Grand Central Station: How many would buy one?

[NYC Fan]

This station was created for the MTH display at Grand Central Terminal this past Christmas.

How many of you would buy one of these stations, if MTH produced them at a reasonable price?

Skip[:)]

[Anonymous]

I'll raise my hand.

"Reasonable", for me, has to be $100 or under

Tony

[jkerklo]

As much as I love the place, I can't see finding enough space for any reasonable scale of even just the top building.

Maybe a 3D "front" with a background mural that depicts the rest of the building NYC streets, and buildings (Grand Hyatt?). Or, even better, different backgrounds for different time periods.

If a full model, the top would have to come off and lower level trains would have to be there (including the trash?).

A full model would be something. I know it goes down five levels, and have seen blocked stairways leading even lower.

Has anyone done a full model?

John Kerklo
TCA 94-38455
www.Three-Rail.com

[Anonymous]

John:

For a period of about a decade, give or take a couple of years, I commuted to & from NYC through GCT every day, and I had no idea that there were any levels below the "lower level." Are there trains on those levels? Or were they just basement spaces?

Ya learn something new every day!

Tony

[jkerklo]

I don't know exactly. I was hoping a NYC fan would reveal some secrets.

The only levels below the LIR level I have been on are for subways, and you can only get to them from the main level (not from the LIR space, as far as I know).

Whenever I have business in NYC and some time comes free, I like to explore. Grand Central and Time Square stations are among my favorite places.

I do think Times Square is bigger, or at least deeper, than Grand Central, although just for subway trains. Nothing on top to model, of course.

The only open passenger train terminals I have used are for the Long Island Railway, and that is rather small.

Once, in the '60s, I "accidently" wandered down a stairway that didn't seem to be in use. It was long, progressively darker, and about halfway down it became obvious, from smell and sounds, that it wasn't a place I wanted to be. I have always been curious about the lower levels since.

I do remember visiting Penn Station, then, a few years later, being very puzzled because I couldn't find it where it was supposed to be. I was using an old map.



John Kerklo
TCA 94-38455
www.Three-Rail.com

[Anonymous]

I agree with vitabile ~ under 100 'bucksco' [;)]

My understanding is that those 'lower levels' were used for movie shoots.
I believe more recent ones included the 'old pneumatic railway' that Lex Luthor used as his hideaway in the movie "Superman"; and then, after the years had taken their toll and water seeped in, it was used in a sequence in "GhostbustersII ".
C'mon April 1st, get here soon! We need warmer weather! AND York![;)]

[Anonymous]

John:

You may be confusing the NY stations a bit The Long Island RailRoad does not use GCT. It goes to Pennsylvania Station. Metro North uses GCT to service Westchester, Connecticut, and other counties north of NYC.

There's also the GCT Subway station, which has a bunch of levels, too. If you take the whole complex together, you might be able to get 5 levels out of it. But I thought that GCT proper is the Metro North part, and the Subway station has that name because of the terminal.

The Times Square Subway station is huge & easily goes down 5 levels. There are a huge number of lines that go through there. You can easily get lost trying to find your way around, if you don't know where you're going.

I've commuted through Penn Station, too, and it's not as large or deep, even though the LIRR, NJT and Amtrak all use it for through & terminal service.

Tony

[NYC Fan]

I'm under the impression that Grand Central Station has two levels of tracks. That's not counting subway system tracks.

Skip

[Big_Boy_4005]

My layout has no place to put something like that, even though I rather like it. What I need is the back side of a large station with the concourse to go over the tracks, but I always figured I was on my own there anyway.[swg]

[jkerklo]

Tony,

You are right about my confusing commuter lines. It was the Metro North that I took to Stamford. Did it have another name in the '70s?

I did go to the tracks for the LIR, and was tempted to buy a ticket, but couldn't think of anything to go to there.

The following URLs are from ratpak, on another forum:

http://www.thecityreview.com/grandcen.html

http://www.undercity.org/photos/grandcentral/grandcentral.htm

The "undercity" one is most informative.

I, being a casual tourist, think of the GCT subway station as part of Grand Central Terminal because I can get to it from the terminal, but it probably is not even under the terminal building.


Elliot,

See if you can find some pictures of the Cincinnati passenger terminal. It was constructed late, never used, and converted for piggyback freight service. Some great murals ended up in the airport.

Anyway, it was constructed like you described. A main terminal had a concourse, which went out over the tracks.

John Kerklo
TCA 94-38455
www.Three-Rail.com

[NYSubway18]

I'll take one! The one BucksCo did for the Museum Store was of a reasonable size, scaled down nicely and would't be too overwhelming. [:)]

[nitroboy]

I probably wouldn't for thesimple reason of not enough space on my layout. If I had a bigger layout, I would consider it.

Dave