This special pack buy series features plan 623 the Advance Rail Manufacturing build, plan 624 the C K Edwards Auto Industries building, and plan 622 the Monroe Bros. Steel Fabrication and Construction building. These 3 paper models would look very much at home against the background on an OO scale, HO scale, or N scale model train layout, with a rail yard or trains operating in the foreground. The plans are also ideal for other scale model makers, art and craft hobbyists, or anyone interested in creating realistic diorama scenes. The models are fun to construct, and look wonderfully realistic and truly impressive when completed.

These paper models can be built using cardboard if you are constructing for an N scale railroad, or if you are making the structures for an OO scale or HO scale railroad, then you can use cardboard, foam board, or corflute. The latter two materials are particularly sturdy and thicker, although cardboard can also be very strong after the adhesive has dried. Additional scrap pieces of cardboard, foam board, or corflute can be easily glued inside the models when finished. This is not necessary, but is an option you might like to use.

The completed models can also be sprayed or painted with a clear matt varnish or sealant (such as Mod Podge). Again, this is just an option, and is a good call if you intend to give the models plenty of use over the coming decades. I did mention using cardboard which is really useful for constructing smaller or more fiddly parts. Ordinary cereal box cardboard is perfect when constructing many of the paper models purchased from this website.

On closer inspection of these color plans, you will notice many intricate details that are photographic in style, so resemble real-life features (and imperfections) commonly found on industrial buildings of this nature. Crack in the brickwork, dirt, grime, indications of dampness, etc all add to the realism of these paper models.

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This special buy of 3 structures features plan 619 Gainsborough Group Industrial Equipment building, plan 621 J C Walsh and Sons Engineering building, and plan 620 of the P K Drysdale Manufacturing building.

Download the PDF plans to the size appropriate to your model railroad layout. These full-color paper models are available for construction OO scale, N scale, or HO scale. The paper models can be glued to cardboard, foam board, or corflute board.

Cardboard is particularly suitable for smaller N scale models, and is ideal for constructing some of the smaller parts on HO scale and OO scale models. Following assembly, the constructed models can be sprayed with a couple of light coats of clear matt varnish to provide long term durability. Although not essential, a sealant is a good way of protecting the model in the decades to come. Matt Mod Podge is also a good clear sealant/adhesive which can be painted onto models.

Duplicate copies of the plans can be printed out if you want to make a second model, or add an extension to your first model. There is no additional charge for the extra download, provided it is used for your own personal private non-commercial use.

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This Short 5-Minute Video Tutorial Shows… How To Make 6 “Super-Strong” Scale Model Buildings From Paper, Cardboard, Corflute or Foam Board For A “Super-Realistic” Industrial Background Railroad Scene

Plans For These 6 Scale Model Background Buildings Are 100% Unique and Not Available Elsewhere

Whether you are looking for N scale, OO gauge, or HO scale buildings to complete an industrial background model railroad scene; these PDF paper models are the perfect solution. No waiting, no shipping to pay, simply download the PDF files to your computer and you are ready to get started. All 6 paper models are photographic in design so are wonderfully real-looking, and becoming incredibly strong and durable when constructed using cardboard, foam board, or corflute. You simply download and print the plans onto paper before adhering the printed numbered parts onto the material of your choosing: corflute, cardboard, or foam board. Construction is both straightforward, and inexpensive, making the assembled scale model buildings the perfect choice if you want to complete an impressive industrial backdrop scene for a relatively low cost.

The 6 plans in this series can be used to make OO gauge, N scale, or HO scale buildings which are ready for displaying as a model railroad backdrop. The downloaded plans feature the:

• Gainsborough Group Industrial Equipment Building
• P K Drysdale Manufacturing Building
• J.C. Walsh & Sons Engineering Co. Building
• Monroe Bros. Steel Fabrication & Construction Building
• Advance Rail Manufacturing Building
• C.K. Edwards Auto Industries Building

Not only can you make 6 scale models from just 6 downloads, but each model can be duplicated, or
easily extended by simply printing out a second copy of the plan. The downloads are very adaptable with modifications and extensions only limited by your imagination or the layout space you have available for your industrial background scene. You only pay one time to download the plans, and after that you can print out one or two extra copies without paying for second or third downloads. You save the PDF files on your computer ready for future use.

