Green light all the way!!! When your done, make me a copy. Got to move commuters back home to Doylestown!!
Yesterday afternoon while in Carson City on some personal business I made a stop at the FedEx copy store with a booklet about the Reading Term my dad got me on a train excursion in 1973. The booklet has several prints of the train shed structure including one showing a very accurate representation of the steel work on the arches. I ordered a 36" enlargement of that image. $5. what the hey.
If I do decide to follow through with this idea, I would be using a construction method as I used way back when in building flyable balsa airplanes. Tack the full size plan to sound board or homasote and cover that with wax paper, and cut, glue, and t-pin the parts to the print. White glue on wood works great but CA would take a spin on that method.
Mark H
Modeling in HO...Reading and Conrail together in an alternate history.
You might be able to get someone who owns a 3D printer to make your pieces. Paying a fee is a lot easier.
South Penn
You could build half of it, up against a mirror
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
One of the challenges for the OP was the potential cost involved in building the Reading passenger train shed. On page 29 of the Sept. MR article about the PRR freight shed the author Eric White states "This could become an expensive project if I were going to build the whole trainshed." Eric only built a few inches of the freight shed because it butts up against the background. Although 3D printing is an interesting concept I don't think it would be practical for a project of the size that the OP is contemplating. Eric's shed has 3 tracks. The OP is contemplating 13!
The other issue I believe 3D printing would present is the strength, or more accurately, the lack of strength of the printed components. Obviously the printed components wouldn't be capable of supporting the weight of the whole building so the structure would have to be reinforced, but that isn't the only issue. How do you handle a building that is 3' x 6' without damaging the delicate visible structure details? You would have to avoid playing Godzilla every time you tried to handle the thing. I guess you could design in some sort of removable handle system. Of course other possible construction materials would require careful handling too but I believe styrene or brass would be a little more resilient.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
JOHN BRUCE III I'm a little flabbergasted that nobody has mentioned the cover story on the September MR, in which MR staffer Eric White builds a similar train shed structure using 3D printing. If I were Mr Otte and/or the suits at Kalmbach, I'd be slapping my forehead and asking why the company spends the money for a forum like this if nobody seems aware of what's in the magazine or seems to understand how it might apply to the subject -- after all, the prototype for the MR project is presumably only blocks from Reading Terminal. This is one of the problems with social media, including forums, and it seems to me one good reason for MR to ask whether resources, including some part of Mr Otte's time, are well spent here. Really. Mr Otte, based on what I see, is a capable modeler and editor, and I wonder what paying subscribers to MRVP might see if his time here were freed up and used there.
I'm a little flabbergasted that nobody has mentioned the cover story on the September MR, in which MR staffer Eric White builds a similar train shed structure using 3D printing. If I were Mr Otte and/or the suits at Kalmbach, I'd be slapping my forehead and asking why the company spends the money for a forum like this if nobody seems aware of what's in the magazine or seems to understand how it might apply to the subject -- after all, the prototype for the MR project is presumably only blocks from Reading Terminal.
This is one of the problems with social media, including forums, and it seems to me one good reason for MR to ask whether resources, including some part of Mr Otte's time, are well spent here. Really.
Mr Otte, based on what I see, is a capable modeler and editor, and I wonder what paying subscribers to MRVP might see if his time here were freed up and used there.
After seeing the Cricut thread, and reading up on the machine, I can see many uses for it. And cheaper than 3D printing, at least currently. Only drawback is it doesn't look like the Cricut can do very heavy styrene, maybe .030 is the limit. That might be fine for the visible parts, to have a nore scale profile, but for the unseen braces where you want it to be strong, .030 is kind of thing. of course, if you cut hundreds of them - which is basically just feeding material into the machine, hitting 'print' and waiting - you can laminate multiple pieces to make a thicker supporting brace. Of course, if they are truly hidden from view, standard styrene stock can be used, without any fancy cutting.
Yes I read the 3D printing article, and yes, the PRR structure wasn't very far from the Reading Terminal. But not everyone who posts here is a subscriber. And 3D printing isn't yet the ultimate solution - machines capable of the resolution of the production houses like Shapeways are still too expensive for most people to just buy their own. That will change, and is changing. The biggest issue is drawing your items and then having to send the design off and wait to get a sample to see if it actually came out correctly. That turnaround time can be very frustrating. It's like the old days teaching computer classes using punch cards - you'd keypunch your program, and then have to wait until the next week, or longer, to get the output and results - only to find you made one typo and blew up the entire program.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Mark
Check out the thread about the Cricut cutting machine. It might be possible to use a machine like this to cut out the arches from single pieces of styrene. Lots of other possible uses, too.
Hornblower
Hmm, seems like it would be bigger than an actual 3x6 - that's about the size of my desk and it seems like it would be a bit tight to have 13 tracks witht he platforms - not to mention long enough for some of the bigger trains like the Crusader to fit Might be the ideal size with only minor compression though. I say go for it.
