Industry size in O scale
For me, the best thing about O scale is that it is BIG. The trains are
big and heavy, which lets them represent the mass of the real thing
in ways the smaller scales can’t. A nine- or 10-pound locomotive
and a string of 16 - 18-ounce freight cars crossing a set of diamonds
or even some rail joints results in great sound. Structures can also
be large and imposing. Large buildings and mountaintops can rise
well above eye level. A typical mountain on my layout is Mount
Chapman which tops out at 77” above the floor. Thirty-inch-tall
Summit Trestle curves in front of Mount Chapman.
On the other hand, the worst thing about O scale is that it is big.
Track planning must be done carefully, since everything takes up so
much space. Those large industrial structures also are real space-
eaters. Altoona Brewing Company is 46” long, 12” tall and 13”
deep. The strategy I’ve used to maximize the number of industrial
switching areas on the railroad is to include a very few large com-
plete structures (such as the brewery), but to place most of the
large industries either along
the backdrop or in the aisle
space. The Pennsylvania
House furniture factory is
a large structure with two
doors leading to interior
unloading docks and a third
shipping dock tucked under
the structure. The factory
is set back as a semi-flat
23: J.E. Baker is one of
the larger industries tow-
ering above the trains.
23
Pennsylvania & Western RR - 15
against the backdrop
so as not to take up too
much real estate on the
layout. It wraps around
a corner, and is 90” wide
overall. The tops of the
water tanks are 79” off
the floor. Including the
cleanout track, the fac-
tory has a capacity of
seven cars. Other large
industries nearby (such
as J.E.Baker) combine to
tower above the trains.
Some of my industries
have their loading docks
or the spur servicing them modeled on the layout, while the in-
dustry itself is “in the aisle.” For example, the Hood’s Creamery
in the town of West Valley receives reefers with 40-quart cans of
milk from the farms on one dock, processes the milk (Pasteurized,
homogenized, and cooled), then pumps the milk into special reef-
ers with glass-lined tanks for shipment to the bottler. Photo 24
show how I’ve modeled these two docks. One dock is for receiv-
ing milk in cans [while the other has hoses to pump the milk into
cars with tanks, but the creamery structure itself is “in the aisle.”
If it were modeled on the layout, the creamery structure would
have a footprint of about 24" x30". Penn Metal Salvage Co. is a
scrap yard in Franklin that is also “in the aisle.” All that is present
on the layout are a fence, sign, track, and a few weed-grown piles
of junk.
24
24: To provide more switching,
industries like Hood's Creamery
have had only their loading docks
modeled. The remaining portion of
the industry is in the aisle.
MRH-Mar 2014