In addition to the 6 model railroad industries represented above, there are numerous other big and small industries that could be located alongside railroad tracks. Here are 60 plus more ideas for railroad background industries:

So, as you can see, the variety of possible background industries is only limited by your imagination and the backdrop space you have available to use on your scale model train layout. A plastic product manufacturer, for example, could order the plastic pellets by the hopper car load, freight depots could be connected to or inside of passenger stations, printing companies might purchase paper by the boxcar load, bulk liquid trans load facilities could be used for products like corn syrup, and bulk dry trans load facilities for sand / animal feeds / powdered materials / grains / salt / potash / minerals etc. The possibilities for model railroad industries is almost limitless, providing a reason and purpose for operating consists of tank cars, multi-auto stacks, hoppers, flat cars for intermodal containers, box cars, etc. The classification and marshalling rail yards can be kept busy. The model railroad can control speed restrictions, and incorporate hump yards, coaching yards, sick line yards, shunting necks and sorting sidings, etc..

Railroad industries that feed another will typically provide more interesting operation. Grain hoppers from a grain elevator can be on-shipped to a flour mill, and then bags of flour from the mill can be loaded into containers on a train bound for a bread manufacturer. Consider adding a spur (a short branch off the mainline) to service an industry, station or other facility. If you include a big background industry you may require several locations for spotting cars, be it on one spur, on parallel spurs, or on diverging tracks. Think carefully about the level activity expected around an industry. Some big industrial railroad buildings take up a lot of room for only one car at a time. Having a variety of model railroad industries on the same spur will provide plenty of opportunities to do lots of switching possibilities.

You can give purpose to your model railroad by building industries that depend on shipments from one to another, and by establishing interchanges with other railroads, and by creating towns that need passenger service. Freight car forwarding simulates the shipment handling component that gives real railroads their purpose.

The model railroad background industries that allow the greatest variety, in rolling stock and in model railroad operation, include (in no set order):

Interchange track – this can be the perfect option as you can use a variety of cars inbound and outbound. They can be an empty or full load. As an example; a small model train layout could look very realistic with two interchange tracks servicing two other railroads. It might have no industries, yet still be very busy serving as a bridge line.

Chemical plant – could also be a plastics or pharmaceutical factory. Involves the movement of tank cars, covered hoppers, and boxcars to and from the facility.

Meat packing plant – cars containing live stock go into the plant, and refrigerated reefers of processed meat come out. You could also operate tank cars of by-products and boxcars of hides leaving the plant.

Car cleaning facility – most cars need to be cleaned from time to time. The maintenance will vary with boxcars perhaps just needing a swept out, and covered hoppers and tank cars requiring different work.(And if you want to be sneaky, a busy car-cleaning shop is a good justification for those unweathered cars on your model train layout…)

Car repair shop – the Class 1 railroads keep up to date fleets of locomotives and maintain big workshops for servicing their own cars. However, the smaller car-repair shops will work on a range of privately-owned cars, including auto-racks and beer-can tank cars.

Auto factory – There could be a lot of comings and goings including various sized model train boxcars, gondolas carrying coiled steel, tank cars bringing in gasoline and lubricants. Exiting the plant could be auto -racks and tank cars containing waste oil.

Car ferry – this can also offer a variety of movements with car loadings. The ferry will need to keep to schedule, so a car float or ferry would have operational challenges.

Rip track – this yard track (used for light car repairs) can be kept busy on a daily basis servicing a variety of car types. This “industry” requires very little other than a single track with tools and some rusty parts scattered alongside.

Team track – can be used for a variety of model railroad purposes such as an unloading ramp for auto racks dropping off truck chassis to a nearby auto factory. A team track can be used for boxcars and reefers, as well as flat cars and gondolas (if you include a loading dock and crane).

Brewery – a plant like this can have a variety of model train traffic including large covered grain hoppers and grain-loading boxcars. There could also be a variety of tank cars, including cars containing fuel (coal or oil) for the boiler house, food-loading reefers and even gondolas taking away broken glass for recycling. Remember; every large industrial factory needs the occasional delivery of new machinery transported on a flatcar.

Paper mill – this model railroad background industry might be very busy with daily freight and supplies. Inbound loads could include wood-chip cars, bulkhead flats containing pulpwood, tank cars containing various chemicals, special boxcars, and covered hoppers. Outbound traffic would typically include boxcars loaded with giant rolls of paper.

Bottling plant – could unloads tank cars of syrup with simply a pump house and pump alongside a spur with the plant itself (maybe in low relief) being some distance away.

