Hi There
Im in the process of building my layout which is in the 1990’s and I would like a station on my layout
Here was one i was looking at…
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2807
And another,
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2842
Tjsingle
The short answer is no. The long answer is during the 1980s most of the stations like these were torn down, moved away from the railroad track, or incases where the trains no longer run by on the tracks - converted to tourist information locations. But if you just want the station in a run down or boarded up condition stitting along the track it would be great.
Here is a station of that ilk as it would look in 1990. This is the Rock Island station in Jennings Kansas.
Amtrak doesn’t generally stop in towns that were small enough to have this sort of station.
Nothing says you could not make an exception though! I did find this Amtrak station last weekend. Most of the ones that lasted are brick and much larger. I think artists license could come into play and make an exception.
And here is one (much larger than the ones in question) that has been made into a museum.
Davis Oklahoma 2005
By the 1990s. small town depots had failry well disappeared from mainlines across the eastern USA. There are a FEW left, but mostly larger, brick structures.
If you want a small-town wood depot for a PA-based layout, I’d go with Atlas’ new one:
http://www.atlasrr.com/Trackmisc/homaywood.htm
While it’s not a Pennsy prototype, it’s closer to the Pennsy look than either of the Walthers depots you’re looking at, which are more Midwestern.
Be sure to paint your depot blah white and weather the heck out of it!
Good advice but whats happening is i have a runaround and it is bare, thats where the idea came from
Picture
the bare area in the middle will be ballast filled later
Generally that runaround looks a little small for a depot. Most had space for at least 3 passenger cars, in my observation. it does however look perfect for a small industry, especially with that siding. Maybe a small manufacturing plant that gets one or two boxcars delivered to it a day.
Speaking of boxcars, that 40’ car in the picture wasn’t in use on Conrail in the 90s, however it could be modernized by removing the roofwalk and turning it into a MOW car or repainting it for say Canadian Pacific that used some 40’ boxcars into the 1990s. The Dash-7 in the CRQ lettering however is absolutely perfect and were common as sparrows on some areas of Conrail in the 90s.
Cheers!
~METRO
That’s in Maywood, NJ, a few miles from where I live. There are a dozen or more stations like this still in northern NJ, a couple still in use now, but more were in use in 1990. The Maywood station is more ornate than most, and the Walthers one you picked is not that far a cry from them - what you might call railroad generic - at least for the northeast. Besides, it’s YOUR RAILROAD, do what YOU want!! My [2c]
Yes you can. Examples abound. For instance, Amtrak used the 100+ year-old wood-frame S.P. station in Martinez, CA into well into the 1990s until Amtrak built a new station a few years ago. The old station still exists. The passenger portion of old combination freight/passenger station is now occupied by a retail store. Also, the S.P. station in Santa Clara, CA, built in the 1860s, still stands. Commuter trains pause there for passengers, but the station is entirely occupied by a model railroad club and private train museum now.
Mark
Mark
MOST RR’s were built in the 1860’s to 1890’s and the original WOOD depots rotted.
RR’s replaced those being used with brick, Masonry, and Stucco - more permanent materials. Many small towns have rented out their old depots, as trains no longer stop there.
AMTRAK (Passenger only) has replaced many of these now in use with much smaller installations, except in major cities where they operate by renting space within large Depots 'cause it’s cheaper. With AMTRAK HANDLING PASSENGERS, Railroading today is a ‘freight’ only business.
DEPOTS were for Passenger operation, Freight houses were add-ons. Your choice of 1990 ‘Passenger’ limits you to AMTRAK or rented older buildings.
A’CURRENT’ AMTRAK station would look more like a Service Station with a parking lot.
Amtrak uses some old depots. And don’t forget the craze for new but “retro” Amtrakk depots that look a bit like the Walthers models. For example the “new” Galesburg IL depot is only about 20 years old but looks much older:
And the brand new railroad museum next door looks even more old fashioned:
Dave Nelson
Not really. But if you are looking to fill a space it would work. I used a Atlas train station on my 4 X 8 layout And it worked all right.
Tj:
You didn’t mention what purpose that station would play…
The 1990’s is most definitely Amtrak era and as already stated “most” stations served by Amtrak are of brick…But there are wood structures also. I say this first handed, as I am an Amtrak traveler as often as I can and need.
Also remember that it’s your road and you may take license to do as you want.
As for prototype and what may or may not be in a specific local at a specific time…That is a totally different story falling into the “rivet counter” scenario. Not that this is bad; a time a place with a reason are all good things to conceder even when taking “license”.
A number of older stations have also been converted to more modern uses by the railroads.
This former B&O depot in Meyersdale PA still serves CSX as an office for their maintenance of way department. Just get some appropriate vehicles, I believe Conrail painted theirs yellow, to park around it, maybe stack up some signal masts, electrical cabinets and other materials around the area surrounding the station, and you’ve created a modern depot scene. As you can see in this picture, not all old depots are left to rot. This one is very well maintained. It was built around the turn of the last century, and photographed about 8 weeks ago!
Lee
Make up a sign that says “Depot Restaurant” or “Depot Pizza.” That would let people know that it was a “recycled” building, formerly a station but now adapted to the 1990’s.
Well it could be in use in the 1990’s, but it would be more likely to be in commuter service than say Amtrak - and really, would be most likely to be found on like a tourist railroad or being used for another purpose, like a local historical society etc…especially the smaller depot.
Keep in mind a town so small that it would need only a small wood depot most likely wouldn’t be worth Amtrak stopping at. For example, Hastings Minnesota still has a very nice restored depot, but the Empire Builder doesn’t stop there because it’s only 20 miles from the Twin Cities Amtrak station in St.Paul. When rail was the chief means of getting around, every small town had it’s own depot. Now people using inter-city rail drive to the nearest “big city” and get on the train there, so the train won’t stop in their small town anymore.
If the town was big enough to warrant Amtrak service, it might have an “Amshak” like this:
But of course you can…Many of these stations are used for privately owned trackside restaurants, MOW buildings,local historical societies,liquor store,local railroad museums and/or clubs etc.
So,you see a modern layout can have a old wooden station that’s been preseved and use in another line of business.
You can use either of the station’s you’ve shown.
In Quantico, Virginia, the Prince William County Model Railroaders Club acquired the old Quantico Depot and turned it into their club house. They have a fair sized layout in it and hold open house on the first Saturday of each month.
This is their site if your interested http://www.pwmrc.org/Index.htm
Not only do spectators get to checkout the layout, they also get to watch CSX pass through.
I thought of doing a similar scene on my layout. That way the older stations can be used.
Bill
Dont forget the robot ticket vendor and not an employee in site. [;)]
That boxcar is a strasburg rr boxcar bought at one of the hobby shops around the area, i know it is not my prototype but i still like it. Also the dash 7 is a b23-7 that i picked up for $160 with sound.
Here is a picture
and the dash 7
Well, no, but here’s my general rule of thumb (thank you Jeffery). "It’s your layout, run what you want (or add what structure you want). BTW, check your PMs. Like it’s been suggested, if you want to be more real world, make it a museum or run-down. Of course, there is no rule saying that you can’t say it’s still in operation.
