Really small railroad stations: thoughts on the new WS station

how small is it? a lot of railroads had small stations on branch lines but my problem is unless you modify it like you did with the quonset hut  they are all belly button models (same on everybody's layout). it's great for the xmas time train set crowd and the inexperienced hobbyist  but with a little time, material, and imagination makes it so much better. look at some of what you and tom yorke have done with the Ameritown buildings. now they are worthwhile to put on a layout.........

I think the new station looks great, although it would not hold a lot of daily commuters. At 11 3/4 x 6 1/2, it is a bit large for my small layout. I'm making due with a Lionel covered platform full of people, which is about 12 x 3 1/2.

If this is the WS station you are refering to:

It reminds me of the St. James LIRR Railroad Station. This is the oldest remaining station on Long Island.

Thanks guys.  The LI station looks to be that size, so there really were stations that small.  Good to know and lots of detail to copy there in the photos.  Thank you.

As to the size, and think 11 3/4 by 6 1/2 is the whole platform it is on, which I plan to remove and use only a small part of.

Found one more picture of parking lot side of station.

Pat Kn,

I agree with Lee, that is a great example!  I may refer to those photos as well!  Thank you!

I intend to buy one for my small steam era layout, with a small village.  Small, yes.  Now that I have the Menards Hobby Shop, it looks like it belongs in a larger town than I have. I need some 2 story buildings to compliment it.

But I digressed.  The new WS station will be the ticket as far as size goes.  I may remove some semaphore and some other details that make it look turn of the last century, but I'll be in no rush!

Lee,

Your red outline on your photo looks like you intend to do away with the outdoor lift On the garage.  Yes, one wouldn't see that in Pennsylvania with our changing weather.  Do you plan to fit the lift inside the garage or use it elsewhere?

Thank you!

Mark i disagree there is a shop in Austintown oh that has a rack outside today. my grandfathers shop had a rack outdoors in youngstown oh. that is the differece between auto mechanics and today's techs. my shop in Tn had 3 Rotary lifts all in a comfortable, heated shop for today's tech. so in the 50's and 60's era outdoor racks were more common place.

That Long Island station looks like one in the small SW Michigan town where I saw

the Little River Logging Co. Pacific (running tourist trains) and a string of those

WWII troop cars.  Sturgis, Mich.?...forgot the name.  Across the tracks from it was

a much larger freight house, and while I thought that WS station was too "northeast",

the Michigan staton disproves that.

I like the look of the model and the LIRR pics.

The small building will fit good on our small layouts!

I remember seeing a small station in northern Pennsylvania.  It was in a rather wild and secluded area where we would go hunting and had our cabin.

Also,driving through the Adirondacks,I remember a small rural station in one of those isolated little towns.  Don't forget to add a post office!

Norm

69nickeycamaro,

Well there you go, Austintown isn't far from Butler, so I stand corrected.  As they say, there's a prototype for everything.  I should have known better.  I have seen tripods for lifting engines outdoors, but can't recall an outdoor lift.  Thank you!

Drifton (PA?) circa 1916:

Rusty

This is and older picture of the Milford Michigan station on the Pere Marquette railroad where I live. I grew up in Plymouth it had a smaller depot as well.

I think the WS station is a hit...

The Long Island Railroad had numerous "shelter sheds" at low volume Stations that had no ticket agents.   They did a good job of keeping waiting passengers out of the wind and the rain.

I just got mine from Crescent Locomotive Works. I ponied-up and got the curved platforms. David is very reasonable and does beautiful work.

The Woodland Scenics train station is one that I have my eye on to use at my beach resort area for vacationers arriving by train.

That certainly is a nice one, Gilly!  Yes, very reasonably priced too!

Here's a couple small station.

Another small depot (turned yard office,) Durand, Kansas circa 1978:

One of my MoPac computer accounts back in the day.  Every time they ran the copy machine, it knocked the computer offline. 

The clerks told me that headquarters said if it ever caught fire, walk to the nearest telephone and call the fire department...

Rusty

In the image below, you see a photo of the train station(s) in Huntingdon, PA, the town where I spent the Fifties.  In the middle, you can see the four-track PRR mainline, in a rare empty moment.  On the right is the passenger shed for the PRR station, just visible at the extreme right of the photo.