Milk Processing Plant – Makes sense if you have a farm scene included on your layout. The factory could make cheese and ice-cream as well.

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Many HO scale, OO gauge, and N scale model railroads focus around the age of the steam engine, a time when industrialisation and railway expansion changed life forever. The PDF model building plans of model train industries available for sale on this page perfectly reflect the atmosphere of life and character from days gone by. These meticulously detailed miniature scale model train industry models can be downloaded, printed, and assembled using cardboard (cereal boxes work well). Other materials such as balsa wood can also be used (if desired) to add even more detailing and uniqueness to the finished model train industries on the N scale, OO gauge, or HO scale train layout. The plans included easy to follow diagrams to assist with construction. There are also several helpful videos in the top navigation bar demonstrating construction methods for this type of scale models.

Download plans for these industrial structures directly to your computer in PDF format. When purchasing, simply plans select either from the OO / HO or N scale options. Following purchase you will obtain access to the MY ACCOUNT area (a link is located at the top of each web page) where you can easily access your purchases ready for downloading onto your computer to use or keep for future use.

Replicating A Real Life Authentic Industrial Railway Scene
With Actual Model Train Industries

To function, steam engines and factories needed water reservoirs or towers like the scale models featured here. In days gone by, city life revolved around manufacturing and factories just like the scale model brick buildings and warehouses seen here. Many factories needed brick or stone chimneys for the safe release of the combustion gases, just like the examples available here. Rail transport played a vital role in the transportation of raw materials and goods to and from factories for many decades following the industrial revolution, so having a railway setup with model train industries makes a lot of sense.

When It All Began

Some of us will remember learning about the Industrial Revolution that began in the 18th century. It was a time when rural agricultural based life changed to become more industrialized and urban based. Electricity and inventions such as the cotton gin permanently changed the way society operated. The first factories were built as was the transcontinental railroad.

This carried through to the Second Industrial Revolution which saw the rapid development of mass production and transportation that in turn made life a lot faster.

From the late 19th to the early 20th centuries, cities and towns grew, factories sprawled. Instead of people’s lives being regulated by sunshine to grow crops and work the farms, the factory clock became the controlling factor for many city folk.

There were rapid advances in the creation and use of steel, and chemicals. Wider availability of electricity aided production capacity, including the manufacture of mass-produced consumer goods and then weapons. Advancements in transportation made it easier to transport goods, and for people to move around on trains, automobiles and bikes. The development and expansion of railroads were responsible for transporting much of the production. Communications improved and ideas spread via newspapers, the radio, telephones, and the telegraph. Life suddenly got a whole lot faster. Train transport of goods, chemicals, and raw materials played an important part in the industrialization of western civilization.

Factory assembly lines arrived thanks to innovations in the production line technology. This was assisted by advancements in materials and the industrial tool-making that led to the mass production all types of goods changing the way families lived, as well as changing the physical landscape. Factories produced automobiles, canned goods, over-the-counter drugs, household appliances including sewing machines, steel girders necessary to build skyscrapers, and railroad tracks that cut through the countryside, the plains and mountains.

The development of long-distance transportation networks serviced people and cities connecting them by rail, steamship, roads, and canals. This opened new markets for farmers, manufacturers and bankers who could take the natural resources and manufactured goods to a global marketplace. Scenery on a railroad layout with model trains transporting freight to and from an industrial area is a wonderful way to re-enact the important role the railways had in advancement of living standards in the west.

The factories and buildings pictured on this page are typical brick style structures that have played an that type of vital role in manufacturing and transportation over the years. Water reservoirs where essential to keep factories and steam trains running. Brick masonry industrial chimneys and boilers were integral to the operations of many factories, and warehouses were necessary for the safe storage and loading of mass produced products.

Water Tank Reservoir Buildings

The traditional style water towers pictured on this page will bring an atmosphere of life and character to any HO scale, OO gauge, or N scale model railway. They are incredibly realistic in appearance and can easily be constructed from card, or corflute. Painted balsa wood can also be used to add extra detailing such as the addition of ladders, fencing, posts, trestles etc.

The amount of detail you add, or how much you vary and adapt your finished scale models from these plans, is really over to the individual hobbyist to decide. The important thing however; is that these downloaded plans can be easily be adapted with a little creative thinking, and once downloaded, additional copies can be printed out to extend or replicate each model.

