Pikestuff HO Atkinson Engine Facility By Michael Benolkin

The Kit

I was looking for an engine house for my new railroad. I had thought about a standard roundhouse, but that also means a turntable and all of the real estate that goes with that combination. Since I don't have much room available, and I'll also be modeling the diesel era, it was time to look at a few alternatives.

A jaunt through the Walthers catalog brought me to the Rix Products line of Pikestuff building kits. One of the offerings is a simple building that works as a one or two-stall engine house. Like the roundhouse, the engines simply go in and park - not much excitement or potential for external detailing.

Then I saw the new Atkinson Engine Facility release in their Kitbasher series. This kit takes components out of the two-stall engine house as well as some components out of a few other kits in their line. The result is the facility pictured above. This is a maintenance facility that allows for some nice detailing potential and exposure into what is happening inside.

Unlike the normal Pikestuff building kits, however, the Kitbasher series requires a little more cutting and fitting to adapt the various pieces into the building depicted above. Fortunately, the well-illustrated diagrams and narrative instructions walk you though the conversion and assembly process. The completed structure will occupy a space of 11.2 inches by 5.5 inches.

Conclusion

While this kit does not offer a great deal of external details beyond doors, windows, ventilation systems and rain gutters, the retail price of this kit and all of the others in the Rix Products line are very inexpensive. The average builder will have no problem creating a nice engine facility with this kit straight out of the bag. The more advanced modeler will have a field day with this kit and some Plastruct or Evergreen stock, some spare parts, and some strategically placed lighting.

I recommend this kit to any modern HO railroad modeler. I wound up buying the Atkinson Engine Facility AND the two-stall engine house to create a small but interesting engine facility.

Take a look at the Rix Products website for all of their current offerings. I purchased both kits from the Walthers website.