# Fire Station? Pola like?



## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Has any G scale structure manufacturer ever made a medium sized (USA style) fire station? Or something that I could kitbash to resemble a fire station? 

I'd prefer something sized similar to the old Pola "Western" buildings. Western meaning something that would look good mixed in with these:












I just found the Colorado Model Structures (Virginia Ridge Fire & Rescue). It looks very promising. But the dimensions listed do not include the door size. Anyone know the door dimensions? I'm wondering if the fire truck I have will fit.



Any other building you know of that I should look into? 


Thanks for any info or suggestions you might have.


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Pola has a European fire station with a hose hanging tower. Piko has an American Fire Station.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

I've seen two by Piko.

The first one looks like a castle and slightly European. So probably not a good fit with out layout. But it has two doors which I like:











The second one is nice, but way too small. It appears to be the same body style as their small houses:


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## plasticman (Jul 12, 2009)

Hi Matt 

Doors on the Virginia Ridge Fire Station are 5in x 5in. 

Thanks 

Bruce 
Colorado Model Structures


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Matt, build the Euro style one with only one tower - on a back corner, and it would look fairly US like


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Matt-

I am also looking for a small fire station. I really like Colorado Model items, but their fire house is a little big for my small layout. 

Garden RR mag did publish many plans for (usually) small items to build yourself. Sometimes that may be a resource for things you are looking for if you like the idea of build-it-youself. Some of the plans are available from:

http://www.sidestreetbannerworks.co...plans.html

Regards

Jerry


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

The first one looks like a castle and slightly European. 


It's certainly not European... 
Piko produced this kit specifically for their range of American buildings. It's probably a made-up model by using the same walls / parts as used in the Piko 62114 "White Knight Hamburger" kit (what explains the "towers". Perhaps it's based on the Saint Louis White Knight Diner restaurant?) and " Piko 62208 "Bill's Body Repair Shop".

But the Firestation can be changed to look more realistic as mentioned above. Perhaps the last kit, Bill's Body Repair Shop, can also be bashed into a 1 door fire station (placing the door on a top side).

Paul


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## Bill C. (Jan 2, 2008)

I kitbashed mine by changing the facade and moving the tower to the back, plus making it taller.










My fire engine is a kitbashed 1:24 tank truck. The hose coiled on top is a shoelace.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Here is an update to my original posting here:


After not seeing anything that fit what I was looking for, and after some great advice from Terry Bye (Dreamtalker), I went ahead and kitbashed my old Pola Red Horse Saloon into a fire station.


I removed some of the front wall and added 1/8" thick styrene doors. The door hinges are from Micro-Mark. The windows are extra Pola windows I had in my parts box. The door gate also was in my parts box. The red sections were painted with Floquil Zinc Chromate Primer. It was close to the Pola red color but I ended up repainting anything red with the Floquil paint so it all matched. The fire truck is a 1951 ford, and the fireman and dalmatian are from the Just Plain Folk booth at a train show. If he doesn't look familiar, that's because I cut off a medical bag that was attached to the fireman's foot and then repainted his pants and shoes to cover the cut.


The new sign board is styrene. It covers up the holes where front porch used to be. I still have to design a name (probably just Fire Department) or something like that and then get a gold colored decal made.

The first image shows what the Red Horse Saloon looks like:


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

How about a balcony with a fire pole to slide down placed to the side of the big doors?


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By toddalin on 07 Aug 2011 08:50 PM 
How about a balcony with a fire pole to slide down placed to the side of the big doors?








I put the pole on the inside. Should have taken a photo of that. I installed a plastic floor, cut a round hole in it, and installed a plastic rod for the pole. I even painted it brass.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Great Looking Village Matt . 

JJ


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

That's a perfect looking old fire house and resembles many of the single engine volunteer houses across the country. The only thing you need is a hose tower with a bell on top. In the old days fire hose was made of cotton and would have to be hung to dry so it wouldn't rot. The bell would be to signal the firefighters they had a call. 

Terry


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Interesting info about cotton fire hoses Terry. That explains the tall towers you see on many early fire houses. 

Do you (or anyone else) know if cotton hoses were still in use by the late 1940s to early 1950s? That's the era of our layout.


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Older, poorer stations used cotton hose well into the 80's. The double jacketed synthetic hose started showing up in the late 60's. 

Terry


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Don't they use a rubber hose with some kind of canvas jacket on the out side now a days?

JJ


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah it has about a 1/16" rubber hose to keep it water tight and a double jacket outer layer. the hose is made from different materials including kevlar. All are rot proof and very durable to some substanstial abuse. 

Terry


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