Flemington Cut Glass
Reference
Flemington was in need of an industry to provide jobs for locals, so in 1902 the Empire Cut Glass Company moved to Flemington. However, they only produced exclusive, high-end designs that were too costly for the general public, so six years later, two Empire employees—Alphonse Miller and Charles McMullen—established Flemington Cut Glass, which thrived as one of the country's largest glass manufacturers until going bankrupt in 2008. Above is the original structure (said to have previously been a sawmill), which became part of their main manufacturing complex, below, located directly across the street from the CNJ South Branch Station. Purchased in 2012 for $3.2 million, the complex was leveled in 2015 to make way for condos. There are no FCG buildings left standing.
The Annex, below, used to be located in a freight depot just south of the PRR Passenger Station. The building was razed in the late 1960s and is now a cluster of retail shops.
The FCG "Highway Showroom," below, was located on "Route 29/30," which is now the divided four-lane Route 31, near Church Street. This area was completely leveled in the early 1970s, and is now unrecognizable.
The Model
I plan to model a highly-compressed version of the original complex as it was in the 1980s, since the Annex and Showroom were both long gone by my modeling era. Also, in order to make room for at least a token bit of Flemington's downtown area, I moved the complex across the tracks. I plan to use Branchline Laser Art #840 Dubois Store plus #880 Creamery and #885 Caldwell Tool & Die; they may not look like the real buildings, but they have similar lines and mass.
By 5 March 2020 I had the two main buildings under way: the storefront, a.k.a. the Dubois Store, with only a few minor alterations, and the original factory, comprised of a blend of the Creamery and Caldwell Tool & Die, which was fairly heavily modified. Since I had no color reference images from the 1980s, I just chose random-ish colors: Floquil Concrete for the walls, and Reading Green for the doors, windows and trim.
