Price: $169.99 (no. BR5852)
Features: Fully assembled, decorated and weathered model including interior and exterior lighting. Lighting compatible with Just Plug lighting system as well as transfer-supplied power.
In my nearly 20 years at Classic Toy Trains, I can attest that if a reader calls to talk to me about a newly arrived product, the odds are very good he or she is going to complain about it. And of those complaints, 75 percent are in the area of prototype detailing, or lettering, or color, or easy-to-break details. Often more “not what I had hoped for” rather than “It was dead on delivery.” But when someone calls to praise a new product, it really stands out. I received one such call about The Depot, the latest Built & Ready O gauge structure from Woodland Scenics.
The fellow on the other end of the wire wasn’t modeling Big Time Railroading. He had created something that fell between a short line and a branch line: late steam/ early diesel era with short trains running through a rural environment. He discussed some of the other stations he had used, but said he ended his search with The Depot. His key points were that it has a small footprint, a detailed interior, and seemed to tell a story. After seeing the structure in person, I totally agree with him.
Opening the box
Okay, you don’t need to open the box to see what is inside. As crazy as it may sound, what stood out first was the foundation of the building: It looked like green painted bricks with white accent stripes. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone go to that much effort on a part of a structure nobody really examines!
The gentle weathering of the wood platform looked clean, but not new. Lots of 1:48 scale passengers had passed through this station.
Platform detailing includes a clock just above a baggage scale (complete with suitcase), a baggage hand truck (also loaded down with three handbags and a trunk), and a dual-sided bench. Oh, you’ll find two pieces of unattended baggage, but that is okay. Traintown’s security level is green.
A neat curiosity on the deck is a shoeshine stand! I can almost hear Fred Astaire singing, “A shine on your shoes.” I wonder where I can find a 1:48 scale dancer in a tuxedo? Off hand, the only shoeshine stand I know of is in the main terminal at General Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. It is amazing how many once common details of daily life vanish before you notice they’re gone.
Also mounted on the platform is an arrival/departure board with five planned arrivals and four departures. For the most part, the names seemed pretty interchangeable (except maybe Durango) with any part of the country.
One last detail of the platform is the staircase and handrails for getting from ground (taxicab) level up to train platform level. The stairs have the same deep wood grain texture as the rest of the deck planking.
Details plus
I love the structure! The high angle of the roof suggests snow country, and the irregular pattern of the shingles suggests it is a unique creation and not the work of a one-design-fits-all blueprint book from the railroad’s civil engineering department.
The roof has ridge vents, two “metal” exhaust pipes, and two birds (probably pigeons), resting on the peak. A section of the roof overhangs the platform and has a station sign mounted upon it. Woodland Scenics cleverly designed the name to be worn off and unreadable! This is a superb idea because if you have a certain time and place in mind, you don’t want to have to explain away a station named Lionel City, Pikesville, Bedford Falls, or St. Nicholas Square Station.
The exterior of the station proper has some nifty detail points: The rear (non-train side) has a cable and telegraph office sign, a round blue Bell System (remember those guys?) sign, and another announcing it is a Railway Express Agency office as well.
Three of the walls have window sets with three windows each, and the rear side has a door to the waiting room. The side of the building nearest the rails has a door leading into the station. The station agent has a cupola for selling tickets. Just above his window you find a fixed semaphore signaling trains to stop for passengers.
Lighting is provided by LEDs and they can be powered conventionally through a transformer or your accessory wiring or by using the Just Plug lighting system also offered by Woodland Scenics.
My hat was officially blown off my head when I lifted off the roof. You have a detailed interior that even includes wood panel texture on the inside. It would have been easy to have just left it with a smooth plastic surface.
One corner has a potbelly stove with a small pile of wood. Passengers can sit on one of two benches. The ticket agent’s cubby is outstanding. While the figure is facing outside, he has a book (presumable a timetable) on the countertop. Behind him, facing the waiting room, is a counter with raised bars moving upward. There is a small slot on the countertop for the exchange of cash and tickets, and to the right is a door. All it needs is maybe a newspaper or soda machine, and you are good to travel!
Let me also salute the stylishly dressed station agent – he is wearing a white shirt, a uniform cap, and a striped tie with a neat clip.
For just a moment I wondered why there were not passenger figures on the platform. Then it dawned on me that the look of the people would reflect the era of the
railroad’s owner. For example, if you model 1990s California, men in fedoras and overcoats would be out of place. So you get universal luggage designs, but no bodies to nail down a specific era until you place your own peeps on the platform.
I now get why someone would see this station and want to call and talk about it. Clearly, someone at Woodland Scenics thought about what the inside of a small depot should look like, and then implemented it in O scale! Well executed indeed!
