Railroads exist to transport things from a place to a place, and they go wherever they need to go-- where they think they can make a buck-- to haul goods and cargo, and of course people, to their various destinations. As the railroads established themselves, they typically extended outward from the major population centers through the rural areas, and eventually connecting to other population centers, developing transportation networks over which to haul their loads. These connections permitted producers of all kinds to get their goods to a market-- farmers, factories, mills, you name it-- the railroads connected businesses to consumers and became a fundamental element of the economic backbones of many nations.
But today I’m mainly interested in cities-- railroad cities. All across the country as the railroads extended outward they spurred economic growth and industrialization, particularly along the corridors established by the railroads. Additionally, many rural communities sprang up-- sometimes out of literally, nothing-- to service and provide for the needs of the railroads, providing wood, water, food and lodging to the railroad and its employees and customers. And in turn, many of those communities grew into large towns and small cities in their own right.
And this is what I’m interested in-- as I have been thinking about designing and implementing a large city and several smaller towns across my layout-- what is the essence of a railroad city? Beyond the obvious I mean-- the train goes through it… And secondly, how does that translate into
A railroad city is usually a division point yard with large car and locomotive shops and employs thousands of the local population.
What gives it that certain look and flavor?
The town or city will look like any other town untill you find the large railroad shops and yards.
How does that translate into what can or should be modeled, from a model railroading perspective?/And a question that I’ve been especially grappling with-- How can you convincingly combine a nice-sized yard, say 10-12 tracks wide and a city in a relatively shallow- 24-30 inch depth space? Does something have to give? If so, what are the alternatives?
Actually there was usually a lot of homes nearby that the shop and yard workers lives in…There would be a RR YMCA near the yard so the inbound crews will have a place to shower,eat and sleep.
I would model the RR YMCA with a back drop showing homes with a city skyline in the distance.
I would think that if the railroad came first, there must be some service or product that if transported to a distant location would make the RR a buck. For instance, GN forged West to Everett just to get to the Pacific Ocean for the connection to the Far East. Everett boasts protected harbors and channels deep enough for ocean going craft. There were towns that sprung up from the Divide West all along the RoW mostly supporting the push West. Other locations were already growing ( say Spokane, Wa ) and it made sense to align with it as during that time there were also paying travelers wanting to go East to visit people. There were also workers available if needed. Spokane boasted lumber/timber and lots of it. Note that Spokane also had other RR’s - UP, Milw, NP, SI, SP&S although not necessaliry in the same time frame.
A little different perspective - Essex Pit supplied all the ballast ( Montana pink ) for miles both ways on the RoW. We even have ( still ) roads paved with the stuff. I have visited it multiple times and it is amazing how little of a hole there is in the side of the mountain! There isn’t really a town except for the Issac Walton Inn which was a crew/cook house back then. Nowdays that Inn is a flag stop for Amtrak with people getting on/off most every day.
As a modeler, we kinda create the cart before the horse. Figure out what your railroad needs to make a buck, then build it. Remember that old addage: “If you build it, they will come!” Over the years those small towns grew, stagnated or became ghosts. Pretty much all of the Pacific Northwest was known for lumber/timber with a few smaller industries that popped up AFTER the fact. Railroads then had additional revenue and could cherry pick.
Bottom line is that YOU make the final decision and figure out what YOU want your railroad to do. Given the constraint placed on modelers ( time and area ) it see
The railroad runs through the town, or, from a historical perspective, the town grew up around the railroad. So, while we often get a lot out of the rear-most inches of our layout space by using flats and background buildings, we can also add to the close, urban nature of city modeling by putting the buildings in the foreground, and having the trains run behind them for a stretch.
The roads are narrow here. There’s no space for parking or passing. While prototype realism suffers a bit, the narrow streets help that “vertical” dimension. This is the same intersection, viewed from 90 degrees away. It has more of the “urban canyon” look, though, because I made the street a half-inch narrower, and I used half-inch sidewalks instead of the full inch in the first photo.
And then, there are the subways. Here, instead of just playing games with the vertical dimesion, I’ve actually used it to create 2 levels of modeling and get twice as much layout into the same space.
