Fire Call Boxes
Lets build a simple detail that will look great on your street corner for any era that you might model.
History
Fire call boxes were originally manufactured in Newton, Massachusetts by the Gamewell Company in 1880′s. Originally the boxes had a simple lever that would be pulled in case of an emergency. A signal would be directly telegraphed to the fire station. Each boxes signal was unique so as to pinpoint what box to respond to. As call box systems grew, the signal would be sent to a central office and then forwarded to the nearest fire station.
In some cities police call boxes were also installed primarily for police use only. Some were made for public use and had a rotary dial that had different crimes that could be reported. Police boxes were often combined with fire call boxes. early examples were a two faced box, one side for fire, the other for police. In later models installed in New York City during the 1960′s, the box had a simple button for either service needed. Another common call box was for use by taxi drivers to contact dispatch if needed. These and items such as newsstands, benches and shoe shine stands are commonly referred to as “Street Furniture”.
Fire/Police Box in San Francisco
Modeling
Literally no matter what era you model, a fire call box will fit right in. Many of the original “lever” style call boxes survive today and are still in use as well. New York City has about 4,400 alone and over 6,000 of the newer push button boxes. Most major cities still have them in use as well.
Some of the common styles used were primarily a box on top of a pedestal, many times a very ornate. Others were just the box strapped to a lamp post or a telephone pole. Typically the fire boxes were painted red and the police boxes were blue to help them standout on the sidewalks.
To build your own in N scale all you really need is a few simple sizes of strip styrene. For the pedestal I used a 1/4″ piece of .060″ square styrene, then added a .020″ thick base and cap to it. For the actual box I took a .060x.080″ piece of strip styrene and cut it to about 1/8″ long. Then with an X-acto knife I bevelled the top two corners at 45° to form a point. Next I took a small strip of .010x.080″ strip, I cut it to about an 1/8″ long and bent it in half and glued it to the top. Last I took a piece of .010x.060″ styrene and added it for the door.
To paint it I used a simple red paint, I gave it a good coat and let it dry well. Next I added a liberal coat of alcohol/india ink. After that dried I added some very subtle highlights by dry brushing on some flat white paint.
This is a very simple build and I would recommend adding these to the street corners of your city or town. Whether you model modern, turn of the century or transition, they will add just a little bit more realism.
Reference
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