Station Platform Height

[Anonymous]

I am working in N Scale and just built a passenger station. As I placed it on the layout, it seemed too low. I know typical suburban and rural stations used "step stools" to load passengers, but more urban station platforms seem to be just at or below door height.

What is the prototype height of the station platform from the rails?

Am I wrong in my memory of urban station platforms?

[Jetrock]

Typically urban stations are slightly elevated, but at all the urban stations I have seen (including Chicago's union station) they still break out stepstools.

[mls1621]

I had to think back to 1961 when we saw my brother off at Union Station down town for his US Army trip to europe. The train shed still had trains then and not the current parking lot.

The platforms were just above track level, two of the orginal platforms survived the renovation. They are on the west side of the train shed near 20th St.

Hope this is helpful, we St Louis N scalers have to stick together. My neighbor and I are both have layouts. His is most of the two car garage, mine is just a 10' X 14' L in the basement.

Best of luck with yours, would love to see it.

[Anonymous]

The HO NMRA gauge has a notch to check platform height and clearances. If you have an N scale one, maybe the answer is right in front of you? If not, I am sure the NMRA has specs: www.nmra.org

Andrew

[michaelstevens]

Andrew's right -- in fact (myself being in HO also)

checking at -- http://www.micromark.com/ -- the N scale template (gage) does include the "platform edge" clearance, for a "full height" platform.

Going back to "mdemt's" original questions;

1. "What is the prototype height of the station platform from the rails?"

The design elevation for a rural American station stop platform is 8" above top of rail (adjusted upwards or downwards for super-elevation).
Note that the tracks past older platforms have been "re-surfaced" over the years, resulting (usually) in a gradual raising of the top of rail.

2. "Am I wrong in my memory of urban station platforms?"

The majority of Amtrak's NE Corridor (in fact all Acela stops) stations have "full height" platforms, where the top of platform is within 2 or 3 inches (+ or -) of the passenger cars' floor level.
Full height platforms are also used at the station stops on subway/elevated systems in NY, Phila, Chicago, DC, Atlanta and Boston -- at a minimum.

Good Luck -- Mike in Philly.

[dehusman]

High level platforms are a east coast thing for the most part. Primarily the PRR.

Dave H.

[Jetrock]

That must be it, then--I haven't been east of Chicago. But i'm pretty sure I saw the Amtrak folks set out their little stools in Chicago's union station.

[Anonymous]

That explains it. Thanks guys, I thought I was loosing my mind. I will go back and look at the NMRA gauge. I am assuming it will have the height for the Eastern stations as well.

If anyone has the "scale" height, I can calculate without having to look for the gauge and get one on order.

I LOVE THIS FORUM!!!

[trollw]

Take another look at your NMRA gauge, then take a look at passenger station pictures and freight station pictures. The NMRA gauge height is for freight platforms (where you want to be able to carry items directly into the cars). In general, older passenger platforms are just barely above the track height - hence the need for step stools in addition to the steps built into the vestibule. Newer passenger platforms are built at car floor level (ala subway platforms). So, the answer is low or high depending on the era - if building for present day, use the NMRA loading platform height on the gauge.

[mls1621]

I pulled out my NMRA gauge, and read through the instruction sheet that came with it. Not a single reference to platform height.

Then I pulled my N scale passenger out of staging measured the distance from the top of the rail to the bottom of the doors. 3' will get you right in the ball park.

I used my Kato smooth side passenger cars for that reference number and double checked with one of my Con Cor heavyweights. They both have Mirco Trains trucks installed and the same platform height will look good for both.

I hope this is helpful.

[Anonymous]

I just checked my HO NMRA gauge - which is about 18 years old. It has an unlabeled cutout on one side that seems to correspond to the height of the floor of a freight car (I don't have any passenger cars to check). It measures 9/16" above the rails or 49 prototype inches (4 feet). In N scale that would be 0.306" or just under 5/16".

OK, just dug out the dial caliper. Actual is 0.560" or 48.77". I would say that a scale 4' would be about right for the door height platforms I used to ride from NYC to Boston on the Amtrack Turbotrain in the '70's. 19/64" should do the trick in N scale.

[Anonymous]

I will try 4 foot, then let you know... Thanks all.

[Anonymous]

Some good info shared here. Seems to be heavily dependent upon location. My own observation from railfanning around the country is that the Northeast is the only area in which the platforms are typically at or near the bottom of the train doors. In the Washington, D.C. area, Union Station has such platforms, while the next significant station - in Alexandria, only about 5 miles away but across the Potomac in Virginia - has platforms only a few inches above rail height. I can't recall seeing any higher platforms in the southeastern part of the country.