I am presently building a Walther Cornerstone White Hall Station kit. and noticed on the picture depicted on the box that the station platform is raised above track level so as the passengers would simply step across the small gap between the platform and car, But when I place the base of the model next to the track which is on roadbed it appears that the little 1:87 scale people would have to step up or use steps of some sort to get to the doors of the coach. I know in some cases maybe a more rurual station or earlier then the late 1950’s my ear the conductors would jump out and place steps in front of the doors for passengers.
My question is is there a general rule of thump when it comes to passenger stations and platform height in relation to the passenger coaches?
The whole idea of a raised platform is so passengers needn’t step up or down at all to enter or exit the passenger cars. Adjust the height of the raised platforms so they’re at the same level as the car floors.
Rail-level platforms commonly used at rural and small-town depots called for the train crew to place a portable step beneath the car steps.
Scroll down to the track design section and about halfway through will be clearance drawings. You want to stay outside the heavy line with a platform so it won’t hit passing equipment.
Generally high level platforms were only used in the east (back in Phillie we used to joke that civilisation ended at Altoona because that’s where the PRR high level platforms ended).
I guess that Japan must be really civilized, then. ALL passenger platforms are high level. The cars don’t even have trap steps, only stirrups for the convenience of folks in the storage yards.
My NMRA gauge (HO scale - works well enough for HOj) has a clearance notch for high level platforms. It’s the odd rectangular cutout on the same side as the wheel width and flange spacing gauges.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with, of necessity, high level platforms)
Track level platforms would normally be built a few inches above the top of rail. But over the years additional ballast would get added, and even just a light surfacing would raise the track fractionally each time. Rails get replaced with new heavier (and taller) sections, and so on. Especially on main lines with lots of freight traffic and maintenance, the tracks will gradually rise up above the platform, sometimes well above. The step boxes others have mentioned were a much simpler solution than raising an entire platform.
“My NMRA gauge (HO scale - works well enough for HOj) has a clearance notch for high level platforms. It’s the odd rectangular cutout on the same side as the wheel width and flange spacing gauges.”
Absolutely correct thanks don’t know how I overlooked that, looks like I’ll be fabricating a raised platform being as I can’t raise the entire structure or lower the track to meet the standard., thanks
I have rode passengers trains back in the '60’s and 90% of the time there was no step…We simply step from the platform onto the step of the car-about 10-12"…The conductor and passenger brakeman would help the ladies and the elderly.
That’s a very useful/informative article, as well at its neighbor on page 36 on detailing station scenes. One detail omitted, however, is the rural station’s “depot dog.” Here is an illustration of a typical rural SP combination depot, complete with milk cans and a depot dog, including the house track passing through the rail-high platform betweeen depot and main track.
I have some prototype pictures of Union Station in Springfield Mass [link] that show the platforms, passengers and Amtrak passenger car steps. Even with the platform almost a foot above the roadbed, there is still a step up into the cars.
Alan
PS
Andy S. recommended a good reference link in the MR article.
Today’s Johnstown Amtrak Station between Altoona & Latrobe – fits this description on what was the PRR’s 4-track mainline – still served by the Amtrak Pennsylvanian on N&W’s 3-track mainline with daily “step box” service. Note how high Amtrak’s equipment has become over the years.
You could add something under the area where the depot and platform is, like Woodland Scenics sheet foam. I think the thinnest is like 1/8" thick. I’ve used it to raise the area next to the track so it’s more like track level.
Chuck I had considered doing just that but then it would pose an other set of problems as I would now have to add to the steps etc. on the base of the station. So I opted for the next best thing. I am going to move the location of that station to the new section of the layout slated to start this summer and adult the track accordingly (lower in the area where the station is going to be located. and I will also be able to have a longer straight section for the station platform which will look much better then the short length of track where I was considering.
Pardner, I think you were addressing Stix. He just quoted you quoting me.
Actually, my prototype has a good many stations at railhead level, with ramps up to the high-level platforms. Unlike North American prototypes, low-level platforms are NOT an option in Japan.
For that matter, it isn’t necessary to use high level platforms just because that’s what appears in a catalog or front-of-the-box illustration. Low level platforms are always appropriate in North America.
I don’t know how much this would apply west of the pond but this side of it some early railway companies built their platforms much lower than the later standard height. (Incidentally we must be as civilised as Japan as all our regular rail station platforms are raised [:)]).
The changes in height sometimes result in a long platform having ends of different heights with a rise part way along. This is unusual but does still remain. Just one or two places do still have some step arrangements.
What is more significant either side of the pond is that when platforms get raised they are often built up rather than completely stripped away and built new. This means that the facing brickwork (or whatever) can have distinct layers of material and/or colour. On a low level platform where track/ballast heioght has increased this can show more along the back face of the platform than along the front.
Very similar to this, when car lengths increase or trains get run with more cars that all need to stop against the platform face, then platforms get extended. These extensions are often of different designs, materials and colours. If nothing else they are more “new” and less weathered/battered. In situations where the passing speed of trains gets raised platforms are sometimes made wider so that people can stay back from th