I always wanted to do the Outer Station in Reading. I even had a plan thought up where the station would be more or less the end of the line, modeling the main line and East Penn north, and looping the ends of those back through staging to the main in from Philly and the Lebanon Valley side. All in a moest size house, I had no intention of ever buying a huge house for no other sake than having a huge house. Which I now have - except with one drawback, it's a raised ranch so the garage sucks up some 20 feet or so off one end, at the full depth of the house.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Mark:
WOW! You must have a lot of space to work with! I'm envious.
You will have to do some thinking to figure out how to get it to support its own weight without making the supports too obvious.
Also, you absolutely have to light it! It would be spectacular at night!
I do appreciate your thoughts. As I said in the original post...it's an idea I've been toying with for a long time. If I were to build the train shed in HO to the prototype footprint, it would be 266 x 559 scale ft or right around 3 x 6 ft. That is big but when I consider my long range layout plans...I can make those dimensions work. Of course selective compression is definitely an option on the table. The Reading Terminal shed covered 13 tracks and had an absolute maze of double slip switches leading into it. As I said though, I would be taking a good bit of creative license and lots of time if I decide to 'go for it'.
Hi Mark:
I had dreams of building an HO scale copy of the swing bridge at Little Current on the Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario. I took a ton of pictures of the prototype and did some detailed drawings. Ultimately, I wound up in the same predicament that you are in:
- The bridge would have been over 6 ft long so if it were to actually swing it would take up about 35% of my layout room. The layout room is only 10 ft wide so just getting around the bridge would have been difficult. If I shrank it to fit in my allowable space it would just not have the look of the real thing.
- It would have cost a large fortune in brass stock plus a hefty investment in high end soldering equipment and tools, or a small fortune in styrene. I was really not thrilled with using styrene because of strength concerns.
- It would have required almost all of my available workbench space to assemble it, thereby reducing or eliminating my ability to work on anything else.
- It would be a 'learn as you go' project because I didn't have the soldering skills, or I would have to make something smaller as a learning project.
- It would have taken a long time to build.
Those factors pretty much rained on my parade, but I'm not trying to do that to you. Assuming you have the space, I believe that your project could be selectively compressed and still have the proper look. Having 8 tracks instead of 10 would still be impressive, especially to those who have never seen the original. I don't think going down to 6 tracks would 'keep the flavour', as it were, but what matters is whether or not you are happy with it. You might be able to save some space by reducing the width of the passenger platforms. If the structure was shortened to hold passenger trains with 8 to 10 cars the impression would still be that of a large building IMHO.
Your idea of making the internal bracing somewhat simpler than the exposed end ones is good. They don't have to be copied piece by piece to maintain the appearance of a complicated assembly. It would be tempting to use brass but very expensive. I would suggest styrene with some metal reinforcing in strategic places. Gluing the bits together would be far easier than trying to solder it all. To make the frames I would copy the method used to make balsawood airplanes. I.E. make a drawing with fairly heavy lines, put it over a cork or balsa surface, cover it with wax paper, and then use stick pins to hold each piece in place as the glue dries. That will allow you to make identical copies, some with simpler structures for the braces that are not totally visible. I would also invest in a NWSL Chopper so you can cut identical pieces. I did this much simpler roof assembly in much less time than I had anticipated (without a Chopper as you can see):
You indicate that you would be prepared to do the project over some time so that might take the pressure off dollar wise, or you might be able to negotiate a bulk discount if you bought all of the materials at once. No harm in trying.
I would suggest having a safe place to protect it between work sessions. You wouldn't want to to get crushed half way through. I would also make the structure removable so you can do work in the area without banging into it.
I have a bad habit of droning on endlessly when it comes to giving suggestions for for these types of projects so I will quit here, other than to say "GO FOR IT!"
steemtrayn Today, it's part of the Philadelphia Convention Center.
Today, it's part of the Philadelphia Convention Center.
Oh yeah. I remember from my last Philadephia visit in 1993 changes were under way.
I can't begin to say how thrilled I am to see the terminal so beautifully in it's second century of existence. I feared back in the mid 80's it would be torn down.
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
For many years...long before moving to Nevada (1994) and since that time, I've been remembering the 100's of times I've be in the Reading Terminal as a train passenger, and looking at the trainshed with total awe. I've had a dream or maybe dilusion (LOL) of building the trainshed in it's full size in HO scale...not including the head house. Back in those days I had the money but limited confidence in my modeling skills. Now I feel I have the skills but lack in money to do it...except as a very long term project.
I am merely exploring the idea at this time.
For anyone unfamiliar with the Reading Terminal, here are some links to images.
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-675
http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/center_city/reading.html
Since I have considerable respect for the members of this forum, I thought I would toss the idea out there for feedback, thoughts, and ideas.
If I choose to do the build, I will exercise some artistic license. One thing would be that the first arch span would be full detail while the others internally would be less detailed because of the roof. I also would not use radius gussetts on the lattice work. There are other things too numerous to mention.
I am open for thoughts and ideas any of you may have in helping me to decide whether or not to go ahead. Ultimately it is my choice. It would be a challenge no matter how I view it.
In advance...thank you all.