After a fairly long break, I’m working on a model railroad again. I’ve returned to work on the One Point Five Meter Line, my compact (1’ x 5’, or 30 cm x 150 cm) light-rail line layout for displaying my structure models. See that page for the track plan. See my Display Layout link for other musings about this layout. See my Urban Station page for a detailed construction log for this building.

The first order of business is to get the track down, but to do that, I need to install the station at the “urban” end of the layout that supports the track on a Viaduct. This is a Kato Viaduct Station Entrance building with one of the associated “shops” buildings, supporting two lengths of Viaduct Platform 248 mm (9 3/4”) each in length. While you can buy a large set for this (23-125) it has parts I don’t need, so instead I’m using two smaller sets (set 23-230, the Viaduct Station Entrance, and set 23-231, the Viaduct Station Shops).

These are pre-assembled structures, but I want to detail them, which includes adding lighting, interior details Kato omitted, and paint. I also need to modify them so I can run wires through them up to the track, as well as to the underside of the viaduct they support.
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Tags: Display Layout, Kato, Interior, Model Building, Structures, Viaduct

After initially thinking I’d build my own viaduct for the One Point Five Meter Line’s urban station, I’ve decided instead to use Kato’s Viaduct Station Entrance building (I had a spare one), possibly supplemented by one of the Station Shops buildings, as seen above. This will be fine even though I’m using Tomix track and station platforms, since the viaduct station simply creates a flat base for track, and isn’t specific to Kato’s track. The height would be, but I’m not connecting it to Tomix viaduct track, so that doesn’t matter.
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Tags: Design, Display Layout, Interior, Model Building, Kato, Structures, Viaduct

A question on the JNS Forum the other day started me thinking about viaduct track. I’ve used this in the past, although not at present. And at the time, I found it confusing, and the lack of English-language information about it compounded the problem. In attempting to answer the question and refresh my own knowledge I did some research and decided to fill out those notes a bit and add them to the site. There’s a new page for that, linked below, but I’ll provide a quick summary of the interesting bits here. Read More...

Tags: Kato, Unitrack, Viaduct

The elevated station was originally intended to be made entirely using Kato’s Viaduct Station (23-230) and Viaduct Platform Extension Set (23-232) sets. The problem was that at the ends, the flat supports I was using to hold it up would come down into the space needed by the subway train, and raising it up another quarter inch wasn’t very desirable. Without those supports, the plastic tended to sag where it was unsupported. Read More...

Tags: Construction, Design, Viaduct, Urban Station, Structures, Kato

Another month, and it seems like there isn’t much to show for it. That’s somewhat deceptive as many things have been accomplished, but nothing has been finished, and that makes it seem like less was done. I’ve covered most of this already, so I’ll quickly summarize the work. Read More...

Tags: Urban Station, Viaduct, Construction, Tomix, FineTrack, Tram, Woodland Scenics

Work on the layout continues, but without much visible to show for it. Mostly it’s been more of things I’ve already done: building the second set of supports for the other half of the elevated station, more roadbed painting, and preparing the fascia for the Riverside Station scene (complete with cut-out windows to view the subway). Read More...

Tags: Construction, Subway, Urban Station, Viaduct, Woodland Scenics

Metal isn’t a construction material usually associated with model railroad layouts. But for some applications, the strength it provides is worth the extra effort to work with it. For my elevated station, I wanted a strong yet “prototypical” support structure, and couldn’t use the pre-made viaduct supports normally used, as I needed the station higher to clear the subway tracks. My solution was a sparse set of columns, intended to look like the cylindrical concrete columns used in some large buildings. Read More...

Tags: Construction, Urban Station, Viaduct

The “village” section of the River Crossing scene has been painted, with cork and basic ground cover (plaster cloth) applied. Much remains to be done, including the stonework of the embankment against the river, before scenery is likely to progress beyond this. But the goal of hiding the pink foam here, and getting the track in place, is done. Read More...

Tags: Construction, Scenery, E233, Viaduct, Design

This month was spent thinking about the track that will go on the upper (ground) level, above the subway. I never actually did finish wiring up the subway loop (although I can run trains on it using DC, they get a bit slow on the opposite side of the loop from the powerpack; rail is a poor conductor of electricity). Read More...

Tags: DC, Design, Subway, Urban Station, Viaduct, Kato, Unitrack

Catenary, the wire hanging above the track, is a significant scenic element of an electric railroad line. There are many types of catenary wiring, and probably even more types of poles or other structures from which it hangs.
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Tags: E233, Design, Catenary, Viaduct, Kato, Unitrack