illinois Central Chicago District - Monee Rebuild

jerryrbeach · October 26, 2021, 03:32:12 PM

Vince,

I am posting a link to a postcard view of the O&W station in Oneida, NY. As you can see, it sits well above the tracks, yet below the level of the tracks crossing over the O&W. The tall rectangular structure is a team powered elevator to allow passengers to make the connection between the lines without using the stairs. I hought this might help you to determine the elevation for your station. (I am always reluctant to post any photo that I myself did not either take or that is part of my personal collection.)

https://www.cardcow.com/238364/oneida-new-york-main-street-depot/

vinceg · October 26, 2021, 06:07:29 PM

Quote from: jerryrbeach on October 26, 2021, 03:32:12 PM
Vince,

I am posting a link to a postcard view of the O&W station in Oneida, NY. As you can see, it sits well above the tracks, yet below the level of the tracks crossing over the O&W. The tall rectangular structure is a team powered elevator to allow passengers to make the connection between the lines without using the stairs. I hought this might help you to determine the elevation for your station. (I am always reluctant to post any photo that I myself did not either take or that is part of my personal collection.)

https://www.cardcow.com/238364/oneida-new-york-main-street-depot/

Wow, Jerry - that is very neat. What a great scene. The elevator is pretty interesting. Did you really mean "team?" Would that be like a horse-drawn cable leading to the pulleys for the elevator? (Not that I'm thinking about implementing this for a 1990 Illinois Central depot

)

vinceg · October 26, 2021, 06:26:35 PM

Minor update - I built the kit-supplied platform. I just followed a typical FSM process. First, I made a photocopy of the 1:1 template. I then taped it to my glass top. I then added some additional plank lines to make it easier to keep the planking aligned. Then I glued the 4x8 joists to the template.

Here's an in-progress shot. As I mentioned earlier, I made the part next to the depot a little wider to fix what looked like a too-small dimension.

And here's the completed platform:

Finally, I pulled the platform off the template, scraped away the glue blobs from where the joists were attached to the template.

Turns out the platform is just about 1/8" high from bottom to top of planks. Here's a pic of the depot sitting on some 1/8" bracing stock and set on the platform.

Feels a bit too much zebra-y. I used three different Hunterline stains: Driftwood, Cordovan Brown, and Light Gray. Those dark planks are actually the Light Gray ones. Not sure how I feel about those, yet. May have to scrub in some dirt or chalk to try to lighten them up a bit. Will look at it with fresh eyes in a day or two.

Vince

jerryrbeach · October 26, 2021, 06:35:55 PM

Quote from: vinceg on October 26, 2021, 06:07:29 PM
Quote from: jerryrbeach on October 26, 2021, 03:32:12 PM
Vince,

I am posting a link to a postcard view of the O&W station in Oneida, NY. As you can see, it sits well above the tracks, yet below the level of the tracks crossing over the O&W. The tall rectangular structure is a team powered elevator to allow passengers to make the connection between the lines without using the stairs. I hought this might help you to determine the elevation for your station. (I am always reluctant to post any photo that I myself did not either take or that is part of my personal collection.)

https://www.cardcow.com/238364/oneida-new-york-main-street-depot/

Wow, Jerry - that is very neat. What a great scene. The elevator is pretty interesting. Did you really mean "team?" Would that be like a horse-drawn cable leading to the pulleys for the elevator? (Not that I'm thinking about implementing this for a 1990 Illinois Central depot )

Wow. Sorry Vince. I really need to proof my copy. The elevator was steam powered.

postalkarl · October 27, 2021, 09:20:18 AM

Hey Vince:

Platform looks great. Can't wait to see more.

Karl

cuse · October 27, 2021, 10:37:46 AM

Great job Vince! The roof is especially well done...and the roof means so much in our little worlds

John

ACL1504 · October 27, 2021, 04:47:05 PM

Vince,

Yepper, I'm loving this thread.

Tom

Oldguy · October 28, 2021, 10:35:20 AM

Just got caught up. Very well done.

NKP768 · October 28, 2021, 02:24:08 PM

Nice work Vince - looks great.

