Frisco Depots - Commercial Model Kit Adaptation And Stand-In - Blair Lines C&O Station

Is the Blair Line C & O station, left, a close enough match for a this Frisco plan depot at Gravois, MO?

Not to be confused with Gravois Mills depot.

Whaddya think?

The model is available in both HO and N scale.

Tom

 

Show Me Hobbies in the Kansas City area had about 50 Frisco depots done up by either Blair Line or AMB.

You might find that this would be a better match for your area.

The cost of these was about $50.00

 

The Show Me website is undergoing an upgrade and is unavailable.

Information about the Grandview depot is available on our website. It is available exclusively at Show Me.

http://www.blairline.com/grandview/

I have a question about the prototype depot in question.

Is this a standard no. 1?

Rick McClellan asked me a few years ago about making a Standard Depot No. 1. Since it has taken so long to make any progress I am sure he gave up on us ever making it.

I need a very similar depot for my Harrisonville depot and may someday get around to offering a kit.

Dale Rush
Blair Line
Carthage, MO

 

Hey Dale,

I have had no interest from Kaw Valley Designs to make the Standard Depot No 1, so I say "go for it."

If you need plans, let me know.

 

Rick,

Thanks for the offer.

I may take you up on it. I thought I had plans and still need to dig a little deeper. Don't know for sure when I will begin design but I need one or two depots for my layout so that makes it a great candidate for a Blair Line kit.

Was the Harrisonville depot was a Standard No. 1?

Any idea if the Frisco Museum, or anyone, ever compiled a list of Standard No. 1 depots?

Dale Rush
Blair Line
Carthage, MO

 

Dale,

I have Standard Depot Plans No 1 through No 6.

Plus I have plans for a warm-climate section house and a cold-climate section house dwellings.

I can send them your way if needed.

 

Thanks for the offer Karl.

I may be in touch with you too.

Does anybody, know which style of depot was the most widely used on the Frisco?

Our Leeton, Blairstown and Grandview depot kits all seem to be of more unique designs than the Standard No. 1.

Dale Rush
Blair Line
Carthage, MO

 

Dale,

Just thinking aloud at the moment.

If one were to sponsor a custom run of Frisco depots, in ball park numbers what are we talking about in terms of minimum number of units to make such an endeavor practical?

 

I don't suppose there is ever a chance of large scale buildings?

I had to ask!

Dan

 

Dan,

Large scale kits are mostly, but not totally, out of the question.

We offer several of our HO/N kits in O scale but nothing in G scale.

Our O scale kits are designed for and sold exclusively by Scale University in Maine.

I am considering making some of our kits available in S scale too.

Dale Rush
Blair Line
Carthage, MO

 

Karl,

Karl,

The answer to your question depends on a number of variables. I have outlined three options in this post.

Option number one is for a completely custom kit.

Much of the costs involved in a laser cut kit are in the design and instructions. The more kits we run the more you can spread these costs out to a more reasonable amount per kit. A totally custom run would be billed in two parts.

First would be the cost of design and instructions. For a totally unique structure, such as a depot, design costs could easily run $900-$1500. This may sound like a lot of money but it is easy to tie up 30-50 hours into a fairly simple depot design. Instructions double the design time and cost.

The second billing would be cost of wood, laser cutting, and packaging if required. Depends on the size, type of materials and detail in the kit and it is very hard to estimate without knowing more specifics about the structure. At this pricing you would have an exclusive on the kit.

If it is a kit that I feel Blair Line could market, then the design fee may be negotiable and we would offer you a limited time exclusive. Then at a later date we would sell the kit as part of the standard product line of kits by Blair Line.

Option number two is the most cost effective and fastest.

If you provide the CAD drawings and design your own instructions your costs drop drastically. We can cut 1-100 kits in 2-4 weeks time for the cost of wood, laser cutting and a very reasonable setup fee. If you are interested in doing this I can email design specifications for you to follow.

We do a lot of custom cutting for other companies that provide their own designs.

A third option is a kit like Show Me Train’s Grandview Depot, which borrowed heavily from one of our other kits.

A kit such as this would take a minimum run of 50 kits with no design fee, if modifications are simple. Simple modifications would include changing the length of the structure, moving doors/windows, slight changes to trim and siding materials, etc.

If you just want one or a few kits with slight modifications, we could work out pricing to include a design fee, with no minimum kit purchasing requirements.

Of course a better estimate of cost would be available if we have more specifics about the project.

Dale Rush
Blair Line
Carthage, MO

 

Dale,

You raised question I have wanted to discuss with you when you said "provide CAD work."

If or when I have more time on my hands next spring, I was going to find out what CAD system you use, etc. to see if I could get involved. I have AutoCad Light here at home, but can probably get the big package if needed. I'm guessing there is some protocol for layers to get the cutting and all to work.

Any place that has a description of all that, for those of us with some background?

Wondering how we can economically broaden the selection while you producers still come out okay. Sounds like "minor variations" is a key. Hopefully we can talk at the Carthage show on the 19th. Hope to see a few others there.

Maybe someone with the information can post it, since I have barely heard about it.

 

Dale,

Thanks for that detailed response.

I am kicking around the practically of producing a "universal" Frisco depot kit. A kit from which it might be possible to build perhaps 2 or 3 of the Standard Plan depot designs. Considering Standard Plan Depots No 1 through No 6.

At the moment it's in the hair-brained idea stage.

KEB

 

Looking through the floor plans posted on-site, the largest number of depots represented were 22' 2" in width and of varying lengths.

It would seem, then, that standard end pieces combined with wall panel sections to stretch the length would be a possible approach.

Of course a way would have to found to provide for the wide variation in window, door, bay window numbers and location, but anyone in this group should be able to figure out an approach to that also.

I'm using a Walther's Clarksville Depot kit as a Frisco stand-in.

Glenn
Tulsa, OK