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It can be a kit or ready made, or scratch built. What is the one you are most proud of? This is mine. The drug store. night drug store [wet0It's an old Berkshire Valley kit with full detail inside. Not made anymore but would wish the new company would release it again. Click to enlarge. Don

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This is a really hard question. I've customized a number of off the shelf buildings to varying degrees to represent things close to me - my layout has become in a sense, a reminder of the many people and places that have shaped my life. This building encompasses a bunch of those, and so it probably is my favorite. I realize its a Woodland Scenics stock building and all I did was change some signs and add some paint, but this one means a lot. You don't get the building without the stories though: 

I'm very proudly from Canton, Ohio. Haven't live there since I was 18 years old, and I'm 38 now. But it will forever be *Home*. The ice cream shop is "Heggy's" which represents "Heggy's Candy and Nuts". It's a local joint known for candy, fresh roasted nuts, and a small restaurant. I worked there in high school, in fact, at one point my entire immediate family worked there. I loved making ice cream cones, and sundaes, it was a fun job and some great people. I custom mixed some green paint, because the real building had a very unique shade of green. The picture doesn't capture it well, but its kind of a funky color - probably in the realm of jade green, but yet still different. There is also a Coke sign on the bottom of the front door, just like there used to be on the actual location. (It might still be there, but I think they moved it inside) 

Heggy's

On this side of the building we have Mom's Barber Shop. My mom is a super talented lady. She maintained her license to cut hair long after she left the profession of being a beautician. Also, she was the only person to ever cut my hair until I was 19! She always kept me looking good. 

On the top floor is the "Imperial Pool Hall". So, Canton at one time had a ridiculous number of bowling alleys. Many had pool tables, and in high school, my friends and I would go play pool at them. Most of my family bowls, and "Imperial" was one of those many bowling alleys. 

I'm not a beer drinker, so a beer sign advertiser didn't resonate with me. That said, Royal Crown cola did. I grew up in a "Coke" family, but when I went to Grandma's house there were always bottles and later cans of RC in the fridge. Its a fond memory of Grandma's house, and I still enjoy an RC every now and then.  

Imperial Pool Hall

That was alot of words...sorry, probably cheesy for some, but my layout has become a place to keep memories alive, which makes me enjoy it all the more. Thanks to anyone who read through all that...

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Great topic, Don.

I feel the same way as NKP4ME. Some of the structures on my layout reflect my various interests, things I like, etc.

My Yankee Stadium:

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"Common baby light my fire!" Whiskey a Go go in LA, where Jim Morrison and The Doors got started:

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Victorian home that looks just like the home where my wife lived with her parents and 3 brothers in the Lansingberg section of Troy, NY:

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Arnold

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Another favorite, Rico Station, decorated by ad showing my daughter, Maria Cribari, starring in the musical, Annie, and another ad for Pinehurst golf resort, where my father loved to play golf in NC:

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Although my daughter was never in Annie, she can really sing. If you want to hear her, go on U Tube, plug in my name, and click on my video/song: Earthrise. I am very proud of her  and she thinks the trains are cool. Arnold

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My brother-in-law has made me four buildings for my layout. This is our favorite. It is the Tippy's Taco from College Park, MD. When my wife was pregnant with our first child, she would get a craving for Tippy's tacos.

So, he made us a Tippy's house. My wife (pregnant) is out front at a table. I am inside ordering. You can see me just behind the catus on the left.

TacoHouse-1TacoHouse-2TacoHouse-3TacoHouse-4

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Nice structures guys.  I have it narrowed down to three:

This is my first major scratch-build, over 30 years ago.  It's from the old attic layout, so it holds a lot of sentimental value.

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The Lionel Irvington factory is much too big, so I made this one.  I need to get around to improving the interior one of these days.

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This Lionel Luxury Diner has great detail, window decals, and lighting.  IMO, one of their most attractive pieces, and it fits nicely into a short corner on the overhead layout.

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Jerry

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Thank you CoachJoe, I do very long (45 to 110 sec.) exposures, then "paint" the shot with small flashlights. Slowly moving them around. That's how the headlights on the street and any dark areas of the shot can be brought up a bit. The trick is to not over do it. Also I have my camera hocked up to a monitor so I can check the shot. It takes sometimes dozens of tries. As for the street I just use a wide paint brush and brush on water. On a warm day it dries fast so no harm is done. Like others I like to personalize my buildings. Example on the right of this shot is "Peter's Pretty Good Hamburgers". "You can't keep our burgers down". Peter is my wife's cousin and is a chief. My wife and he are Greek, that's why the Greek flag and blue and white building. A 16x9 print of this shot hangs in his home. He loved it. Donbershire crossing

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Out of the 203 structures in Moon Township, USA, two are my very favorite because they relate directly to my wife and me sentimentally.

