Plasticville & Nostalgia

Arnold - your posts are the best! I didn't realize you had two ball parks on your layout!

You're correct - Plasticville structures are great and for me evoke some fond memories.

Here's a couple you didn't include in your photos.

Very nice, Don. I do not remember seeing the radio station before, which is very cool (especially the way you nestled it between the trees), as is the manufacturing company with the loading dock.

Here is the Church on my layout (I had broken and lost the cross so I made a new one out of plastic flashing from another model):

This Plasticville Church looks a lot like the Presbyterian Church my wife and I attend, which is very near where we live.

Another classic is the Barn, already on my layout:

It is very appealing to me to get the complete versions of these models with all their details. IMO, the details, like the antenna on the chimney of the Split Level Home, have a lot of charm. Arnold

Arnold,

You sure brought back some wonderful memories. Although I modeled in HO back in the 50s and 60s, my layouts always featured Plasticville. I remember hand painting the fruit and vegetable baskets for the roadside stand. When I jumped into O gauge with my young sons in the 70s , Plasticville was still the easiest way to bring our trains to life.  The first ones that we added to our layout were O versions of the HO models that I had when I was a lad.  I still have a few on my layout today.  Thanks for the great post.   

Earl     

So glad, Earl, that you are enjoying this thread.

Another thing that I particularly appreciated this evening is how the Plasticville snaps together so the pieces usually do not need to be glued. At times, it was a little challenging; there was a need to be firm but not force anything too much for fear of breaking the little pieces of plastic on the edges that hold the structure together. However, this evening I was able to fit everything together by being firm, careful and persistent, and without the need for a drop of glue.

While l had P-ville on my childhood layout, l have been impressed by some of the bashed of it, and really like the bashed coaling tower l did, as the several different 200 ton coaling tower kits l tracked down were too big for a jerkwater short line.  But some P-ville bashes displayed on here have been works of art .  I did a number of wild and whimsical bashes of the P-ville RR station, but decided not to use them... although the scale stations eat a lot more room.  Plasticville can still be put to very good use....

I like both bashed and pristine Plasticville. By bashing it, one can make it more realistic, but I also like keeping it in its original condition, which is more toy-like. I particularly love those pieces with all the original fine detail.

One possibility I am considering is using chalk dust to temporarily weathering it to remove the shininess when putting it on the layout, then wiping off the chalk dust when removing it and putting it around the Christmas tree.

Would love to see more Plasticville you folks have, and know about the nostalgia they trigger in you and why.  Arnold

I will share a little nostalgia.

Here is the Split Level Home again:

My Aunt Ruth lived with her family (my Uncle Bill and 3 cousins) in a gorgeous sprawling split level home in Pennington, NJ. I spent a good portion of my summer vacations there when I was growing up, and I was treated like a prince there. This split level model reminds me of Aunt Ruth's Pennington, NJ home.

Incidentally, Aunt Ruth may have given me my original Plasticville Split Level home as a Christmas gift, together with the many Lionel trains and accessories she gave me as Christmas gifts. She loved Lionel trains, and helped my cousin Billy with his gorgeous Lionel train layout in the basement, including making the mountain and tunnel on it.

In my new "retro" layout (all 40's - 50's power and trains), the farm scene cried out for Plasticville buildings.

Peter, can we see more of that "retro" layout?

Doug

This is a few shots and overview of my current 5x9 foot layout, with mostly Plasticville buildings. While this part is “retro”, with O-27 track (but O-42 curves and switches, I’ll be expanding with a 5x10 foot addition with Gargraves track, and Ross switches. Plasticville will still have a home there, with the under-construction modified coaling tower and future pieces.

@Artie-DL&W posted:

This is a few shots and overview of my current 5x9 foot layout, with mostly Plasticville buildings. While this part is “retro”, with O-27 track (but O-42 curves and switches, I’ll be expanding with a 5x10 foot addition with Gargraves track, and Ross switches. Plasticville will still have a home there, with the under-construction modified coaling tower and future pieces.

Very nice, Artie, thanks for sharing.

Most of the buildings on Warrenville are O/S gauge Plasticville and Plasticville type buildings such as Littletown and Marx/K-line.

Some original, some bashed and some painted. Even though many are small for O, they present well and, with their small footprints, a lot can fit on a layout.

As a youngin' I remember having the Motel, Frostybar, Bungalow, Barn, church and crossing gates.

I fondly remember painting Plasticville people with my mom when I was around 6 years old - the only train related thing she ever did with me

My layout has about 70 Plasticville structures on it, along with similar buildings from Marx / K-Line. I have more in boxes. I grew up with PVille; it was on my original layout, and I wanted to recreate that 50s vibe, but larger. I love the stuff.

