Rich, both the city area and trestle area look great!!
Thanks for the kind words guys.
lancer the trestle are from custom model railroads - they are a forum sponsor link above at trainlayouts.com I worked with stan, super easy to work with and reading able price. I have some more parts to add a elevated mainline and an elevated subway line. Great stuff. I painted and weathered it, but they come assembled.
Great work Rich, the trestle and rock area make a big impact. The city area is looking good too.
Andy
The spanning of a canyon is one of my fav views, and this looks like it'll be a pretty one.
Rich very inspiring! That canyon and trestle scene is awesome!
Continued to work on the trestles and added two more elevated lines. The green one will be an elevated subway line that will loop around the elevated city. The middle one that is currently brown (yet to be painted) will be for the upper mainline.
As always open for comments and suggestions.
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just beautiful!! ….
and stunning!
As always open for comments and suggestions.
Where did you get the trestles in this picture ? Thanks
Rich, fantastic looking stuff. Love the different levels you're building. I have five on my table layout. Adore the turn over the gorge. Of all the great things you have in the pics, the Topside Creeper is right up there with the layout!!
Jerry
Wow! That's a lot of elevated track! It's looking great!!
Nice work Rich....it does look great. Try not to show off everything so that you can write a feature article for the magazine at some point. I know Mr. Allan likes to have some fresh pictures to share with the viewers!
Just saying...your layout would look good in the magazine.
Donald
BatTrain posted:
As always open for comments and suggestions.
Where did you get the trestles in this picture ? Thanks
These trestles came from custom model railroads - link above at trainlayouts.com. They area forum sponsor. I worked with them first at York, then some back and forth to get the plan figured out. I am really happy with how things are going.
Awesome work Rich! One question I have which I guess is an in general question, when you are running your elevated lines do you worry about it blocking off scenery/buildings behind them. This referring to the ones that pass closer to where you stand and not further back. Reason I ask is because I’m wanting to add one to my layout but everything I’ve come up with just seems like it would be blocking too much of the scenery/buildings behind it. Anyways enough ramblings from me haha.
Good question Lance.
I had a different version of an elevated line before, and it didn’t block the view. In addition if you notice the wall and platform, it is designed to hold city buildings to make them taller. In my case the layout has tiers, so you can see the scenery.
Well done!
Peter
Rich, just amazing work! You are truly building a layout to envy! 
Great work, Rich.
I may have missed it, but how did you determine what the finished height of the elevated track would be ?
Rich, coming along great. Love all the updates. It is exciting to see each new addition. Looking forward to what you do next. All of your work is excellent.
Tom
Richie C. posted:Great work, Rich.
I may have missed it, but how did you determine what the finished height of the elevated track would be ?
I measured the height off the table from the section of track that is in a "hill" and already in place, then subtracted the girder section, that left the height of the supports. once I had that, on the other end of the elevated section, i had other track to match to. that height was bit different, so there is a small grade over about 6-7 ft.
Once I had that track height, I used the same for the elevated subway line. Now if your question was how did I originally pick the track height of the "hill" Section, that was related to the clearance of the track below with an MTH bridge that I have since replaced. While I do measure and draw out things, I also freelance a bunch, so it is mostly a case of trial and error based on what I think looks the best.
Impressive work being done, especially the EL
As I continue to work this elevated area on my layout, I have begun the work on the Albany Union Station Model that will be a focus point.
Having Grown up in upstate NY, the Albany union station was always a building I found interesting, despite never seeing rains at the station myself. The building was constructed in 1899-1900 and designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, the successors to the firm of H.H. Richardson and the designers of the South Station in Boston and Union Station in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The station served primarily NYC but also the Delaware and Hudson Rail Road. Daily departures began in 1900, and ended in 1968, when the passenger service was moved across the Hudson river to Rensselaer, where a small station was built to service Pen Central and later Amtrak. The construction of a new high way in Albany would be built through the passenger yards, prompting the relocation. That small station was replaced in 1980, with an equally non-descript station, and finally in 2002 a new much improved station was constructed. When I lived there, I used the 1980 version station frequently, mostly to commute in and out of NYC for business. The service was generally pretty good.
Early photos of the station
A view of the rear - Yards in 1948. In my layout the station will be elevated above the yards for space reasons as part of the elevated city.
Albany Union Station Today – It has been some form of Bank since 1986 in which the bank did a fantastic historic renovation
Since I started the updated and expanded version of my layout about 10 years ago, I wanted to add the Albany Union Station, I always thought it was a interesting building, and that in fact it could work in a lot of difference cities. When I owned Korber Models, I thought it might be a good model to turn in to a kit, and I made some designs and had a few test cuts completed, but never really had the time to finish the project. So the idea sat on a shelf so to speak for about 7 years.
In the fall of 2019, I restarted my concept for the station, but decided that I needed to enlist some help to get this project done, and turned to Richard Segal at Right On Track Models – currently a OGR form sponsor. I came across Richard a few years earlier, and really liked his unique, highly detailed model structures, and added several to my layout. I even had Richard create a custom Kroger grocery building from the 1940’s for me – which came out great.
