Being a SP modeler for over 30 years, I have always liked building HO scale models of this railroads structures. There are various types of structures, each built for various departments such as the Operating and the Maintenance of Way. The structures for the operating end of the railroad were the Stations and Train Order Offices, these including living quarters for the operators. There were usually two or three operator houses located behind a Train Order Office. At small Stations, the living quarters for the station agent and his family would be located upstairs. Water Tanks and Pump houses would come under the control of the SP Water Department.
Here is a typical plot plan that shows how a Station would be set along the railroad. The freight end of the Station would have its own track where box cars can be unloaded on to the freight dock, merchants trucks would then be notified by the Station Agent to pick up their goods. Pacific Motor Trucking was a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific and would make their deliveries around larger towns to stores and homes much like the modern UPS
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This old SP blue print of a typical siding shows where a Section Gang and the Foreman would live and work. Notice the placement of the Section Tool House, the Foremans House and the Bunk Houses. Because of distance between towns and cities, usually in the middle of nowhere, the railroad provided the workers with their living quarters. Also notice that how close to the tracks the Bunk Houses are in this plot plan, only about ten feet from the nearest rail, considering the normal Right of Way width is 50 feet. This would keep the track gang from getting too comfortable.
