Catt has brought up an interesting thought in the n-scale wish list thread. He said that he'd like to see some larger industries offered,something that could actually support rail service. I totally agree and would like to hear the rest of your thoughts on what type of industries you feel should be produced. Around here one I feel would be appropriate is a plastic mold injection plant that my wife works at. They receive plastic pellets by covered hopper.
Danimal,way back in the dark ages(at least the mid eighties) Model Railroader had an article on building such a plant. Thanks for reminding me.It was a big one. Now all I have to do is find the darn thing. (THANKS ------------------ Catt!
I've been told the Walthers Steel mill is really an N-scale model. The only way they could make it reasonable enought to sell it to the HO guys was to scale it down to 1:160. I for one do not need a steel mill, but it's a great kit for those who do! Besides Ag and Perto Chemical plants, I'm not sure what I'd need for a large industry.
Have you thought of doing a large industry as building flats?I have one on my HO layout that is almost 6 ft long,but is less than 3 1/2 inches in actual width.This includes the siding that serves it. ------------------ Catt!
Like many of you I have desired large building kits for my railroad. There were a few good factory kits available at one time but they were expensive. Lack of kits forced me into designing and making my own. It took me a while to get the courage but now I delight in it. I am fortunate to have a workshop with saws including a band saw which I find extremely useful. Materials are available in all hobby stores so a work shop isn't required. Just a cutting mat and a couple of sharp hobby knives. I can understand why kit producers stay away from large kits as the interested customers are a fairly small group and hobby stores and manufactures look at turnover and are only ready to supply popular goods. Scratch building is the way to go. Try it. You may find it fits your needs. Robin http://members.xoom.com/Matthyro/index.com [This message has been edited by Robin Matthysen (edited 13 April 2000).]
We keep seeing coal mines, tipples, hoppers and gondolas. How about a realistic power plant? (not like Walthers little bitty one) This is one of the industries that has, and continues to, keep rail traffic going, so it seems like it should be a good fit, and N scale should have the room to be convincing. This could be a great 4' or 6' module.
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Eagle2: We keep seeing coal mines, tipples, hoppers and gondolas. How about a realistic power plant? (not like Walthers little bitty one) This is one of the industries that has, and continues to, keep rail traffic going, so it seems like it should be a good fit, and N scale should have the room to be convincing. This could be a great 4' or 6' module.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I could not agree with you more. I have recently gone through the same thought process. I am debating on adding a coal mine. I know I want to run a couple of coal trains, but to where? I want to have a large plant and coal mine on the same layout......for justifiable traffic of course!! I think at this time, we are stuck with scratch builds.
I am planning on modeling a medium to large city downtown district on my layout. I want to place moderate skyscrapers and high rises in this area. I found one kit on Ebay by Walker Industries. Does anyone know if there are other kits from historic to modern skyscrapers? Thanks, P.S. there is no spell check....forgive my slaughter of the English language.
I too am modeling a city scene and there is not a lot out there. Atlas did produce three high rises in the early nineties. You can still find them online or sometimes ebay. I got one from Internettrains http://www.internettrains.com/ approx $25.00. Tomix also has a high rise that is a modular building. The main building is 9 floors high but you can add 2 floor sections from additional buildings as high as you care to go. Got mine from ebay, but you can order from at (Sportexpress@aol.com). They run about $20.00. Green Max also has some modern 5 story office buildings. ------------------ royds
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Eagle2: We keep seeing coal mines, tipples, hoppers and gondolas. How about a realistic power plant? (not like Walthers little bitty one) This is one of the industries that has, and continues to, keep rail traffic going, so it seems like it should be a good fit, and N scale should have the room to be convincing. This could be a great 4' or 6' module.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Again, I suggest using the HO model for your N power plant. ------------------ MAX-RAILROADER
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by royds: I too am modeling a city scene and there is not a lot out there. Atlas did produce three high rises in the early nineties. You can still find them online or sometimes ebay. I got one from Internettrains http://www.internettrains.com/ approx $25.00. Tomix also has a high rise that is a modular building. The main building is 9 floors high but you can add 2 floor sections from additional buildings as high as you care to go. Got mine from ebay, but you can order from at (Sportexpress@aol.com). They run about $20.00. Green Max also has some modern 5 story office buildings. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Thanks for the info! I will check them out. By the way, how does the Atlas model look? (see picture of one from Walthers, and it looked a little rough)
How do you compensate for the larger windows, doors and other details. I am new to N scale and a born again model railroader after being away from the hobby for 13 years. I am assuming that some kitbashing would be required. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maxwell Plant: Again, I suggest using the HO model for your N power plant. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can use the same windows, but the doors you could get from DPM buildings or the like. ------------------ MAX-RAILROADER
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by royds: I too am modeling a city scene and there is not a lot out there. Atlas did produce three high rises in the early nineties. You can still find them online or sometimes ebay. I got one from Internettrains http://www.internettrains.com/ approx $25.00. Tomix also has a high rise that is a modular building. The main building is 9 floors high but you can add 2 floor sections from additional buildings as high as you care to go. Got mine from ebay, but you can order from at (Sportexpress@aol.com). They run about $20.00. Green Max also has some modern 5 story office buildings. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> A few years back, there was an article in MR on buidling modern high-rise buildings out of plexi-glass. These could be any scale from N to G. I can't remember exactly which issue had it. I have not yet built any, but I plan to! ------------------ Mike Drzycimski Arlington, TX www.crosswinds.net/~mdrzycimski
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mdrzycimski: A few years back, there was an article in MR on buidling modern high-rise buildings out of plexi-glass. These could be any scale from N to G. I can't remember exactly which issue had it. I have not yet built any, but I plan to! Roughly, how is this done? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Roughly, you construct a plexi-glass box to the desired dimensions then apply horizontal strips of colored vinyl tape of desired width leaving clear spaces the size of windows. Then you apply matboard strips of appropriate color vertically to create seperation between "windows". The edges of the matboard will have to be colored to hide the raw white color. The final product is quite convincing. The article was in Model Railroader - Aug '92. ------------------ Mike Drzycimski Arlington, TX www.crosswinds.net/~mdrzycimski
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mdrzycimski: Roughly, you construct a plexi-glass box to the desired dimensions then apply horizontal strips of colored vinyl tape of desired width leaving clear spaces the size of windows. Then you apply matboard strips of appropriate color vertically to create seperation between "windows". The edges of the matboard will have to be colored to hide the raw white color. The final product is quite convincing. The article was in Model Railroader - Aug '92. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Way cool! I will certainly check it out thanks!
Years ago Plastistrut offered a great looking Oil Refinery that could be kit-bashed for just about any chemical process plant. I don't know why Walthers dropped it but then again Walthers is starting to release so many of their own structures that they have become very serious competition to other structures manufactures. Darn.
Hi, A few years back, I built an industrial area on my layout. I used (don't laugh...) Model Power "Customs" buildings as machine shops, etc. I even bought a couple of them and kit bashed them together to represent some of the old brick textile mills that are all still standing here in New England. I glued them on top of each other to make two floors, cut the sides shorter and glued them at angles, etc. Eventhough most of the mills, in the Merrimac Valley, are no longer producing cloth, they have become homes to various types of industries that still ship stuff by rail. Paper Box companies, small plastics firms, furniture manufacturers, warehouses, etc. N Scale is great! John