Doug

vinceg · October 28, 2021, 04:48:11 PM

Quote from: jerryrbeach on October 26, 2021, 06:35:55 PM
Quote from: vinceg on October 26, 2021, 06:07:29 PM
Quote from: jerryrbeach on October 26, 2021, 03:32:12 PM
Vince,

I am posting a link to a postcard view of the O&W station in Oneida, NY. As you can see, it sits well above the tracks, yet below the level of the tracks crossing over the O&W. The tall rectangular structure is a team powered elevator to allow passengers to make the connection between the lines without using the stairs. I hought this might help you to determine the elevation for your station. (I am always reluctant to post any photo that I myself did not either take or that is part of my personal collection.)

https://www.cardcow.com/238364/oneida-new-york-main-street-depot/

Wow, Jerry - that is very neat. What a great scene. The elevator is pretty interesting. Did you really mean "team?" Would that be like a horse-drawn cable leading to the pulleys for the elevator? (Not that I'm thinking about implementing this for a 1990 Illinois Central depot )

Wow. Sorry Vince. I really need to proof my copy. The elevator was steam powered.

Kinda funny - you had me dazed for a minute.....wait...there's a steam locomotive in the picture but they couldn't use steam power for the elevator? Brain shorted out. Thanks for setting me straight

vinceg · October 28, 2021, 04:51:45 PM

Quote from: postalkarl on October 27, 2021, 09:20:18 AM
Hey Vince:

Platform looks great. Can't wait to see more.

Karl

Thanks to Karl, John, Tom, Bob, and Doug for the kind comments. John, I also like the individual cap shingles. So much more work but a really nice detail even though I didn't line them up that well this first time. I am afraid I just set a new "gotta have" for myself for any future builds.

vinceg · October 28, 2021, 05:08:33 PM

There are still a couple of things to fix on the building and a lot of detail to add but I got a little anxious and decided I wanted to try a [really] rough mockup of the scene so that I knew where this might be headed. Here's a pic:

The depot is raised about 2 inches. The wads of paper are to simulate, using an enormous amount of imagination, the rough landform around the depot. I think I like this height. I can shave the corners off the foam to the right and I think the slope will be believable. Also, the depot is high enough so that if you are looking north from further down the aisle (from the right) you can see the rooftop Metra sign.

The faux stone wall is an image from the LARC library I bought that I am hoping will be the backdrop system of my dreams. I will build a real wall for the final scene, of course. I also wanted to rough in some asphalt platforms (including the "stay behind the yellow line lines") to see how that felt. That's just black foam core. The final result will be plaster. (Although, I'm a little surprised...the foam core doesn't look too bad).

For completeness, I even put in one piece of the hairpin fencing. I will still need a wooden pedestrian walkway to go across the tracks but I didn't see a need to mock that up.

The ballast you see there is left over from previous trackage that was hand laid. I decided to rip that up and put in flex track but didn't get up all of the old ballast. I'm not sure what scenic treatment I will use in the final scene (which ballast, how to paint the track, etc).

I also still need to figure out how to position the stairway(s) to get from the depot down to the platform.

Couple more pics shortly....

vinceg · October 28, 2021, 05:13:29 PM

Here's a few from the south.

As I mentioned, the depot is high enough that it isn't buried behind the "highlands" of Monee.

I am trying to find the right balance for the length of the platforms. These are about 20". Still nowhere near a real Metra platform but maybe long enough to be credible in my shrunken world.

Wish I could learn to take a picture without putting my finger in front of the lens.

vinceg · October 28, 2021, 05:23:22 PM

One last pic - an "action" photo

I do like the fact that the depot is still clearly visible during the station stop. I think it would look a little funny to have it down at track level with so my height nearby.

I still have to think about a few things -- do I worry about a parking lot for the station? How will this later transition to the left? I think I now have a feel for where the horizon and I can start working on the backdrop pics. But first, will need to work up the energy and courage to airbrush in the clouds for this area.

More as it happens....

Vince

jerryrbeach · October 28, 2021, 07:26:12 PM

Vince,

First, I really like the elevation you chose for the station. It will allow a reasonable gradient to make the transition to the higher area to the right while allowing a nice easy downgrade to the scene to its left. The steps to track level will also add a nice touch, and be a focal point for viewers. The wrought iron fence is a great touch, too.

Next, the platform length. Having ridden a few commuter lines in and around the Big Apple, I noticed that many platforms are shorter than the train length. At those stations the arrival is preceeded by an announcement of which car doors will open for exit and entry. It seems to me that you have plenty of length for your scene, longer would IMO, look out of place.