Tall Buildings Tuesday

It looks like I have a 4 story zoning restriction............T

Both on the home and modular layouts.......

Looking forward to seeing “taller” buildings.....

Peter

I really appreciate your layout, Skip.

I always wanted to build a city complete with tall buildings...as a young man I'd ride by bike through downtown Philly on my way to school and to work - riding through man-made canyons. That, and riding the subway and suburban trains through underground tunnels influenced me in some way.

To date I've only been able to kit-bash mostly Railking buildings, taking them apart, applying mortar effect, and detailing the lobbies, and then stacking two or more buildings together. Very time-consuming and many I've done at night in hotels while away on business trips. Someday, I'd like to be able to get the custom buildings like Skip has...the Chrysler Building is my all-time favorite. I wish MTH or Lionel would come out with unique tall buildings made out of plastic, even if it was a couple hundred bucks it'd be a winner IMO. Maybe even a Lego-type building system, where a hobbyist could use components to build a variety of structures.

We need Alan Arnold to post some photos. Alan ?????

All my tall buildings are grain elevators ("prairie sentinels"), and stamp mills...

Paul Kallus posted:

I really appreciate your layout, Skip.

I always wanted to build a city complete with tall buildings...as a young man I'd ride by bike through downtown Philly on my way to school and to work - riding through man-made canyons. That, and riding the subway and suburban trains through underground tunnels influenced me in some way.

To date I've only been able to kit-bash mostly Railking buildings, taking them apart, applying mortar effect, and detailing the lobbies, and then stacking two or more buildings together. Very time-consuming and many I've done at night in hotels while away on business trips. Someday, I'd like to be able to get the custom buildings like Skip has...the Chrysler Building is my all-time favorite. I wish MTH or Lionel would come out with unique tall buildings made out of plastic, even if it was a couple hundred bucks it'd be a winner IMO. Maybe even a Lego-type building system, where a hobbyist could use components to build a variety of structures.

 

 

 

Paul, my Birthday Buddy, your layout looks fantastic! I would like to add that entire section to my layout if I could find the real estate! Really nice!!!!

WOW...WOW...WOW.....a topic I just can't resist!  Love the pictures guys!  Keep em coming...

How about this one that my friend did a little background photo shopping...

Here is a view of the main downtown area with quite a few over 6 foot tall skyscrapers: if you right click on the picture and then choose "open link in new window" you will get a full page view...

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Here is a view of the main downtown area with quite a few over 6 foot tall skyscrapers

Very impressive!

Another view of downtown:

Custom built   MetLife,   South Fork Railroad headquarters,  large office complex buildings  & York Hotel etc. on the “SOUTH FORK RAILROAD” layout.

NYC Fan posted:

Anyone else who has tall buildings on their layout, I love to see them!

 

Here's an overview of the Manhattan part of my layout.

I think I've seen this before, yet every time is like the first viewing of it. Stunning!

All great pics here so far.

W&W posted:

Custom built   MetLife,   South Fork Railroad headquarters,  large office complex buildings  & York Hotel etc. on the “SOUTH FORK RAILROAD” layout.

 

Very nice. Great Met Life Building. I see you measured twice 

Here's what the scene looked like before 1960 when they built the Pan Am Building, now Met Life. That's the New York Central Building.

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Another view of downtown:

Alan, 

You continue to be an inspiration to us urban modelers. I love the videos on youtube! 

NYC Fan posted:

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Another view of downtown:

Alan, 

You continue to be an inspiration to us urban modelers. I love the videos on youtube! 

Thanks Skip!  The pictures I posted above are a year or two old now so things have changed and new high rises have gone up...the "Golden Tower" is one example:

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Here is a view of the main downtown area with quite a few over 6 foot tall skyscrapers: if you right click on the picture and then choose "open link in new window" you will get a full page view...

Alan, is the middle area here a walkway/access? It looks very narrow, about how big/small is the gap(22")?

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Here is a view of the main downtown area with quite a few over 6 foot tall skyscrapers: if you right click on the picture and then choose "open link in new window" you will get a full page view...

Alan, is the middle area here a walkway/access? It looks very narrow, about how big/small is the gap(22")?

Dave...it is 30 inches.  To help judge the dimensions, the train shed is 4 feet wide by 8 feet long...

NYC Fan posted:

Anyone else who has tall buildings on their layout, I love to see them!

 

Here's an overview of the Manhattan part of my layout.

 

This is the view of Macy's Department Store on 34th St. from the top of the Empire State Building.

 

Before the Pan Am Building (now Met Life) was built in 1960, the New York Central Building was what one would see directly behind Grand Central Terminal when looking north from Park Avenue.

Beautiful and original. Did you scratch build these or did a custom builder do them? Really outstanding. 