John, your post reminds me what a great time I had painting little people 25 years ago with my then 9 year old and 7 year old son.

Those unpainted little people were plastic but may not have been Plasticville. There must have hundreds of little people parts (heads, arms, legs, bodies) connected to plastic flashing in a bag. We painted quite a few and many of them are now sitting in the bleachers in my baseball parks, but I still have many of these unpainted body parts left in the bag.

Speaking of the bag of body parts, my 7 year old son liked putting those body parts along the railroad tracks showing that there were some unfortunate ones who didn't make it when they tried to cross the tracks. LOL, Arnold

@jay jay posted:

My layout has about 70 Plasticville structures on it, along with similar buildings from Marx / K-Line. I have more in boxes. I grew up with PVille; it was on my original layout, and I wanted to recreate that 50s vibe, but larger. I love the stuff.

Jay Jay, I was hoping there was someone on the Forum, like you, who has many, maybe all, of the Plasticville structures. I see you have refrained from weathering them, and instead opted to keep them all in their original pristine condition with all their charming detail. It looks like you have every little chimney.

At the moment I can go with either their pristine condition or temporarily weathering them, but having all the detail is very desirable IMO.

I rediscovered Pville about ten yers ago.  The local model railroad club has a multi gauge swap meet once a year (except for 2020) and I have stumbled onto some unbelievable deals, like twenty two complete Pville kits and a small hoard of Pvile parts, lot of Smallville, K-line.,Marx and Little Town stuff and a few Marx and Lionel items, plus one AF building that I haven't even opened up yet

I'm laying out plans to bash most of it and use some scratch built items.  Some is underway, like a factory complex, a police center with police and sheriffs offices and two story jail, modified urban train stations. a 15 unit motel, an Armed Forces Recruiting Center, and a tourist park with log cabins, tepees, tent space, and a trailer/camper area.  It will include an office/store/laundromat/showers/and kiddie center.  On the outskirts will be saddle horses for rent for trail rides.  A gas station will be adjacent to it and a cafe.

It's going slow because my workshop has no heat or A/C and half of is being used for storage, but I have almost nothing else to do with my time.

@jay jay posted:

My layout has about 70 Plasticville structures on it, along with similar buildings from Marx / K-Line. I have more in boxes. I grew up with PVille; it was on my original layout, and I wanted to recreate that 50s vibe, but larger. I love the stuff.

John, I Zoomed in on your Plasticville and see you have every weather vane, lightning rod and antenna, as well as every chimney. Very cool, Arnold

This sure brings back memories!!

As a kid, I had several Plasticville buildings including the split-level house, fire department, and barn. As far as I know, they're still in a box under my layout, and they haven't seen the light of day in decades. Since my layout is all tinplate, I have a "no plastics" rule for accessories. I really like Plasticville, but in my case I won't use it on my layout. It's time to dig it out and sell it so someone can enjoy it.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Here's the dilapidated switch tower, which has a charm of its own:

I'd be very curious if any of you folks have similar feelings about your Plasticville.

Arnold

That little guy has great character!

While a tinplate collector I have always enjoyed the old Plasticville structures and the nostalgia they evoke. If I collected post-war O gage my layout would be filled with it. When I was a kid we had some around the Christmas tree layout...I still remember being down at floor level and wishing I could somehow "miniaturize" myself so I could walk around inside the little houses or climb the stairs to the switch tower.

A few years back a neighbor offered me his childhood O gage trains and mixed in was some Plasticville parts and pieces all of which I eventually re-sold to fund more tinplate purchases. I did save some of the pictures maybe you'd like to look them over...

Gerry, that's a very nice Plasticville collection you have.

Another thing I like about Plasticville is the boxes, which typically have very attractive pictures of the fully assembled structures. Those pictures on the boxes were also helpful when I snapped the plastic pieces together.

Split Level Home box:

Log Cabin Rustic Fence & Tree Box:

And my favorite: Roadside Stand with Paints Box, but mine didn't come with the paints (probably reduces it value by at least 50%, LOL), but at least the bushels of vegetables and fruit were painted:

Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Jay Jay, I was hoping there was someone on the Forum, like you, who has many, maybe all, of the Plasticville structures. I see you have refrained from weathering them, and instead opted to keep them all in their original pristine condition with all their charming detail. It looks like you have every little chimney.

At the moment I can go with either their pristine condition or temporarily weathering them, but having all the detail is very desirable IMO.

