# Looking for residential structures and terrain modeling software



## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

Hi there fellow N Scalers!

As the title states I'm having a bit of trouble finding houses. I should say, "unique" houses-Barb's bungalow will not be finding a spot on my layout. I like some of the euro stuff (faller/vollmer) but they're a bit big, and otherwise pickin's are slim.

I don't really have time to scratch build, so I've considered going the card stock route but again, the hobby seems to cater to industrial rather than residential so I'm not having much luck there either.

Any ideas?

Also, while I've found tons of track planning software I haven't been able to find any to model terrain. I'm not "artsy" in the least and trying to picture in my head what I'd like isn't working.
Does such a thing exist?

Thank you!


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## usafajk324 (Jul 31, 2019)

*3D printing*

Have you tried looking at 3D prints? Some websites post the files for free to print yourself, others require you to select someone to print for you. 

If you can find anything you like, I can try to print it and send it to you if I can get a good quality print out.


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

If you've got $15-$20 per structure to spend and can do with 1950's-1960's prototypes; check out the Imex products at hobbylinc. com. I can't say I have any of the residential houses, but I have a collection of trailers, garages, cottages and such I'm working with. Some are quite realistic while a few are rather "toylike"; but they're made of virtually indestructible cast resin. And although their order processing can be slow, hobbylinc.com is my "go-to" online hobby shop - their prices are fair, their inventory is usually accurate, and their selection is second to none that I know of.


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

Gents I need to thank you both!

I did respond but apparently it went to moderation...or possibly the spam filter....either way I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you!

I'll give it another day or two and if it still doesn't show up I'll try to recap what I'd written.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*houses*



gimme30 said:


> Hi there fellow N Scalers!
> 
> As the title states I'm having a bit of trouble finding houses. I should say, "unique" houses-Barb's bungalow will not be finding a spot on my layout. I like some of the euro stuff (faller/vollmer) but they're a bit big, and otherwise pickin's are slim.
> 
> ...


gimme30;

The preponderance of model industrial structure kits over residential ones is easy to explain. It would be very weird to find a real-life suburban residential development that had a railroad siding serving it. (Though, in the model world, it seems that, on many a track-heavy 4x8 layout; everyone has a railroad track, or two, or six, in their backyard! Must get awfully noisey for the model residents with a train going by every few seconds! :laugh: ) 
These days fewer and fewer small industries are rail-served too, but at one time many were. Few model railroads have room for both an industrial district and a residential one, so most modelers opt for industries where their trains can set out, and pick up, freight cars. 

All that said, there are some N-scale homes out there, albeit not many. Have you looked on www.walthers.com ? They have an extensive list of what's available in model railroad products, including a whole section on structures. If you can't find what you want there, then kit-bashing and/or scratch-building may be necessary. It's not hard, or very time consuming, to scratchbuild a structure, especially one as small, and simple, as a house. I scratch-built all the N-scale structures in the photos plus many more. However, some of the structures in the background are commercial kits, including the red brick mansion, now there is a "unique house!" 

Another thing about houses, few are unique. Indeed common practice is to build nearly identical plan homes to make up an entire sub-division. The external paint color, a few trim options, orientation of the home on it's lot, and maybe an extra room,or two are typically the only variations between the homes that make up a neighborhood. So "Barb" and her neighbors might have several near-identical bungalows. This phenomenon is not new. "Cookie cutter" suburbs go back to the post WWII Levittown development, and Sears mail order, full-size, house kits even further.

There is, or at least was, a track planning software program called "3D plan it" that showed suggested terrain in addition to the track routes. You might check to see if it's still available. 

Good luck, have fun;

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

love that water tower


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

Well it looks like my overly long but well written, entertaining and incredibly witty response has gone to the land of missing posts.
Oh well! Such is life online eh?

Anyhoo...I do appreciate everyone's insight, and thank you usafajk324 for your generous offer. I may indeed wind up going the 3d route but as of yet haven't had much time to research what's available. I did poke around Shapeways a bit and it seems like the sky's the limit-if only that were the case with my wallet!

Gnfan I like Hobbylinc too and there is no question they've got the largest selection of structures online I've seen yet. The Imex structures aren't exactly what I'm thinking but could potentially be bashed into something else....I've never worked with resin though and I'm not sure how or if it could be cut cleanly. The price is certainly right!

TF I get what you're saying about few houses being unique, perhaps I should have said I'm looking for something a little less "bland"? I'm in Colorado and while there's no shortage of cookie-cutter tract housing out here there's plenty of simply gorgeous architecture as well. 
What strikes me odd is, if _I_ were a model manufacturer, it would never occur to me to build a "Barb's bungalow." I'd think Tudor, Victorian, Antebellum...maybe something along the lines of a southern plantation, Roman columns and all. Something with style!

