Of Course, No New Structures In N Scale (Walthers Releases)

[peteski]

I know, I know, I'm the wurst.

No, wurst is German - you are of a Polish descent. You're kielbasa! 

[mmagliaro]

I hear ya on the "too small".  When I did do some urban modeling on my old PRR layout, I was just trying to depict "some small city" in the 1950s.  The thing is, even in small cities (it doesn't have to be Chicago or New York), 8-12 story buildings abound in the downtown areas.  Not 20 story or 50 story, 8-12. The problem is that all the Walthers and DPM stuff is 2-4 stories with rare exception, so nearly every one of my buildings was bashed from 2-3 kits to add height and girth.
I guess it's my fault.  I'm in N Scale.  I'm not supposed to build a layout.  We only build modules.

[NtheBasement]

Even HO people with large layouts complain about overminiturization of buildings.  At least we have some that are not European 1800's style now.

[greenwizard88]

The expansion of 3D printing may well take them out of the building business altogether at some point.  But their assessment of the market is sadly widely off - and has been for years.

Or the exact opposite: Take the HO model, shrink it by 1/2-ish, 3d print that, and put it in a box. Let the modeler handle the rest.

[StarCruiser]

I've actually sent a letter into them on this same subject...

"Forwarded to Product Development" and then...chirp, chirp.

Market's there, you just have to be willing to make something for it.

[chuck geiger]

They are pimping their modeling contest where you have three sets of structures to choose from, buy, build a module, YES A MODULE.
Wondering about no alternative way to enter with no purchase necessary. Rules posted and Wisconsin rules. Because there is no random
drawing and they are judging it, they get around Prize, Chance and Consideration. In media, we cannot advertise these type of events
unless they are for a 501-C non profit, which can produce these kind of events. Best bet - By law, you don't have to spend money for
a chance to win money in a contest. Most are legal, but FCC rules prohibits the advertising of them. Regardless!

https://trains.walthers.com/hubfs/PDF/NMRBO/Walthers%20National%20Railway%20Build-off%20Contest%20Rules%20-%202023.pdf
https://charitable.wi.gov/content/pdf/contestssweepstakespromotions%204.15.pdf
https://trains.walthers.com/national-model-railroader-build-off-2023

Wisconsin - Sweepstakes and Contests Laws

sweeppeasweeps.com
https://www.sweeppeasweeps.com › sweepstakes-and-c...
Contests: are allowed as long as the sponsor awards the prize based on skill and not chance. Sweepstakes: are allowed as long as the sponsor awards the prize ...

[John]

Note that residents of Colorado, Maryland and North Dakota may only participate in the
“Freestyle” category, which is described in greater detail in these rules. This is a regulation by
each state and not a decision made by Wm. K. Walthers, Inc.

Freestyle Category: The Freestyle Category does not require entrants to purchase a kit from
Sponsor and is open to entrants in all 50 states. Residents of Colorado, Maryland and North
Dakota may only participate in the Freestyle Category. Entrants build a diorama with scale
and materials of their choice to a pre-specified size. The model is then submitted and
judged against all other entries and scales entered in the Freestyle Category.

[robertjohndavis]

FWIW I have no use for Walthers if they don’t want to play in the N market.

Etsy has become my go to with some cool 3D printed structures. One benefit? They give me something I won’t see on 1000 other layouts. Even a few of those mixed in with common Walthers or WS structures is enough to look “different.” Throw in some unique bits from the UK, and you can have a unique mix without scratchbuiding (though there’s nothing wrong about starting from scratch.)

[MetroRedLine]

A former editor/publisher of Model Railroader, and someone who was never much a fan of N scale, joined Walthers' leadership team a few years ago. While correlation is not necessarily causation, Walthers' interest in N scale products since then seems to have ebbed significantly.

Ahhh, the HO Scale Industrial Complex is at it again.

[signalmaintainer]

Ahhh, the HO Scale Industrial Complex is at it again.

More closely, the HO scale New York Central industrial complex, with a dash of large scale Deutschbahn dysphoria, and recurring LEGO train symptoms.

[Bill H]

Etsy has become my go to with some cool 3D printed structures. One benefit? They give me something I won’t see on 1000 other layouts. Even a few of those mixed in with common Walthers or WS structures is enough to look “different.” Throw in some unique bits from the UK, and you can have a unique mix without scratchbuiding (though there’s nothing wrong about starting from scratch.)

Absolutely agree. There are some really very appropriate for my era, 3d printed structures on both eBay and Esty, usually produced by the same firms. Good quality, reasonable pricing, good shipping, geez what else do we need. To get started, go to Etsy and search for n sale model railroading and just look at the buildings available.

