Prairie Peddler in HO Scale

This module is featured in the now out of print book 'The Prairie Peddler - How To Build A HO Scale Module.' Below is an excerpt from the book:

All projects start with an idea. With that idea in hand, the next step is to plan a way to implement that idea. My idea was to build a module that would replicate one of the vanishing wooden grain elevators on the plains of Canada in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. I wanted to build a small module featuring one of the elevators along with some of the small town life that usually surrounds the elevators including a general store and a gas station. For some scenic variety, I wanted to add a creek somewhere on the module. When I start to design a project, the first step is to do some research about what the real railroads did in the situation attempting to be modeled. Having never been to the grain fields in western Canada I looked for magazine articles and books about the Canadian Prairies from which to draw ideas. Even for this subject, it was easy to find enough information on the web as well as a number of books and magazines, listed in Appendix D, which featured great information and photographs on this prototype.

Having settled on the main features, I needed to determine what other factors would affect the design of the module other than the module standards. The first item would be transportation issues. What would I be transporting the module in to the various shows the club participated in? It would either be in a small sedan or an open air pick-up truck. This would limit the depth of the module and require some form of protection for the scenery. Second, how would I store the module? This module would most likely need to be covered and stored away in a closet at my apartment at school since I have little room to keep it on display. Finally, I also added some self-imposed design criteria such as self-contained legs and a backdrop.

At this point I sat down with a pencil and graph paper to draw up what I wanted to do. It took several tries and rearranging to settle on a pleasing plan. I basically decided that I would just have a through mainline with a small creek on the left side of the module and with the grain elevator front and center. The general store and gas station would be on the right side of the module. I also needed to design the benchwork and the actual buildings that would be used. I decided on using kits for the buildings like the Walthers Grain Elevator and LaserKits Gas Station. As good as my drafting ability is, I still like to lay everything out in full size to make sure that it will fit and that it looks appealing. This is practical for such a small module and even more critical for the size because sometimes it is easy to cram too much into the space on paper. I laid everything out on a 2' x 4' ceiling tile as you can see the photo in Fig 1. As it turns out, I did attempt to put too much on this small module. Having both a general store and a gas station would make the module too busy so I decided to eliminate the general store from the plan and just feature a gas station. At this point it is time to head to the lumberyard to pick up the supplies I will need. Next, we will take a look at how to build the benchwork.