Good Day,
In my mind, I present a 21st Century Skyline. Who will be the HO Train Company to produce 21st Century Buildings?
Regards,
Swafford 
Swafford,
I only know one company producing kits for high-rise buildings in HO scale, but they are mainly early 1900´s buildings.
Tale a look at www.custommodelrailroads.com
I doubt that any of the known manufacturers will pick up this issue. First of all, you need to dedicate quite a lot of real estate on your layout for that type of buildings and cost would be prohibitive, as the tooling for those large parts is expensive.
With their rather bland, box-like appearance, they´d be easy to scratchbuild, though.
Actually they should be pretty easy to scratchbuild…
The thing though is that you could go with any number of urban type of structure as well…some ideas…
So you could go basically nuts with design here…
Check out the images section of google for more such buildings…
Skyscrapers like this have unique designs, because they’re prestige buildings. Elements may reappear in other buildings but that’s not super-common. The Petronas towers there, aside from not being in the US, have one major flaw: in HO they’d be over 17 feet tall.
The modern structures people need are more along the lines of these:
If you want to get ideas on scratchbuilding city structures try here:
http://prrnortheastcorridor.com/NORTHEASTCORRIDORHO.html
Also note that most cities have a mixture of old and new buildings. It’s unrealistict to show all modern buildings unless it of a city that was wiped out in a war or earthquake.
Actually those could be done as a background flat at minimal costs similar to this-
IMHO those city buildings would look fantastic as a background scene for our Amtrak station or intermodal or freight yard.
Here’s the other catch. Even a modern road, the odds are that it either won’t be in a city with a huge skyline, or thhe tracks won’t be close enough to warrant a true structure kit over a backdrop. I bet that holds true for 90% of the layouts.
Good Day,
These buildings would be great candidates for building fronts…perfect for a skyline, plus helps fill up that blank wall!
Regards,
Swafford
Only if the railroad built a new yard if not they will be using the old one and if so,you will see the skyline of modern skyscrapers…
Using tall buildings on the backdrop can only enhance the layout…
How about a Santa Fe Tower?
Depends on the city though. Around Indy, Hawthorne yard is a ways out of town. So is Avon, but that was built in 1980s, so it counts as “new”. I don’t know the age on Hawthorne Yard. And while you can see the skyline, it’s hardly clsoe enough to warrant a physical kit. Most of the yards I can think of are in dirtyer places, where they are flanked by warehouses, factories, and such things that make skyscrapers and general public uncomfortable.
EDIT: Okay, no, I take that back. I did forget about one crucial part fo the CSX main through Indianapolis, so maybe I can see skyscraper kits. but that’s still a short section comparatively.
Good Day,
How about railroads from the past represented on 21st Century buildings?
Regards,
Swafford
Yards aren’t IN cities like they used to be, at least after certain shifts took place and redundant capacity was eliminated. I’ve never particularly understood the fascination with model yards myself and prefer the yard to be the unseen realm of staging.
That said, if you start being a crafty and curious person, you can place where the railroad and the modern office building meet and co-exist.
In Chicago, most of the Navy Pier line was underground but there were places it was most definitely above ground in a canyon 40 stories deep. I’ve actually given some thought about this area. The few (one) customers on the line in the 1990-2004 window is discouraging but this was a tall area in the 1940s and before even. A freelanced Chicago scale city would be feasible with my concept. Using a lower valance to make a shadowbox for the layout, you’d only have to model the lower levels of very tall buildings.
Basically something that looks like this:
When the tracks are underground, you’d have to ensure proper clearance to be able to reach under the streets and lower floors of the buildings to reach inside. The exposed trackage would be a huge detailing experience. Buying all the tiny automobiles would add up I suppose.
Here in Alexandria VA, is a single track crowded by non-skyscraper but buildings that would be titanic on any layout. http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qg20rr8kd0w1&lvl=19.52270514003322&dir=179.86542323021783&sty=u&where1=Alexandria%2C%20VA&form=LMLTCC
They’re not abandoned and actually pretty busy. To the south is a riverport where barges of what becomes the Washington Post arrive.
Good Day,
To me, it’s all about what your imagination can create.
Regards,
Swafford
