Earl Lloyd Moore (March 14, 1898 - August 12, 1979) was an American model railroader who published over a hundred pieces in various American model railroading magazines between 1955 and 1980 under the name E. L. Moore. His articles dealt primarily with scratch-building HO scale structures from low-cost, simple materials, primarily balsa wood. Moore prided himself on being able to construct complex models in little time for little money. He often noted that his projects could be built for a couple of dollars' worth of materials in a couple of weeks of evenings. Moore undertook this work while a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Moore concentrated on depicting the buildings and life of rural America in the 1890s and early 1900s - the period around his boyhood - in accordance with his personal view on the era. Moore's articles are notable both for their subject matter as well as their style. Along with the model under discussion, Moore would write the text, shoot and develop the photographs, and draft the plans. The accompanying photographs would often include one or more detailed staged scenes depicting everyday life with the building, and the text often wove in a humorous fictional story about the building and its inhabitants. He did not concentrate on modeling particular real railroads as is the norm for model railroad hobbyists, but focused on modeling buildings of both railroad and non-railroad subjects, as well as scenery.
Pre-model railroading biography
Early life Moore was born and raised on a farm in rural southern Michigan. The farm's exact location is unknown, but in Moore's biographical piece called Early Century Field day he noted it was within a 9-mile radius of Bangor, Michigan, about 2 miles from a two-room school he attended as a boy, and there was a windmill and water tank about 2 1/2 miles away where one could board a Chicago bound 'flyer' while its locomotive stopped to take on water.
His father was the school treasurer, and on the first of each month one of Moore's chores was to deliver the teacher's paycheck. Treasurers were known to handle money, and one night Moore's father was held up at gunpoint and forced to open the safe in his parents' bedroom. The robbers made their escape by breaking open a nearby railroad section house and stealing the handcar. The next day the handcar was found abandoned down the line about a dozen miles away.
Moore served in the United States Navy on the USS Georgia in 1917 and 1918 during World War I. He was an honorary chaplain of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Little is known about Moore from the time he left the Navy until he arrived in Charlotte, where he set up a photography studio specializing in baby and child portraits. The few factoids that are known about Moore's life prior to his emergence on the national scene as a model railroader include: working in a paper mill in the northeast; working as a furniture salesman; and, during the 1930s, living as a self-described vagabond.
Photography studio Moore was a photographer, and starting sometime in the late 1930s or early to mid 1940s he ran a photography studio in Charlotte that specialized in baby and child portraiture. Over the years it operated from several locations. It burned down sometime between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. Moore then retired from business and devoted himself to model railroading.
Model railroad publications Moore's model railroading activities were intertwined with his work as a freelance contributor to various US model railroading magazines. His work appeared in Model Railroader, Railroad Model Craftsman, Model Trains and Railroad Modeler. Moore's publications can be divided into three distinct periods.
Period 1: February 1955 to March 1962 The first period ran from February 1955, when his first publication appeared in Model Railroader, until March 1962, when his article on how to build an HO scale model of Disney's Grizzly Flats depot was the cover story of the final regular issue of Model Trains. During this time he established himself as an author capable of writing on a range of model railroading related construction projects that included structure building, rolling stock construction, scenery, lighting and scene staging. TitleMagazinePublication dateTrackside Photo: Elizabeth Valley RRModel RailroaderFebruary 1955Elizabeth Valley RRRailroad Model CraftsmanMarch 1955Burn those modelsRailroad Model CraftsmanMay 1955the Triple-P Division of the EVRRRailroad Model CraftsmanMay 1955Spumoni Country EstateRailroad Model CraftsmanJuly 1955with the Spumoni family in Merrie Old EnglandRailroad Model CraftsmanJanuary 1956Trackside Photo: Elizabeth Valley RRModel RailroaderApril 1957Put you figures to workModel RailroaderJuly 1957Photo in Stop, look and listen sectionModel TrainsFall 1957Photo in Stop, look and listen sectionModel TrainsDecember 1957Photo in Stop, look and listen section & cover photoModel TrainsJanuary 1959An old-time water tankModel TrainsSpring 1959The Light Fantastic - layout lighting for night and dayModel TrainsFall 1959Photo in Stop, look and listen sectionModel TrainsDecember 1959Old-Time Log BuggiesModel TrainsMarch 1960Snowplow in an EveningModel TrainsJanuary 1961Mountain Water Wheel MillModel TrainsSpring 1961Coaling Up!Model TrainsMarch 1961Slim gauge carriageRailroad Model CraftsmanSeptember 1961Open-air excursion coachModel TrainsFall 1961The little red cabooseModel TrainsDecember 1961Let's build a mountainModel TrainsJanuary 1962Central Pacific snowplowModel TrainsJanuary 1962A new look for the Old GeneralModel TrainsMarch 1962The Station at Grizzly Flats & cover photoModel TrainsMarch 1962
