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I never had any Plasticville as a kid. I had hand-me-down Lionel from an older cousin. This was assembled and wired by a neighbor high school kid onto a 4x6 train board. There never was any scenery. I might have had Lionel accessories, I think I had the gateman and the station you could announce out of. But I loved running that train round and around.

I think that's why I have zero interest in modeling. Like Arnold, I love the Plasticville I now own because it looks toy-like. I just love running toy trains, on temporary banquet tables, and I want them to look like toys.

Don't get me wrong, I really love seeing pictures of the marvelous modelers here with Legacy engines and detailed, detailed worlds. It's just fantastic and I do so appreciate it.

But what makes my heart sing is a toy train. Perhaps that's why I'd rather have a Scooby Doo LionChief starter set than a Premier engine. I still buy starter sets--it makes me feel like a kid again.

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Last edited by pdxtrains

Tom, the red summer stock theater is an HO structure  but I did not save the box and do not remember the manufacturer.

Leroof, the house with the blue roof and plastic green plants on the front of it is an O scale structure and, again, I have no box and do not remember the manufacturer.

Arnold

Revell made few HO structures.  That was one and I also had a newspaper plant and a bakery (same buildings with different fronts and details), a beautiful little train station with a water tank and stand-alone spout, a bank with a vault, and others.

I had forgotten them until I saw your picture, now I have to go hunting.  Curse you, Arnold Cribari, for making me want to go pend more money.  

That particular summer stock playhouse is special to me because my wife loves the theater and acting, and now participates in a virtual acting class. Arnold

In my past life and career, I played several summer stock theatres and indeed ran one for two seasons. I saw that building and was instantly transported back to the 60s'-70s. I need to improvise something for my layout.

Summer stock as we knew it no longer exists. There are only a handful of strawhat theatres still operating. An era gone.

Plasticville is my go to for just about every structure I have. I have a few Marx and K-Line buildings along with a few Lionel but the majority are Plasticville. I like their simpleness , just enough detail to not be totally toy like but not a rivet counters delight by any stretch! Most of mine has been repainted and glued together along with frosted window glazing and insides painted black so I can light them up.



Jerry

I am working on my "retro" layout, sort of a pandemic project.  It is designed to run all postwar trains since my main layout takes command trains only.  So, of course I needed a farm scene with Plasticville buildings.  Here is the result.  Since we have horses, I had to have them also.  Turns out[, Plasticville didn't have but one horse in their "animal" set.  Then  it dawned on me that Lionel's General horse car used Plasticville horses, so they should be available with parts dealers.  They were an our local Desert Division parts guy furnished me with four.  The other two are watching for a train to go by.

I know Plasticville buildings are scaled somewhere between O and S scale, but didn't realize that if you put a 1:43 car in front of the house, it overwhelms it.  So, a 1:64 turned out to look better.IMG_4326IMG_4352IMG_4353

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I only have 2 Plasticville buildings on my layout,  the police and fire stations.  Both  will become some sort of lineside storage facility.  Only the fire  station has a primer coat on it waiting for an appropriate color to mask the stucco. The police station is perfect,  has burglar bars on the windows, I will remove them from the 2nd story. I will frost over all the windows in both buildings so you can't see in. Still deciding on placement of them.

I guess in your opinion I must be some kind of infidel for not keeping them original. LOL.

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I'm excited about Plasticville, even off the layout. With 2 granddaughters ages 9 and almost 4, Plasticville structures can be like doll houses for them. This particularly true of the Plasticville Hospital (with the beds, chairs, desk, emergency equipment, gurney, etc.) and the Plasticville Barn with animals.

My master plan is to get my granddaughters hooked on the trains by first getting them hooked on Plasticville.

The Hospital is awesome. Will post photos of it later.

Here we go, the Hospital:

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I have most, but not all the hospital furniture. Will add to it when I go on the hunt for it at train shows.

Arnold

Arnold,

Your hospital is amazing! It even comes with a floor plan! Obviously it was built in the 50's since it's just one big ward and not individual rooms. Did it come with room dividers for the restroom or was that up to the modeler?

Everything in white for cleanliness!

Currently I do not have any Plasticville on my layouts. However, my layout from the 70”s used these beloved structures. Here are a few pics of my cul-de-sac, Freedom Hall park, farm with pasture and my coal yard.

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I don't know what it is but that shade of red on the wall looks great as a backdrop for the layout. Almost like it better than trying to have a blue sky, mountains, clouds, etc... Never in a million years would I pick that color but I love it.

Last edited by G-Man24

Seeing the hospital made me wonder if it also came as a "stripped-down" version without the interior pieces? I remember getting a hospital, manufacturing plant and farm to expand the town when my 1953 4x8  layout was redesigned to encompass an 8x12 L-shaped table in 1959. However, the hospital was just a shell ike most of the other Plasticville buildings on the layout and I don't think Santa would have discarded the interior.

Plasticville is the best.  Thanks for starting this great thread, Arnold.  My Plasticville became special to me because it was given to me by a friend, who at the age of 15 or so, decided he was too old for trains.  What a treasure trove for a boy like me with his 50-cent a week allowance!

The larger gas station is a little special because it looks so much like the Texaco station where we used to gas up our '46 Plymouth.  On my layout it had to be squeezed onto cheap real estate between RR tracks and a trolley track, necessitating the pumps to be at the right end of the building.

The 5 & 10 was special also, because of the times spent in Woolworth's with their variety of reasonable goods.  Notice the red Plasticville sedan in front, too.

I like details, and the fire station has several added to it - a lot of red cars, including one wreck that the trainees are practicing on.  The Chief's car parked at the side is a Grossman repro of a Marx auto.  That black grillwork seen inside the station is a speaker for a sound module.

Then there is the Colonial House, I think it was called.  Two shots of it- a yard sale out front and gardening in the back.

Keep those shots coming, folks.  This is fun.

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Last edited by TrainsRMe

I have found only few Lionel trains at garage sales but in 2005 I hit a mother load of Plasticville for $2.  It  included an Airport Building, Hanger, Union Station, Hall, Cathedral, 2 story house, Filling Station, Turnpike building, Frosty Drive in stand, and a un-built black Signal Bridge.  I had several Plactiville kits before and now have way too many to fit on my medium size layout but I change them out once in awhile.

Many are on my new train board shown below with a Plastiville town main street, farm and airport.

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I have used two coaling tower Plasticville kits to make a modified coaling station tower and a coal mine.

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Homemade Operating Coal Mine and Coal Loading Station

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Main Train Board with more Plasticville

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We love Plastiville around here for my 50's period O27 layout.

To see how I made the layout check the OGR link belowhttps://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ra-027-layout?page=1

Post 1 on page one has a Table of Contents to find out where to see how I built a $10 Turntable, Round House, Actionable Touch Track Diagram Control Panels and many homemade cars.

Charlie

Last edited by Choo Choo Charlie

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