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HO>>S<<O
Rolling Stock and Trackwork
Structures, Scenery, and Supplies
from Other Scales, usable in S.
Revised December 12, 2003
 Back
 
Description
Scale
Manufacturer Reference Comments

Railroad Structures and Supplies
Interlocking Tower O Atlas  October 1997 NASG
Dispatch
 
Plasticville,             several items O

 

Bachmann  April & Oct 
1997 NASG 
Dispatch
Farmhouse, station, switch tower, signal bridge, pedestrian overpass.  Plasticville is usually 
undersize for O.
Signal Bridge O Bachmann Plasticville  Roy Hoffman Reduce length of legs.
Interlocking Tower   Plasticville  Ed Loizeaux "Switch Tower.  Cut off the base."
Mainline Bridge  HO 3 Bros. Mfg.  Walthers  "Originally designed as an S scale kit."  Ed. Loizeaux
"Two can be kitbashed together."  Roy Hoffman
Central Valley 150' Rigid Truss Bridge. (210-1902 $33.95)  HO Central Valley  Bill Fraley "You simply expand the width a little bit and you're in business.  I have had mine on the upper division mainline for years.  It always gets favorable commentary."
Box Girder Sections 
(210-19025 $9.85)
HO
Central Valley   "Girders are always in scale.  Their length-to-height ratio remains relatively constant." 
80' Turntable HO  Heljan / Concor  Roy Hoffman "makes reasonable S turntable."
Pony Truss Bridge
O
MTH July / August 
2000 S-Gaugian
54' long with stone piers.  Review by Richard Ward.
Bridge O27 Lionel  Don DeWitt  
Bridge 
Components
HO  Atlas    "Girders are always in scale.  Their length-to-
height ratio remains relatively constant."
20" Arched Truss Bridge
HO
Atlas Chuck Smith "Good girder detail."
Trolley Barn O Korber  Don DeWitt  
Yard Lights HO
NJ International
 Ted Larson Large HO lights will make small S lights.
Fuel Tanks and Towers HO various  Don DeWitt Kitbash the fueling towers for S.
Coaling Tower O27 Lionel  Jeff Madden  Round Concrete Coaling Tower, modify doors and support heights
Water Tank
O27
MTH  Jeff Madden Looks like it should work
Wood Water Tank
Cornerstone Series
O
Walthers
#933-3507
March / April 2000
S-Gaugian
Overall height in S is 18-1/2'.  Set on hill or on top of industrial building.  Review by Richard Ward. 
Clarksville Station
 HO

 

Walthers Cornerstone #933-3063  Alex Binkley

 

"I put a cut stone foundation under it and 
installed a couple of Grandt Line double 
doors where the freight doors were." 
Turntable Indexer   Micro Design  Roger V. Petrella Jr "This is a very well made and accurate indexing system that can be used with any brand of turntable.  It can position up to 50 stops.  Micro design also makes a couple of other track items, originally designed for HO, but easily adapted for use on S." 
Myerstown Station
 O (?)
MTH # 30-9051  Terry Harrison

Feb. 2002 Dispatch
It is of turn of the century(20th) style. Here are the facts.  It is dead bang on for S.
    Station length- 81'
    Width- 21'
    platform to roof edge- 14'
    platform to peak of roof- 25'6"
    entry doors- 3'3"w x 8'6" high
It lists at $47.50.  It also has interior lights.  Station unscrews from base so interior walls or detail can be added.  Nice station for passenger folks.
Cut Stone Tunnel Portals
On3
A.I.M
Vic Cherven - Feb. 2002 Dispatch
Cast plaster, 30' high x 31' wide in S scale.   





Track and Right of Way
Fish Plates and Braces
for Code 83 Rail 
HO
Details West Keith Thompson  (East) Details West - Track details (fish plates & braces
                              for code 83 rail)
Tunnel Portal - On30" On30    Vic Cherven - Feb. 2002 Dispatch A..I.M (Walther's O/S Catalog)  -  Cast plaster cut stone portal - 30' hi x 31' hi in S scale - Portal opening is 16'3" x  22'9"















