3.21 Laura's Laundromat/Tannahill Antiques
This pair of businesses reside in Branchline Laser Arts #840 Dubois Store, which I was going to use as Flemington Cut Glass on the Black River & Western. I've bashed it to make it shallower to fit between the street and the B&M mainline by removing the portions shaded red, below.
Work got under way on 4 August 2020. The first task was cutting and pasting the exterior walls to compress the building (below). I also made a new base to replace the terribly warped kit parts.
I then fabricated a lighting unit for the shops (above) which was installed in the ceiling (below).
Originally the store on the left was going to be a florist, which would have had a colorful, interesting interior. However, a laundromat offered an animation opportunity I've thought about for years; the laundromat also got a neon open sign. The other shop—still an antique store—got an unusual animated effect: a flip-over open sign.
After I finished packing the interior with motors and mechanisms on 20 September 2020 (above), I finished the roof in such a way as to make it removable (below) to provide access to the tech.
The building exterior was brush-painted Refer White, and the windows and doors were hit with Reading Green, glazed and installed (below).
All that remained at that point was to finish the shops' interior detailing.
Reference Image: Laura's Laundromat
Laundromats have not changed much in the last 50-60 years.
Reference Image: Tannahill Antiques
Oddly I couldn't find any period images of antique shop interiors, but this exterior shot offers a glimpse of what might be going on inside...
Named For...
Laura is a close friend and former business associate. There's no connection between her and a laundromat other than the alliteration of the name. Ordinarily I'm not much for alliterations, as they tend to be too cute, but this one seemed to work.
Tannahill is my ex; it took a while for us to learn that we made much better friends than spouses, but neither of us have any regrets, and we remain very close. It's appropriate for her to have an antique store because she loves old things.