Naughtright Volunteer Fire Company
To be honest, I never liked the look of the Miller Engineering Fire Engine Co. #2 kit. However, the more I looked at the Crestline Theater kit, the more it looked like a firehouse to me. So, in a strange twist of irony, I wound up using parts of the firehouse kit for the Country Theater, and the theater kit for the firehouse!
The problem was that Miller Engineering switched this kit from brass to stainless steel (which makes no sense to me because the structure is 98% brick), and stainless steel is a much harder material to use for kitbashing. I needed an older version of the kit. Thanks to eBay, I was able to finally obtain a brass theater kit; I was otherwise going to abandon plans for the Naughtright Volunteer Fire Company.
My plan was to more or less replicate what I'd done in N scale for my White River and Northern III. Real-life inspiration came from a firehouse in Ewing, New Jersey, which has since been replaced. Based on a modified Design Preservations Models kit, the Laube Volunteer Fire Company featured a pair of roll-up doors that opened and closed.
Revisions to the kit itself were relatively minor, consisting of removing the bulk of the theater entrance to make space for the roll-up door. With this complete, I went about soldering the walls together. This allowed me to plan for the door mechanism which, as before, would fit entirely within the structure's second floor.
As of 26 September 2008, this is where the project stands. More as it happens.
The Miller Engineering Fire Engine Co. #2 kit never appealed to me.
The original Crestline Theater kit would become the firehouse.
This N scale firehouse has working doors and inspired the Z scale version.
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