Trackside  “Tid-Bits”  Product Review

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BLMA Models of Whittier California has come to the forefront recently as a manufacturer of contemporary high quality structures and accessories.  They seem to have developed a niche for trackside “infra-structure”.  We will review 2 of their most recent releases.  The modern yard office and the portable toilets. The prototype for the BLMA Yard Office is located at the Union Pacific (ex Southern Pacific) 'J' Yard in Los Angeles.

With such generic features, this style of Yard Office (or generic prefabricated metal building) is perfect for literally any railroad in the country. It would make a good yard office for a smaller switching layout, or perhaps a terminal office in an intermodal yard. 

The tooling is very clean and molded in a light colored plastic that shows off its features.  Single and double pane windows are placed around the building.  It is molded in such a way that it easily suggests a pre-fab corrugation for its construction. A side door awning is featured as well as a conservatively angled roof.  There are no drains or gutters to this building, but would be very easy for a modeler to add.  The footprint excluding the overhang is an accurate scale 20’ x 48’.

This is an extremely good looking structure. It is fully assembled and available in both HO and N-Scale.

The portable toilets come two to a package in both HO and N-Scale. There is no specific design or prototype, but the overall dimensions, look and feel of these “porta-pots” seem to be right on. They would be a compliment to the yard office, or on any construction site being modeled. As it says on the package "smell not included"! The toilets like the yard office are molded in a light colored plastic.  If the modeler wanted to weather or paint any of these structures it should be a cinch with little or no preparation to the plastic.

The MSRP of the Yard Office as reviewed in HO-Scale is $29.95 and the 2 pack of toilets is $8.45 ( $24.95 and $7.95 in N-Scale ). They represent a fine value for the amount of detail in the products.

Modern grade crossings, signal bridges, concrete barriers and parking blocks are also part of their growing line.  Their new modern cantilever signal bridge is due out shortly, and will be a candidate for review.  BLMA seems to be “on track” in creating these reasonably priced and attractive contemporary accessories.

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