Fire Stations OO gauge

[ianlei]

Hi,

I'd like to see photos of any fire stations from your layouts!

I'm looking for a kit or inspiration for a town fire station. There seems to be a lot of small country fire station kits available but I'm looking for something big enough to hold 3 or 4 fire engines. To give you an idea what I'm looking for, the most suitable I have found so far is attached by Kingsway and it would be perfect but I'm just concerned the windows and doors don't look totally realistic (i guess I could adapt/modify this area if there's nothing else out there as suitable) and has no tower.

Any suggestions or info about your fire stations will be appreciated!

Ian

Edited October 26, 2022 by ianlei
Forgotten to include some text

[MartinRS]

 

 

In July 2021 I downloaded what was then described (on the pdf file) as a 1:72 (German) fire station. I had a look at the link today and it has changed. It is described (both on the web page and pdf file) as a 1:100 model. Looking at the two pdf files I can say the models featured on both are the same size. You can find a link to the free three door card model (Feuerwache Mondorf) at the kallboys site here https://www.kallboys.de/mondorfer-bastelboegen?start=40

 

Kellogg's also produced a fire station in 1975. The brickwork is a bit crude though it might serve a skin-able template. It is described as being N scale so you would have to re-scale it. It does look larger than N scale to me. The model was to be found at a link here http://toyconnect.blogspot.com/2015/11/kelloggs-engine-house-to-fire-house.html, though the download link now demands a password. You can still find a working password free download link here https://web.archive.org/web/20200402184151/http://toyconnect.blogspot.com/2015/11/kelloggs-engine-house-to-fire-house.html

[ianlei]

Thanks for this info and links! In all my searching online for fire station kits I certainly hadn't come across these! Great find! I may use these, so thanks again!

[Beacon]

Have you seen this one? 

 

https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/kx011-oo-small-town--village-fire-station-kit---ooho-176-scale-9885-p.asp

 

It looks similar to the Kingsway one but perhaps the windows are better? 

[phil_sutters]

Bilteezi used to do one  BZ4E5, but their kits are on thin card and need windows cutting out and glazing. https://doubleoscenics.weebly.com/oo-gauge1.html  BZ4E5 . It looks like a 1950s building - so modern when designed by Bilteezi!

[ianlei]

13 hours ago, Beacon said:

Have you seen this one? 

 

https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/kx011-oo-small-town--village-fire-station-kit---ooho-176-scale-9885-p.asp

 

It looks similar to the Kingsway one but perhaps the windows are better? 

Thanks for this link. I had wondered about buying several of these kits and joining together to make the station bigger. Have you used any of the card kits from this site? I read reviews saying the card is separate from the image paper and hard/time consuming to construct? Thanks for highlighting this kit, it does look realistic.

[ianlei]

13 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

Bilteezi used to do one  BZ4E5, but their kits are on thin card and need windows cutting out and glazing. https://doubleoscenics.weebly.com/oo-gauge1.html  BZ4E5 . It looks like a 1950s building - so modern when designed by Bilteezi!

Thanks for letting me know about this kit. I had never seen this kit before or even heard of the company!

[melmerby]

How about an inner city Fire Station?

Highgate Fire Station, Birmingham. (note the change of door/window pattern)

2008:

 

2022:

 

The office hasn't changed though:

Edited October 28, 2022 by melmerby

[phil_sutters]

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

How about an inner city Fire Station?

Highgate Fire Station, Birmingham. (note the change of door/window pattern)

2008:

 

2022:

 

The office hasn't changed though:

...or this one - as inspected by one of my grandsons!

[Chris116]

Metcalfe do a fire station kit although it is not one of their kits I have built.

[phil_sutters]

Don't forget to have an open day scene - rescuing a distressed maiden (burly fireman in drag) - is a popular scenario.

[Beacon]

13 hours ago, ianlei said:

Thanks for this link. I had wondered about buying several of these kits and joining together to make the station bigger. Have you used any of the card kits from this site? I read reviews saying the card is separate from the image paper and hard/time consuming to construct? Thanks for highlighting this kit, it does look realistic.

 

I bought it quite a few years back as a download. Having printed and built Scalescenes download kits before, I'd say this was simpler. Obviously more complex and time-consuming than Superquick or Metcalfe type kits which come on pre-cut card. The plus side is that they're much simpler to adapt, combine etc. 

[ianlei]

On 28/10/2022 at 23:18, melmerby said:

How about an inner city Fire Station?

Highgate Fire Station, Birmingham. (note the change of door/window pattern)

2008:

 

2022:

 

The office hasn't changed though:

Exactly what I want to recreate! (With the 2008 doors!) Thanks for the photos, be great to refer to these when adapting a kit. Thanks again!

