# EAT AT THE DOG!



## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

EAT AT THE DOG!


I am currently working on a roadside food stand for the indoor layout. Its going to be called either the Doggie Diner, Tail of the Pup, or Hot Doggie Hot Dogs:














This started as a carved wood dog I found on Ebay, I have been looking for the right figure since I started rebuilding the layout! All I had found had been either too big, too small, too primative, or too finely detailed. I had given up and was planning to use sculptamold to make my diner, when one day on a whim I did a search, found this, checked the dimensions were about right, bid and wholla! I won, ideally it should be a tad bigger but so far I really like to compact look thats coming out of so far. Now to wait for the putty and glue to dry and then paint and signage.


This is based on not one, but 2 REAL roadside diners that once existing on the westside of LA, both were known as the Doggie Diner, both were a short drive from each other, one was more realistic but the other had its own charm.


If you saw the film The Rocketeer, you saw one of them recreated for the film:





the other which is more like my version, was smaller and graced a book on the subject:


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Cool, but I hear business is ruff. 

Later, 

K


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Too cool! That dog figure you found is perfect, with that squatty, compact body. 

I've always gotten a kick out of those kinds of structures. Someday I want to build something like that for my layout. Maybe shaped like a big lizard?


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

A really great idea, has some real potential, keep us posted 
Dennis


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Victor; 

That really looks good. Now you need an old coffee pot for a coffee pot diner for the other side of town. 

Best, 
David Meashey


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Looks great. I am fond of the oddball things one sees traveling around our contry.

Being a Long Island boy, you have inspired me to put my own project on the list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Duck

This is a famous LI landmark, not far from my vacation cottage in Eastern Long Island. Now where do I find that duck??/

Jerry


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## Ralph Berg (Jun 2, 2009)

Jerry, 
Finding the duck is easy. Any of the Sporting Goods Superstores should have a good supply of "decoys". 
Ralph


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Ray Dunakin on 06 Mar 2012 07:10 PM 
Too cool! That dog figure you found is perfect, with that squatty, compact body. 

I've always gotten a kick out of those kinds of structures. Someday I want to build something like that for my layout. Maybe shaped like a big lizard? 



Here are some ideas Ray, given your layout whatever you did would likely have to be compact like mine, didnt find any lizards but maybe you could modify something like the last pic on this page, the Toe'd Inn: Get it? "towed in" ? Perfect for a roadside eatery.

http://blog.unionmadegoods.com/of-i...crazy.html

Jerry I saw a program about roadside attractions and the Duck was the first place they started.


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## Elcamo (Dec 10, 2011)

Awesome build!


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Route 66 lives!! 


JackM


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Sorry Ray that page didnt load right, just type in "Crazy" in the search column in that link, heres another pic of the Toe'd Inn



http://gopinth.wordpress.com/2011/0...hitecture/

I think you you could model a desert Horned Toad and still calll it the Toe'd Inn or Tow'd Inn or the Horny Toad Hotel maybe?

Painting the diner right now, think I have a final name, gonna call it "The Dog House", should have it more or less finished this weekend hopefully


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## fyrekop (Sep 20, 2011)

My layout will be based on the late 1800's early 1900's in the Southwest but after seeing these, and remembering eating at them way-back-when, I may make a Route 66 section away from the semi-historical area. Thanks to all for the memories and great ideas.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Great, Victor.... Super job....


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

PBS had a special about odd roadside buildings... here is a preview trailer advertising the special. I don't know when it might be on again. 

http://video.pbs.org/video/2126972110/


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Considering where YOU are, Ray, perhaps a toad or a horned toad would be more appropriate. The second dog in the pictures was on Washington Blvd or Place, I think, between my childhood home and what we called "the dump."

Now, that place is the very toney Marina del Rey! Times change.


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Yeah, I was thinking something along the lines of a horny toad.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

A horned toad would be interesting, a horny toad just might be TMI.


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## trainman707 (Jan 3, 2008)

Super job! Perhaps you can make several and sell....I'd be in the market!


Monte


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

EAT AT THE DOG! Finished!


The Dog House is complete, it came out better than I ever hoped!






 










Painted and detailed, added an old Coney Island stand menu. I had too photo-edit out a hanging lamp out of that menu and backfill in part of the text, yicks! Today I will go to Folk Tree, a shop that specializes in Mexican arts and crafts and where I buy alot of the small detail items that populate my layouts, and pick up a hot dog and hopefully a mustard bottle. Still need to make a large roadside side for it and print out a few smaller Coke or Pepsi like signs. But the hard part is finished.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Turned out great Vic! Years ago, there was an Orange Julius in Glendale in a giant orange. I remember my folks taking me there for a drink, in the late forties just after the war. Good times then.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Really cool! A great idea and it turned out beautifully. I love the lettering--that really makes it. Well done


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice work, Victor--even though I wasn't through thinking about all the possible names. Like...umm, better not go there.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

EAT AT THE DOG!


Orders up! Who'ad da musta'd sp'ecial





Roadside sign:





Thats another building down, just 5 more to go (but they the big'uns).


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome!


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

Where did you get the menu?


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Victor;
Friends who have gone to the College of William and Mary tell me that they use DOG to refer to Duke of Gloucester (Street) in Williamsburg, VA. Perhaps you could add the Duke of Gloucester frank to your menu? (Sounds kinda classy, don't you think?)

Love your tube steak shop. What a great kitbash!

Best,
David Meashey


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks guys 

T, I found the menu trawling round Google images. I had to photoshop out a lamp where the ice creams and redraw in that part of the menu. I was luckily when I shrank the image down to print it alot of my hamfisted image editing dissappeared.


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

Victor, when I was on Long Island recently I happened to see the Big Duck, which originally sold ducks when it was new back in 1931, and is now a gift/information shop. I was reminded of your hot dog stand project.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

To whom it may concern, due to circumstances beyond my control (Vertical Scope screwing the pooch and deleting 80MB of my photo history three months ago with no resolution) This and all other threads of my 10+ years of activity on this site are now closed, if you are curious please look to my identical threads on LargeScaleCentral which in the coming months I will attempt to re-edit photos into from my personal archives once I have a new storage site up and running. It was fun while it lasted but the collective of monkeys now running this site now have soured my experience. Have a good day.


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

When I was a lad (last century), I saw one of these near my home in Palms, (a western suburb of L.A.) Maybe it was in Venice. I don't remember eating there, but I do remember driving by it with my father on the way to the dump (now Marina del Rey). Thanks for the picture.


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