Industrial Structures
Railtown Structures O MTH October & December 1997 NASG Dispatch "These are approximately 85% of 1/4", O scale."
Gantry Crane #1333 HO Life-Like April 1997 NASG Dispatch "...install a Grandt Line S door in place of the HO, and use an S scale ladder."
Oil Depot HO Walther's Bill McClung #50100 Williams Bros Storage Tank Kit
Oil Depot O Walther's October 1997 NASG Dispatch "Looks a bit small" for O.
"...a small shack (very oversized doors) and useable oil tanks etc and related details.  However the tanks didn't fit together very well and I'm still trying to get enough putty and sanding to smooth them out. - Alex Binkley
Feed Mill O Walther's October 1997 NASG Dispatch "By playing with the platform and the door sizes, this should work for S."
Water tower O Korber  Roy Hoffman "Water towers come in all sizes."
Telephone Poles O27 Plasticville  Roy Hoffman "Nice size."
Engine House B842 HO Heljan / Concor  Ted Larson The HO railroad size doors will fit an S scale highway truck, OR Sn3 locomotives, OR S industrial locomotives.   I'll use this for a factory after changing the personnel doors to S scale.
Campbell Soup Co. HO Korber  Roy Hoffman "Large structure.  Good for S."
Brewery
 

 

HO

 

Heljan/Concor #807  Stan Stockrocki's
Layout

 

"HO kit most used in S because it is perfect for S." - RH
"There are two identical-looking versions of the Heljan Brewery  (distributed by Con-Cor). The small one is marketed as HO/N (with two sets of doors). The larger version, marketed as HO, also has two sets of doors.  The bigger doors in this variation are just about perfect S scale.  Anyway, the version suitable for S scale is the #807 Brewery."
Brewery O Heljan / Concor  Don DeWitt Kitbashed into office building.
Various Buildings HO Pikestuff  Roy Hoffman "Needs S-scale doors."
Factory HO Kibri  Stan Stokrocki  
Large Factory
HO
Walther's
933-3052
 Stan Stockrocki Solid building, no pre-cut openings, corrugated steel sides.
Brookhill Creamery
Walthers   Jeff Madden  "Alter doors and platform" 
Milton A. Corp.
HO
Pikestuff 541-0104  Alex Binkley "Change doors and windows."
Stamping Plant 
HO
Walthers  Terry Harrison Many kitbash possibilities.  Change the doors, 
perhaps increase the roof height.
Plastic Smokestack
Cornerstone Series
HO
Walthers March / April 2000
S-Gaugian 
Review by Richard Ward.  Bricks are just slightly small for S scale. 
Glacier Gravel Kit
Cornerstone Series
HO
Walthers July / August 2000 S-Gaugian  Photo and review of kit adapted to S, by Frank Titman.  Size is 9-1/2" x 10-1/4".
Jansen's Seed & Grocery Warehou
 HO
Campbell April 2002 Dispatch Conversion article by Jeff Kruger 
3 Unit Grain Silo
HO
Mountains in Minutes Dispatch June 1998 A foam core structure, redo the 2 doors to S scale, and add a 1/4" base - Jeff Madden 
Transfer Crane
HO
Life Like Dispatch June 1998 Oversize for HO, redo the door and ladder.  Jeff Madden 
Grain Elevator
O
Lionel Dispatch June 1998 Shorten the height in the middle, cut down the canopy over the hopper, and add an S scale door. 
Planing Mill

HO
Walthers
Ted Larson

I saw at a train show this weekend the Walther's Cornerstone Series "Planing Mill".  It sure is LARGE!  Looks way to big for HO to me!  If I had had a scale rule with me, I would have checked the doors.  Theylooked like they too might have been real close to S scale.