The first would be her favorite, too. It is an exact replica of her childhood home,78Jefferson which was crafted by an architect for me to give to her as one of her Christmas gifts several years ago. The coolest part about the gifting was that (a.) she had no idea I was presenting such a gift to her, so she was quite puzzled about what could be in the gift-box; (b.) she recognized the model as being of her house before its roof area was entirely out of its tissue-paper, as she removed the miniature house from its box. Later, when modeling it into the landscape of the layout, I put a miniature of her reaching for the doorknob of the front door, IMG_9526 [2)and I placed a model of her father standing nearby.IMG_0482ed

My second-favorite structure would be the exact replica of our house, crafted by the same architect, that a dear neighborhood friend of ours had crafted for us, as his surprise gift to us several Christmases ago. When I configured it onto the layout, I put a miniature of him standing in front, near his first pickup truck, looking at the house he was about to spend so much time in, helping me construct the layout.IMG_5530IMG_0187 [2)

And I placed both houses in view of each other.photo 1cIMG_9526photosub_edited-1

He was the first neighbor to greet us when we first moved into the neighborhood as newly-weds. He had walked over to our deck as we sat there enjoying our new view of our new neighborhood around us, and he said, at tens years of age, "HI, my name is Paul. Welcome to the neighborhood." In the years that followed, we sort of kidnapped-adopted him, as he grew older and matured through the decades, having a very pleasant relationship with his wonderful parents, but not shy to borrow Paul for myriad jobs and celebrations and adventures, right up to today, in his early 30's,  such as his working with me at F.A.O. Schwarz, 5th Avenue, NYC, on the Lionel layout, a few years ago, seen hereIMGP2000 (we had an absolute ball!) 

So, my two favorite structures on my layout are tied to my wife and me emotionally, representing family to us, and close relationships, just like the layout itself, every bit of it, is tied to and born from memories of family and happy times with friends who have meant something important to us. To me, a layout and the favorite buildings on it are a place to visit for a trip down Memory Lane, to places of dignity, sacred sanctuaries, that talk to us about the beauty in life - its people.

FrankM

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Last edited by Moonson

My favorite building on my 50s style 027 toy train layout is my scratch built round house.  I designed in my favorite features such as shape with windows between the two levels of roof, square smoke removal stacks, lots of windows, brick siding and interior lights.  It was built from 1/8 inch Masonite and covered with brick paper.  I think it fits in very well with my homemade $10 turntable.  For details on how I build both see the below OGR forum link. 

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ra-027-layout?page=1

TT post 9,  Round house post 11

Charlie

 

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Train Complete 1-17-2015 116

Last edited by Choo Choo Charlie
Moonson posted:

Out of the 203 structures in Moon Township, USA, two are my very favorite because they relate directly to my wife and me sentimentally.

The first would be her favorite, too. It is an exact replica of her childhood home,78Jefferson which was crafted by an architect for me to give to her as one of her Christmas gifts several years ago. The coolest part about the gifting was that (a.) she had no idea I was presenting such a gift to her, so she was quite puzzled about what could be in the gift-box; (b.) she recognized the model as being of her house before its roof area was entirely out of its tissue-paper, as she removed the miniature house from its box. Later, when modeling it into the landscape of the layout, I put a miniature of her reaching for the doorknob of the front door, IMG_9526 [2)and I placed a model of her father standing nearby.IMG_0482ed

My second-favorite structure would be the exact replica of our house, crafted by the same architect, that a dear neighborhood friend of ours had crafted for us, as his surprise gift to us several Christmases ago. When I configured it onto the layout, I put a miniature of him standing in front, near his first pickup truck, looking at the house he was about to spend so much time in, helping me construct the layout.IMG_5530IMG_0187 [2)

And I placed both houses in view of each other.photo 1cIMG_9526photosub_edited-1

He was the first neighbor to greet us when we first moved into the neighborhood as newly-weds. He had walked over to our deck as we sat there enjoying our new view of our new neighborhood around us, and he said, at tens years of age, "HI, my name is Paul. Welcome to the neighborhood." In the years that followed, we sort of kidnapped-adopted him, as he grew older and matured through the decades, having a very pleasant relationship with his wonderful parents, but not shy to borrow Paul for myriad jobs and celebrations and adventures, right up to today, in his early 30's,  such as his working with me at F.A.O. Schwarz, 5th Avenue, NYC, on the Lionel layout, a few years ago, seen hereIMGP2000 (we had an absolute ball!) 

So, my two favorite structures on my layout are tied to my wife and me emotionally, representing family to us, and close relationships, just like the layout itself, every bit of it, is tied to and born from memories of family and happy times with friends who have meant something important to us. To me, a layout and the favorite buildings on it are a place to visit for a trip down Memory Lane, to places of dignity, sacred sanctuaries, that talk to us about the beauty in life - its people.

FrankM

Five Stars for your above reply, Frank. Loved every word of it. Thanks for sharing it, Arnold

One building that is great is Joe's diner that was made to be sold as a telephone (pick up the roof). It has a fully detailed interior with people, sign and interior are lighted, and by pressing a button in the back, it plays "Rock Around The Clock" from the 1950s. They go on eBay for less than $50., and it's 1:48 in size. Search "diner telephone" under "collectibles" on eBay.

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Last edited by Joe Hohmann

It's amazing how many people have models of real homes from their life on the layouts.  Many that haven't even chimed in on this thread.

Nick R, I remember when you were building your rink.  It turned out great.  I like the Air Force ad on the boards.  My daughter spent her 4 years in.

Joe H, Joe's Diner is truly a wonderful building for the layout.  I too have one and every Joe should hve on on their layout.

The Star Grill I've been working off and on for a long time. It's sitting on my work bench waiting for me to finish. It was from a small company that only made two building and then went out of business. Nice little Deco joint that would fit almost anywhere. I used one of Miller Engineering's neon small signs inside on the back wall. Don

 

 

 

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scale rail posted:

The Star Grill I've been working off and on for a long time. It's sitting on my work bench waiting for me to finish. It was from a small company that only made two building and then went out of business. Nice little Deco joint that would fit almost anywhere. I used one of Miller Engineering's neon small signs inside on the back wall. Don

 

 

 

DSC_0800

 A great little kit. I turned mine into a bar.....and it's hall finished too!!! 

 

 

 

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