A real subway model

[Anonymous]

I want to model a subway. Really. but have no clue how.
Things like lights and platforms and stairs,etc. HOW???
I want to have a city above it and everything and trains that
run on both levels. I don't want my subway to be in the dark,
so what can I do. We don't have a subway here in Kentucky,
just caves. Any ideas ????

[Anonymous]

I saw a model subway in a British magazine a while ago - they were planning to build it as part of their office layout. They planned to have the subway section underneath a suburban station set "somewhere in London". The tube trains were going to be run using a shuttle unit that would run them into and out of the station automatically. Unfortunately, I've not seen any further details, so it looks as though they have either abandoned the idea or lost interest.

[Anonymous]

Subways don't always run underground. so you could have part of it in the dark adn parts of it on the top level, that way it's seen. another way is to have the bottome level open, that is have the exterior side when the train runs visible, or behind a tinted peice of plexiglass.

[Jetrock]

Indeed, subways sometimes emerge--in Chicago sections of the subway run below ground, others above.

There are several examples of people modeling subways out there--one method is to model the stations up against the edge of the layout, viewable via a hole in the side of the layout. In this way you can model the interior of each station (where most of the action is anyhow.) The giant model railroad of Chicago in the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry uses this method. You can model the subway tunnels if you're of a mind to do so--you could show the interior of the tunnels (which could provide some interesting scenic color with homeless folks living in the tunnels and other weird subterranean stuff) at least partially by having removable wall panels.

On top of the tracks you could model city scenes with the station entrances and trolley lines--and, as mentioned above, one side of the layout could feature a lower elevation where the subway comes above ground and emerges into a suburban station. In this way, one side of the layout could represent the central city and the other side the suburbs, giving some variation in architechture. It would work well as a shelf layout, too.

[AltonFan]

There's a modeler in the Chicago area who models the "L", including the subway portions, which ran in tunnels along the edge of the layout. It was not very big, and may have been O scale.

[eastcoast]

I see subways modelled all the time. It just depends on how you
want the scene to be viewed. Some people put alot of effort into
creating these. MOST are modelled under a passenger terminal
and have a level all their own. Others will vary the benchwork to
blend it in with the entire layout. I did a "sub" scene under my
passenger station and did the minimum due to it's area that it
occupies in a closet.

[Anonymous]

Jetrock has the best idea. There was a serial in the model railroader a few years agao. It was a six parter on how to model the boston trollys with a guy building a layout that featured some subway running.

He had the cutouts in the front of the layout for the stations but they were open at the top too. He had along the top a strip of rock casting that was painted black to represent a cut through of the ground over the station.

Neil

[bluepuma]

Sounds like an idea for a office model for a cubical using the ""Tube" Idea of last April MR - PVC tube on each side of a single station to provide hidden running and the direction reversing "Y" tail for each end, the train moves out of sight from the station, passes the switch crossover, goes behind another train visible in the station, to the other end of the tube, then the front train pulls left, both tracks empty. Model only the exit stairs/portal at the top. Have seen the metro stations in Washing DC Chinatown near the Converntion Center, and the Atlanta station, humm... near Atlanta Underground, and underground stations in Yokohama, Japan, in Japan, many stores along the train passageways, so could do those on each side to hide tubes a ways.

Needs auto reverser, switch controls or indicators for position, enough room at each end... humm, spring switch, stage one 3-4 car train at each end, perhaps different colors, run them toward each other on separate tracks or use view block for back train. The idea lends itself to a trolley line above surface, might actually be the smallest train layout for a train runner

Thanks for triggering the idea - Tubes and all.

Reminds me of that back and forth up the wall railroad which could also make a great
limited space wall climber, using switch backs.