Important "off line" Structures not kitted by manufacturers

[rogertra]

As Gene said, we a drifing off topic.

However, it was the Germans who first used intersecting radio beams, on Coventry, and again "accuracy depends on your definition.  Accuracy in the his case was hitting Conventy, a city.

The Brits developed ground mapping radar, nicknamed H2S because the radar set reportedly gave off the smell of rotten eggs when warming up.  Once again, this ground mapping radar was "accurate" in that it showed when you were flying over a city.  If Berlin was your target, then as soon as the suburbs of Berlin showed up on the H2S screen, you dropped you bombs and got the heck out of there.

The Brit's were not shy in admitting their targets were civilians.  At the beginning of the war, crews were issued with maps that showed the location of churches, hospitals, schools etc..  Later in the war, the maps just showed the outlines of cities as seen in the dark and on the H2S radar screen.  All pretence of bombing industrial and military targets was put aside.

As for high altitude, precision bombing, yes the Americans were better at it but not that much better because, as Gene pointed out, they flew in formation and when the leader dropped, everybody dropped.  If the leader got lost, everybody got lost, if the leader and the second in command got shot down, everybody got lost because the average American aircrew was not trained in Naviagtion the same as the RAF crews were.  Flying 120 got you back to the UK, sort of.

[JM]

Getting back on topic....IHC has a pretty good selection of all those buildings you asked about...as well as some that can be easily kitbashed....Model Power had a huge St.Mary's Hospital kit [I don't know if it's still in production, but it turns up on EBAY from time to time], that could easily be used as a school, hospital, apartment building or even an office building.
Walthers catalogs a huge selection of plastic scratchbuilding parts...everything from wall sections to windows\doors to final details, and the prices are really reasonable, so if you're a builder the oppurtunities are almost limitless.
Since most of the kits now are plastic there's no reason several kits from several manufacturers couldn't be cut apart and put together to make a truly one-of-a-kind structure.

[pdlethbridge]

I needed some scale (ho) crossing gate tender buildings and nothing on the market is even close. Tichy sells windows and doors so it will be scratch built. Even the gates will be scratch built as every plastic model is too big.

[SteamGene]

Rich,
I was fairly sure I was misspelling the bomb sight, but I was just too lazy to check.  Sorry.  OTOH, while both Enola Gay and Bock's Car both probably just aimed at the center of city, American nuke accuracy is required today.  If I had to give a commander a recommendation for a nuke strike, I had to give him 99% assurance that the target would receive the required damage and that our troops were also at the required level of safety.   Precision was of utmost importance. 
The only artillery piece to actually fire a nuke warhead was essentially a railroad gun on road wheels.  (Drifting sort of back on topic.)
To echoe a previous post, just because the kit is called "Hannah's Hobby Hut" doesn't mean it can't be a store front church, instead.   If i can find the proper signs, the DPM "Dry Ink" kit is going to be a DuPont structure in honor of my father-in-law, who worked for the Waynesboro, Va DuPont plant for 30 years and was a Bendix turret repairman in the 8th Air Force in WWII. 
Gene

[Seasaltchap]

To cover what everyone is saying I will give the term of the time.

CARPET BOMBING

The RAF's Bomber Harris was a hated man for introducing it over German Cities. Coventry was their reprisal.

[Rich R]

Gene,

"I was fairly sure I was misspelling the bomb sight,"

That’s not a big deal and I only mentioned the correct spelling to make the tie in to the Sperry rail Inspection cars. Whatever happened to those anyway? Walthers sold them a few years back but I see a lot of things have disappeared from the catalog. The Dynamometer car as well.
I'm also amazed at the availability of so many structure kits in HO as compared to O. But O is catching up if you can afford the cost. Not that it will ever overtake HO mind you as that’s just simple popularity.
Happy kit bashing by the way! 

Cheers,
Rich R

[glennk28]

Many years ago I believe it was Con-Cor/Heljan that did a "courthouse Square" series.

As others have said, in many cases these buildings are generally located away from the tracks.

However, as a boy, I attended the First Congregational Church in Redwood City, CA.  It was a typical ornate building with columns, and such.  It was built in the early 1900's, and backed up to the SP tracks, just off downtown.  As plans were being made for a relocation out where the residential subdivisions were going, someone donated the Wurlitzer theater organ just removed from a downtown theater to be used in the new edifice. . It had all the sound effects stops normally used for such instruments.  Someone commented that the organist would be able to keep the preacher comfortable by interrupting his sermons with train whistles, just as he had happen in the downtown building!

[rogertra]

Seasaltchap wrote: -

"The RAF's Bomber Harris was a hated man for introducing it over German Cities. Coventry was their reprisal."

The Luftewaffe raid on the night of November 14/15 1940 was a revenge raid for the RAF's bombing on Munich on the night of November 08/09 1940.  Munich was the birthplace of Nazi Party, hence the revenger raid.

However, it must be kept in mind that Coventry, while at the time is was often said to be " the finest preserved medieval cities in Europe", it was a major manufacturing centre with Dairnler (Yes, the "German" Company), Dunlop, GEC, Humber and Armstrong Whitworth produced a whole range of manufactured products from bombers to Scout cars so it was, in theory, a military target, the same for whioch could be said any city in the Ruhr Valley later in the war.