Across the tracks is the Huntingdon station of the shortline Huntingdon & Broad Top Mountain railroad, a small station if ever there was one.  It's not a very good photo of it, but it's the best I could find.  This was the interchange between the HBT and the PRR.

I spent a lot of time in and around that station as a kid, and I can at least describe it to you.  It was a single waiting room with wooden benches along the walls and a potbelly stove.  A roof above the baggage platform extended beyond the waiting room on both sides, and there were usually empty baggage carts parked beneath it.  One is barely visible in this photo.  Although it's difficult to see, the HBT spur runs behind the station, just to its left.

When the HBT went bankrupt in 1953, the PRR took over the station and used it for its own passenger operations.  In the late Fifties, my aunt and cousin waited in that station for the PRR train that took them home to Northumberland, PA.

Also visible at the far left, of course, is the crossing gate and the gateman's elevated shack.

Small or not, fantasy or not, as soon as this station hits the market, its going on the layout! Already got a spot for it.

.

I have a "built up" small station from Atlas, I think, that fits the bill on our layout. It is now no longer a passenger stop, but is still a train order station with an operator and the train orderboard out front at trackside.

I designed a small Mission style station years ago....never went into production. I will dig it out and photo it. If it works for you we can do something. 

Yepper, she be small.

But for most O3R layouts, small is good.

In fact, I look at this latest WS offering as an '-esque'....it's 'stationesque'.

IOW, when space is limited, we tend to need items that are more suggestive than accurate scale models, fully proportioned.

I believe the WS offering embodies all the elements of....a depot.  Ergo, the viewer will understand that this justifies the ubiquitous station-stop, the town's steel-ribbon connection to the outside world. 

That said, the common passion in this forum for  2-10-10-2's, 4-8-8-4's, 2-8-8-8-2's, and 2-4-6-8's...et alia...puts this diminutive stop at a disadvantage.  In fact, it almost becomes the 'fire hydrant' for the passing behemoths, does it not?

Too bad. 

I like it's 'stationesque' qualities, and I give it a standing ovation!  it WILL find a place on my layout...proudly. 

Woodland Scenics!....you rock!

KD

About the same size, this is the Midway Station and Hotel that used to sit at the exact midpoint between New York and Boston on the New Haven Shore Line.

I found a few small stations on this site Lee.

http://www.laserkit.com/bldgo2.htm

Ron

Depends on the area. Low volume passenger/freight traffic means a smaller depot. Here are a couple of examples.

Highland, California (Redlands Loop/San Bernardino). The depot was moved off site and is now a residence a few miles away. The foundation is still there and visible from aerial photos. I measured it and it's smaller than even this photo implies.

Palmer Lake, Colorado.

 Even smaller was the ATSF Depot in Hulah, OK. I don't remember where I found this drawing, but it's actually good enough to build a model from if one was so inclined.

I have always like the looks of that "Springfield" station.  With that Santa Fe staion

at Palmer Lake on  the Joint Line, I wonder what the D&RGW station there looked

like.

I was hoping somebody would post a picture of the station discussed here.......?

(unless it is the one Pat Kn posted)

Since when have O gaugers been looking for big stations anyway, with all the

Plasticville in use, etc.?

The Reading RR station "Spring Mill" on the main line outside of Conshohocken was about the size you guys are talking about. All that was in the station was a waiting room, ticket agent window with a small freight area behind as I remember. No longer there. There is still a shelter shed on the out bound side.

The new Woodland Scenics depot is currently the only item on my "most wanted" list.

Lots of small stations on the former DL&W  - now NJ transit Morris & Essex Gladstone Branch.

This is my hometown station in Far Hills

This is the former Far Hills station in the early 1900's..

Down the road from me, the end of the line in Gladstone - there are two stations - one in the Peapack section, and the terminus in Gladstone in the Borough of Peapack - Gladstone

Peapack's station....

End of the line in Gladstone.

Lots more small stations exist on the branch from Gladstone to Summit

Check Google images for the MARC stations in Dickerson, MD and Barnesville, MD. Both are active stations on the CSX mains. Both are quite small and very photogenic.