"Old West building plans/photos" Topic

Does anyone know of source for photos or plans of old west style buildings? Am working on an ambitious old west project and am looking to build 10-12 buildings for a fictional town in New Mexico, ca. 1870-1880.

thanks in advance,

Happy gaming,

Jay Arnold

Not any immediate help, but just in case you didn't know, if a train ran through it, a model railroader has built it. I'll try poking around for something more specific.

Go to www.ghosttowns.com I just got back from New Mexico a few days ago and visited several Ghost Towns there. The aforementioned site has photos of many different buildings. For starters, try Mogollon, Chloride and Shakespeare, NM. Those towns have buildings that are very well preserved. Also, see if you can't find photos of the town of Tombstone,AZ or the web-site of Old Tucson Studios, AZ. I was at both places 2 weeks ago and the buildings look great!

Try the Library of Congress on-line photo library. I know there is a sod farm-stead plan in there, as well as numerous photos. They even let non-US citizens like yours truely look.

I'm a bit regionally challenged with architectural details, you'll have to work out which ones are relevant. I at least can tell that there were considerable differences in style & materials throughout the 'Old West', and I know there are some photos of composite adobe & 'traditional' western style buildings too.

You should also try the New Mexico State Library, which should have at least some relevant photos on-line which can help anchor your searches.

Perhaps the illustrations here will be of help (if you don't want to pay for a download)

link

For inspiration, Rock Ridge in the movie "Blazing Saddles"

The Time-Life book "The Townsmen" has some plans for building kits you could order in the good old days. Consistent floorplans, specific dimensions, and a reason why three buildings might all look identical in your town.

Excellent ... I figured the Time-Life books would be a good source for the whole project. It's all a matter of getting them form my mom's house. As for the others, I'll give them a look and let ya'll know how it's coming.

Happy gaming,

Jay Arnold

If you're looking for a set of Time-Life Old West series books you can usually get them pretty cheap ($8 or so a volume) at Half Price Books. HPB is a national chain that I think are just about everywhere these days. That's how I got mine.