Helmuth's Model Train House

This was the home of Helmuth Hans P. Helmuth was born in 1923. He married and had two children, Michael and Ingrid. Helmuth worked in metals and alloys, and I believe he owned his own business.

There is no information available on the mother, I know that she passed away in 2017.

The parents separated sometime around 1973. A handwritten note from the son, dated 1973, indicated that he had moved away and was living with his mother. Helmuth remarried a woman named Edwina. Based on the 35 mm slides, I believe Edwina is the woman of colour in the photos.

The son, Michael, attended Bible College in the early 1980s and was married in 1984. As for his sister, Ingrid, there is no information to be found, and she’s not listed as a friend on her brother’s social media page.

Helmuth passed away in 1980 at the age of 57. This explained why I encountered such great difficulty trying to find information about him on the internet.

The house was built in 1956, and ownership was transferred to Helmuth in 1979 for $1. This is likely an indicator of a transfer within the family. Some of the photos showing the house are dated pre-1979. Helmuth passed away in 1980, but it’s likely the family had already been living in the home for some time.

The house was eventually connected to the garage.

Considering this house has likely not been lived in since 1980, it’s impressive to see clothes and jackets hanging in the closet and the kitchen cupboards filled with items. This is far from a time capsule house, but you can certainly envision the memories of an earlier era in this house.

I found several boxes of 35mm slides (thanks to Bourne2Explore) and scanned them in. Note that the orientation of the photos may be backwards and that the dates provided are from when the slides were developed, not necessarily when the photos were taken. Viewing these images, several thoughts came to mind: that many of the people in these images are likely dead now, and that Helmuth was probably a decent man who loved his family. The slides carried the same musty smell as the house did.

In the basement, you’ll find the model train set for which the house is named. You can see some of the model trains in the slide photos. Today, the track is dismantled, oxidised, and dirty. There’s a tiki bar with a few stubby beer bottles and an assortment of beer bottle labels on the wall. Note that there’s mould in the basement.

There are two sets of stairs leading to the main floor, both of which will take you to different parts of the house. The living room has a large (and heavy) floor-model television. It’s difficult to see the rooms because all of the windows have been boarded up.

I’m fascinated by the 1960s and 1970s, as this was a time without social media. People filled the streets, restaurants, and bars. There were no selfies or social media pages to fill with photos of one’s social life. The memories are contained on film, which lie in closets, not on YouTube. You and I are likely the only people to have seen these slide photos in the last four decades.

I’m not going to contact the son because I feel that the house being left abandoned is a testament to the children not wanting a relationship with the memories from this timeframe.

As for who Michael and Ingrid’s mother was, and what happened to Ingrid, those details remain unanswered. As for the house, forty years later it’s been rummaged through by passers by, mold and water damage have damaged the rooms, but the home retains some untouched areas.

Research: TWP