I shared photos, and the earlier drawings I had done on the project with Richard, and by January agreed to move forward. With the pandemic and some other commitments, we got stated later in the spring than planned, but we are underway.
Richard prepared some detailed drawings to get things moving, and we exchanged notes to dial in the details
Here is the first pass drawing of the front.
With some back and forth we got to a good amount of detail - Richard is very good at turning the concepts into details.
Always open to input, comments or suggestions. I will post more as I have it.
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Quick update on the layout - photos from the elevated city with the new elevated lines and the subway.
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Images (6)
Rich,
The area looks wonderful. You clearly have been putting some time in. I really like your retaining walls. Looks like you're going to be able to create an impressive city. What will you be doing to the area next?
Dave
Rich, The elevated line really looks great as does the stone retaining walls!
Thanks for the nice words guys. The grey walls are from scenic express - they work very well. I have more structures to add to the rear - taller buildings, and then of course some more in the front. The large station will be over the passenger years on the right of the photos.
Rich,
Everything looks great, what a beautiful layout !
Alex
The additions look great Rich. Sorry if I missed it, but where did you get/or how did you build the stairs up to the elevated line? They look right at home.
Andy
Really looks great, Rich!
Peter
@Steamfan77 posted:The additions look great Rich. Sorry if I missed it, but where did you get/or how did you build the stairs up to the elevated line? They look right at home.
Andy
Andy, thanks for the comments. I used a Lionel overpass that I cut up and reglued together less the base. Then I painted it the same color as the platform. The platform was another of their girders with a bass wood top I scribed to look like planks and colored with an India ink wash.
i think the MTH overpass would work just fine as a starting point as well.
@Rich883 posted:As I continue to work this elevated area on my layout, I have begun the work on the Albany Union Station Model that will be a focus point.
Having Grown up in upstate NY, the Albany union station was always a building I found interesting, despite never seeing rains at the station myself. The building was constructed in 1899-1900 and designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, the successors to the firm of H.H. Richardson and the designers of the South Station in Boston and Union Station in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The station served primarily NYC but also the Delaware and Hudson Rail Road. Daily departures began in 1900, and ended in 1968, when the passenger service was moved across the Hudson river to Rensselaer, where a small station was built to service Pen Central and later Amtrak. The construction of a new high way in Albany would be built through the passenger yards, prompting the relocation. That small station was replaced in 1980, with an equally non-descript station, and finally in 2002 a new much improved station was constructed. When I lived there, I used the 1980 version station frequently, mostly to commute in and out of NYC for business. The service was generally pretty good.
Early photos of the station
A view of the rear - Yards in 1948. In my layout the station will be elevated above the yards for space reasons as part of the elevated city.
Albany Union Station Today – It has been some form of Bank since 1986 in which the bank did a fantastic historic renovation
Since I started the updated and expanded version of my layout about 10 years ago, I wanted to add the Albany Union Station, I always thought it was a interesting building, and that in fact it could work in a lot of difference cities. When I owned Korber Models, I thought it might be a good model to turn in to a kit, and I made some designs and had a few test cuts completed, but never really had the time to finish the project. So the idea sat on a shelf so to speak for about 7 years.
In the fall of 2019, I restarted my concept for the station, but decided that I needed to enlist some help to get this project done, and turned to Richard Segal at Right On Track Models – currently a OGR form sponsor. I came across Richard a few years earlier, and really liked his unique, highly detailed model structures, and added several to my layout. I even had Richard create a custom Kroger grocery building from the 1940’s for me – which came out great.
I shared photos, and the earlier drawings I had done on the project with Richard, and by January agreed to move forward. With the pandemic and some other commitments, we got stated later in the spring than planned, but we are underway.
Richard prepared some detailed drawings to get things moving, and we exchanged notes to dial in the details
Here is the first pass drawing of the front.
With some back and forth we got to a good amount of detail - Richard is very good at turning the concepts into details.
Always open to input, comments or suggestions. I will post more as I have it.
Looks great Rich! One thing so that the membership knows, Mr. Segal is not currently a forum sponsor. His banner and listing should be coming down soon.
Wow!!
Inspiring. Great photos.
DL
We have made some progress on the Albany Union Station build.
Should be moving i to final assembly and painting next week.
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Wow! This is looking amazing, great work!
The station is really going to look great!
Working to complete the structure - nice work by Richard. Shipping soon. I am prepping the space for the station.
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Excellent Rich!
Wish I had that space. It's always nice to see good modeling along with the progress you achieve.
Magnificent!
Peter
Outstanding Rich! The scale of it is impressive. Nice details too.
Andy
I have been a bit delayed in getting this Albany Union Station building on the layout. I had to add some lighting, and build the platform it rests on over the passenger tracks. In addition I added some concrete railings around the platform.
I also started a large church that will be located just across from the station in the large city area. Here are some early photos of progress.
As always open to comments and suggestions
