Photos by Michael Raynor
Once I finished building my Grand Central Station from two MTH bank structures (see the May 2006 issue of CLASSIC TOY TRAINS), I kept thinking about those great-looking leftover wall sections. After pondering the parts, I decided to shape the three unused bank walls, plus the roof section, to form a two-engine, three-sided firehouse.
The rear wall of the bank became the front of the firehouse, with a pair of 2½-inch-wide by 2 7/8-inch-high truck-bay doors that I cut out along a mortar line and trimmed at the top using Plastruct brand angle iron strips. I also moved the pedestrian door to the center of the section and braced it from the inside with scrap plastic pieces.
The right wall (blank) of the bank was still attached to what is now the front of the firehouse, so I did not need to add a new left-side wall. Here again, depending on how you orient the firehouse on your layout, you may not need to complete any more than two sides of the structure. I chose to finish all four sides, so I used the rear wall of the second bank to form part of the new right wall on the firehouse. It’s not quite as long as the side wall from the bank, so I had to fabricate the remaining 3 3/8-inch length using cardstock, along with leftover windows and a door. You can also use foam-core board or other similar materials to build the side and rear walls of the firehouse. After spraying all the walls with Testor’s Desert Sand paint, the additional section blends nicely with the manufactured parts.
To fit the roof in reverse orientation (front is now back) on the firehouse, I used a razor saw to trim away a portion of the lip extending from the inside of the roof. After testing the fit, I masked off the edges of the roof before painting it flat black. If you chose to use the bank base for your firehouse, you’ll need to make similar modifications. I completed the structure by adding two Plasticville lights on the front wall and an HO scale water tower on the roof. The U.S. flag comes from a Department 56 set, the fire department emblem is a tie tack with the post removed, and the “God Bless America” sign is a magnet glued to the building. I used my computer to print the station sign on an adhesive label that I mounted on a strip of cardboard. Lastly, the two fire trucks are Corgi vehicles.