Period 2: June 1962 to October 1970 The second period ran from June 1962 to October 1970. This era saw Moore develop and solidify what would become his signature style: HO scale building construction projects that could be undertaken for about $2 or $3 in materials, require a couple of weeks of spare time to complete and be suitable for a wide variety of layouts all woven into a how-to article complete with scenic photos of the finished project and a humorous fictional story. This period ended with a 13-month stretch, starting in November 1970, where he had no articles published. TitleMagazinePublication Datebuild a Covered Railroad BridgeRailroad Model CraftsmanJune 1962Modeling with a burning toolModel RailroaderJuly 1962Trackside Photo: ShantyModel RailroaderJuly 1962Halliday Standard WindmillRailroad Model CraftsmanSeptember 1962Union Pacific WindmillModel RailroaderSeptember 1962Let's build a mountainModel Trains Yearbook19633 in 1 Engine HouseRailroad Model CraftsmanFebruary 1963Civic center for BoomtownModel RailroaderMarch 1963Octagonal Water Tower & cover photoRailroad Model CraftsmanAugust 1963Easy to build cottage or cabinRailroad Model CraftsmanDecember 1963Handcar and its shedModel RailroaderFebruary 1964Branch Line StationRailroad Model CraftsmanApril 1964A Shaggy Mountain MillRailroad Model CraftsmanJune 1964"Under the spreading chestnut tree"Model RailroaderJune 1964A Hot Time At The Old FirehouseRailroad Model CraftsmanNovember 1964Trackside Photo: Moonlight on Goat PassModel RailroaderDecember 1964Down by the DepotModel RailroaderDecember 1964Ye Olde Corner DrugstoreRailroad Model CraftsmanJanuary 1965Tonsorial ParlorRailroad Model CraftsmanApril 1965Small MFG. PlantRailroad Model CraftsmanJune 1965Major Hoople's Brick WarehouseRailroad Model CraftsmanSeptember 1965Yard Blacksmith ShopRailroad Model CraftsmanOctober 1965Uncle Charlie's BOOKERYRailroad Model CraftsmanDecember 1965The old red barnModel RailroaderJanuary 1966Norfolk & Southern Yard OfficeRailroad Model CraftsmanFebruary 1966Moe Lass' Old Sorghum MillRailroad Model CraftsmanApril 1966Stock Auction DayRailroad Model CraftsmanMay 1966Fertilizer PlantRailroad Model CraftsmanJuly 1966Spratt & Kean - Meat PackersRailroad Model CraftsmanAugust 1966Apple Cider MillRailroad Model CraftsmanSeptember 1966Morton's Stone Cutting PlantRailroad Model CraftsmanNovember 1966C. Reid for Feed & SeedRailroad Model CraftsmanDecember 1966Trackside Photo: Home in the WildernessModel RailroaderDecember 1966build Ma's PlaceRailroad Model CraftsmanJanuary 1967Turn backward, O TimeModel RailroaderJanuary 1967F&M Schaefer BreweryRailroad Model CraftsmanMarch 1967Brick EnginehouseModel RailroaderMarch 1967Village Grist MillRailroad Model CraftsmanApril 1967Six-Ton JimmyModel RailroaderMay 1967Cotton Waste PlantRailroad Model CraftsmanJune 1967Grusom Casket CompanyRailroad Model CraftsmanJuly 1967Junk Yard DynastyRailroad Model CraftsmanAugust 1967under the green tree - The Village Smithy StandsRailroad Model CraftsmanSeptember 1967W. E. Snatchem - UndertakerRailroad Model CraftsmanNovember 1967Ramsey Journal Bldg.Railroad Model CraftsmanDecember 1967add a Harbor to your Pike, Part 1 - Tug BoatsRailroad Model CraftsmanJanuary 1968Interchangeable fuel for tenders; coal or woodModel RailroaderJanuary 1968add a Harbor to your Pike, Part 2 - Barge, Wharf, & Sail LoftRailroad Model CraftsmanFebruary 1968Hojpoj Mfg. Co.Railroad Model CraftsmanApril 1968Victorian FirehouseRailroad Model CraftsmanJune 1968backwoods Log CabinsRailroad Model CraftsmanSeptember 1968Enskale & Hoentee - Part 1Railroad Model CraftsmanOctober 1968Crummy from HO21/2 Coal CarRailroad Model CraftsmanOctober 1968Enskale & Hoentee - Part 2Railroad Model CraftsmanNovember 1968Enskale & Hoentee - Part 3Railroad Model CraftsmanDecember 1968Molasses Mine & FactoryRailroad Model CraftsmanFebruary 1969Dinwoody's Button & Bead FactoryRailroad Model CraftsmanMarch 1969Easy Narrow Gauge CoachRailroad Model CraftsmanMarch 1969Tuscaloosa DepotModel RailroaderMarch 1969The Centennial Celebration of the Golden Spike Laying at Promontory Point, Utah, May 10, 1968Railroad Model CraftsmanMay 1969Putty Knife FactoryRailroad Model CraftsmanJune 1969A Garbage Train or ... the Mudville Flats ExtraRailroad Model CraftsmanJuly 1969Nova Scotian LighthouseRailroad Model CraftsmanOctober 1969Car Repair ShedRailroad Model CraftsmanNovember 1969Three Store Fronts and a ShopRailroad Model CraftsmanDecember 1969Chittenden County MillRailroad Model CraftsmanJanuary 1970Double-Bay Junction DepotRailroad Model CraftsmanFebruary 1970Novelty FactoryRailroad Model CraftsmanJuly 1970Wood and brick factory constructionModel RailroaderAugust 1970A Brewery in StoneRailroad Model CraftsmanOctober 1970
Period 3: December 1971 to July 1980 The third period ran from his first Railroad Modeler article in December 1971 until his death in August 1979. His last article appeared in the July 1980 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. One of his more infamous projects, The Cannonball and Safety Powder Works, which concluded by blowing up the finished model and photographing the HO scale conflagration, was published in this period and was featured in the April 1977 issue of Model Railroader. At the end of this period some of his boyhood reminisces were published in Good Old Days magazine.