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=n%20scale%20model%20railroading&ref=search_bar

[Rossford Yard]

I would think the sets like the steel mill would be popular in N.  The smaller size of N would allow for a larger, more life like industry.  And the steel mill kits go for a good price so there must be some market there.

I used a few HO BOF and Rolling Mills on my new section of a major steel mill, with some cutting down, but not a lot.  I was tempted to use an HO Blast Furnace, but didn't.  I just ordered one of those rolling mill backdrops off EBay, and when it got here, it was too small to use, so I am filling that space with leftover HO CMP walls instead.

I have used skyscrapers from Bachman, cut the windows in half, and mounted them upside down to get 2 floors out of one.  I have had one of those bi-scale Heljan Brewery kits on every one of my layouts.  I used a Walthers dairy HO building (with the angled shape) with a few doors and windows covered as if boarded up.  I even used the HO Power Plant kit as part of a loads in- empties out scheme on an older layout.

I love pre-builts and ready to plant buildings as much as anyone (although agree it would be nice to have some structures not everyone recognizes) but feel the need to go old school and say that it is "model" railroading, so go really model something, i.e., kit bash or scratch build if necessary, rather than plant it.   Or like many, plant something (even a cardboard box mock up) now with the plan to go back and improve when all the track is laid and layout is operational.

And, while we love to bash Walther's for what we DON'T have in N, we could meditate and then be thankful for all the US themed industrial structures we do have.  I probably couldn't have built 3 N scale layouts with urban and industrial themes without them

[Pomperaugrr]

...

And, while we love to bash Walther's for what we DON'T have in N, we could meditate and then be thankful for all the US themed industrial structures we do have.  I probably couldn't have built 3 N scale layouts with urban and industrial themes without them

That is a good point.

[John]

Absolutely agree. There are some really very appropriate for my era, 3d printed structures on both eBay and Esty, usually produced by the same firms. Good quality, reasonable pricing, good shipping, geez what else do we need. To get started, go to Etsy and search for n sale model railroading and just look at the buildings available.

And you can get some of them for free on Thingiverse -   https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2883660


But go ahead and pay $40 if you want .

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1466388697/3d-printed-ho-or-n-scale-concrete?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=n+scale+model+railroading&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&frs=1&organic_search_click=1

At least give the guy credit for his model -

[thomasjmdavis]

I used a few HO BOF and Rolling Mills on my new section of a major steel mill, with some cutting down, but not a lot.  I was tempted to use an HO Blast Furnace, but didn't.  I just ordered one of those rolling mill backdrops off EBay, and when it got here, it was too small to use, so I am filling that space with leftover HO CMP walls instead.

I have used skyscrapers from Bachman, cut the windows in half, and mounted them upside down to get 2 floors out of one.  I have had one of those bi-scale Heljan Brewery kits on every one of my layouts.  I used a Walthers dairy HO building (with the angled shape) with a few doors and windows covered as if boarded up.  I even used the HO Power Plant kit as part of a loads in- empties out scheme on an older layout.

I love pre-builts and ready to plant buildings as much as anyone (although agree it would be nice to have some structures not everyone recognizes) but feel the need to go old school and say that it is "model" railroading, so go really model something, i.e., kit bash or scratch build if necessary, rather than plant it.   Or like many, plant something (even a cardboard box mock up) now with the plan to go back and improve when all the track is laid and layout is operational.

And, while we love to bash Walther's for what we DON'T have in N, we could meditate and then be thankful for all the US themed industrial structures we do have.  I probably couldn't have built 3 N scale layouts with urban and industrial themes without them

Some HO buildings are so compressed that they may be closer to N scale than HO. I looked at a lot of HO multi-story buildings at one point- on one, the floors scaled about 7 feet apart (in HO)- which works out to 12-13' in N scale. It was less than 2 inches taller than an N scale Lunde building- although I think the Lunde building had 1 more floor. Industrial buildings with few windows, or small windows, are also likely candidates. Those HO rolling mill buildings seem ideal candidates for a kitbash.
My recollection is that the Walthers blast furnace might be an exception- the HO version is much more compressed than the N version- compared to graphics in the Kalmbach steel mill booklet, the N scales out close to a small prototype blast furnace, while the HO scales about 2/3 size in HO, and somewhat too big in N scale.

One advantage folks with layouts have is that they can restrict the number of DPM hardware stores and corner buildings with turrets. When you see a large group of modules set up at a show, there can be 12 or 15 of each- one on each module that has a town.