[ianlei]

On 29/10/2022 at 00:22, phil_sutters said:

...or this one - as inspected by one of my grandsons!

Great photos! It looks like your grandson is having fun! The fire station might be a bit too modern for me, especially as it doesn't have the classic red doors!

[ianlei]

On 29/10/2022 at 11:21, Beacon said:

 

I bought it quite a few years back as a download. Having printed and built Scalescenes download kits before, I'd say this was simpler. Obviously more complex and time-consuming than Superquick or Metcalfe type kits which come on pre-cut card. The plus side is that they're much simpler to adapt, combine etc. 

Thanks. I'm just getting back into the hobby again after a 30 year absence so my skills are limited and I'm trying to learn about different model companies and their products too as there's a lot more choice these days! so it's good to know what to expect from kits like this. Thanks, Ian

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, ianlei said:

Exactly what I want to recreate! (With the 2008 doors!) Thanks for the photos, be great to refer to these when adapting a kit. Thanks again!

I had a look at most of the local firestations and Highgate was the only one (still?) with those type doors in 2008

(I said the office hadn't changed. It had, the windows were changed from white to green.)

 

The old Birmingham City Fire Brigade station is almost next door and was called "Fire Brigade Station"

 

 

[RJS1977]

I remember building a very large fire station kit as a demonstration at the Harrison-Brown Models stand at "RMweb Live" some years ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember the make of the kit. Nor do I still have the model - it was too big for me to take home on the train, and I would not have had room for it at home anyway, so I gave it back to Adrian Harrison. I have no idea what happened to it after that but I suspect it was disposed of.

[Beacon]

There's also plastic kit options of course, for example this one from Vollmer:

https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/vollmer-vo43759.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw5P2aBhAlEiwAAdY7dDdg-lFe9rqUZpys0iIeI0oOBmNLZmTzV2cb4bT1zt-PKovDuRHHyxoCyW0QAvD_BwE

[burtos]

I bought the 3-bay version of this at the Stafford model show last month

 

OO Gauge Post-War Fire Station Kits - Components | MMR Models

 https://www.mmrmodels.co.uk/product-page/oo-gauge-post-war-fire-station-kits-components

Edited October 31, 2022 by burtos

[ianlei]

On 30/10/2022 at 23:20, RJS1977 said:

I remember building a very large fire station kit as a demonstration at the Harrison-Brown Models stand at "RMweb Live" some years ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember the make of the kit. Nor do I still have the model - it was too big for me to take home on the train, and I would not have had room for it at home anyway, so I gave it back to Adrian Harrison. I have no idea what happened to it after that but I suspect it was disposed of.

That's a shame you no longer have it, or even a photo to show of all your hard work!

[ianlei]

23 hours ago, burtos said:

I bought the 3-bay version of this at the Stafford model show last month

 

OO Gauge Post-War Fire Station Kits - Components | MMR Models

 https://www.mmrmodels.co.uk/product-page/oo-gauge-post-war-fire-station-kits-components

I really this like one, thanks for sending me a link, looks a great model, especially as it can be expanded.

[ianlei]

On 31/10/2022 at 19:53, Beacon said:

There's also plastic kit options of course, for example this one from Vollmer:

https://www.gaugemasterretail.com/magento/vollmer-vo43759.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw5P2aBhAlEiwAAdY7dDdg-lFe9rqUZpys0iIeI0oOBmNLZmTzV2cb4bT1zt-PKovDuRHHyxoCyW0QAvD_BwE

Thanks for this, I hadn't seen this model before!

[melmerby]

On 29/10/2022 at 00:38, phil_sutters said:

Don't forget to have an open day scene - rescuing a distressed maiden (burly fireman in drag) - is a popular scenario.

These days the distressed female could be played by one of the many firewomen serving in the various brigades.🙂

No doubt that would be considered inappropriate.😒

[RJS1977]

4 hours ago, ianlei said:

That's a shame you no longer have it, or even a photo to show of all your hard work!

 

Now you come to mention it, I did take quite a few photos at RMWeb Live, and looking through them just now, I find:

 

 

I have now identified this as being another Kingsway kit - they have a remarkable nine fire stations in their range, of which this is the largest at nearly two feet wide!

 

https://www.kingswaymodels.co.uk/shop/1-76-scale-oo-gauge-999-emergency-fire-police-ambulance-stations-card-kits/13?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc

 

(And no, that isn't me in the photo - I was behind the camera!)

Edited November 2, 2022 by RJS1977

[phil_sutters]

3 hours ago, melmerby said:

These days the distressed female could be played by one of the many firewomen serving in the various brigades.🙂

No doubt that would be considered inappropriate.😒

A bit like the panto dame, the drag element makes it more fun. Doubtless one could have female firefighters escorting their male 'victims', whether in drag or not, down the ladder.