Structures for the Frazier Borate

Thinking about structures for the new Frazier Borate.

Buildings:

• Ore Bin: The Banta ore bin, reworked so the dump car track comes in from the side.
• Shed: Calvin Witt small shed, with added platform and porch.
• Brewery: The Clever Models Brewery.
• Depot: Full Circle Models, or maybe the tiny one from Dave Meek
• Store 1: Calvin Witt False Front (Louella's Cantina)
• Store 2: BTS Greeley's Place, modified to a trading post (North Fork Trading)
• Store 3: Calvin Witt Blacksmith Shop (with an old time gas pump out front)

This will keep my cost down, since I have all but a couple of the buildings already; the new ones are inexpensive kits from Calvin with details and signage added.

Depending on what I decide to do with the big L&SE, I might instead put a brewery there, and put a miner's supply, agricultural supply, or a produce warehouse in its place on this layout.

An alternative for Building #1, the cafe, would be to scratchbuild something like this:

I saw this posted on Facebook a while back and it really brought to mind a lot of little cabins and cafes up in the southern California mountains. I talked to the builder, Eric Scott Williams, at the Mini Festa, and he confirmed that sure enough, it was inspired by places up in the Los Padres. I can see something like this with the back wall partly dug into the hillside.

Another one I like: Frenchman River Model Works, Thomas Yorke design. It's only 3 1/2 inches wide by 3 1/4 deep, so it might even fit on the Frazier Borate.

5/6/26: I'm wondering if I could use a larger mine structure here. Might the Center Creek mine fit? Or a different one, such as the Wild West Models Atlantic Cable Mine:

The Atlantic Cable is 3.2 x 23 inches as shown, but the trestle could be shortened and the ore bin rotated 90 degrees, so total length maybe 18 inches. Main building is 8.6 inches long and the ore bin looks like 3 x 3. It appears that there is supposed to be a separate hoist house behind the main building.

It should fit, with the ore bin in the same position as the Berkshire Valley one in the drawing and the trestle running up the hill, the mine sitting on the hillside above the tunnel. Another option might be to keep the bigger Berkshire Valley ore bin in place of the squatty Wild West Models one, which would make the mine sit higher.

It would certainly look impressive, and the Wild West Models kits aren't widely used so it's not one that a lot of people have likely seen. $200 for the kit, though.

There's also the Banta Little Creek Mine, which is a more common kit. It measures 5 x 16 overall:

Here's a build by Steve Strum with the head frame rotated 90 degrees and the hoist house behind the ore bin:

Here's a quick, rough draft with the Center Creek Mine. I kinda like it:

With this version, I might put the Thomas Yorke beanery at position 2 and move the store to position 1. The blacksmith shop/gas station moves across the street (possibly facing left, toward the mine). I might add a loading dock on the spur next to the station.

Here's one with the Wild West Models mine. I shortened the trestle a bit and added a hoist house.

I actually kind of like the one with the Center Creek Mine best. 

I need to double check the dimensions of all the buildings, particularly the brewery and the mine.