Philly in HO scale

[accatenary]

Hello All

I wanted to share my on going HO scale layout of Philadelphia. the layout Is 15 x 18 and features 30th st. station, Broad St. station, City hall, North east corridor main line and numerous Trolley routes. for more pictures gotto www.prrnortheastcorridor.com  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RDG1519]

AC Cat

All I can say is wow! I model Reading Company in Phill. This is quite an inspiration.

Chris

[accatenary]

Ah The Reading is my second favorite railroad and orginally I had wanted to build a combined PRR and RDG railroad with the meeting points being in Industrial North Philly, But I didn't not have enough space. I did add broad street station which is simular to Reading Terminal with the large shed.  What areas in Philly are you modeling the RDG? 

[mainetrains]

Very cool!

 Mainetrains

[LudwigVonDrake]

 Simply amazing!

[nbrodar]

 Looks great, right down to the lights on top of 1 Liberty.

Nick

[accatenary]

More Pictures

[jdamelio]

What no PCCs???

[blownout cylinder]

The last two pix captured the atmosphere of the place! Love the work.

[Don Z]

Would you be kind enough to share some information regarding your tall city buildings? Method of construction, types of material used, etc.

Nice looking cityscape!

Don Z.

[ns3010]

Nice pictures, especially the last two of the light rail.

[accatenary]

The PCCs are in the Shops being rehabbed

[accatenary]

Thanks Don

For the Sky scrappers I use Acrylic and lexan Plastic clear or colored covered with styrene plastic.  An old model railroader ( I forgot what date,.. 80's?) showed how to make highrises using this method.  

[nbrodar]

 Temple looks great.   What did you use for the light rail vehicles?  Is the catenary live?

Nick

[accatenary]

Light Rail Vehicles are Boeing Trolley's and IHP Kawasaki cars. Yes, the catenary is live and trolley's are DCC.

[sctroy]

Now you need to buy a million Preiser figures and have a parade down Broad Street!

[tgindy]

It is a really nice to see operational live overhead, let alone, a traction-dedicated layout!

For the N Scale Conemaugh Road & Traction, I have been toying with either DC (right rail-insulated PCC & left rail-insulated PCC) or DCC.  More recently I've been leaning toward DCC for individual traction engine (PCC/GG1/Box Motor) control.

Could you briefly describe the wiring and insulating considerations of live DCC catenary?

[rrinker]

sctroy

Now you need to buy a million Preiser figures and have a parade down Broad Street!

 Idea for an article? How to make HO Mummers?

 

                          --Randy

 

 

[R. T. POTEET]

Had you modeled Reading Station on the last day of October, 1969 you could have modeled the pickpocket trying to pick himself off up the sidewalk after having the living you-know-what beat out of the top of his head with a one pound steel ball sewn--I actually had to check the spelling on that word in my dictionary; I have used it in conversation but can't remember ever having to spell it before--into a six inch long, three inch wide leather strap I used to carry attached to my belt. I don't suppose I would have carried the incident as far as I did had he not tried to knife me with his free hand after I had grabbed his other one something conveniently omitted from the report on the evening news on one of the Philadelphia television stations; they did identify me as wearing cowboy boots, however. He emerged a better man from this experience I am sure--and he got a ride to the hospital in an ambulance to boot.

Anyway, about your modeling: urban areas are not easy to fabricate, I am sure, but perusing your photograph and your track diagram it looks as if you are on the path to some successful modeling in this area.

[Hamltnblue]

Great Stuff Accatenary, Is this a club or personal set-up?

Philly has several large rail areas that are waiting to be modeled.  What you did is a major undertaking.  Maybe a rubber godzilla for fun?

[accatenary]

I have about 200 unpainted figures that I have to paint and put downtown area. I will need about 200 more. A parade is a nice idea though

[accatenary]

Thanks for the compliments.  Wiring was simple for DCC. The trolley is wired for two wheel rail return and live wire pickup. You would wire the trolley exactly the same as a normal DCC except the two wires to the tracks would be split up so that one would gotto the pantograph or trolley pole while the other would gotto both wheels. In this set up wye's dont require special wiring!!!

 Steve

[accatenary]

This is a personal layout that was started about 20 years ago when was I a teenager. You are right There are so many places in Philly that need to be modeled. It would be great if there was a club that was Philadelphia Urban based so that some of the really interesting places could at least be represented before they disappear.

[tgindy]

accatenary

The trolley is wired for two wheel rail return and live wire pickup.

Thank you for the simplicity!  It had to be some combination like this, and a matter of which insulating route for the current.

P.S.:  Good review of PRR Catanary styles at the website.  Sometimes it is too easy for a casual observer to miss the actual catanary with the added visual confusion of electricity transmission wires.

[MisterBeasley]

As a fellow trolley modeller, I extend my congratulations on a job well done.

Does your DCC-via-catenary work reliably?  Even with 8 wheels on the tracks, sometimes I find DCC to be intermittent for my 4-axle equipment.  With a single-contact overhead, I'd be concerned about dropouts.

[accatenary]

thanks for the compliments

Check back to the website often. I am always updating.  

[accatenary]

Thanks, fellow trolley modeller.

The DCC does work realiably but, I am getting more carbon build up on pantagraphs since I switched from Analog to DCC. Now I have to clean pantagraphs