In looking through the Walthers catalog, I’ve been struck by the paucity of kits for American train stations, particularly ones on a large scale. Faller, Kibri and Vollmer offer a couple dozen kits for European train stations of large size (36" or more in HO). But if you are trying to model the US, the only large kits out there are Walthers’ Union Station and City Station and CMR’s station. Are there any kits I’m missing? Which of the Faller/Kibri/Vollmer kits would look ok for North America? My layout needs at least 4 city stations and I’d like a couple more options to choose from. Any thoughts? Thanks.
I’m working on my third subway station, which uses the Life-Like R-17 cars from New York’s subway system. I started back in MR after taking 40 years off only a year-and-a-half ago, but I’ve since learned not to fear scratchbuilding. Nobody but you can know the space you will need for your station, so dive in.
A lot of different buildings could be stations. They don’t have to say “station” on the box. If you put a generic building next to the tracks and add some platforms, you’ve got a unique model of a station which just fits your layout.
It’s pretty easy to modify the European stations: most of the job is just taking off the extra gingerbread trim and possibly replacing or modifying the windows for a more American-style window.
Of the Faller kits, the “Bonn” and “Mittelstadt” stations would be good for an eastern US style passenger depot. The Heljan “Modern Passenger Station” would work if the windows were changed (European windows tend to have that three-paned glass, while American windows are typically split in two or four equally-sized panes.) The Heljan large passenger station would be good for a Southwestern station, especially if the roof is tile. The “Freight & Passenger Station” would be good for a medium-sized city or suburban station of US prototype.
Is your layout really going to model passenger depots in four large cities? Sounds impressive!
Here’s a hint, Laserkits and other similar folks make kits for a lot of specific railroads and stations, such as the one I got for Great Northern. Check them out, eh? jc5729
I second the motion on scratch building. I model the in the transition era and there are very few station or signal tower models available. I have purchased kits for the ,CT station and the Old Saybrook, CT signal tower as well as full scale color prints for the New Haven Union Station, but that’s about it. Using the Library of Congress archive I was able to locate many photos of the Old Saybrook station as it was. A pizza restaurant has been added to it in recent years. My process is to make enlargements of each facade and use extrapolation to determine dimensions. Using cross checking you can come pretty close. I start with something I know (or can estimate) such as the width of clapboard siding exposed to the weather. Guess at four inches. Then using a divider mark off against other building features. Window widths, door heights, etc. all make good cross references. If that doesn’t work start with another dimension, one half inch more or less, until everything makes sense. It’s like doing a cross word puzzle with dimensions instead of words. Now you are ready to make your working drawings. I use a CAD program which makes it easy to print out the drawing in the exact scale I am working in (HO in my case) and transpose them to the model materials I am using. In this case that is Evergreen Scale models Styrene sheeting (clapboard siding) and various trim strips in HO scale sizes. In this case I have a problem with the ornate window and door frames, so I will be making a master and then resin casting them in RTV molds. I have printed out my first version and built a paper mockup to check the fit of all parts. It is a very compicated building to say the least so there will be quite a few revisions made to the drawing. Scratch building is easy, if you do the research. Even if you aren’t fussy about the pr