Railroads were/are meant to serve industry so I understand model manufacturers aren't going to focus much on residences. 

But where are all my little n scale people going to go after work?


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

I'm not sure the Imex structures are "bashable"; they're not solid resin, but the walls are like 3/16" thick and features like windows and doors are molded in.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*The "painted ladies"*



gimme30 said:


> Well it looks like my overly long but well written, entertaining and incredibly witty response has gone to the land of missing posts.
> Oh well! Such is life online eh?
> 
> Anyhoo...I do appreciate everyone's insight, and thank you usafajk324 for your generous offer. I may indeed wind up going the 3d route but as of yet haven't had much time to research what's available. I did poke around Shapeways a bit and it seems like the sky's the limit-if only that were the case with my wallet!
> ...




gimme30;

Have you checked out IHC's (International Hobby Corporation) N-scale models of five "gingerbread houses?" They are about as Victorian as you can get, with lots of fancy trim.(Major painting chore!) 
The IHC models are based on the famous "Painted Ladies" homes in San Francisco. If you remember the old TV series, "Full House", the real houses were one of the background scenes used behind the opening credits for that show. 
Maybe they will help house some of "the little people" on your layout.

Back to your original post's comments on modeling terrain. Making model railroad scenery/terrain requires all the artistic talent possessed by the average fire hydrant. :laugh:
It is very simple to build, and requires no art education whatsoever
. As for planning what kind of terrain your railroad might pass through, just think like a railroad civil engineer for a minute. His/her idea of a great route for the track is one that is, "As flat as a pancake, and as straight as an arrow." Unfortunately, Mother Nature is rarely that accommodating. So , things like grades, curves, bridges, and tunnels, may be needed. The engineer's job is to keep all these expensive (to operate over, as well as to construct) items to a minimum. Railroads, (and highways) often follow rivers through mountains for example. This is because a few million years of erosion have helped create an easier route. Your model scenery doesn't need to be perfect, just plausible. The scenery should be based on what kind of railroad you want to model. If it's one of the "grainger routes" that crossed the great plains, then things are going to be pretty flat. If you want to feature helper service, then a grade that at least appears to be steep enough to require helpers will be needed. 
You don't need to invent terrain. The prototype railroads have already had to adapt to almost any kind of terrain imaginable, so copy what they did as nearly as practical, and your scenery will be convincing.

good luck, have fun;

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Thanks*



sid said:


> love that water tower


 sid;

Thanks for the compliment on my water tower. Here's another look at it.

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

wow it even has water in it very nice. i likes . thanks fer posting pics


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

gimme30 said:


> But where are all my little n scale people going to go after work?


Levittown? Many of the Imex houses at hobbylinc.com are based on Levittown prototypes. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

Lol I had no idea such a place existed! I don't know why but for some reason looking at pics of Levittown reminds me of the movie Downsizing. 
I can't imagine living like that. I'm not THAT much of a people person.

Traction Fan I am familiar with the painted ladies, having built one in HO. I wasn't aware they were available in N! I'll admit they have pretty facades but from the back and sides they look like any other 2 story box. Still, one could fit nicely on my layout, especially considering my smallish neighborhood will be built on a hill. 
Your comment about the fire hydrant cracked me up but I'm pretty sure in a contest it would still win. :goofball: 
Your (very much appreciated!) advice got me thinking...and you're right, I've made this much more difficult than it needs to be. I was able to spend some time last night mocking up terrain with towels draped over chunks of foam and I think I've come up with something that will work. In my particular case I don't need anything prototypically correct so close enough is good enough!

I'm not sure if it's allowed so I won't post the name of the site or links, but I ran across a gent on another forum who has created quite a few templates of houses that can be printed and transferred to styrene, none of which I'd ever seen before and some are quite different than the usual offerings. I don't have time to scratch build but these, after cutting out the parts, would really be more like building a kit.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

gimme30 said:


> I'll admit they have pretty facades but from the back and sides they look like any other 2 story box.


So do an awful lot of real houses.... Change them up a little: add some trim; cut an extra window opening. Add a deck or a patio. A whole lot of suburban neighborhoods in this country have houses that started out looking extremely similar until their owners started personalizing them. In my development of 32 houses, there are 3 prototypes, built in a left-hand or right-hand mirror image. But i only know that because I know the builder's son. You'd never know it on a quick drive through the neighborhood.



gimme30 said:


> I'm not sure if it's allowed so I won't post the name of the site or links, but I ran across a gent on another forum who has created quite a few templates of houses that can be printed and transferred to styrene, none of which I'd ever seen before and some are quite different than the usual offerings. I don't have time to scratch build but these, after cutting out the parts, would really be more like building a kit.


