Hi, I’m trying to find some large American Union Station Models (preferably styrene) that are along the lines of Washington D.C.'s Union Station or LA’s Union or Denver’s. You get the idea.
I’ve looked through Walther’s 2008 catalog but unless i’ve missed something I’m not seeing one.
Just the new limited edition Milwaukee Station. I’d like something large: 20 to 24"+.
Any ideas where else to look or know of a specific model and website?
Thanks very much.
Capt. G.
What about the older Walthers Union Station kit?
You might try scratchbuilding/kitbashing something, there was an article in MR a few years ago about someone who bashed a Walthers Union Station and some brick buildings (Walthers’ REA transfer station sounds familier) into a very large station.
How 'bout this one: http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3094 [:P]
IIRC, it’s the same one Ty is talking about. Looks like they’ll be re-releasing it in mid-June…
Check out Custom Model Railroads’ website. They have an excellent model that follows Baltimore’s Penn Station, and is similiar to the Lackawanna station in Scranton. I believe it’s available with an add-on kit to make it even bigger.
Lee
Thanks Ken. That’s pretty close to perfect! I’ll put that on the possible’s list. I haven’t received the (smaller) Walthers catalog’s yet maybe that’s in one of them?
I might be thinking something a bit more ornate (not sure yet until the layout plan is solidified).
Lee, thanks very much. I’ll check their (his?) site. I’ve got it bookmarked as their Steam Loco Servicing Yard layout turned me on (if you’ve seen that thread) and gotten me started on planning my layout.
They may be a bit too “proud” of their prices, but I’ll go look and see!
Thanks guys. You’re awesome responding so soon and being so helpful!
If anyone has more, please keep 'em coming?
Capt. G.
THE Baden Baden RR Station is quite similar similar to Denver’s Station, and LA’s Union Terminal is too modern (built in 1939) and is in ‘Mission’ style. DC’s I havent seen so can’t comment.
The Bade Baden is quite large, and currently on sale for $64 off.
Walthers Part # 770-3560,
The Walthers station is the CB&Q station in Omaha, NE. Its still standing but not used.
Dave H.
Don, thanks for the notice about the Baden Baden station. I think I looked at and considered it for future reference. If I remember correctly in the '08 catalog it’s a very small pic and even with a magnifying glass I had a hard time deciding if it would look too European. Maybe I should look on their website next and see if there’s something larger (picture wise.) Come to
think of that, maybe I’ll see that Omaha station too. Thanks for the source info. for that station Dave! Now I wish I’d driven downtown when I passed through the outskirts of Omaha on a road trip a year or so ago!
Well, one lesson learned here. Don’t wait until the “snail mail” Walthers newsletters show up on my doorstep.
Anyone have other American large Passenger stations to recommend?
Maybe something that’s no longer built but not outrageously (collector’s item) priced I can keep an eye out for on ebay or swap meets?
Thanks.
Edit/addition: Yep, lesson learned there…the pic online is larger. Not much but enough to really see it. Thanks Don, but I think that one is going to be a bit more “gingerbread-y” than I have in mind. More rectangular like the Omaha, yet maybe a bit more ornate is what I have in mind. I dig the limited edition Milwaukee Station on the back cover and liked the scratchbuilt original version in a MR 1985 issue, but it’s still “too much” Victorian for my layout…
The Hoboken, N.J. station and ferry terminal on the Hudson is kind of what I have in mind if anyone would like to do a quick search. A very cool idea for modeling if I only had the room!
Lee, Thanks for the CMR ideas. That Baltimore/Lackawanna station is up my alley as well. Too bad all of these are so expensive but what isn’t these days? I’ll keep compiling a list of possibilities and see what will fit in once
I have a track plan settled upon.
This is correct. Omaha’s Union Station, which served 7 railroads, was on the opposite side of the tracks from the Burlington Station. The two stations were connected by an overhead concourse. At one time in the early 20th century, the two stations combined to be the fourth busiest complex in the country.
While the Walthers version shows the pillars to be on the side opposite the tracks, the pillars on the prototype were actually trackside with the connecting concourse emerging from the pillars as shown in this photo:
Only the framework of the concourse remains, and it no longer connects to the old Union Station which is now the Durham Western Heritage Museum.
Even though I model an eastern freelanced railroad, I intend to kitbash a concourse as it was in the prototype station.
One other note, the current Amtrak Station is just east of this station, to the left in the photo.
I have one of those. They are really nice!
Wow, thanks for posting that pic and historical info. Mr. Corbett!
New Haven I-5, would it by any chance be possible to post pics of this station on your layout or
(if it’s not put together yet) the box and parts grouping just to get an idea of what it looks like in
reality?
This one is definitely in the running!
Thanks guys,
Capt. G.
I’ll post them in WPF this weekend.
Your welcome, Capt.
At the risk of posting more information than you are really interested in, here is some more. The Burlington Station had a second platform which has long since been removed. This platform served two tracks, for a total of three for the station. The Union Station on the other side of the tracks was a much larger operation and had as many as 7 platforms at one time. This print from Walthers is a fairly accurate representation of that station:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/70-1017
Both the previous photo and this print would have been from roughly the same vantage point. The locos that are lined up represent the various railroads that used Union Station although I’m sure you would never have seen them line up this way unless it was a staged shot. Just above the locos, you can see the connecting concourse between the two stations. This concourse was built with a slight bend in it since the Burlington and Union Pacific tracks were not perfectly parallel.
The Union Station you see in the Walters print is actually the 7th building to serve as Union Station in Omaha, going back to the 1850s. Originally, the CB&Q wanted to be a tenant of this final version of Union Station, but an economic downturn late in the 19th century prevented the UP from building this station so the CB&Q finally decided to build their own on the opposite side of the tracks. The original Burlington Station was much more elaborate with a pitched roof instead of a flat roof, but when the the final Union Station was built, it was redesigned to be similar in appearance to it’s sister station. The refurbished Burlington Station and final Union Station were completed in 1930.
As passenger traffic began to dwindle in the post-war era, there was talk of combining both operations into the Burlington Station, but the UP line was on a slightly different grade than the CB&Q line and it was deemed to be n
Has then been any information that Walthers will make this station or a similar station in N scale
Thanks
Okiechoochoo
You might want to take a look at the New Haven Union Station built by the New Haven Railroad in New Haven, CT.
While not offered in kit form, beautiful paper prints of this building can be purchased from Westport Model Works www.westportmodelworks.com as Building #29.
If fully assembled in HO Gauge it measures approximately 24 by 48 inches. By omitting a few sections it can be built smaller than that without any loss. I have purchased the full station prints and it will be the centerpiece of my planned layout centered around the operations at Union Station.