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:

How about these?.....

Happy Hump-Day Wednesday,

Carey - The GCT looks great on your layout.

Alan is that a revolving restaurant or just an observation deck in the center top of the first picture?  What did you use to fabricate it?

Fantastic scends, my tallest building is a two story milk plant, light towers and water towers don't count

Ray

Skip, your RCA buildng brings back memories, my first Industral Enginering job out of school at RCA's  I/C Somerville NJ  plant. 

A view from the Empire State Building.

Dr. Jack posted:

Skip, your RCA buildng brings back memories, my first Industral Enginering job out of school at RCA's  I/C Somerville NJ  plant. 

I have my Dad's old RCA Strato-World Radio in my office. Love the sound of an old tube radio. Can use a little work but the FAN and CBS AM come in clear as a bell.

I had the pleasure of knowing two gentlemen and fellow train collectors who worked of RCA in the RCA building.

Milton Walsh was a charter member of the TCA who worked for RCA in the 40's and 50's and moonlighted as a repair man in Carmen Webster's train store on 45th Street I believe. When Carmen closed shop Milton bought all of the Lionel repair parts including the cabinets and set them up in his basement in Ossining, NY. He did several repairs for me on my post-war trains and charged me whatever the original price was on the original Lionel envelope. We were friends up until his death in the late 80's or early 90's.

Eddie Murphy was an electrician in the RCA Building who used to string the lights for the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree back in the 50's and 60's. Eddie was a great guy and I used to see him at the York Train Meet. We kept in touch by email until I got word from his wife that he had passed away. I still have a cookie tin of Christmas lights Eddie gave me that were used on the RC tree.

coach joe posted:

Alan is that a revolving restaurant or just an observation deck in the center top of the first picture?  What did you use to fabricate it?

Great catch there Joe!...it is in fact supposed to represent a revolving restaurant.  In reality, it is an old non-functioning smoke alarm...LOL!

How about this:  (don't forget to click on the picture for a nice detailed large size....)

I really don’t have a lot of room for tall buildings, but I did just add a GGD Coaling Tower to my layout (Beth Marshall at Public Delivery Track had a great deal on these a couple of weeks ago). This is one beautiful building. It is really tall (for me, anyway). The Todd Architectural flat against the back wall is a Scale 5-story building, and the tower is taller. Wouldn’t want to climb to the top of the tower!!!

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

coach joe posted:

Alan is that a revolving restaurant or just an observation deck in the center top of the first picture?  What did you use to fabricate it?

Great catch there Joe!...it is in fact supposed to represent a revolving restaurant.  In reality, it is an old non-functioning smoke alarm...LOL!

OK... that is one great scrounge (or recycle if you prefer). @M. Mitchell Marmel would be proud!!!

Skip and Alan, absolutely great skyscrapers.

Alan two questions if I may; did you have to cut all the windows into the restaurant or was that just the design of the smoke detector and is that an N gauge water tower on the lift bridge?

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

How about this:  (don't forget to click on the picture for a nice detailed large size....)

Most impressive!!!!  WOW!!!

coach joe posted:

Skip and Alan, absolutely great skyscrapers.

Alan two questions if I may; did you have to cut all the windows into the restaurant or was that just the design of the smoke detector and is that an N gauge water tower on the lift bridge?

Hi Joe....The smoke detector is very old...probably at least 20 or more years...  It was an AMWAY product (the long time multi-marketing company) and what you see is the exact design.  All I did was to add to the "top" of it with a plastic lid and golf tee.

The water tower on the lift bridge is an HO model with a red flashing light.  I thought it looked good and added a little depth to the scene even though it may not be completely prototypical....

Ah....gold and silver...my two favorite precious metals...ah, I mean window colors...

Alan are the silver and gold windows colored plastic, mirror, foil over substrate a combination of any or all?

coach joe posted:

Alan are the silver and gold windows colored plastic, mirror, foil over substrate a combination of any or all?

Joe....you are correct, the windows are a combination of all of the above.  The gold tower is made from foam core board covered in a sticky sided reflective foil which I found in the wall paper department of a local home improvement store.  The silver mirrored building next to it is made up of four 4 foot long dressing mirrors that are marketed to be used on the back of either bathroom or closet doors.  The floor divisions on both buildings are various kinds of electrical and automotive striping tapes.

