NYC High Line

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

I recently walked the original section of NYC’s high line which is now a beautiful park. I couldn’t help wonder what it was like in the 40’s when it was actively used as a railroad. Has anybody ever modeled this line? (I would think it would make a great shelf layout). Is there any reference material or historical accounts that could be used by a would-be modeller?

2

There was a recent (well, “doctor’s-office recent”) article in National Geographic about this park. Only a little history, but since you just walked it you’ll find it interesting.

3

There’s a double panoramic photo view of the West Side elevated line in the Fall 2008 issue of Classic Trains. Additionally, there was an ad for elevated track structures in a recent MR, but I cannot remember the manufacturer.

Someone else on the forum might.

4

If ya google “new york city elevated railroads”, you can get some neat “before” pictures. The afters are pleasant, too; but light on the rolling stock.

Ed

5

A lot of people have agreed with this sentiment, and so quite a number of West Side line layouts have been featured over the years in modeling magazines.I remeber at least one guy modeled a highly compressed version of the entire West Side line running from the Spuyten Duyvil swing bridge on south to St. John’s Terminal. Actually, one of the more interesting story treatments was a RMC ‘photo’ tour some years back, with the article being writen as if the author was a photographer going on a private tour of the line during the early 1960s (the photos in the story, of course, being of the author’s layout)

If you haven’t already seen this, start here (Note: searching under NYC West Side Improvements Railroad will probably yeild more historical info then NYC Highline which will turn up looks of images of the ‘Linear Park’, plus some ‘Urban Safaris’ of the line from the periods prior to park construction.

6

Ron Parisi did and HO Scale MUSEUM QUALITY layout of the NYC High Line. It was in RMC (Sorry Model Railroader) about 15 years ago.

7

Thanks - this is exactly the stuff I was looking for. I’ll try to search the publication indexes for articles.

8

Imagine that laser art does the NY El. Kind of pricy but very nice and sturdy looking.

http://www.imaginethatlaserart.com/

Pete