I have recently completed scratchbuilding an elevated subway for the city/baseball field portion of my layout and wanted to pass along the photos and some tips for those who are interested in doing the same. The elevated structure was made from evergreen and plastruct materials with many thanks to the NYC modeling transit assn. for posting instuctions on how to build it. Dimensions were scaled down to fit my layout. Needless to say, it took many hours but for those who are interested , I can help them eliminate much time if you post to this forum. There are a few time-saving shortcuts I could pass along to you. The original website can be found by typing in ‘modeling nyc elevated subway’ in your web browser. The ballfield dimensions were approximated and painted using a compass. The scoreboard was modified from a kit with numbers and letters direct transfer(dry rub) on a painted background. Fence and benches were made from BTS kits. Enjoy!
Thanks! The materials are polystyrene. I used a combination of strips, angles, and sheets from Evergreen and Plastruct. I had some reservations about the durability and strength of styrene, but it seems to be holding up quite nicely under the weight of a 6-car MTH subway train.
Looks great. I’ve been thinking of doing something similar for a trolly system. What kit did you modify for the scoreboard? I would like to do the same. Your diamond is perfect, mine is a little oblomg, so much for freehand. What color did you do the uniforms in? Again great job.
The billboard is from Midwest products; the numbering transfers are from Woodland Scenics. All of the figures and dugouts can be obtained from Kramer products. There is not a large selection, but the quality is excellent. They also carry animated figures, but I liked the stationary figures better. They come prepainted. Thanks again! Post if you want links.
Very Nice Work! I was going to try to build the same El system from those plans but never got around to it. Glad to see that you were able to complete it. Real inspiration!
Thanks to all of you for the positive comments! As a relative novice, it is great to hear such positive feedback from those of you who have been doing this longer than I. I was originally inspired to start the project because, growing up in Brooklyn, I can remember driving on the Belt Parkway coming back from visits to relatives in Queens and seeing lights from my backseat window shining down on a field that I assumed at the time was a baseball field(this myth was fueled by my well-meaning older brother). It wasn’t until years later that I found out it was actually a train yard! Anyway, I thought the large MTH lights shining down on both the field and the tracks evoked memories of both the fact and fiction. In the future(near, I hope) I would like to construct a grandstand(the HO ones are too small and the large scale ones I’ve seen are a little large and, I might add, pricey). I would also like to scratch-build an elevated station. If any of you have any ideas, please chime in!
Really enjoyed the elevated subway and the baseball field with the Cubs playing the Mets (home). You have given the Chicago area folks something to think about. Wrigley Field is by el tracks too. Jack
The field is simply painted with a semigloss enamel green. It actually looks more glossy than it is due to the amount of reflected light from the flash. If I were to redo it though, the semigloss and the shade would be the first thing to change(what was I thinking?!). Thanks, the fence was fun to build.
[img]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z312/frankjamesjosephjulia/