That's right, Arnold. I don't weather them (dust weathers them, however). LOL. The bright colors are part of their mid-century charm and the whole 1950s schtick. I also like them as complete as possible, right down to antennae and porch lights, but I'm not always successful here and there. I pick up parts as I can.

Finished up the modified Plasticville coal tower. The addition from Mount Blue Model Company went together well. Just some weathering and this should be installed on the future expansion of my layout.

Plasticville Along The Put:

More Plasticville Along The Put:

Oops, I almost forgot the farm:

Arnold

My grand daughter and I have assembled all of my plasticville, and disassembled and re boxed them. It’s great for her manual dexterity. There have been many an afternoon when our home has been a plasticville showcase! It always brings happiness. Who would have thought this was so endearing for so long! In fact she has her own plasticville collection.
I too love the box art. Some of my happiest childhood memories were purchasing a new plasticville item now and then at Woolworths.

Arnold,

Very effective use of Plasticville, especially the barnyard scene.  You did a fabulous job with all the trees and grass to enhance the look of the structures. I also have many of the same Plasticville pieces (with the original church cross!) but they are all in a Xerox box now. I haven't actually set them up in 60 years. But your layout looks ten times better than mine ever did!! Great job.

Arnold, nice thread and nice items to add to your time machine!

My all time favorite was the Hospital with the interior furnishings and equipment and the ambulance too.
would send photos if I weren’t in the hospital (working)!

thx for all the pics.

One of the nice features about Plasticville  structures is that it's so easy to put them  together and take them apart, as Leroof said.

I plan to periodically rotate my Plasticville and non-Plasticville structures because I love them both.

Another thing about Plasticville is that although they look toy-like, especially in their shiny, pristine and original condition, they also look good, IMO, on hi-rail layouts with realistic scenery. I guess if they are weathered, they look more realistic, but, again, I like them both weathered and in their original condition. As a result, if I weather them, I will use chalk dust so the weathering is temporary.

I always liked, but was not crazy, about Plasticville before, but now I'm getting crazy about them, especially when the structures have all the details. The Plasticville that Artie, Pete, John, Peter, Gerry, Don and Leroof have are fabulous. Arnold

FYI...On the east side of the Orange Hall at York (near Trainworld) there is a Plasticville table for buying all sorts of parts and structures--a very nice selection.

found these from my first layout:

My Plasticville story is not much different from anyone else.  I had a small amount of Plasticville that was obtained second hand from an "Uncle" who was winding down his layout in the early 60s.  The Plasticville pieces were put under the tree each year, none were ever added, and eventually I got married and moved on.  While we had a circle of Gargraves track under the tree at our home, there was no Plasticville.  When my Dad passed away I found some old photos of their Christmas tree with the Plasticville village under it. Well, I had the Plasticville at my home stored away in a box; I realized I could do this setup again. But I couldn't do anything the first year my Dad passed (too emotional), but found the photos again right before Christmas the following year.  That year I put up the Plasticville and the train layout pretty much as the photos and my memory could recall.  My wife and adult kids were a bit taken aback but very supportive.   My wife asked for more Plasticville added under the tree and I vaguely recalled a log home but didn't have it anymore.  Well, with a visit to an online auction site, that situation was fixed pretty quickly.  And I was astonished to discover that the silo on the farmhouse actually had a cap (mine never had one).  The diner with the peeling chrome paint has been replaced and the replacement looks the same as the original did around 1965.   I'm fussy about new additions since everything needs to fit my quirky memories of when I was a kid at Christmas.  We've added more buildings and trees over the years (pine trees only because its Christmas!) and a white fence circles the entire village - my wife thinks it gives a finished look to the display, and I agree.  My Plasticville side hobby been a warm journey that takes me back to my youth every Christmas.

Dale

There is something special about Plasticville and tubular track that immediately transports you back in time. I still have an extensive collection of buildings. There in lies my dilemma with my developing design and pending construction. I’m enamored with all the other realistic models that are available. I want to incorporate them!

I could just kick myself. Back years ago, I had amassed a large selection of Plasticville items, including one of their "Master Sets" About 20 years ago, while all caught up in HO scale, I sold all my Plasticville to a friend. Several years later I tried to buy it back, but he had already sold all of it. At least I still have my old Lionel stuff.

Jeff

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

More Plasticville Along The Put:

Top pic: Revell barn turned into a stock theater?  Is that in HO?  I used to like Revell HO (when I was still running HO) as well as Plasticville.

Arnold, I have a question. in your photo, there is what appears to be plasticville cream or yellow colored structure with a blue roof. Can you identify it? Is it HO plasticville or other?could it be a K-line O structure? There are little green plants

Post question  continued: Or shrubberies in the front of that structure seen in previous photos.

thx.