Welcome to Kalamazoo depot & business district .

North of downtown Kalamazoo (Michigan), there is an old railroad depot which was built a long time ago - in 1887. It was operated by Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR), the biggest of several railroad companies in that area. Ever since I spent some time in Kalamazoo in 1993, I have been thinking of building a scale model of this peculiar Romanesque Revival structure. Yet it has taken 30 years before I started this project.

To make it special (and sort of difficult), I chose the end of the 19th century to be portrayed. A time of handwork and horse-drawn carts. Steam engines instead of electric drives. Telegraphs, no smartphones. But railroads then provided a lot of raw materials as well as finished goods from far away. Railroads made it easy to reach new targets for many purposes. A fascinating era.

Don't hesitate to discover the Michigan Central depot (1:160) and some typical business around it. Just visit the gallery, find out about the original sites, and have a look at modeling details.

Special thanks to Kalamazoo Public Library for providing lots of pin sharp contemporary photographs coming along with really valuable information. The realistic looks of the diorama would not exist without them.