Features: O scale, fully assembled plastic construction, entryway movie posters, self-adhesive lettering sheet for custom marquee titles, brilliant chase lighting, power supply included
Footprint: 13 x 7¼ inches
Illuminated sign
Adhesive lettering for your own marquee
Coming attraction posters
On/off switch and power supply jack at rear
The crowning piece of the product line was the Palace Theater, which Walthers introduced in 2003. Not only did it come fully assembled but it also had a chase lighting system that evoked memories of the movie palaces of long ago.
The first production run was popular, and soon the structure could be found on O gauge layouts around the country. Sadly, the Walthers line disappeared from the marketplace over the next few years, and the Palace Theater never returned.
However, in 2012 Atlas acquired the tooling and the remaining inventory from Walthers with plans for re-launching the buildings as the Hillside Structure Series. Appropriately, the first new run of products includes the old Palace Theater, now named the Elektra!
A new theatrical flagship
The new star of the Train Town Cinema Corp. is the Elektra Theater. This can be a one- or two-screen theater in literally any town in North America. The marquee is retro, but then for several years there were two multiplexes boasting brand-new, vintage-style lighting within a short distance of our offices. So if you model modern railroading, this structure can be realistically placed in your layout’s city.
The overhanging marquee is very nice with ample white space for your signage. The building comes with a sheet of self-adhesive lettering with a clear background to make your own movie list. This feature allows you freedom to make the Elektra a movie house, community theater, bingo hall, church, or whatever you can imagine.
I’ve never had much luck applying signage one letter at a time (it always starts out even but then begins to droop as I progress), so I think I’ll try a black-on-clear tape used by one of those personal size label makers for a professional appearance. Brother no. TZe-131 Black-On-Clear ½-inch tape is one possibility.
When the structure is powered, the “bulbs” above and below the marquee sequence in opposite directions (from right to left on the top; from left to right on the bottom). The vertical and horizontal Elektra assemblies illuminate steadily, although they sequence bright, brighter, and bright, as does the sunburst behind the name.
The “rays” from the burst illuminate from the right to the left. While the light effect is noticeable in normal household illumination, it gets stunning as the room darkens.
Other notions
The overall footprint of the building is roughly 13 inches long and 7¼ inches wide. This is 52 by 30 feet in O scale. Worth mentioning is the fact that the structure isn’t just a square box.
The center of the roof over the theater is approximately 7 inches high, but the rear of the building rises to 8 inches, as if accommodating backstage overhead rigging.. The rear also includes a loading dock for those touring companies. These appropriate theatrical touches gave me a crazy notion about placing some small spotlights from the Lemax Village Collection (nos. 64502 or 44756 available from ehobbytools.com) to create a searchlight effect for “the big premier.”
The sidewalk at the front of the theater is about 2¼ inches (9 feet in scale) wide and 7¼ inches long. It is certainly wide enough that one could pose some O scale passersby or a line of ticket buyers pretty effectively.
The rear of the structure has a loading dock with two section door (Hey, those jumbo crates of un-popped popcorn need to get into the building somehow). High aboce that are two four-pane windows.
In case you think the model looks too fresh, with some care the three red brick sides of the theater is ripe for repainting or weathering (hey, the theater owner would keep the front as pristine as possible, right?). So if you have a gritty texture to your city, this theater can still find a home!
The Hillside Structure Elektra Theater is a welcome return of a structure that may have arrived on the scene just a few years too early. It is a well-made and nicely decorated structure that looks at home with other popular preassembled buildings offered by Lionel, MTH, and Woodland Scenics. The chase lighting may also make it a standout favorite on your train town’s main drag. As operators devote more attention to the urban background of the O gauge railroads, the entertainment sector of Train Town certainly is ripe for expansion.
