Ebenezer Grill

One of the local hangouts -- that The Wife and I like to visit -- is a hot dog restaurant called Ebenezer Grill, or Loyd's (for the owner).  The left, front corner of Blacktop Crossing seemed to be a perfect place for a gathering spot of some sort, so Loyd's was a natural.  The construction is a representation, not an exact reproduction.  However, since Loyd uses a trailer in the rear for storage, I began by constructing Clever Bros cardstock model of a construction trailer.  I was doing this while visiting in-laws for Thanksgiving, and I didn't get any construction photos.  But here is the actual trailer -- it's a house trailer, not a construction trailer; remember, the goal was a representation. . . .

I also started the main part of the restaurant around the same time period.  However. I found no model that resembled Loyd's close enough so I designed my own structure.  I used an Autocad program called Inventor to draw out the restaurant from rough dimensions I obtained from pictures and from pacing off the actual building.  The scaled drawing printed out to the converted dimensions, so I cut the "parts" from the printout for patterns.

The restaurant is basically red clapboard siding with yellow trim.  Clever Bros has a weathered red clapboard that looked good, and I used scale 1X4" and 1X6" "lumber" that I found at H&R Trains in Tampa during Thanksgiving visits!

I'm not even sure that Ebenezer Grill existed in the 1950's, but it looks like a fit for that era.  Today, you can find everything from a Rolls Royce and a red Jaguar convertible to a city pick-up and an old Ford in the parking lot.  The vehicles in this photo, then, might be appropriate:

The windows and doors are also "store bought" and have "glazing".  Although I've included Venetian blinds on the windows and doors, there are a couple of openings where a light might shine through.  Maybe I'll get industrious and rig up a couple of LED's inside.

Update, January 15, 2015:  Heather said the front door was green and The Wife said I was missing the flag:

Here is a better view of Loyd's:

I guess I need to add a flagpole and, obviously, a bit more scenicking is required, but maybe I can get a grandkid to help me over Christmas Holidays!

I'm not bragging about my cardstock skills, but I like the versatility provided -- from a freebie "kit" to self-designed building from purchased cardstock textures and other material.  Work I've seen by others with cardstock keeps me striving to improve!  How ANYone does this in N scale is a mystery to me.