
It was Magnuson Models, which released resin structure kits of "The Birthplace of Model Railroader" (the small commercial building in which Al Kalmbach originally started the magazine) and "1245 N. Water" (a model of the building that was home to Walthers during the 1950s-60s).
Nowadays you can still buy the Birthplace of MR as a resin kit from Scale Structures Ltd.: http://66.241.223.134/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SS1543&Category_Code=SS1500&Product_Count=28
Several years ago Walthers re-released the 1245 Water building as a plastic built-up, "Walthers Water Street Building": http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2814
More recently, the same structure was re-released as a plastic kit, "Argosy Booksellers": http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3466
Where the offices of Model Railroder also not located at 1245 North Water Street in Milwaukee? Before or after Walthers has housed there
Actually, in the Jan. 2019 issue of MR, Cody builds the kit, which was originally designed by Bob Lunde of Magnuson Models Inc. The kit he used is from S.S.Ltd., and it's called the "Birthplace of Model Railroader".
In the article, Cody states that the building was located at 545 S. 84th Street, in West Allis, WI.
He also states the the site today is home to a car wash. The original building being torn down years ago.
As I said, it's in the Jan. 2019 MR, pages 28 - 31.
Mike.
My You Tube
The 1245 N Water Street Buildng was an early location for Walthers, not MR. Magnuson offered it as a resin kit, then Walthers (which acquired Magnuson) offered it as a plastic kit. I remember going there when it was both Walthers and their subsidiary "Terminal Hobby Shop." The retail part was incredibly small and cramped. Back then Walthers was a full manufacturer on site.
It is now a restaurant. Walthers moved to a factory building at 4050 N 34th St in Milwaukee but I do not think they stayed there very long.
Now they are 5619 W Florist in Milwaukee, a much larger location. I remember when it was "Dinette World" (I also remember Dinettes lol).
The Model Railroader/Kalmbach location you may be thinking of was 1027 N 7th St in Milwaukee. No kit was ever offered for that building. I remember going there. It had a strong smell of printer's ink - Kalmbach did their own printing back in the 1960s.
Dave Nelson
southernpacificgs4Where the offices of Model Railroder also not located at 1245 North Water Street in Milwaukee? Before or after Walthers has housed there
No. But for a time both were located a few blocks away from each other in Downtown Milwaukee: MR/Kalmbach at 1027 N. 7th Street, Walthers at 1245 N. Water Street.
Thank you for the information