City Railroading

[Anonymous]

Can anyone suggest some resourses, preferably internet links, that will help me create a layout in trainz with a city/urban theme? I always see great photos of city scenes in model railroader magazine in the past, especially city industries... very fascinating.

Any track plans, scenary tips, industries, pictures, etc wuld be helpful!

[mondotrains]

I've used the info below as a response to another post but I will include it here in case you didn't see it.


Last Labor Day, when most people were at the beach or at family picnics, I drove through Hartford, Connecticut and using my digital camera (3.2 megapixels), I photographed dozens of historic buildings, including the Traveler's Tower and the Colt Building. I mention the holiday because it helped to have little traffic, people and cars in the way when I was photographing. Then, I went to Wal-Mart and using their photo Kiosk, enhanced, cropped and then printed 8 x 10 photos for around $3.00 each. What I like about Wal-Mart is that they use matte finish paper, rather than glossy, for their Kiosk processing. I then fastened the photos to 1/4" thick foam board, available in large sheets at craft stores. I used large glue sticks from "Staples" to attach the photos to the foam board because the glue doesn't bleed through. I found out the "hard way" that Elmer's causes the foam board to warp because it is water-based. I bought the black foam board because the foam inside is black, therefore, once I used my sharp hobby knife to cut out the sky and inappropriate cars, fences etc. from the photos, the edge of the foam which shows is black and provides a somewhat 3-dimensional appearance. I mention this because I previously bought white foam board and then had to paint the edge all around with black acrylic paint.

In my city, elevated behind my yard, I have all sorts of interesting "buildings" against my backdrop. Considering my city scene is only 10" deep, I only had room for one "layer" or row of various 3-dimensional structures, but the photos in the background make it look much deeper. It's also fun to see buildings you're familiar with and visitors to my layout get a kick out of seeing them too. I even have a photo of the Aetna building in Hartford, where I worked for 22 years.

[leighant]

I don't understand your reference to "trainz", is that a computer simulation?

I have been working several years designing the big city scene for the big railroad room I may never get. There are a number of elements to my idea of a city layout. Is this what you are interested in?

[Anonymous]

trainz is indeed a sim - I've not used it myself though I've played MS Train Sim a fair amount. I would also like to see some cityscape routes - would very much like the New York freight elevated line known as the High Line (look at www.oldnyc.com to see what I mean - this would be very enjoyable as a train sim add-on route/activity). I'd also like to see a few routes involving on-street running as this particularly appeals. I've not yet bought any add-on packs for train sim though I've downloaded (and re-coded) some new loco "models". Best experience so far? Cruising along the North East Corridor route in a 1950's British DMU set - with a top speed of just under 70mph!

[Anonymous]

mondotrains:
Hmm... intrestin advice. Never thot about doing the photo on foam thing... very innovative!

Railroading_brit: Its true! City railroading is not very popular among train sims... thats y i am building my own! Its jus hard to get started. I dont live in a city with lots of trains going through it... its jus amazing to see those pictures of trains snaking through the big american cities on the streets or above it. I will want to include a subway system too as a long term project... cant wait to get started! :-) Thanks for the link btw!

leighant:
forget that i mentioned "trainz" in the first place... basically I want to create a city scene for a future model railroad. (trainz is a program that will let me do in depth planning and do virtual test runs). You said that u are designing a model railroad with a city scene? nice! Do you hav any photos of ur plans in digital form that u can email me? I need a source of inspiration to keep me going :-D