How many readers purchase their layout buildings and other structures on an ongoing basis as they come across them?
Or do you wait until your layout trackwork is complete before you start obtaining your structures?
I do both. Some I buy in advance as I see them; others I build when I know the space I have. And sometimes it’s a combination of both.
i think the majority will say they buy them in advance , and hope they work out for the best [:)]
i know there’s a few people on here who have what looks like a fairly well stocked LHS in their house , waiting for the right time to start construction . (my collection isn’t that big , but i’ve only been planning a layout for a few years even though i’ve been interested in model railroading for 40+ )
part of it is you see a structure you like , and you never know if it’s going to be available when you’re ready for it .
i collect Bachmann skyscrapers. Even if I don’t get to use them, they will be worth more when I sell them.
Depends - on my new yard (Ivy Ave. Yard - St. Paul) I already had the footprint for the Walther’s N scale sand towers & sandhouse kit, so I knew how to lay-out the track to accomodate those structures (Walthers was nice enough to send me the “blueprint” PDF well before the kit was shipped - I’d pre-ordered it). I designed and scratch-built the engine house and car repair shop to match my requirements. The overhead container crane (another old Walthers kit off eBay) and the yard office (Pike Stuff) were purchased after the track work, ballast and groundwork were done.
For non-ROW structures I’ll often buy the structures as I find them and can envision a good use. As soon as I saw the big garage in Bar Mills’ “Shack Pack”, I could see it’d fit perfectly into a farmhouse scene I have (the Mail Pouch tobacco ad painted on the road-side of the garage was th clincher).
I usually build the structures first and make the trackplan conform to them.
Years ago I collected both Suydam and California kits. These were mainly the metal kits. I remember hearing rumours then that they were going out of business then. I accumulated a small collection of them thinking they would be worth more some day.
Unfortunately over the years those kits have become quite dated.
Don,
Since this is my first layout, I’ve been figuring it out as a go.
When I first started out designing my layout and track plan, I really had no idea what I was doing. However, I began to buy one kit at a time, assemble and paint it, then place it on my layout. Soon a depot sprung up over here. Then a water tower over here. After a while I found that I began to slowly figure out what exactly I wanted to accomplish on my 4 x 8 empire.
Of all the kits I’ve put together in the past 4 years, I’d have to say that only 3 have been “retired”. They either no longer fit the scheme I had or was trying to achieve, or I just didn’t have the room for them.
Tom
I tend to buy on an ongoing basis - but I have a fairly clear idea of the styleof buildings I am likely to need given my modelling vision : switching 40’ cars in an urban/warehouse/light industrial area in the American midwest with late 1950s/early 1960s diesel switchers.
So the stuff I buy is basically stuff that would fit into that time frame and environment, a mix of 3-4 story buildings for the more urban areas/up against the backdrop and 1 story low buildings for foreground stuff.
I don’t buy light towers, barns, german castles, rustic old west plank saloons, moss covered ancient stone buildings, smalltown homes or dramatic bridges. I also look at the footprint of a building before I buy it, and decide whether it would fit into my layout plan - perhaps in kitbashed form or as flats up against a wall.
Having a rough idea about timeframe and area/type of layout probably helps in selecting what to get. There is just way too many nice structures I would have loved to buy out there 
Grin,
Stein
I pick up structure kits as I find things which fit into my grand plan, either for use as designed (five-tier pagoda, industrial water tower of appropriate design) or as a starting point for a kitbash (a well-known coal mine kit which will contribute, among other things, a steam loco coaling facility of appropriate Japanese design.)
OTOH, I am already aware that well over 90% of my structures will have to be scratch built. Those won’t even be designed until the layout is ready to receive them.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I pick up things I figure I’ll need sooner or later, provided the budget permits. Typically, I build the railroad first, then modify, kitbash or scratch build whatever I need to fill the real estate not occupied by the railroad.
To me it’s more important to design a plausible and smooth running track plan than to force track to fit around structures. It’s much more fun to cut up a kit and turn it into something unique to your layout anyway…
Lee
SINCE I model a particular prototype, I now pick up appropriate things to add as they become outavailable, or on sale.
On my current layout (that fits my room) I have replaced some things that previously caught my fancy.
sjr:
Not to go too far off-topic - but you know, it’s surprising how many corner bars in older industrial areas look like Old West plank saloons with a Schlitz sign and perhaps some paint. And who knows? Maybe there was a farmhouse with a barn on that land before it was bought for industrial use, and maybe both stayed there when a clump of company rowhouses was built up around them (as is also quite common in older industrial areas).
You could probably stick some tanks by that German castle and call it a brewery without going too far off track.
But what would you do with the lighthouse ? [;)]
Grin,
Stein
I buy structures that fit the style of buildings i know I will use and then kitbash them into the layout as areas are built. I rarely build a building as it was designed. Virtually all my buildings are considered “raw material” and are chopped up and rearranged to fit the situation. It is very rare that finished building has the same footprint as the original kit.
Dave H.
Right now I just look for deals so I can pick up some experience building kits. Not so concerned with fitting my layout although I favor ones I think I could make use of on a New England themed railroad someday.
Chris
If something is available that I figure I’ll probably use, I’ll go ahead and buy it. Too many times I’ve waited to buy something until I needed it, only to find out it’s no longer made and hard (or impossible) to find. That goes for engines, cars, books and other things too of course.
I’ve had a couple of Walthers ore dock kits in the box unopened for maybe 7-8 years now; they’re out of production and sell on ebay for more than double what I paid for them. I just bought an old Walthers freight house that’s out of production, even though I won’t really need it for at least several years on the new layout.
I figure if down the road it turns out I can’t use something, I can always sell it to someone who can.
Well one thing you can safely assume – it makes no sense to delay buying a structure while you wait for the price to come down! [:D] Having said that I have held off on some purchases waiting for certain structures to go on sale on the Walthers monthly sales catalog.
While buildings tend not to be limited runs the way some locomotives have been, nonetheless some very nice Walthers structures have been retired (or been converted from kits to ready built) over the years, and some interesting structure product lines have disappeared entirely. So I follow the same rule for structures that I tend to follow for rolling stock – if I can imagine ever making use of it, I tend to buy it now rather than take my chances that it will be available when I am ready for it. Obviously the unstated additional criteria is “assuming I have the money.”
I might add that most structures I buy are for the purpose of at least some degree of kitbashing.
It may well be that at the end of the day I will end up with structure kits that I will never build. I know I have engines i will never run and kit freight cars I will never construct. This does not bother me.
Dave Nelson
95% of my structures are scratch built. I don’t think I have ever made a purchase of a structure for a future date. I once purchased a Woodlands Scenics black smiths shop to use mostly for the details. I also once purchased a small plaster dry kiln. Two years ago while getting ready for an NMRA (SER) layout house tour, I ran out of time and purchased two small structures at a train show in Chicago. Because of the era and theme that I model, I never seem to find a commercial structure that will work for me. I also find it much easier to design and build a complex structure than to figure out how to build a craftsmen kit because I can’t seem to follow the directions.
Peter Smith, Memphis