Good things come in narrow packages

[Sumpter250]

That is coming along nicely !!
I'll bet the residents hear the china rattling long before the train gets there, and the whistle blowing, at the grade crossing, has to drown out their favorite radio program.

some of the newer craftsman kits - they look as if somebody without any design experience dreamed it up on a CAD program then applied the usual conventions and details to give it a distinct flavor. Something about it still doesn't look right because the bones are wrong or mis-placed. No amount of detail or character can hide that.
Galen

I usually do my own plans, and I usually start with a rough interior floor plan, so I know where to place windows and doors, and fireplace chimneys. It's the damaged, or "misplaced" bones that create the real character of a building, along with the designed "usage"..........a fireplace is a bit out of character, in a room where gunpowder is stored.
The one nice thing about kits, even craftsman kits, is they can, with a little "creativity" be bashed into something else, that can look "natural".

So I guess it is both....plans and legitimate scratch building. Kurt does the plans, and in return, he doesn't have to look at me place an all too familiar kit stucture on the layout ...........works for me ............and him

Oh yes, there are an awful lot of "all too familiar kit structures".....variety truly is the "spice of life".