The F.D. Work Building was constructed in Telluride, Colorado, sometime between 1895 and 1903.  During it's life it not only served as a mining/hardware/lumber supply, but also as an opera house, the armory, and the Sheridan House Sampling Room.  I'm guessing the latter was a sampling room of the liquid variety, but may be wrong.  The structure does not show up in photos taken during the 1940s, so it was somewhat short lived.

The prototype structure was BIG.  The model, greatly reduced, is still very large.  The model accurately reflects the true width of the structure, but is only about 20% of it's depth.  The height of the building is also impressive.  At nearly 35-feet, it's unusually tall for a 2-story structure. 


Another very unusual feature is that the prototype was served by it's own RGS siding.  Very few non-mining, commercial structures along the RGS's right-of-way had this distinction.  The siding could hold several cars and paralleled the left side of the building.  The modeler can build the kit either with or without this feature.  If you choose not to include it, a mirror image of the right wall has been included as a substitute.  A second freight door is located on the rear of the building so it can still be a very busy business establishment.  (S-scale footprint:  10.5 x 8 inches deep with side loading dock/stairway; 9.4 x 8 inches without the side loading dock/stairway.  O-Scale footprint:  13.75 x 10.75 inches deep with side loading dock/stairway; 12.5 x 10.75-inches deep without side loading dock/stairway.  O-scale "front-only" footprint: 13.75 x 1-inch deep plus the 1.7-inch wide boardwalk. )


The roof of the model is removable, as well as the 2nd story floor and interior partition walls.   This allows for interior detailing once the model is finished, if you choose.  (The rear of the front-only model is open for full access.)


Once again we have included a thorough instruction manual.  The S-scale manual is 30-pages long and includes 29 photos;  the O-scale manual is 31-pages long and includes 34 photos.  (The manual for the front-only model is 25-pages long and contains 26 photos.)  As always, the windows and roofing (tar paper) are laser cut, peel-and-stick.  The roof over the stairway is corrugated steel (actually, aluminum for the kit).

What really makes this kit special are the decals.  A white lacquer ink is used to screen print the front lettering on high quality decal paper.  This lettering was scanned from photographs and meticulously re-drawn so it is as true to the prototype as possible.   (The original painter apparently didn't know what standard fonts were!!!)  The two full-sized kits also include two period commercial advertising signs (decals) for the sides of the building.