Can't show you the model because I haven't built it yet but here is the prototype that is will be the basis for my main station:
This is Omaha's Burlington Station which like my model served 5 tracks through an overhead concourse which also connected to the Omaha's Union Station and its seven platforms on the opposite side of the tracks. The most recent issue of Classic Trains shows a great bird's eye view of this complex. Around 1920, these two stations combined to be the fourth busiest in the country.
As you see in the photo, the only thing remaining of the overhead concourse is the concourse. I will be using Walthers Union Station which is a fairly faithful, slightly compressed version of Omaha Burlington Station. I will use a CMR concouse which is similar to the Burlington concourse. As you can see in the photo, the concourse emerges from under the pillars where as the model is designed to have the pillars opposite track side so this is going to be a little tricky trying to kit bash this with the CMR concourse and I haven't decided just how to do it.
Public parking at this station was on the far end in the photo (west side). On the backside, there was a ramp down to track level. There was also a portico on the backside which I am guessing was used for taxi pickups. The Classic Trains photo gives a good view of this.
I am not modeling Omaha but a freelanced east coast RR instead but I wanted to capture the look of that station because of the memories I had of it growing up in Omaha.
accatenary ..snip.... and a crude conceptual 3d computer drawing done about 2 years ago.
..snip.... and a crude conceptual 3d computer drawing done about 2 years ago.
Crude, he calls this....
accatenary, if that's a crude concept drawing then the non-crude ones must be works of art!
George V. (who still uses his compass and straightedge from his high school drafting class 40 years ago)
doctorwayne Now THAT is a big-city station! Very impressive model of a very impressive prototype, Steve, and the catenary really adds to the scene, too. Wayne
Now THAT is a big-city station! Very impressive model of a very impressive prototype, Steve, and the catenary really adds to the scene, too.
Wayne
Thanks Wayne / Capt. for the compliments , If I had more space I would have added 4 more tracks
Steve Smith 1:1 Railroad Architect 1:87 Railroad Architect Certified PRR foamer
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Urban/City Modeler
A Real Juice Jack .. IF its not electric Its not running on my layout.
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
I built this for my old Laurel Valley layout, but never took a photo of it there. Years later I put it on the N scale layout at the Delmarva Model Railroad Club.
It never quite got finished, and this scene has since been removed by subsequent members. Not sure what the status of the building is at this point.
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
I am currently building an elevated station although its about 50% finished. Its going to be the centerpiece of my city sized layout and its based on one of the greatest stations on the east coast which was the headquarters of the PRR in Philadelphia. Broad Street station was demolished in the 1950s but lives on my layout. Im using two large kits for the structure of this station 1.) Trix Dammtor station which is a very large above the street shed type station the only one of its kind and Walthers Milwakee Station Kit (modified) for the Head House and the shed for the passenger annex. The station is a Four track Stub complex that spans two streets, is about 5 blocks long and has Wye at the throat. Like Most Stations in the Northeast this station is in the heart of the city. The shed part of the station is constructed but I’m currently building the Head house. The layout is 95% under catenary and all urban. Below are some current views and a crude conceptual 3d computer drawing done about 2 years ago.
cudakenDoc, how wide is your bench? I was only trying to caputer the second photo. Do you have any over views of your bench? I am not a fan of city's / towns. Your seems to be close to being as grand Rod Stewart's. Do you ever let other Rail Fan's drop by? Impressed. Cuda Ken
Do you ever let other Rail Fan's drop by?
Impressed. Cuda Ken
Thank you for the kind words, Ken. As you can see in the photos, below, it's nowhere near as grand or as well-done as Rod's fantastic layout. As for visitor's, I'm afraid not: a close and long-time friend does drop by, usually to photograph some of his collection of beautiful locomotives, but the layout is set-up to be operated solo. It's DC, and meant to depict a secondary line, so traffic is low-speed, with lots of switching en-route, and only one train running at a time. It's my "get-away" from the world, and, other than in photos, remains private and personal.
