Bachmann 45979 O Scale Coaling Tower Kit

Bob...

 

Talk about everyone being asleep!......

 

My PV tower measures roughly 6" x 5.25".  The 6" dimension straddles one track, with the tower chute positioned to feed an engine on a parallel track just beyond the outer tower footing.

 

Now then, there is one more detail....the l-o-n-g stairway leading up to the tower.  This extends to a spot about an additional 3-3.25" between the tracks.  However, were this a placement problem, I would try scratchbuilding a different stairway to have a ground level landing in a more convenient spot.  Need more stairs to do this?....Plastruct makes some dandy ones that will look fine with the PV tower....or scrounge some additional PV stairs at flea markets, train shows,.....York, etc

 

BTW, it's been discussed/shown on earlier threads more than a year ago, but Mount Blue Models makes a dandy alternative 'topper' for this tower.  It's their kit #1016 on this site....

 

Mount Blue Link

 

It's worth every penny for the character it provides.  Easy to assemble and install, too.

 

You can see the stairway I'm referring to in their photos. 

 

FWIW, always.

 

Hope it helps?

 

KD

 

 

Here's what the Plasticville coal tower looks like with a little paint. You can see the ladder KD is referring to on the right. I mixed up some paint for the roof. It's silver with some black mixed in to look more like galvanized sheeting. It's actually darker than it appears in the photo - the flash brightened it up. I might get the Mount Blue top kit later on, but for now it's OK as is. Click on photo for a better view.

  

I have one of these. It is as described above. A little flat paint here and there on the horizontal bracing, ladder, etc. breaks up the color mass.

 

I ran a siding under the tower and usually have a hopper there. Engines are serviced as they pass under the chute, on the main line.

 

Nice height, good detail, brings a little activity to the railroad. I also have an MTH scale water column adjacent to the coaling tower - engines need a drink, too!

I have one, too.  It's by far the largest Plasticville structure I know of... though I must admit it requires a lot of patience to assemble if using it for temporary layouts!

Thanks guys!!!  KD, thanks for that link, they have some nice looking buildings.

 

Seems like the ladder needs a landing at the top so it can run down the side of the tower instead of jutting out.

 

So 6"x6" footprint should be small enough for my layout, think I'll place an order today!

How close to scale is this kit? Thanks.

Most PV is not to true O scale (1:48 proportions).  Rather, it's a 'tweener'....somewhere between that and S scale (1:64).   If you think about the genesis of Plasticville, when it arrived on the scene, there were two dominant players in the toy trains market....Lionel and Gilbert (American Flyer).  The 'traditional' size of Lionel is sort of goofy-O, anyway....undersize for true O scale, but running on the same track; it looked better on the sharpest curves made for those seasonal, under-the-tree layouts.  American Flyer...the 2-rail AC-powered contender...was close to S scale proportions.

 

So Plasticville was made to look good when placed on the layout for either.  Not too big, not too small.  Since EVERYTHING in the toy train hobby is a compromise, this fits into that genre, too.

 

Besides, it's readily available, it's got that magical chutzpah all its own, and it's a hoot to cobble into other variations/creations. 

 

Long live Plasticville!!!

 

...........I just wish they'd come out with something NEW!!!!....a shot-in-the-arm for an aging hobby!!!!!  I mean, comparatively speaking, how expensive could it be for Bachmann to create the dies/tooling for new Plasticville rather than a new engine/car?  They could even turn it into AN EVENT!!!  A CONTEST!!!  An ELECTION-YEAR DISTRACTION!!!!