i would like to have a big city layout sometime as i am just getting into scratchbuilding and cities seem to be the best way to get a lot of modelling into a small space. i have never seen skyscrapers or tall buildings modelled in HO before, is there a reason for this? also, is there any modular structures for tall buildings?
thanks,
sean
I think either the January or February Walthers mini-catalog has some of these. One is a modern 7-story building, as I recall. But, things like that are really, really large. In many cases, they will seem out of place with the smaller trains. Also, if you think about the real world, you won’t often find trains running in close proximity to skyscrapers.
I’ve chosen a more moderately urbanized layout, with 3 and 4 story buildings. Mine are a combination of DPM and Model Power buildings:
But, to directly answer your question on modulars, the whole point is that you can make them any height you want. The pieces are typically one or two stories, but they are designed so that you can stack them on top of each other and go up to any height.
http://cityclassics.fwc-host.com/
The above are suppliers of HO modular building systems
http://www.architoys.net/toys/toylist1.html
You might find one of these at a flea market some where. It would be good for modern office buildings
In addition, MR has published articles on scratching building modern tall office buildings. Basically it was a pexiglass box with the floor and wall detail glued on.
Have fun
Go visit the Chicago Musuem of Science and take a look at their HO layout. They’ve modeled the Space Needle in Seattle and the skyscrapers of Chicago.
Tom
You don’t have to model the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower to get the feel of a densely-populated city. The back sides of four or five story buildings on top of the concrete-walled below-street-level trench the trains run in will be much more probable. Put the skyline-definers on the backdrop. By the time it gets there, passenger/commuter trackage is usually completely roofed over. OTOH, freight carrying main lines avoid big city downtown areas - unless the railroad was there REALLY early, land close to City Hall is just too expensive. More than a few old, inefficient urban freight operations have been shut down and the land used to build condos. The biggest and newest tend to be located out in the low-rent zone well away from the city center.
As for how the roof might look - check Park Avenue in New York.
In the same vein - in the modern era the air space over that concrete trench is considered prime real estate for a limited-access road. Hard to see the trains under that!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - where the skyscrapers were mountain peaks and the tallest building was a five-tiered pagoda)
“Go visit the Chicago Musuem of Science”
I found a DVD about that layout at my Local Library here in Ohio, It was really intresting, But I have been there several times, being from Wisconsin, we use to take our school trips there.
Model Railroader had an article several years ago showing how to make skyscraper like buildings out of plexiglass sheet. Part of the article is reproduced in John Pryke’s City Scenery book by Kalmback. (I may be incorrect about the author and book title).
Steven,
I picked up that DVD a couple of weeks ago at my LHS for $12. An enjoyable DVD to watch. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have more on the design and construction aspect of the layout.
Tom
The problem with skyscrapers is that they are VERY BIG, and generally trains do not run next to them. Figure that a typical modestly-sized skyscraper takes up a quarter of a city block. That’s a 3x3 square foot building in HO, and at least 6 feet high–not exactly something appropriate for a small layout! Bachmann did a series of skyscraper-type buildings that were about a foot wide on either side and maybe 2-3 feet tall, but they didn’t sell very well.
Building urban layouts can be a good way to model a lot in a small space–but the buildings near the trains are typically not skyscrapers. By modeling the kind of buildings you find near the trains in an urban setting (factories, warehouses, docks) and putting skyscrapers on the backdrop in the background, you can give a strong city feel while avoiding having to model gigantic buildings. There are several modular systems for modeling this kind of structure, from late 19th century to modern steel buildings.
Pittsburgh once had rail yards and many warehouses downtown. In fact, the Point (where the fountain is) was once in the middle of warehouse central. All of that was torn out 40 years ago, and Gateway Center, plus Point State Park is in its place. Trains still go downtown though, but there aren’t any yards or anything like that. (P&LE once had a yard in the Strip District, but that’s gone now too.) Skyscrapers aren’t far–a few blocks away from the tracks–but most of the buildings trackside are much smaller. Three or four stories mostly.
Excellent idea! That sounds about like the scenery the Old Dog is thinking of trying. Maybe a shelf type layout with the building implemented as flats.
But an excellent excuse to provide urban tunnels between scenes.
Have fun
Yep. Build yourself some plexiglass “boxes”, add some outside “steel sheathing” and / or scribing for windows and you have a generic modern building. I work in downtown Chicago and the number of glass and steel boxes seems to outnumber the architectural “gems” by about 10 to 1.
Oh, use brown, green and clear plexiglass to represent different window tints.
Try this link for really tall buildings. Don Z on this forum got the triangular building from Santa and it is really really nice, and tall.
http://www.custommodelrailroads.com/index.html
Regards,
those custom model railroads buildings are exactly what i want. i think i might just build me a city layout without any real working trains. im not sure what you would call this. (a large diorama i guess?) new york has always fascinated me but i never wanted to model it because it would take a lot of track and trains to give a realistic sense of, say, penn station. but a diorama would be great, and i could model all kinds of buildings.thanks!
The detail on Japanese-manufactured building kits are also second to none, and every once in a while they will show up for bidding on eBay.
Bookmark for “greenmax” and “tomix” and “green max” under the eBay categoray called “Model RR, Trains” and try it every other day.
There’s no reason why a big-city layout has to be a big layout: New York City has plenty of “small scenes” as does any layout. If you really want to model downtown, I’d suggest getting into streetcar/interuban modeling. Some folks model the “El” of Chicago or other city car lines, this allows you to avoid the back-alleys and save yourself a lot of weathering–but you’ll have to paint a lot of miniature people! Another nice thing about trolley modeling is super-sharp curves: 6-8" min radius in HO isn’t uncommon.
Somebody PM’d me but I couldn’t reply - sorry.
Use whatever is cheap, thicker is easier to work with, in my opinion. Not sure how to do a circular building.