Commercial Structures
Marketville USA O Grand Line Products  December 1997 NASG  Dispatch "Betty's Bake-a-Teria, Firehouse, and Tillie's Teapot would be suitable for S.... replace doors and windows with... S parts." 
Plasticville Silver Series, several items HO Bachmann  December 1997 
NASG Dispatch
Emil's Dry Goods, Main Street Apothecary, and Pink Lady Boutique are actually 3/16" scale, according to Bachmann.
Superior Bakery and Weekly Herald Print Shop HO Heljan / Con-Cor   Used so frequently by S modelers, that a layout without one of these looks "wrong"!  "Perfect for S."       7.75" x 5.5" footprint.
City row of buildings HO City Classics  Roy Hoffman City row buildings.  "Very nice size for S."  "The floors are about 8' apart which is too little for S, but in a full city setting they don't look too bad.  I do have two of them in view if you go to the photos section of the S-scale Yahoo Groups and go to the last picture in the Penn Western folder.  One is the brown building to the left of 30th Street Station and the other is the gray building behind the last PRR passenger car on the right." 
Various buildings HO Korber  Roy Hoffman "Look very good in S."
Hospital O27 Plasticville  Roy Hoffman "Changed this to a drug company."
School O27 Plasticville  Roy Hoffman "Changed this to a Court House."
Various Buildings HO Design Preservation  Roy Hoffman "Great kit-bashing possibilities."
Post Office O27 Plasticville  Roy Hoffman "Good as is."
Gas Station O27  MTH  Jeff Madden Use S scale gas pumps 
2-story Office Building 
 HO
Pikestuff  Alex Binkley "Change the front door...  Grandt Line fixes up these buildings."
Board and Batten 
Building # 1
HO
Rix #628-251  Alex Binkley "...a Rix store that was 36 by 36 foot square in HO.  I extended the sides and replaced two of the doors with  Grandt Line ones and made two others into rollups."
Car Dealership 
O
Walthers  March / April 200 S-Gaugian Review and photo of O scale kit by Frank Titman.  Based on the photo, you might want to make the building less tall.  Size is 9 inches square.
 Police Station   Matchbox   James Sleeth  "I found a Match Box Police Station.  It is S scale and makes the Plasticville and Marx look like toys.  The upper story has a store front that can be used later.  You take the left side wall windows and put on the top front.  Then you add stair railing and you have a great S building.  " 
Bank   Matchbox   "The Bank is modern.   It has a break away front like it "blows up".  I used picture frame card stock and built a new set of walls on the left front, left side, and back.  It has a drive thru." 
Gas Station    Matchbox James Sleeth "You get the Matchbox airport to remove the double doors and attach to the rear of the gas station.  The gas pumps come with a car." 
Bus Station
HO
Bachmann Tom Robinson
April 2001 Dispatch
From Bachmann's Spectrum Cityscenes series.  $40 
Lumber Yard
Cornerstone Series
 O
Walthers July / August 2000
S-Gaugian 
Photo and review of kit, by Frank Titman.  Based on the photo, the office should be reduced in height.
Ambassador Hotel
HO
Bachmann March / April 2000
S-Gaugian
Size is 6-3/4" x 9-1/2" x 11" tall.  Review and photo of kit adapted to S, by Frank Titman. 
Gas Station
O
K-line Dispatch June 1998 Each garage door was narrowed by one panel, and the two longs sides and roof shortened accordingly.  Jeff Madden 





Other Structures
Plasticville Homes O27  Bachmann Roy Hoffman "Ranch or two story good for S."
Street Lights HO  NJ International Ted Larson Large HO lights will make small S lights
Farm House O27  MTH Jeff Madden  "Also produced by Model Power." 
Misc.   HO  DPM Alex Binkley "Some of the DPM HO kits can be easily converted into S by changing the doors.  However none of them have outside details some as lights etc. so I need to spend more time combing the parts lists."
         















Components
Factory Windows and Roof Vents (105-207 $ 3.50) HO City Classics Bill Fraley City Classics has a lot of structures that can easily be converted to S Scale.
Cyclones and vents.(159-411 #12.95) 
HO
City Classics    
Central Valley Fence, Ladders and stairs (210-1601 $4.95 210-1602 $4.95) 
HO
City Classics    
HO Plaster Walls
HO
   Don DeWitt See photo on Don's layout.
Wall Mounted Dust 
Collector
HO Walthers March / April 2000
S-Gaugian
Review by Frank Titman. 
Roof Vents & Blowers HO Walther's S-Scale e-mail list Cornerstore Series Roof Detailing Kit #933-3158
Roof Vents Multi-
Scale
Rix  Jamie Bothwell I found a bag of vents from Rix.  They are labeled as "Multi Scale" and they seem well sized for S.  They were $6 for eight vents. 





Scenery
 Backdrops    Backdrop Warehouse    
 Posters      Terry Harrison  http://nyow.railfan.net/pfmsig/home.html 
"Go down to posters.
Let me know if you can't find it."
 Fence 
HO 
Central Valley No. 1601
 Alex Binkley "The railings are useful and the wooden fence can be turned into a boardwalk."
 Signs   HO, O
Bar Mills Scale
 Michael Greene "Art Fahie and team have produced an excellent new series of laser cut signs."
         

Multi-Scale Supplies

 A kit for making decals using inkjet printer.    Vitachrome Graphics  Michael Greene "As I understand it Walthers will be a distributor. 
You can reach them by phone at 562-692-9200."
Scale Magic Sound Kits   Fantasonic 
Engineering
 Michael Greene "A small manufacturer with an impressive product line...   They 
offer scale sound kits for over 30 scenes (and growing) found on many model railroads. Their display (with fantastic sound of course!) was very impressive. 
Digital Sound Units N, HO  Small Scale Railway Company   CSG Newsletter, Jan 2001  
Print Advertisements     www.adflip.com    I saw this site and thought that the group might be 
interested in it.  It advertises itself as "The world's largest 
archive of classic print ads."  The dates go back to the 40's.
Art
         
         


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