Last New tooling

[gmhtrains]

I am not a Plasticville collector nor have I purchased any of the various guide books to Plasticville history and variations. I did own many of the O/S buildings in the early 1950's when my 60-plus year adventure in model railroading began. Looking at the hundreds and hundreds of structure kits and built-ups available today in Z, N, HO, S, O and F/G scales, it is amazing that the Bachmann Plasticville line can claim perhaps the only hospital, turnpike toll-booth, TV station and adjustable height apartment house in any scale. Most "craftsman kit" manufacturers today lean towards railroad-oriented structures, with obvious reason. But Plasticville was and is a fully-developed community with numerous buildings unrelated to the town's railroad.

I would like to know what was Plasticville's last completely new tooling? Has a new building been created in the last 30 years (since 1980)? I am not one who is asking for new structures, but find it amazing that enthusiasm and interest continues for a product line that has remained unchanged for decades.

Gil Hulin
Eugene, OR




 

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I am not a Plasticville collector nor have I purchased any of the various guide books to Plasticville history and variations. I did own many of the O/S buildings in the early 1950's when my 60-plus year adventure in model railroading began. Looking at the hundreds and hundreds of structure kits and built-ups available today in Z, N, HO, S, O and F/G scales, it is amazing that the Bachmann Plasticville line can claim perhaps the only hospital, turnpike toll-booth, TV station and adjustable height apartment house in any scale. Most "craftsman kit" manufacturers today lean towards railroad-oriented structures, with obvious reason. But Plasticville was and is a fully-developed community with numerous buildings unrelated to the town's railroad.

Tell you what, the first Plasticville in my family wasn't even purchased for use with a model train. The buildings were HO size, but they were purchased for use as a Christmas village under the tree. They're visible in old family snapshots of my first Christmas, and I still have those structures today.

I would like to know what was Plasticville's last completely new tooling? Has a new building been created in the last 30 years (since 1980)? I am not one who is asking for new structures, but find it amazing that enthusiasm and interest continues for a product line that has remained unchanged for decades.

Gil Hulin
Eugene, OR

I can only speak for myself, but in my case I believe my fondness for the buildings comes down to two reason. The first is simply nostalgia. I can remember as a very small boy going with my dad to the hardware store to buy a few more Plasticville buildings for use with the Christmas "trainyard," as the grown-ups in my family called it back then.

The second reason, for me, is that a few of the buildings look very much like structures that were actually build in the post-World War II period. In my home town, whole neighborhoods were built consisting of houses that look very much like the Cape Cod house. I've bougt a couple of those old structures, with white doors and window frames, and if I ever get around to it, I intend to paint the walls brick red and the roofs something resembling slate. If I ignore the "stucco" finish of the walls and the shape of the dormers, these houses will certainly suggest homes that I saw all the time when I was growing up as a Baby Boomer.