portland union station

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

how to model Portland union station in ho or n scale

2

From looking at photos of the station, about the only way to model it is to scratchbuild it. Even kitbashing doesn’t seem feasible because of the rather unique architectural design, especially the rounded front portion.

3

Yep, it will have to be scratch built, which has already been done in HO. If you are going to tackle this project, and need a little inspiration, come visit the Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club in Portland, OR.

The Real Portland Union Station


The Columbia Gorge model

Our club was Very Fortunate, in that we had a couple who were Professional Archectural(spelling?) model builders by trade as members, they also built a Beautiful model of the Vista house, on Crown Point, and I believe that they were also the people who built our Multnomah Falls Lodge.

We also had a member with MUCH more patience than myself, who scratch built a WORKING model of Portlands Steel Bridge, while compressed in length is a Very Impressive model.

In the background of the street view of Portland Union Station, you can also see a model of the Journal Building, which IIRC is now known as Jackson Tower.

Doug

4

Doug,

That is simply gorgeous. Words cannot adequately describe what has been accomplished in this scratchbuilding effort. Kudos to your fellow club members who created this replica of the original station.

Rich

5

As luck would have it, I’ll be in Portland next week for a conference! I’m meeting up with a guy from the Atlas forum while I’m out there. Hopefully I can get some train spotting in between seminars…

Lee

6

Hi Lee,

We meet every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm, with our operating nights being the First Tuesday of each month (Sorry). The address is 2505 N. Vancouver way, Portland, OR. If You (or anyone else) would like more info on visiting our club, contact me off forum at daogrady@hotmail.com

Our layout is approx 60 x 70 and with all the staging, yards and operating track, has over 3 ACTUAL miles of track (someone else calculated that not ME[swg]) The club was founded in 1947, and is one of the oldest and largest clubs on the West Coast. We have been in this clubhouse since 1983. The layout is in the process of being rewired to be convertable between DC and DCC.

Here are a few more scenes pique your interest.






I Hope that You can visit Us, while You are in Portland. I am a truck driver, so I don’t always have quick access to the internet, so Please allow me a little time to reply, Weekends are usually a good time to contact me, but email me anytime.

Doug

7

Doug,

Thanks for the invite! I’ve sent you an e-mail. I’m looking forward to my visit!

Lee

8

WHich Portland - Maine or Oregon??? both had a Union Station

9

“Obviously,” it is Portland, Oregon. Google/wiki it.

Those railroad men falling down on the job should be fired, or at least erected.

Mark

10

Hi Lee,

I got your email, and sent you a reply.

Doug

11

Actually, jr 611 didn’t specify WHICH Portland Union Station he was asking about, and as I recall, I have read that there are 27 “Portlands” worldwide and I believe that 12 of them are in the United States, so that was a Fair question. Being a Portland (Oregon) Native, and having pictures of OUR Union Station in HO scale, I posted pics of our club’s model, but jr 611 could well have been asking about another one altogether.

And YES, those Station workers should either be Disciplined or stood back up, but on a 4200 square foot layout, there are never ending projects, and this is just another that needs to be, but has not yet been done.[:)]

Doug

12

Come on! I’m positive they’ve remained in that position for at least a year, but it could be as long as a decade for all I know. Time to send an expedition to fix the situation! [C):-)]

Mark

13

And that was the point of my question. The Portland ME Union Station also was a large station that would be an interesting station to model and would be a challange. Set either station side by side, and either would be a candidate for modeling a large station.

http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=12520

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_history_of_Portland,_Maine

As Doug mentined, jr 611 did not say which Portland. [:)]

14

OK. … I wonder if jr will eventually tell us which Portland he was asking about.

Mark

15

A bit of trivia the Portland in Oregon is named after the Portland in Maine, all due to a coin toss. I nice to see a modeled Multnomah Falls Lodge, Vista House and Steel Bridge.

16

So, why didn’t they use the prefix “New” when they named the city? That would reduce the confusion.

Mark

17

Eric,

Portland’s Steel Bridge is unique, in that while there are many double deck lift bridges, our Steel bridge, is the only one in the world that the decks are not rigidly linked. The Lower deck(rail) can be lifted independently of the upper deck(road traffic). This allows river traffic that does not need a full lift, to pass the bridge, can do so with just a lower deck lift, without interrupting road traffic. The design also allowed the bridges overall height to be lower for the same amount of vertical clearance, than would have been required for rigidly linked decks.

Here is a photo sequence from full lift, rail deck only lifted to fully lowered.

Doug