curved station platform

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know a company that sells an HO Curved Passenger Platform? If there are none, is there a good way to make one?

[davekelly]

I don't know of any and I would think they are few and far between as it would be near impossible to determine the best radius to make the curve. I would think that sheet styrene would work as it is very flexible. The only concern I would have is that a passenger car would never really be able to kiss the platform and look realistic because of the much sharper curves used on our layouts than in real life. There will always be gaps of a couple of scale feet between the platform and parts of the car.

[dehusman]

Masonite, styrene, poured plaster, 1/2" blue foam, foamcore to name a few materials.

Dave H.

[BR60103]

489: do you want a high level platform? I'll tell you how I made mine in HO/OO.
Took a sheet of 1/2" extruded foam board (maybe 9/16") bigger than the area. I cleared the area of anything that stuck up. Then I put the foam over the area and pressed it down onto the tracks to get an impression of the rails on the underside. (I was doing a terminal station with 3 platforms and an end.) Took it over to the workbench and made sure the impressions were visible. Then I marked the platform edges my selected distance away from the railhead. Then I cut the foam. For my purposes, I needed white paving along the edge, so I set a compass for the right distance and dragged it down the edge, then marked the length of the pavers, then painted the edge white. The rest of the platform was painted charcoal grey, with concrete or black on the vertical.
I also cut out some holes for switch machines.
I also carved the end slopes down to level with a hot wire and some wood guides.

[ndbprr]

You can also do it the way you make a turnout of any dimension required with a piece of paper. Just get some brown paper and lay it over the area. Then run something like a piece of charcoal, crayon or pencil down the rails so you know where they are. Then you can cut out the area between the rails and use it as a template for cutting the platform. When making a turnout between two sets of tracks or just a siding after you locate the tracks you take the template to a flat surface and use a piece of flextrack to form the turnout. When it is alligned properly and you have sketched in those rails you have a custom plan for making a turnout.

[Anonymous]

Well, if you don't want to make your own. There is only 2 companies who makes them that I know of with some differences. Hornby has pre-cut curved plattform. The thing about Horby is you have to base your track work around the platform because they have a set width of the platform and it may not fit your layout. It's detailed too, so if you cut it to fit your layout you loose the detail. The detail to me isn't that good anyway. Looks toy-ish. It's pre cut and pre painted And it snaps together.

The second is Peco. This is what I use. Peco platform snaps toghether too, but more versitle as it's not precut or factory painted. It's comes with the edges and payment tops. You cut it to fit your layout yourself and it comes with instruction. Not hard to do at all. They even have stickers of Stone or Brick that goes along the edges.Or you can paint it yourself to your desire. If you want realistic looking plattforms, I would look into Peco. They run about $8. in a hobby store (Not bad)
You could even catch them on ebay at a "But it now" low price. I got some for $4
Hope this helps

[Anonymous]

If you are making a high level platform. You will need to have clearance. Take your longest coach and place a pencil in the centre of the coach for inside curve platforms, or on the corner of the coach for outside platforms. Now trace a line as you move the coach through the curve. This will be your clearance line for the platform with half the thickness of the pencil for safety margin.

Paul.

[Anonymous]

From someone who has designed the real thing:

1. Avoid curved platforms except where it's absolutely impossible to do otherwise.

2. Curved high level platforms are not very feasible in the real world because the gap between the car and platform is too wide to be safe. This gap will widen disproportionally in a model environment where the curves are sharper, and varies consifderably with car length.

3. If you absolutely must build a curved platform, if at all possible put it on the inside of the curve to allow a clear view of the train from both the head end and the rear. This is for safety.

4. The least desirable choice is a platform on the outside of the curve. Railroads try like mad to avoid these because they require serious crew intervention to make sure they are clear prior to moving the train.

5. For a tangent low level platform, the trackside edge is approximately 5' from the center line of the track. For a high level platform, you must clear at least plate C (and sometimes more if not equipped with a gauntlet track for freight); there are standard drawings floating around. Distance from the track center depends on loading gauge but in the US the gap between the platform and the car is 3"-6" generally for conventional rail.

That's not to say that there aren't platforms on curves. There are. They are a pain.

Hope this helps.

[Train1725]

#6 Train, 14th Street Union Square Subway Station in New York City has a curved platforn. There are metal grate sections that slide out from the platform to fill the gap when the train stops ! Very hard to model i bet. But on my layout i will have a "subway" station platforn on a curve. I need a acess window into one of my tunnels , so i decide to model a train station inside. Since the platform is across the tracks, the gap between train and platform is never noticed. So i would recommend putting the platform on the opposite side of the viewer. This way, only an overhead view will show the gap.