main line emerges from under the streets in an open cut. On the other side of the city center trains run past a small two track yard used to repair and store out of service equipment. The underground station stops exist in a viewer’s imagina- tion as trains disappear from view be- neath the city. The track plan that we designed for the subway portion of the project with Atlas’ RTS 10.0 track planning free software uses Atlas Code 100 nickel silver Snap- Track®. Snap-Track® sectional track is readily available at almost any hobby shop and has been a popular HO scale model railroading choice for decades. With all of the necessary track compo- nents gathered, the sections were laid out on the benchwork according to the plan and track centers marked in preparation for installing cork roadbed to support our tracks. Cork roadbed was added, aligning each
half section with the center line markings. Once complete the roadbed was painted with spray gray spatter paint obtained from the local home improvement store. When dry the track was aligned on the roadbed and spiked down with track nails. At this point we hooked up a power supply and test ran the layout checking the alignment and trouble shooting the track work. Next we covered part of our work with the upper level.
City Center Benchwork – In addition to acting as support for the city buildings and the streetcar oval, City Center acts as a scenic divider that separates the vari- ous scenes and visually helps to expand the perceived size of the layout. This two foot wide by six foot long section is framed with 1x2 lumber with the cross members spaced 12” on center. The fram- ing is topped with ¼” birch plywood and 5.5” wide ¼” plywood strips are attached along the two long edges to forming a raised platform. This platform was then placed off center over the subway section and marked for portals to allow the trains below ample clearance. After the portals were cut and clear-
ance checked the City Center benchwork was sanded and primed with gray primer. Once dry, the sides were painted with Floquil Concrete spray paint.
Streetcar Tracks – The upper level of the Empire City Transit features an operat- ing oval of in-street trackage. Laying street trackage is more difficult than in- stalling open right of way like that of the subway line. To insure properly operat- ing street track requires that one takes their time and carefully crafts the track in
Our 4x6-foot Empire City Transit proves you don’t need large spaces to model big city scenes. The two Empire City Subway loops run on a separate level from the Empire City Trolley line above. You can have up to three different trains running on their own tracks as your HO scale “model citizens” go about their day. For variety, you may want to consider a small diesel locomotive and a few hoppers to be kept in reserve in the yard to run as the Subway maintenance train. The possibilities are endless!
S10 2011 TRAIN SET GAZETTE • SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN MAGAZINE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124