Yes. It was in Kalmbach's book The Model Railroader's Guide to Intermodal Equipment & Operations (Model Railroader) by Jeff Wilson. I liked the structure a lot so I decided to build one for my intermodal yard (the yard is still under construction).
Only a handful of scratch projects in my new railimages gallery since I dumped the old pictures. Johnston High School, home of the Lumberjacks. Based on a plan in RMC. First State Bank, Johnston, TX, loosely following an MR article Farm machinery loading platform, adapted from Santa Fe System Standard Plans to fit my space. The ramp is cut off at the front layout edge before it reaches ground level!
Scratchbuilt buildings for my N scale US Navy blimp base railroad. First, a vehicle maintenance building, based on visiting ruins of real building at Hitchcock, TX. Model is one-half length of real structure. Second, a WWII emergency design water tower, built of CONCRETE to save steel for the war effort. Copied from real structure on abandoned base in Hitchcock. Third, a fuel dump: tankcar to tank, then tank to truck to fuel the blimps' engines. Naval air version of kind of facility used in private industry as a bulk oil dealer. Built partly from photos in WWII era Naval Air yearbook.
Here are Mine Here are a few of ours. All are built from scratch, mainly from junk we had laying around and a lot of scale wood. We believe in board-on-board at C & S !! Here we have "Terrapin Station" a small branchline station built mainly from an old Atlas Turn Table shed, a branchline water tower of scale wood and a drinking straw, a mainline water tower of scale wood over a nut can, card stock roof and ladder, paper funnel. Finally the roundhouse which we have been working on all year, and a scratch turntable. Enjoy!! John
I see the blimp hanger painted on the backdrop. The four concrete hanger door towers are all that remain after Hurrican Carla wrecked the place in 1961. Here is a photo of the same type hanger still existing up in Oregon.
Russell, The Davis house is an incredible job. The painting detail alone would have driven most people crazy. Great work.
Here is a couple of my scratchbuilding projects that have been done awhile, I will post the links to the pages on my web site rather than put all the pics on here. http://www.montanacentral.info/bn243859.html http://www.montanacentral.info/bn588890.html I have also built several Number 1 scale locos in brass.... But that was my job
Scratchbuilt building and cars: Here are two of each: Oil depot: Lisa's cafe: IRC 61781: IRPCo. 201: There are more, but IIRC, one can only post 4 photos at once.
Rolling Stock Well, if we are including rolling stock too... The two on the left are my son's first scratch build; a nice little flat car (not bad for a nine-year old!! The two on the right are of my latest project: a little water car to pull behind my Porter.
The original question, from a G scaler, was how many scratch their own buildings. I scratch many of my own buildings, and I ALSO scratch buildings for other people, often as a surprise gift. For a friend who railroads in G scale, I built a model of a tiny station-- based on Oil Junction, probably the smallest building to serve on a station on the Santa Fe. Original preserved at Orange Empire Railroad Museum in Perris, California. I named station "Laguna" because my friend lives on Laguna Shores Road. This is not exactly for a railroad but it is still modeling. I really surprised my cousin Rhonda when I gave her a dollhouse (1/12 actual size, 1" = 1') of her own house, one that has been in her family three generations. Some standard dollhouse door and window parts, some modified and some fixtures scratchbuilt to duplicate the original. A slightly different modeling experience for an N scaler, yes?
Here are some small N scale houses I scratch built, based on an MR article titled "Frame houses for your town". Sorry I can't get the camera any further away to focus on them. The green / gray one is also scratch built from wood and plastic. The porch on the front of the white farmhouse was also built from wood and plastic.
I built this one from wood to fit a particular spot. It has a complete interior but I can't photograph it with my equipment. The track side is full of loading doors -
This N scale freight house is the first building I ever scratch built. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, I remember finding the small strip wood in 1977 while on vacation in Durango CO.
I've posted these before, but my brother built this N scale barn for me, board by board. The prototype stood along I-69 in Indiana but has long since collapsed. I still haven't permanently attached it to the layout. This close-up shows the nail holes he made in the siding. The doors have paper hinges. Part of the building was left exposed so that the interior can be appreciated.
This one has been posted before too. This N scale Mobil gas station is about 1 x 2 inches overall, but it took me over a year to plan and build it. It is based on a photograph I found in a book, but I had to shrink it down even more to fit the space available and still allow room for cars to re-fill. The original plastic floor warped so I got the idea to use brass sheet instead. I simply beveled the edge for the service bays to make it appear thinner. The office has a scratch built counter, folded up from clear styrene. The oil cans are made from stretched plastic sprue, with individually applied decals. The shelving at the back is a resin casting. A mechanic uses a cutting torch to remove the exhaust system from a 1940 Ford. The oxy-acetylene hoses are the wires that feed the flickering bulb.