What type of buildings, structures or accessories would you like produced in S Scale?

Good question.  S Scale has to be more than just the trains.

I'd like to see a line of typical Midwestern style brick structures similar to these long out of production DSL Shops resin kits, except in plastic:

If we could get Walthers and Woodland Scenics interested in producing S structures, it would be GREAT!

Rusty

Good Day Rusty,

Several months ago I sent a note to Woodland Scenics. I suggested copy what they offered in O Scale and present in S Scale.

What do you think about some brick warehouse building fronts for the back wall of a layout?

Regards,

Swafford

Great news! The Sunoco storage tank has been produced in S. And it's available now.

They are the same models that were produced by Lionel and MTH.

What I'm getting at is that the prototype tanks are huge, and definitely under-scale for O, and most likely even too small for S. Many structure are undersized for O, and can be used in S. Get a scale ruler and measure the doors, for example. A real door is just below 7 feet tall. The MTH farmhouse is most likely spot on for S. I have a couple of prototype pictures I'll follow this post with for size comparison.

I'd like to see Design Preservation type modular building sections that can be made into different kinds of structures.  Their HO line is great, and a few can be used in S, but a true S scale line would be fantastic!

I also second Rusty's suggestion.

But since I'm in the process of building my new layout now, and it would be YEARS until anything would be produced, I'm not holding my breath.  I'll be scratch building my buildings.  Nice to dream, though.

Jerry

Pine Canyon made something similar in the past. Maybe if they got enough requests they'd make some more.

http://www.pinecanyonscalemodels.com/353alley3.htm

Cheers,

Ken

Good Day,

I’d like to see some Woodland Scenics buildings in S Scale!

Regards,

Swafford

Good Day,

Here are a few Lionel items that I'd like to see in S Scale. What O Scale item would you like in S Scale?

Regards,

Frank

It's not Lionel, but I'd really like to see Downtown Deco do an S Scale version of their Trackside Tavern.

Ken

It's funny you mention them.  Downtown Deco made some S scale buildings when they first started out.  They stopped because "too many people wanted their buildings."

Go figure...

Still, I wouldn't mind if they came back, they make some nice stuff.

Rusty

I wonder if that CSX water tower is closer to S than O. It might even be HO.

The Lionel spheriod (yes, that's what they're called in the real world) water tower works out very nicely in S.

Rusty

Full scale length BUDD passenger cars for the EMPIRE STATE EXPRESS.  No shorties, please. 

Frank,

You do not need anyone to produce tanks, you have me. I can produce any type of storage tank for s-scale.

Alan Graziano

I recently bought a ready-built Woodland Scenics "HO" Victorian style fire house. The size can pass for "S", IMO. The doors are too tight to move a "S" size fire truck in and out, but they look OK parked outside. The highest point on the building is 8". BTW, Hallmark made at least 10 very nice fire trucks as miniatiure Christmas ornaments. The size seems just right to me, and the details are excellent. They retailed for $20., and you can find them for even less on eBay.

I tend to judge buildings by how they look with "S" people near them. IMO, "S" people look OK even if the building is a bit small...but they look dumb if the building is too large. Your comments?

Victorian structures of all kinds tend to have high ceilings.  Thus, they can generally look somewhat appropriate for S scale.  Usually the people door needs to be changed from HO to an S scale door, but everything else looks "close enough".  I have an HO station on my layout that is an exact replica of a station with 15' ceilings.  It looks just fine on an S scale layout.  Ed L.

As long as this thread bubbled up again, I thought I'd run some pictures of the Lionel spheroid water tower in an S environment.  These were taken before I replaced it with an Athearn HO water tower:

Funny thing is, the Lionel "O" gauge water tower is actually smaller than the Athearn HO water tower I replaced it with:

Good thing water towers come in all shapes and sizes, eh?

Also, sometimes you find something usable that a first glance you'd ignore.  About a half a dozen years ago, Bachmann offered these three building in their HO Plasticville line:

Trouble was, they couldn't decide WHAT scale they were.  The front door was S, the back door HO and a side door was N.  But, they were being blown out for 5 bucks apiece, so I bought all three.

Only converted one so far, but I replaced the side door, side windows, back door and back windows with Grant Line S parts and once painted, it didn't look too bad:

I've since put some interior walls up as a view block.

Rusty

Has anyone looked at the new Woodland Scenics 0 scale buildings?  I'm wondering if any of them are undersized enough to be useful in S.  The prices are show-stoppers however.

 

 

 

 

Hi Tom,

Just an idea: Make the sidewalk taller which would make the doors smaller. I have not tried this but I think it would work. To me, I think the size of the building is acceptable.

Perhaps more experienced builders can give you some direction and suggestions.  

Regards,

Frank

All anyone has said so far was building kits.  As for Accessories in the operating category, I would like the Culvert loader and unloaded in S scale, a rotary Coal dump track to dump coal out of cars and a lift bridge.

I saw one of the Woodland Scenics Built-up structures yesterday at a local train show.  It was very detailed and I would say spot on for S.  However, at $124.00 I just kept on going.

But another question:  Has anyone played with the modular wall parts Woodland Scenics has to offer?  They have them in 0 and H0, but again I'm thinking S scale.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

I beg to differ on most of the Woodland Scenics "O" buildings. I think thet look FAR too large for "S". Place a "S" figure or car near them to see this. As I said, I use some of their "HO" items, which are much closer to "S" (and about $25. cheaper), IMO.

Woodland Scenics "O" buildings look FAR too large for "S". Place a "S" figure or car near them to see this.

Hey Joe,

You're probably correct in this, I didn't have a chance to get anything S scale near the model.  I was going by the size of the door and it did look pretty close to me.  Most 0 gauge buildings are too large, then again, look at the MTH buildings.  A lot of them are more than fine for S.

Have you ever played with Woodland Scenics modular systems?

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

I have seen the Woodland scenic O building on a S layout. I am not sure they are overly big compared to the real thing. I think it is more the relationship compared to other "S" buildings you see on layouts. 

The modular wall parts show up a fair amount on S layouts but I have only seen the HO ones. There are a couple on our club layout. I have also played with them and while acceptable to me they are not like the DSL kits Rusty alluded to.. Some scale modelers don't like them because of brick size. I felt if you don't color the mortar the aren't that noticeable. But then again my modeling is not craftsman. 

Now if Woodland Scenics came out in S, I might get motivated to do some work on the layout.

Anyone regarding "Downtown Deco" as HO scale is kidding themselves... They are definitely larger than HO scale and, in my opinion, are as useful as (or even more useful as )... "S" scale structures.  This is not to slam Downtown Deco, Randy is a great guy and does the hobby a service... this is just an observation from my own modeling experience.   BTW, my own "Sn2" Wharf Street layout will be featured in the upcoming edition of "Great Model Railroads"....   Art, Maine

It took them long enough to offer a few "O" buildings, so I'm not holding my breath. Perhaps our best hope is MTH for their "S" line?