Here is another vintage painted sign for my model railroad, this time for a winery. It’s a paper decal that I sanded so that it was thin enough to show the brick texture. I made the sign using DALL-E. Artificial intelligence doesn’t win any spelling bees (it originally said ITTALIAN SWISS CONONY), so I had to use Photoshop to fix the spelling.

I asked DALL-E to create the sign as an old and weather beaten ghost sign. To enhance the aging effect, I sanded the back of the sign to make it thinner so the brick texture could show through. I wanted the sign to be very visible, so I placed it where it’s easy to see from track side.

I chose Italian Swiss Colony because my railroad is patterned after the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, which served many vineyards in the Russian River valley, including the real Italian Swiss Colony. It felt like a natural choice. Plus, I have a tank car with that name, so it was a nice match. I wasn’t able to find any photos of actual signage, but that didn’t matter. My railroad is a slightly exaggerated version of the real thing anyway.

The real Italian Swiss Colony winery, founded in the 1880s in Asti California, was once so successful that by the 1950s it was reportedly the largest wine producer in the U.S. In the 1950s and 60s, the winery in Asti became one of Sonoma County’s biggest tourist attractions, drawing nearly 300,000 visitors a year. Guests strolled through formal gardens, admired Roman-style statues, and toured the Italianate villa.