Phase 2 of my layout is a 30-inch shelf. It started as a staging yard, with a balloon at one end to allow trains to run through and return. Then, I added a passing siding to the balloon track, and a crossover gave me a reverse loop opposite to the one on Phase 1, so I could reverse any train without backing, regardless of the direction it was heading. A chance purchase of a couple of Railway Express reefers put a siding with an REA depot on the drawing board. So, in this narrow 30-inch space, I ended up with 8 nearly-parallel tracks at one point. I decided to hide the original 4-track yard behind a row of tall buildings, but still model the space as a station.
Preface to this entire response. You could sum up your entire question as, “How do I model urban areas?”
That it has a railroad. One block away from the railroad it will look like any other place.
That it has industries that require the support of a railroad (depending on era). The area next to the railroad will have a predominence of industries that require the support of a railroad. The more modern the railroad, the less that is applicable.
I don’t know that it does. By default if you have a railroad running through a town or city, that makes it a “railroad town”. There is no difference in a “railroad” town once you leave sight of the railroad and a town of a similar era and area that isn’t rail served.
The only difference I can see is that railroads follow the contours of the earth, while streets follow man’s plan. One of the ways I find where rail lines are located is to look at street maps. The “diagonal” gap where streets end or jog around or force odd intersections is where the railroads are.
Purely dependent on the era, location, industrialization and size of the city involved.
If you are modeling a city with lots of heavy industry and big brick buildings, then you model a lot of heavy i
As Todd points out, you don’t have to have or need a large city to model a RR town. Small towns and depots, whose primary business and reason for existence were due to the RRs, were more plentiful and just as needed as the larger cities their freight was headed to or came from. And the two, obviously, have to be modeled quite differently; as you will find aspects of RRing on one that you will not find on the other.
Percentage-wise, small towns (as a whole) were much more set up and focused on meeting the needs of their perspective RRs and personnel than their bigger siblings. Conveniences and necessities might need to be much closer in proximity in a town vs. a city - e.g. temporary housing for RR employees and very little taxi or bus service available. Storage or track space (for unloaded and loaded cars) could be much more limited in a small RR town. And - depending on the era that you model - the process of unloading and loading cars in town might become more, or sometimes less, reliant upon manual labor or processes than they would in a larger, thriving metropolis.
– What is the essence of a railroad city? What gives it that certain look and flavor?
The tracks and trains. The closer to the buildings and roads the better. Make it crowded. Make it look dirty within the RR area.
– How does that translate into what can or should be modeled, from a model railroading perspective?
Trains and tracks first. Then see what you can shoe-horn in around them.
– How does one achieve the requisite “look” of the density, industrialization, and grit that is so common in those prototypical areas, in the typically small or narrow areas left-over on the layout?
Backdrops go a long way in helping to get that look. Then backdrop buildings and flats. Then blend all that together with weathering. I would favor black weathering to get that “grime” feel.
– How can the use of the third dimension (elevation) help in planning and creating convincing city scenes?
Most places that I have seen while traveling seem to have the RR and the yards in low flat areas. These were probably natural when the RR’s first came to the area. Then as the towns and cities grew up around them, they were on higher ground. Probably because the RR’s used up all the flat low lying areas. At least this seems to hold true in the hilly areas of the country, and that seems to be what most of us model because of the height variation.
– And a question that I’ve been especially grappling with-- How can you convincingly combine a nice-sized yard, say 10-12 tracks wide and a city in a relatively shallow- 24-30 inch depth space? Does something have to give? If so, what are the alternatives?
I think 12 tracks will take up 26 inches if you stick to 2" centers. That leaves 4 inches for scenery behind them if 30 i
What is the essence of a railroad city? What gives it that certain look and flavor?
Well, having grown up in Altoona, your photos bring back a lot of memories. Funny thing is, your pictures are from the 50’s and I grew up during the 70’s and 80’s but the town hasn’t changed all that much. I think the thing that gives the railroad town that signature look is the structures. Altoona is old. Most of the structures there are masonry and brick. Most everything in the downtown areas close to the railroad are red brick color. Not too many structures over ten stories. Altoona has a lot of bridges and these were mostly made of steel. Most of the houses in town are of the two story company house style, at least in the part of town closest to the railroad.