To answer your first question, and let you get your bearings, here's a rough drawing of the layout room. The peninsula is to accommodate a long (45') 2.5% grade to an as-yet-unbuilt second level. The track, unballasted, is in place to the top of the grade, and is visible, at left, in the fourth photo. The areas in grey on the room diagram will be double decked, with layout widths as great or greater than those of the lower level:
This is a view at the corner of the entrance aisle, with the bulge of the peninsula's facia at right, and part of Lowbanks visible at lower left. Then benchwork here is 54" deep at the post, although all of the track is within arm's reach:
As you enter the aisle, the facia curves to accommodate the bulging peninsula, with the benchwork in the Dunnville area 36" deep where the station is located:
Here's a view of the same area, as seen from the aisle at the end of the peninsula. The bridge at right is for the tail-track of a wye, which dead-ends at the corner of the room. Layout depth there is 62" from facia to backdrop, with all track except the wye's tail within arm's reach:
Here's another look, with the wye just left of centre. The vacant lots between the background structure at left and the factory, partially visible at right, is a lift-out that allows access to the wye's tail track, if needed. It'll eventually become a residential neighbourhood, with backyards facing the track. Layout depth at the neighbourhood/factory area is 42", with all track within easy reach:
And a view of Mercury Knitting Mills, with an icehouse partially visible in the foreground:
Around the rest of the layout, South Cayuga and the Port Maitland areas are about 22" deep, with Elfrida and Lowbanks at 30". The Speed River area at the end of the aisle is 48" deep, and that at Chippawa Creek is 36", again with all track within easy reach.
doctorwayne Except for the doors and windows, the station was scratchbuilt from .060" sheet styrene, scribed to represent Ashlar limestone cladding. I still need to add lots of signs and other details. The windows came from the Walthers Waterfront Warehouse kit - there are two complete sets of windows with each kit. I used most of two kits to build this factory...
Except for the doors and windows, the station was scratchbuilt from .060" sheet styrene, scribed to represent Ashlar limestone cladding. I still need to add lots of signs and other details. The windows came from the Walthers Waterfront Warehouse kit - there are two complete sets of windows with each kit. I used most of two kits to build this factory...
Doc, how wide is your bench? I was only trying to caputer the second photo. Do you have any over views of your bench? I am not a fan of city's / towns. Your seems to be close to being as grand Rod Stewart's.
I hate Rust
Robt. LivingstonOne thing i like about Dr. Wayne's modeling is that the scene is not overpowered by detail, pigeons, over-weathering, and cuteness. Bravo!
One thing i like about Dr. Wayne's modeling is that the scene is not overpowered by detail, pigeons, over-weathering, and cuteness. Bravo!
I could not agree more - it is only a narrow line separating a layout from being realistic to being gimmicky - DoctorWayne and Jon Grant show us how not to cross this line - thank you!
Thank you for the kind words, Robert. I'm not a big fan of clutter, either, although I do hope to eventually have a few more passengers for the platforms and perhaps some mail or express worker to use for photo ops. I leave almost all of my "details" removeable, including vehicles, LPBs, and freight on loading docks. It doesn't necessarily get changed all that often, but at least it's possible. That poor guy in the last photo has been trying to get into his car for some time, and doesn't seem to have noticed that the car has been changed several times.
One thing i like about Dr. Wayne's modeling is that the scene is not overpowered by detail, pigeons, over-weathering, and cuteness. Bravo! Hopefully it will retain that quality as the smaller details go in. The sense of empty space is right on the money, for me.
Well, while my station is elevated, it's intended to serve mainly as a backdrop for parts of this city scene:
The station itself is in the centre section, with the Express Department, shown here, in the south wing:
The north wing, shown below, is meant to represent the Post Office area. Upper floors in all of the building are given over to office space, mostly for the owning railroad's management and clerical end of the business.
The track in this area is yet to be ballasted, as I'll need to remove all of the structures along this elevated right-of-way in order to install some backdrops where the ground-level streets meet the layout room's wall. There are street level pedestrian doors in the ends of both wings, although they're barely visible from the layout's aisle. While there will be passenger service, it will not likely ever approach the levels intended when the station was built in the late 1920s.
...with the left-overs used to construct this partial structure, seen at left, below:
The remaining windows were altered by removing their arched tops, although those on the three-storey station concourse (one below track level and two at track level), as seen in the second photo above, were retained.