Section House, Three Room, 16x24 - HO Scale

The smallest and most common section house was the 16x24-foot, three-room house.  The building had a combined living and dining area, with a stove for heating and cooking, and two unheated bedrooms. These houses were originally intended for the section foreman and his family, but they also came to be used for section crews as well.  Using bunk beds, up to eight men could be accommodated. The earliest versions (pre-1900) were built with vertical board and batten siding, later many were either built or re-clad using novelty horizontal siding. There is no window at all on the gable end wall where the bedrooms are located. The bedrooms each have one window, located on the right side of the building, front and back.  

Modifications were often made. For example, at Skykomish an extra window was installed to the left of the front door and a porch was added. Ubiquitous along the line, the three-room section house makes a fine addition to any GN model railroad. There were many variations and details changed from place to place. Different window placement, door placement and ramshackle porches have been observed.

When these small section houses had outlived their original use the railroad converted them to other uses, such as pump houses, freight sheds, operator’s houses or even small depots. As with the larger two-story section houses, many of these had been sold and moved off-site by the 1950s or 1960s. They made good bunk houses or storage buildings on farms or ranches.

See also GNRHS Reference Sheet 392 dated December 2014 by Don Pavia.

The kit

This kit is a completely redesigned laser cut kit from the original 1898 Great Northern Railway Plans.  Kit includes BOTH early board and batten sidewall construction and later lap siding. You get to decide which version you build.

Kit features:

• Early board and batten sidewall construction and later lap siding. Build either version. 
• The kit has a solid core frame with a three-room interior.
• no-glue wooden windows and door. Special design requires no trimming of the sidewall battens.
• Simulated cedar shingles per the plans.
• An optional porch with a small roof is provided.
• Footprint is 2-3/16” x 3-5/16” without porch.
• Detailed instructions and easy construction.
• Makes for a great ‘first-time’ wooden kit project.

 Kit assembly requires:

• a small bottle of carpenter’s interior yellow glue.
• a sharp hobby knife.
• a little sandpaper or a sanding stick.
• paint

This kit includes parts for multiple versions. It can be built with or without a porch.