Let’s now look at a bit of history. Elevated brick or stone masonry water storage tanks were used for municipal water systems and industrial factory complexes in the late nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth century. At the height of the steam engine age these giant structures were found in many large train depots and terminals in both the USA and UK.

The construction of elevated water reservoirs was to enable storage of water for fire protection and to maintain a constant water pressure for factories.

Many communities and industrial enterprises in need of water works were not located near natural reservoirs, or were in locations where man-made ground reservoirs were not viable. This resulted in the need for water towers, standpipes, and elevated tanks of various designs.

Factory operations often required large volume of water for manufacturing and production to continue uninterrupted, and as an emergency backup reserve supply for fire protection. The supply couldn’t be subject to pressure changes, or cause possible interruptions to the factory, or the local town water system. These elevated tower structures supporting a water tank were constructed to a height sufficient enough to pressurize a water distribution system. Pipes were often concealed inside or behind brickwork.

So, in simple terms this style of tall brick water tower was essentially a raised tank for the short-term storage of water thereby allowing a constant flow to citizens or industries to during peaks in use. The original source of the water supply could have been a nearby lake or reservoir, perhaps a river, or a well, or a deep bore-hole. In higher geographical regions, the source might have been a reservoir located in the hills, where the fresh water could flow down through the treatment works under its own gravity.

Water towers really began to develop and proliferate during the 19th century. This was partially due to the increased availability of cast iron piping and tanks replacing earlier designs constructed from lead or wood. Cast iron was definitely a more stronger material, and this in turn made storage of larger volumes of water more feasible. This was an important development due to the weight of water, and the storage tanks which needed to withstand a pressure of around 224 gallons of water weight per 1 ton.

As history shows, the period from the mid 19th century saw a massive expansion in the railways. Steam engines (iron horses) required a considerable amount of water, and many water towers with cast iron tanks were constructed along the many rail line routes. Water tower building tailed off after World War Two.

Brick Masonry Industrial Chimneys

Masonry brick or stone chimneys were key elements of industrial factory buildings. The main function of an industrial chimney being the release of the combustion gases. They came in varying heights, with the vast majority of early industrial chimneys were quite slender being constructed from brick masonry.

The chimneys were basically made of three parts: the base, a stack and a crown. The base, which didn’t actually exist in some industrial chimneys, is the lower element positioned between the stack (the main body of the chimney), and the ground foundation. Industrial chimneys came in different shapes, namely, circular, quadrangular, or octagonal, with some having decorative elements on the sides and on the transition to the stack.

The classic industrial chimneys were designed to sustain the self-weight imposed on them, and to withstand wind forces. The industrial chimneys generally had a stack with a truncated cone shape. There were also stacks designed with truncated pyramid shapes some displaying octagonal cross, or square sections. It was generally thought that having a circular shape made it easier to expel the gases, and this design also provided less resistance to the wind. The circular shape stood up well to the wind forces by minimising the impact of wind on the structure. However, the circular shape was often used where there was a lower consumption of material, and the bricks were often rounded in shape to adapt to the chimney’s overall geometry. The upper part of the stack usually had an ornamental crown to complete the chimney design.

Industrial chimneys higher than 100ft (30 m) were typically a feature of major industries. The height of industrial chimneys was often determined by the proximity to nearby populations as the higher the chimney, the less likely people were affected by the smoke billowing out the top.

The foundations of industrial chimneys typically comprised a bottom layer of concrete, and on top of that was the masonry of the chimney base or stack. The stack itself was generally constructed using several layers of brick rows that was divided into equal parts with consistent thickness of each section. The height of each section depended on the total height of the chimney. To ensure maximum stability, the lower section would have been wider and thicker, having the largest number of rows of bricks along the thickness.

The perimeter and throughout the height of the chimney, the bricks were typically arranged in a transverse direction, which linked the different rows of bricks of the chimney’s walls. The actual transition between consecutive sections would have corresponded to the reduction in the chimney walls’ thickness by one brick. The upper section of the chimney might have had a thickness of two bricks.

Plans for the OO, N scale, and HO scale model industrial buildings available for sale here on this web page can be constructed from cardstock and some balsa wood which can be covered with the printed out textures, or simply painted using acrylic paints. Cardboard is the main component use in the construction of these miniature structures. The PDF plans include: 2 water tower reservoirs, a brewing factory, a boiler house with a tall brick chimney, a steel industry plant, and a factory freight warehouse… all of which can be built to HO scale size, N scale, or made for OO gauge model railways.

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