– How does that translate into what can or should be modeled, from a model railroading perspective?
I guess that would depend on what your goal is of the layout.
– How can the use of the third dimension (elevation) help in planning and creating convincing city scenes?
One thing about Altoona is that it lies in a valley. The railroad/facilities and shops run through the middle and the town is pushed up onto the hillsides. This is why Altoona has so many bridges, because the railroad forms a substantial barrier, like a river, that cuts the town in two. Anyone who wants to model this area successfully and capture the flavor has to think about the railroad being lower in elevation than the surrounding town.
– And a question that I’ve been especially grappling with-- How can you convincingly combine a nice-sized yard, say 10-12 tracks wide and a city in a relatively shallow- 24-30 inch depth space? Does something have to give? If so, what are the alternatives?
I see the question as having two parts- the problem of modeling a city in a limited space, and the question of modeling the character of a RAILROAD town/city. To this, my layout adds a third situation- the desire to capture the character of a particular place.-- . For the railroader, is a sea of tracks-- but only on the back, channel side of the island.
One normally would view this looking towards ships visible over the portside cargo sheds.
I would say that a railroad city or town is one where the railroad is the largest primary employer, accounting for more than 60% of the primary jobs in the city or town.
To model such a city, you need to model the railroad facilities that employ lots of people. Roundhouse, backshop, car shops, major yards, etc.
The key to modeling such a city in a small space is to have some models of railroad facilities and have more on the backdrop. Don’t have other major industries, factories, port facilities, etc as models or on the backdrop.
A ‘Railroad Town’ does not have to be a big urban area. As others have pointed out the large division point terminals existed in towns of under 50,000 population(and many times smaller). A good case in point is La Crosse, WI. The Twin Cities-Chicago main lines of the CB&Q and the Milwaukee Road crossed there(at 'Grand Crossing). The C&NW and GB&W also crossed both of them at Grand Crossing as well. The ‘Q’ and the ‘St Paul Road’ both had large division point yards in La Crosse. With several large industries(Cargill/Trane/G Heileman Brewing), there were a tracks wandering through town as well. And this was a classic ‘River Town’ as well on the Mississippi River. A good share of the working population were ‘railroad’ employees. Other towns like Savanna, IL and Austin, MN also had a large railroad presence.
My layout does not have a large urban area; just a small town with a 4 track yard serving a branch line and a large Swift packing plant. I have a little bit of ‘Railroad Avenue’ behind the depot, but this is rural Wisconsin. But be aware - the railroad is the major employer here…
Ah…G Heileman Brewing, “Old Style” beer, good stuff there! My grandad used to buy it in the 7 oz bottles 36 to a case and I grew up drinking those little midgets. Of course that was in the 1950’s and my family was 100% German, beer to us was like wine to the Italians and the kids were included.
Sure would like to have some “Old Style” now just for the memories…
I don’t think there is a true railroad city, but most big cities have a railroad or two in them. So there is no special look to them.
What should be modeled is up to you. What do you want, an industry or freight house, track side, or just the backs of buildings?
Depending on era, most urban areas are older brick buildings, cinder covered yard tracks, weeds and a lack of newness. Selective compression, building flats and background flats to achieve that tight look.
If you plan on a yard and have about 6" or less space for city scenes, maybe use 1" foam behind tracks and set building flats up higher, like tracks are in the valley. Using your first photo as a guide, you start with the backdrop, light blue sky, dark blue for the first mountain, dark green for the second, then paper background buildings, building flats. Notice from the photos, the bricks are various shades but you see no mortar lines, also the tracks are ballasted with cinders and lack color or weeds.
Art Curren did a kit bash of city buildings as a view block back in January 1999 issue of MR, by using the same ideas, as building flats, you could achieve a city look.
The essence of a railroad city? Before automobiles, airlines, and trucking, all cities were railroad cities. They all had lots of tracks, vast yards, engine terminals, and passenger facilities. A city without rail just wasn’t a city. Rail was the only way to get around.
