# N Scale Lighthouse??



## SantaFeKid1 (May 1, 2016)

My wife (yes, My wife) and I are building our first model railroad. We want to create a Pacific Ocean scene with a lighthouse. We were inspired by the attached photos. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to purchase an N Scale Lighthouse?


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Lighthouse model*



SantaFeKid1 said:


> My wife (yes, My wife) and I are building our first model railroad. We want to create a Pacific Ocean scene with a lighthouse. We were inspired by the attached photos. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to purchase an N Scale Lighthouse?


SantaFeKid1;

There may some commercial kits available. Check out www.walthers.com They are the biggest model railroad supplier in the U.S. Walthers publishes printed catalogues for various scales. I just looked through my 2014 Walthers N-scale catalogue and did not find any lighthouse kits. The few commercial lighthouse kits I've seen were HO-scale, expensive, and did not look anything like the lighthouses in your photos. You might want to consider scratch-building your lighthouse. I did, and it wasn't hard. Real lighthouses tended to be one of a kind structures, constructed on site and customized to each location. Most east coast lighthouses were built too close to sea level for maximum visibility from out at sea. The west coast lighthouses were built higher up. Often they were too high up! Our local Point Loma lighthouse is an example of this. The historic light, on top of a hill is now a part of the Cabrillo national monument, and no longer used. A modern automated light tower now guards Point Loma from lower down. 
My scratch-built lighthouse, and keeper's cottage are made from real pebbles cast in plaster. The lighthouse tower was formed around a Styrofoam cone, like those sold at craft stores. The wet plaster was brushed on; and the tower assembly rolled in pebbles. After that dried, I added an outer layer of plaster. With the outer plaster hard, I sanded off some of the plaster to expose the "N-scale stones". The windows are Grandt Line brand commercial castings. (Walthers sells them).
The conical roof is an inverted child's top, and the tear drop shaped finial at the roof peak is a drop of hot glue. I used similar plaster and pebbles construction and Grandt Line window and door castings for the cottage. Later, I cut out the Styrofoam core from the tower and added brass steps and railings inside. I also built an operating. revolving, light with brass tubing and a slow speed gear motor. I plan to replace the oversize light bulb with a smaller LED in the future. You could use painted PVC sprinkler pipe to make a simpler concrete tower. that would look more like the lighthouses in your photos. It would also make construction much easier.

Good Luck;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## SantaFeKid1 (May 1, 2016)

Thank you for the reply, suggestions and photos. Congrats on your scratch work!!! I'll take a good look at making our own lighthouse.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Walthers shows two N scale ones on their website. This one: https://www.walthers.com/products/layout/structures/waterfront/rocky-point-lighthouse-kit isn't a very good match, although it appears to be readily available.

This one: https://www.walthers.com/products/l...-lighthouse-1-5-8-x-7-1-2-quot-4-2-dia-x-19cm
would require less modification, but it's pricey and special order.

I'm thinking a better bet might be, as traction fan suggests, to start with one of those Styrofoam cones for floral decorations, cover it with spackle / drywall mud, add a door casting at the bottom and window / walkway castings at the top.


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## gary60s (Nov 4, 2013)

I've done scratch plans for an N scale lighthouse, but it's a Lake Michigan style. Go Here : http://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=31109.0 and scroll down. It's number 79.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*PVC Lighthouse*



SantaFeKid1 said:


> Thank you for the reply, suggestions and photos. Congrats on your scratch work!!! I'll take a good look at making our own lighthouse.


SantaFeKid1;

I just took another look at the photos you posted of real lighthouses. They are straight cylinders, not cones. This should make building your own, from scratch, quite easy. Buy the appropriate size PVC sprinkler pipe at your local home improvement store. I'd suggest getting the thick-walled kind called "schedule 40"
It is stronger, and therefore less likely to crack from cutting window and door openings. Cutting the openings could be made easier by using a hot Xacto type knife. This might mean you could use thinner walled PVC. www.harborfreighttools.com has this type of tool. It is sold as a "wood-burning tool kit." The kit contains a soldering iron and many different types of tips, including a #11 Xacto knife blade that attaches to the iron. The window castings from Grant Line are plastic, and should glue to the PVC well. If you need any wider areas at the top or bottom, PVC straight coupling pieces should do. The child's top I used is also plastic. They are cheap little trinkets, often given away at school Halloween carnivals.

Good Luck;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## wis bang (Aug 6, 2015)

The east coast lighthouses, Like Cape May, NJ are tapered brick, how about using a smoke stack, even from a larger scale, and fab the top?


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

wis bang said:


> The east coast lighthouses, Like Cape May, NJ are tapered brick, how about using a smoke stack, even from a larger scale, and fab the top?


I think that would probably be too narrow, unless you're talking about an HO smokestack in N scale.


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