The photos aboveshow a Rix house kit with its porch moved to the right and enclosed. New windows and the lattice give it a different look. A cut-down AHM/IHC San Francisco house kit (below left) is
more ornate. It is in good condition and painted in “heritage” colors. The wheel strips on the steep driveway are still found in older parts of towns. The same kit provided parts for the white Victorian house.
crete driveway that has plenty of pen- cil line cracks. Some grass and small bushes, not tall enough to cover up the white lattice, finished this project. This is one of my favorite modifications and one that I have been wanting to try since I saw a similar house built by John Nehrich for the New England Berkshire & Western layout at RPI many years ago. The side view picture shows the addition of awnings, base- ment windows, basement outside entry and an oil heat tank. The window fan and outdoor clothes line could place this home back in the steam to diesel transition era. The old AHM/IHC San Francisco
town house kits have so much charac- ter and so many unique parts that I couldn’t pass one up at a swap meet. I knew it wouldn’t fit in any of my towns if built according to the directions. As a result, it has been on the shelf for many years. Recently I did a little planning, took a deep breath, and took out my saw. The resulting small house
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
could now fit in a western scene or pos- sibly in the old part of town near the railroad tracks.
I put it on a hill using the part of the
Bachmann stone wall with the entrance. An older style driveway with two con- crete (styrene) strips seemed appropri- ate. On the side by the hill I added crib- bing, a cellar door, grass and bushes. Another one of the AHM/IHC San
Francisco town house kits will end up on the same hilly street. It is an old, small, white ornate house meant to be from an earlier era. There is no drive- way, as automobiles were not a consid- eration when this house was built. In front of the house the rest of the Bach- mann stone wall was used to replicate a retaining wall typical of those found along streets in hilly areas in the west, such as Central City, Colorado. To me, the various yard levels add interest over flat table tops and make downplaying the backdrop easier. The addition of a few trees, a trellis with roses, a bench, a couple of flower pots
and extending the stairway to the street makes this a more interesting scene. You hardly notice that the rest of the house is pretty plain. After seeing this photo I think a few plants with flowers added to front of the house would be a nice improvement. Inciden- tally, one of the bay windows from the AHM/IHC town houses was used on the side of the Rix house. Now retired, I have time to build some of these house kits into homes. Not having a layout has given me an unexpected freedom to use my creativi- ty instead of having to build a specific, prototypical structure to fill a layout void. It has been nice to be able to build something without the stress of rushing to finish things for an upcoming open house or operating session. I’ve always found the most pleasure in doing some- thing unique and adding the details, more than the continual maintenance required on a large layout. I have even given away a few of the buildings to friends who are modelers.
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