Empire City Subway Track List
10 - #150 9" Straight Track 12 - #151 Full Section 15" Radius Curve 12 - #152 Full Section 18" Radius Curve 5 - #822 6" Straight Track 2 - #823 3" Straight Track 2 - #835 1/3 Section 18" Radius Curve 2 - #843 End of Track Bumpers
1 - #847 1" Fitter Track 2 - #847 2" Fitter Track 2 - #847 2 1/2" Fitter Track 4 - #860 Left Hand Snap Switches 2 - #861 Right Hand Snap Switches 1 - #55 Plastic Insulating Rail Joiners
Empire City Trolley Track List
4 - #168 36' Code 100 Super-Flex® track 1 - #170 Rail Joiners
All track components from Atlas Model Railroad Co.
mand control (DCC) to operate both the subway and streetcar tracks. This option does involve equipping each item of powered rolling stock with a special de- coder chip and choosing from one of the many command station options. Bach- mann’s EZ Command, Digitrax’s Zephyr II, NCE’s Pro Cab or MRC’s Prodigy are great options for this layout and each DCC starter system is both reliable and easy to operate. The second option is to use conven-
NOTE: Trolley loop not shown on this plan.
tional analog DC power supplies. The simplest method for this system is to use separate power packs to operate the streetcar portion and additional power packs to run the inner and outer subway loops. A light duty train set pack will work well for operating the streetcar; for the subway we recommend using either a MRC Tech 4 Dualpack 280 or two of the MRC single control Railpower 1370. The yard tracks can be controlled separately with a pair of on-off switches or an Atlas Twin to allow additional equipment can be held in the yard. A more sophisticated option for ana-
log control of the subway section is cab control with a pair of individual power packs. Cab control involves gapping the track work into eight isolated sections; three for each loop and one for each of the yard tracks. Power is then routed to each block via one of two Atlas Selectors. We used the simpler analog system; however any of the three options will provide great operation on the layout.
Subway Bench Work – The first stage in constructing this project was to build the bench work beginning with the first (subway) level. This level uses 1x3 lum- ber for the under framing following con- ventional table top construction tech- niques. The cross members are spaced on 12” centers to minimize any sagging of the 1/4” birch plywood top. Once this portion of the bench work was complet- ed, it was primed and painted with gray paint and primer. When dry the subway track laying began.
Empire City is served by a trolley loop above, and a subway system below. Don’t wor- ry about the subway tunnel, trains can be easily accessed from the sides if need be.
Modeling Subways – When most people think of subways they visualize trains running in gloomy darkness under the city, while in reality, most subway sys- tems spend as much time operating on dedicated surface rights of way or on el- evated structures as they do below ground. These systems also feature a va- riety of storage yards and maintenance facilities as part of their physical plant. To capture these prototype features in model form, Empire City Transit is visi- ble on one side of the city as its two track
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN MAGAZINE • 2011 TRAIN SET GAZETTE S9
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