There's nothing wrong with plasticville. The coaling station and the signal bridges are in my opinion scale sized. Also some of the town buildings can be used in the background. I have 2,the police station and the fire house I am using for small warehouses and offices.
I cover the windows with a translucent plastic, add lights and repainted the exterior to my liking.
My son added lights to the signal bridge and wired them with a relay so they will change aspects based on track occupancy.