Structures help set the stage for a layout’s look and practicality. There are no bounds to the variety of buildings a modeler can bring to the table (or should we say benchwork). Yet there’s always that one particular building you’ll usually find on most layouts. With great insight from Model Railroader Editor Eric White, let’s take a look at five common layout structures along with suggested products to browse.
Bridges
Bridges can be used as both a scenic and practical feature on your layout. They bring out the best in a scene by crossing rivers, valleys, roadways, and tracks. They can even cover up a layout’s secrets, such as a hole in the backdrop where the main line disappears into a staging yard or different room, according to White. Of course, it’s all while keeping one’s rail network connected and operational.
How a modeler uses these structures is only half of the equation. The other half is choosing the type. There are certainly a plethora of bridge types to choose from regardless of the size needed: girder, truss, overpass, trestle and viaduct, to name a few. The material used for both scratch built and manufactured products can be made from plastic, wood, or metal.
Suggested Products:
- Atlas N scale code 80 decorated plate girder bridge
- Bachmann HO scale motorized drawbridge kit
- Grand Central Scenery O scale wood TB17 – 1 – 18″ Deck with Backheads
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale 97′ Subdivided Warren Truss Bridge – Single-Track — Kit – 13-1/2 x 3-1/4 x 5-1/2″ 34.2 x 8.2 x 13.9cm
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale Modern Concrete Highway Overpass — Kit – 12-15/16 x 4-3/4″ 32.9 x 12cm
Enginehouse
Enginehouses are places for a locomotive to call home when not on the road. In the era of steam, there were the iconic roundhouses with multiple stalls encompassing a turntable. Modern-day facilities can sometimes be no bigger than a single-track structure with no frills.
But it’s not always just about parking a locomotive for the day. Enginehouses can also set the stage for additional structures to bring more out of a scene, regardless of its intention as either a showpiece or fill-in for the layout. Facilities for fuel replenishing and backshop work add to the drama of maintenance and repair to keep the fleet running.
Suggested Products
- Atlas HO scale 3-stall roundhouse
- Bachmann HO scale 5-stall roundhouse with E-Z Track
- Monroe Models HO scale diesel enginehouse
- Pikestuff N scale small engine house
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale Modern Double-Track Engine House — Kit – 11 x 7 x 4-1/4″ 27.9 x 17.7 x 10.7cm
Mill
Switching and shipping freight normally relies on industries that transform raw materials into finished goods. White suggests several ways for mills to help perform this task on a layout: Steel mills use mined coal and iron ore to create steel, flour mills turn grain into baking and cooking products, and textile mills produce fabric. The operational usage can range from a single car to a large unit train based on the traffic value and demand to the modeler’s imagination.
Regardless of the freight being shipped across the benchwork, there are plenty of building and kit products out there. Structures for additional support to these facilities are also available to help bring the layout’s industrialization to life.
Suggested Products
- Faller HO scale Industrial Mill
- Plastruct HO scale steel mill kit
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale Paper Mill – Superior Paper — Kit – 20-3/4 x 11-3/4 x 8-3/4″ 52.7 x 29.8 x 22.2cm
- Woodland Scenics HO scale Laube’s Linen Mill
- Woodland Scenics N scale H&H Feed Mill
Residential housing
“It’s what people can relate to.” A spot-on quote by White when it comes to a house for a residential scene. Regardless of the size of a city, town or village (perhaps neither one of these reside on a layout), there’s always going to be that one building someone can call home.
Residential housing can be as simple as a single house, whether within a city or out in the country. Or it can then get as complicated as urban apartments towering at multiple stories. For those wishing to stretch the boundaries, there are much larger, exotic structures that can range from mansions to even castles.
Suggested Products
- Faller N scale two apartment buildings
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale Cape Cod House — Kit – 4-1/4 x 3-5/8 x 3″ 10.7 x 9.2 x 7.6cm
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale Executive House — Kit – 9-15/16 x 5 x 4-3/4″ 25.2 x 12.7 x 12cm
- Walthers Cornerstone N scale American Bungalow — Kit – 3-7/16 x 2 x 2″ 8.7 x 5.1 x 5.1cm
- Woodland Scenics O scale double decker trailer
Stations
Big and small, grand and simple, passenger and yes, even freight, the iconic train station is about as classic as it can get on a layout. Of course, you have a stopping point from either hotshot passenger trains or slow-and-steady branch services. For White, stations also provide an opportunity to expand scenes with freight houses, team tracks and post offices, ultimately to expand operations with additional freight service.
There are numerous available station types and sizes to fit within a layout’s taste and space. Whether it’s a small run-of-the-mill platform or a massive terminal with the look of a cathedral, products — either as-built or kits — are available in just about every scale.
Suggested Products:
- Atlas N scale station platform kit
- Bachmann HO scale suburban station
- Walthers Cornerstone HO scale Union Pacific(R)-Style Depot — Kit – 11-3/4 x 5-5/8 x 4″ 29.8 x 14.2 x 10.1cm
- Walthers Cornerstone N scale Union Station — Kit – 16 x 6 x 5-1/2″ 40 x 15 x 16.2cm
- Woodland Scenics N scale Woodland Station