I use a semi quick and dirty way to do large buildings.  I start with 1/8th in plastic sheets, glued together to make a box.  I have a vinyl cutter like a Cricut and cut vinyl sheets for things like window openings, doors etc.  I take the ENTIRE sheet and stick to the building box.  I then do the rattle can bit to get some color.  Last thing I do is peel out the window panes (after allowing the paint to completely dry).  Russ

Here's a quickie write-up for those that are interested.  I love tall buildings too!  Sure makes the trains look better when the structures are actually BIGGER than the trains!    Russ

Skip,Alan,

You both have captured the big city scene fantastically.

Russ,

Ilook at your scene and see Brooklyn viewed from the Brooklyn-Queens expressway.

Hey CHILOQUINRUSS! Your O scale scenes are really amazing. Particularly of interest are the elevated line by your tall buildings. I once wanted to build a high line near the waterfront on my O scale layout, I am encouraged by yours. Thanks for the photos.

leroof.

Elevated is really easy too if you take artistic license.  Russ

W&W posted:

Custom built   MetLife,   South Fork Railroad headquarters,  large office complex buildings  & York Hotel etc. on the “SOUTH FORK RAILROAD” layout.

 

Very nice Craig ... great placement of Grand Central Terminal ...are the concrete railings  a commercial product? 

I also have the GCT and have been searching for a similar railings 

Wow there are some incredible layouts out there ...a big thanks to everyone for posting images  

And I though GCT was tall...... 

Cheers Carey 

Years ago Bachmann had a series of HO buildings called Spectrum Cityscenes.  They would make great forced perspective structures.  You can occasionally find them on Amazon and Ebay.

The former RCA Building, now the Comcast Building, is also known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Along side is the New Yorker Hotel and Pennsylvania Station. We took a lot of geographical liberties in the interest of making the best use of the limited real estate.

Carey Williams posted:

W&W posted:

Custom built   MetLife,   South Fork Railroad headquarters,  large office complex buildings  & York Hotel etc. on the “SOUTH FORK RAILROAD” layout.

 

Very nice Craig ... great placement of Grand Central Terminal ...are the concrete railings  a commercial product? 

I also have the GCT and have been searching for a similar railings 

Wow there are some incredible layouts out there ...a big thanks to everyone for posting images  

And I though GCT was tall...... 

Cheers Carey 

 

Carey,

Concrete railings were made for me by Stan at East Coast Enterprises.  He also made the MetLife and the other taller buildings.

Just a random comment:

I have always thought that even really good models of large, modern buildings tend to look less realistic than equivalent models of more traditional buildings. But then I started to actually look at real modern skyscrapers. The fact is that the REAL ones look fake, too!

Looking at real architecture with a modeler's eye is revealing in many ways.

Avanti posted:

Just a random comment:

I have always thought that even really good models of large, modern buildings tend to look less realistic than equivalent models of more traditional buildings. But then I started to actually look at real modern skyscrapers. The fact is that the REAL ones look fake, too!

Looking at real architecture with a modeler's eye is revealing in many ways.

I agree 100%. I like to model the buildings of the Art Deco era of the early 20th century, but could have saved a bundle of money going with the modern.

Very impressive guys, wish I had more space. This is as tall as the skyline gets in my small town.

Part of the 'not looking real' issue is when we look at most model railroads we are viewing them from the Goodyear Blimp!  Duck down to track level and watch a train run around the layout and those skyscrapers become AWESOME!    Same buildings, different perspective!     Russ

Skip your representation of the real "Downtown" is fantastic.

Paul you've got some of your own man made canyons going on there.

Alan you are the master of the skyscraper.  I always like seeing the "Bridge" building.

coach joe posted:

Skip your representation of the real "Downtown" is fantastic.

Paul you've got some of your own man made canyons going on there.

Alan you are the master of the skyscraper.  I always like seeing the "Bridge" building.

Thanks Joe....that bridge building has an interesting story and was my wife's idea as to what to do about two bridges I had no room for on the layout...

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

coach joe posted:

Skip your representation of the real "Downtown" is fantastic.

Paul you've got some of your own man made canyons going on there.

Alan you are the master of the skyscraper.  I always like seeing the "Bridge" building.

Thanks Joe....that bridge building has an interesting story and was my wife's idea as to what to do about two bridges I had no room for on the layout...

There was that big river to cross.

Really impressive! Stunning actually! I had the fun of seeing Bill Bramlage's layout in person north of Cincy. It too had a city scape that was almost beyond belief… almost.

If you have a chance to get to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, check out the HO railroad the emulates the route of the BNSF (sponsored by them) which goes from Chicago to Seattle. Chicago is done in full scale with the Willis (nee Sears) tower extending up at least 15 feet. You need high ceilings when you want to do these things.

Above the tower is the underside of a the wing of a Boeing 727 in 1:1 scale. Impressive space!

Amazing what you can do with an almost unlimited budget and lots and lots of room… Kind of humbling, ain't it.

Happy Tall Building Tuesday!!!

Happy Tall Building Tuesday to you too Skip!

Skip, very nice ESB!

Alan, just one word, "awe"!

Thanks Joe!

Hey Skip...where are you!! ... ?  Here is one that many of you have seen in the recent Publisher's Corner series of articles: