As a Philly ex-pat, I really enjoyed it, except... first, he seems to be looking east from 9th St... and there were no huge buildings between the Ben Franklin and the river, esp. when the trolleys were running. That was back when all of Center City was under the rule that all buildings must be lower than the top of Billy Penn's hat... on top of City Hall.
And the second problem... um, I gather he lives in the Philly area. He should, perhaps, go look at the actual cobblestones on 5th St, just south of Market. I don't know where he got the idea that what he did looked like cobblestones, but just *no*. Actual cobblestones all have the same dimension - they're like stone bricks. Really. And they're gray, and shiny. And, for example, if you' were driving up Baltimore Ave as the sun when setting, when there were long strips of cobblestones, shiny enough to blind you.
I have to agree. I am just outside philly, Having just finished one of the phases of work I95 bridges down there, all of those old buildings and warehouses are no more than a few stories except the old PRR cold storage building(still has the PRR cast in concrete on the top). The area around the Philadelphia cold storage (the building with the huge flag on the side) at Front st just up from the bridge is surrounded by cobble streets. and street trackage.
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
whitroth Actual cobblestones all have the same dimension - they're like stone bricks. Really.
Natural cobble size stones can be found along rocky beaches and rivers. Cobble is a size of rock between a pebble and a bolder. Some examples of rounded cobble stone streets can be found in Savannah and Nantucket. Sometimes the source of the rocks were ballast left behind by ships. However, the cut stone pavers are a lot smoother.
MidlandMike whitroth Actual cobblestones all have the same dimension - they're like stone bricks. Really. Natural cobble size stones can be found along rocky beaches and rivers. Cobble is a size of rock between a pebble and a bolder. Some examples of rounded cobble stone streets can be found in Savannah and Nantucket. Sometimes the source of the rocks were ballast left behind by ships. However, the cut stone pavers are a lot smoother.
The streets in Philly use Belgian block. I used to live there (and rode the trolleys).
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Eh, the downtown area modeled didn't bug me that much (i've done foobie locale re-arrangement on modules in the past), and the "cobble stone" did look a bit weird (I'm more used ot the rectangular block look than what seemed like badly cracked asphalt)...but...What bugged me in a rather irrational way was the image of the two 2-door yellow cabs parked outside the 'Ben Franklin Hotel'. Really? 2-door licensed cabs (as opposed to jitney or gypsy cabs) operating in a major US city in the late 1950s? I'm not buying it...but I am buying Mr Arrell got a good deal on HO 1956 Buicks, since there are 2 more right next to the offending cabs...
Grew up in NE Philly. In the 50s we could take the trolley from Willow Grove to Center City although we were more likely to ride the Reading to Reading Terminal. An evocative rendering of Philly streetcars. Well done.
Colorado RayJust my opinion, but I don't think it's appropriate to publicly criticize another model's work.
Then you're not going to like the MR forums, where even the tiniest nit always gets picked!
I do think it's fair for someone familiar with the area portrayed in a layout article to say that something in a picture of the layout looks incorrect. It's not a personal attack on the modeller.
BTW I haven't been in Philly since 1971 so I'm not a good judge of what the streets there look like, but I did think the 'cobblestones' looked odd compared to what I had seen before in other places.
Here's more fun - I'm working my way through the issue - I usually just page through, then read it - and, oy, as they say, vey: the department store is Wannamaker's?! If he's going to do the Ben Franklin hotel, he should have done Lit Bros, with its tin front (and I've seen a model for sale of that). But Wannemakers is blocks away from the Ben Franklin... and, worse, it's right across the street from Philly City Hall, and there is *no* model that resembles our rococo-baroque City Hall, with all the gargoyles, Indians, settler, and of coure, 50' of Billy Penn at the top of the tallest unreinforced stone tower in the world.
I hope you don't live in a glass house as you seem to be throwing a lot stones around.