And how would that not be scratchbuilding? Anyway, you have all the time in the world. It's not a race. If you must have a structure there, glue photos or even the printed plans to pieces of foam core or gatorfoam and drop them in to place. Then replace them with more permanent structures as you finish other tasks that seem more pressing to you.


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## gimme30 (Jul 26, 2018)

I don't consider it scratch building since the design and dimensions are already provided, but I suppose it's not too far off! 

Since I'm at the terrain building stage I can get by with cardboard placeholders while the search goes on. Turns out there are appropriately sized dollhouses (of all things!) on ebay that could possibly be converted for use on a layout, and I'm negotiating with someone on Shapeways who claims he's got the files to print the McCormick house. ( a Victorian in Trinidad) 

Funny how many HO houses come up when searching for N....When I move in 2 years I'm going to make darn sure I have space for a layout in that scale!

Out of curiosity, have you guys been able to get by with what's available, or have you been forced to improvise? Or do you just avoid the whole residential thing entirely?


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Houses? houses? We don't need no stinking houses!*



gimme30 said:


> I don't consider it scratch building since the design and dimensions are already provided, but I suppose it's not too far off!
> 
> Since I'm at the terrain building stage I can get by with cardboard placeholders while the search goes on. Turns out there are appropriately sized dollhouses (of all things!) on ebay that could possibly be converted for use on a layout, and I'm negotiating with someone on Shapeways who claims he's got the files to print the McCormick house. ( a Victorian in Trinidad)
> 
> ...


gimme30;

Most scratchbuilt structures are built from scaled-down prototype plans, which have the design, and dimensions, included. I've also worked solely from photos, in some cases. Even then though, I had the design right in the photo, and the dimensions could be "guesstimated" pretty accurately from people, or objects, shown in the photo. Both my tiny Black River station and the large Seattle Union Station scratch-builds were done using photos, rather than scale plans. 

I don't understand how dollhouses could be used on an N-scale, or HO-scale, layout. Dollhouses are typically 1/12th scale or 1/24th scale models. N-scale is 1/160th scale, and HO-scale is 1/87th scale. I would think that a dollhouse would be far too big for either. 

There is so much stuff available in N-scale that no one could afford to buy even one of every item. That said, there is even more available in HO-scale, since it's #1 in popularity, instead of #2. (N-scale) This probably means more house kits too. I've also seen some "N-scale" factory and warehouse kits from Pola that were really HO-scale kits, complete with HO-scale bricks, doorways, and window openings. They were supposedly "N-scale" because they came with fill-in adapters with (sort-of) "N-scale" doors and windows. This was the manufacturer's way to sell the same kit, cast from the same molds, in two different scales.

As for: "What do I use for houses on my own layout?" Well, not much. My layout is a two-level bookshelf design only 16" deep in most places. There are certain prototype scenes that I wanted to (loosely) represent, and amazingly enough, all of them are right next to the railroad tracks! 
Since people don't normally build the home where they plan to sleep nights, right next to a railroad track, there are very few model houses on my layout. I do have all five of the "Painted Ladies" (kits), the mansion (kit) shown in one of my photos, I also have N-scale kits for a hotel that was right across the street from Seattle Union Station, some "Downtown Seattle" vintage brick commercial buildings, a restaurant(kit), a firehouse(kit), a gas station,(kit) two tenement-type apartment buildings, (kits) and several rail-served small industries(scratch), also the lighthouse keeper's stone cottage (Both the lighthouse, and the cottage, are two of my many scratch-builds.) Then there are retail stores (kits) Four railroad stations: one large, (my centerpiece scratchbuilt model of Union Station) one medium, Cedar Falls Station ( a laser-cut wood kit) one structure flat (scratchbuilt King St. Station.) and one tiny, Black River train order station. (scratch)
A water tower (scratch), two interlocking towers,(kits) several bridges, including a kitbash of the huge Salmon Bay Drawbridge, a scratchbuilt covered bridge, three deck-girder bridges (kits) , a long wooden truss bridge (scratch) and a large steel trestle. (kit bashed) There is also a see-through Railway Express building flat, and an ice house (kit) to serve express refer cars. That's quite enough structures for a medium size shelf layout!  
Only a handful are residential, but for modeling the area "down by the tracks", they shouldn't be.

Traction Fan :smilie_daumenpos:


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## GNfan (Jun 3, 2016)

To be perfectly honest, you could buy $200 worth of the Imex houses at hobbylinc; paint them different colors, add assorted details, give each one a 6"x9" plot, add streets, driveways, trees, vehicles, etc. and you'd have a "reasonable facsimile" of a residential area in either the city I grew up in (Edmonds, WA) or the city I've lived in for the past 35 years (Richland, WA) in the same house. And I live maybe 5 miles from a very active branchline.


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