Hi, all. I was very ill from mid-Jan.'08 - late April '08, but am now ready to restart my little 4'x4'9" Christmas railroad. Hopefully it'll be up by Dec.
IMHO, the key to keeping a small road looking right is to keep buildings small. Detail is critical, and to that end, I'll be using Plasticville Kit Barn, Suburban Station, and perhaps several Cape Cod Houses kitbashed into a farmhouse/Bed+breakfast.
No building is over 2 stories, and, unfortunately, the Plasticville Gas Station is a bit too big, though I will be using parts from it. (As a sight gag, I plan on putting a Mom, Pop, and 2-cub Polar Bear family at the Coke Machine, with poppa getting the soda.) It's too bad the Plasticville Gas Station lost it's clock tower it had in the mid-1960's -- Now THERE was a distinctive structure! I might have even tried to intigrate that into the layout -- Santa's sleigh in an open bay up on the rack getting a last-minute tune-up? Hmmmmm.... Will think on that.
Will keep all interested posted.
John Murphy
Are you checking eBay for an older gas station? Sometimes people sell several old structures in one lot. Maybe an older gas station might turn up as part of a group.
Just a thought. ...
I still have my station with the tower from my childhood, and I'm not parting with it. ;)
Not yet, anyway. ... ;)
I agree with you about using small buildings to keep a small layout looking right.