Cities in the pre railroad age were all ports, sea ports or river ports or lake ports. The first railroads were laid from city to city and then out into the hinterland. Their very names suggest their purposes. Baltimore and Ohio for instance, clearly intended to link sea port Baltimore with the markets along the Ohio river.
As far as modeling the railroad sections of town, I don’t think there is much difference between a place like Boston or Montreal (both sea ports) and Altoona, perhaps the quintessential rail road town. Altoona is there because the Pennsy put in a vast engine terminal to service pushers helping trains up and over horseshoe curve. Altoona sprang up around the Pennsy shops to furnish homes and groceries and shopping and the other amenities of life to the Altoona yard workers.
The well bred inhabitants of places like Boston and Philadelphia used to turn up their noses at railroad towns like Altoona because they lacked libraries and theatres and museums and other aspects of culture, and were largely inhabited by blue collar workers rather than blue blood aristocrats. But I don’t think that changes the look of the railroad sections of town that we are going to model.
As far as squeezing a yard and a city into the same space, I wouldn’t want to do that. The rail facilities were never build in the center of town, land was too expensive downtown. The yards and shops and terminals were built on cheap land in the outskirts of town. To me the backdrop of a yard ought to be a few industrial buildings (flats perhaps) and a backdrop of factories and smoke stacks as
Thanks, those are useful suggestions! I’ve been considering that 6-inch problem carefully. I think I have a plan to make it work out though-- as I turn the corner (180 degree turn back) from the front side to the back side, I’m thinking of starting the city on the front side, continuing it around the corner, and on around to the back. That way I can take advantage of the deeper spaces necessitated by the larger radius of the turn. That will give me some room to model some more of the “city proper” which means I won’t be competing for space (depth) quite so much by the time it makes it around to the yard. A secondary benefit is that it will permit me to put relatively “static” stuff in the deeper spaces which will be harder to reach into. I
The essence of a railroad city? Before automobiles, airlines, and trucking, all cities were railroad cities. They all had lots of tracks, vast yards, engine terminals, and passenger facilities. A city without rail just wasn’t a city. Rail was the only way to get around.
Cities in the pre railroad age were all ports, sea ports or river ports or lake ports. The first railroads were laid from city to city and then out into the hinterland. Their very names suggest their purposes. Baltimore and Ohio for instance, clearly intended to link sea port Baltimore with the markets along the Ohio river.
As far as modeling the railroad sections of town, I don’t think there is much difference between a place like Boston or Montreal (both sea ports) and Altoona, perhaps the quintessential rail road town. Altoona is there because the Pennsy put in a vast engine terminal to service pushers helping trains up and over horseshoe curve. Altoona sprang up around the Pennsy shops to furnish homes and groceries and shopping and the other amenities of life to the Altoona yard workers.
The well bred inhabitants of places like Boston and Philadelphia used to turn up their noses at railroad towns like Altoona because they lacked libraries and theatres and museums and other aspects of culture, and were largely inhabited by blue collar workers rather than blue blood aristocrats. But I don’t think that changes the look of the railroad sections of town that we are going to model.
As far as squeezing a yard and a city into the same space, I wouldn’t want to do that. The rail facilities were never build in the center of town, land was too expensive downtown. The yards and shops and terminals were built on cheap land in the outskirts of town. To me the backdrop of a yard ought to be a few industrial buildings (flats perhaps) and a backdrop of
Railroad towns or a town that a Railroad goes through can be modeled. the relation is always obvious where the town center is, and railroad property structures are located. Downtown areas next to or parallel with tracks with stations and industries with sidings. = Railroad town,or Towns with vertical streets to tracks and the town center is no where in sight, no trackside structures,industries,sidings = “Railroad go through town”.I know this is DEEP but its just something i,ve observed. Dave
In the city of Binghamton, N.Y., the freight yard was/is across the tracks from the station, right in the city, matter of fact the D&H yard was in the city limits also, so yards can be in the city. If you’re modeling a big city be sure to add a modest sized freight house, as this place will see lots of traffic.
