Rich Wiemann posted:
In the spirit of “The Anomaly” does anybody incorporate Plasticville buildings into their tinplate layouts. I ask since I built my tinplate layout these past few months with a Christmas theme incorporating Department 56 buildings. Now I’m thinking of the next direction. I could buy some other non-winter Department 56 buildings, and am always on the lookout for more reasonable price tinplate cottages, villas or stations to incorporate. I have these plasticville buildings sitting in storage and could run my PW items on the outer 072 loop, which would certainly make the tie in.
Thoughts??? Any PICs of your “Anomaly”
First, beautiful layout @Rich Wiemann ! Like the wreath on the loco- very nice touch!
This year I didn't change my layout around(add Santas, reign-deer, ice-skating rink, snow, Winter houses on the "mountain") to get into the season, unfortunately.
Regarding your question about plasticville- Absolutely. I have a section that's totally "non-scale" and 80% p-ville, but that's another story. For my main layout, while I've tried to "move away" from plasticville towards 1.) scale structures(mth, lionelville, woodland scenics, menards, etc...), 2.) postwar Lionel and Flyer(minicraft) and 3.)tinplate- there's still a good amount of plasticville on my layout incorporated near the aforementioned structures. But it's all a matter of perspective. Below are some pictures of my "hodgepodge" of accessories:
On the left(starting from the trailer): Hafner Glen Ellyn station, Bing station, plasticville platform, Ives water tower. On the right(starting at the police car) a prewar American Flyer station across the road from a plasticville motel, then a K-line platform, a narrow Bing platform in front of that, then my plasticville farm
Postwar Lionel platform, behind that is a modern Lionel shed, in the middle a KBN Goods Shed, plastic Lionel Tower(which I sometimes interchange with the plasticville tower), across the tracks is the farm
Opposite view of the picture from above
Very plasticville-centric here. Right next to the hotel, on the right, you see a litho'd wood roof- if you look in the first picture that's a tin "ranch" which i actually a bank that was my Grammy's. 
Here's a great example of a scene of different structures and accessories. To the left of the tubular tracks is an dictator run area while to the right is a "free zone. Behind the Plasticville roadside diner the dictator's army(Diecast Corgi 1:50 scale truck and soldiers) patrol the border area to prevent people from escaping. On the far side, there's a watchman's shanty/guard shack(prewar Bing ), a guarded, barricaded entrance to a pedestrian bridge(Marx), and a plasicville lubritorium next to the guarded bridge entrance. Finally, on the left side of the diner, a Deli supplu truck drops off food for the dinner while some suspicious, wealthy gentlemen driving Mercedes meet up to eat and talk...
Prewar consist: Ives gondola, Kraus-Fandor Box Car, Marklin Baggage car. Immediately behind that are 3 structures- Freight Station(repurposed into a troops transport station-Postwar Lionel), Rotating beacon(pw lionel), and a Harbor Junction Freight station( PW Flyer by minicraft). Please ignore the flamingo in the back ground
Some people might think it looks terrible. Sometimes, I think portions look terrible(which I quickly rectify), but I like it and Ithink I've struck a good balance on making things work such that I can run prewar, postwar or modern on my layout and any inconsistency with the scenery and my consist is minimized. I hope I answered your question, at least somewhat, and that these pictures are helpful to you as you move in that "other direction". You already have plenty of great tinplate structures that aren't winter-themed and I'm sure even a couple of your Dept. 56 winter buildings could play a multi-seasonal role. I'd say givethe plasticville a try- it can't hurt. And, like you said, keep on the look out for those bargains!
Best of luck!
Steve