The 7th Ave side of Macy's on 34th St.

Good Morning everyone!  Here is one of the "Modernistic" skyscrapers downtown:

Give me the steam era buildings Looks great BTW Skip & Alan.

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.

Totalyy amazing.!!!  Worked 10 years in Manhattan.  And also many yearly visits.

Time for Tall Building Tuesday! (and any other structure YOU consider tall for your layout!)....

Here is an art deco style skyscraper on my layout built from several American Skyline kits....

NYC Fan posted:

The 7th Ave side of Macy's on 34th St.

That is just a fantastic scene! Unbelievable modeling. Just as I think I remember it when in NYC.

FYI, for those fans of Bethlehem Steel, Martin Tower - the last HQ- may be imploded by the end of April or May. 

Get your pictures now while you can.

Alan the "modernistic" skyscraper is very interesting.  Is it a curved rectangular prism or some sort of a tetrahedral?

The Art Deco is sweet, just needs some flourish at the tops, like the raptors atop the Chrysler Building.

I would like to try scratch building  some tall buildings and other buildings. What do you guys generally use as building material ?? I also thought about kit bashing some. What are the best kits for that??

coach joe posted:

Alan the "modernistic" skyscraper is very interesting.  Is it a curved rectangular prism or some sort of a tetrahedral?

The Art Deco is sweet, just needs some flourish at the tops, like the raptors atop the Chrysler Building.

Hi Joe....I am assuming you mean the one with the curved walls.  Well....let me tell you the story:  I was driving by a local second hand/antique store and I saw sitting outside their front door a display rack...you know, the kind that slides over a base/pole and then rotates.  I turned around to take a closer look and decided to park and get out to inspect this potential "skyscraper".  It turned out to be essentially three sided and basically triangular shaped display that was originally used for Remington gun parts, etc. and was made completely out of metal!  Very heavy...!   I saw some possibilities for a conversion so I negotiated an exchange of a 10 dollar bill for the display.  When I got home I slid the main display off of the pole and then went to work on removing all of the pegs that were welded on the surface of each of the three sides.  I then spray painted the entire thing with an aluminum colored base I found at my local Walmart.  I wanted to find some sort of material that would allow light to pass through that I could use to "glaze" the three large sides of the emerging building.  It occurred to me that ceiling light panels would be the way to go so a trip to Home Depot took care of that!  I cut the light panels just a little larger than the span across each face so that when I pushed them in place, the bend in them would remain so as to create the look of the curved window face you now see in the pictures.   As it turns out the pattern on the panels worked great and look like windows/ floors.  I added modified CD holders as detail elements along and up the entrance side of the building as well as on the roof.  So...now you have the whole story!!

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

I am assuming you mean the one with the curved walls.

 

Reminds me of something from The Fountainhead.

Love it!

Alan, are you sure you're not one of those Imagineers that work for Disney.  Reading your story I can now totally see the display rack heart of your skyscraper but I don't think I could have gone from A to B in my mind just by looking at the display rack.  I will admit that some of buildings have made me aware of alternative uses for many objects.

coach joe posted:

Alan, are you sure you're not one of those Imagineers that work for Disney.  Reading your story I can now totally see the display rack heart of your skyscraper but I don't think I could have gone from A to B in my mind just by looking at the display rack.  I will admit that some of buildings have made me aware of alternative uses for many objects.

Joe....anyone can do this!  What one has to do is to start looking at re-purposing objects.  I am into several different eras of railroading so I felt that my city should span a time frame architecturally from the mid-late 1940's to today.  This way I could run steam as well as first generation diesels right up to current diesels.  I wanted the skyline to have a few older structures but also have some glass walled buildings so it looked like there was progress taking place and not just set in a 10 year time span.  In order to do this, I simply could not find ready made structures that fit the bill so I began to see every vertical object as a potential skyscraper conversion.  I can tell many more stories of objects that have been turned into skyscrapers on my layout and if you start to look closely at the pictures I have posted over the years here on the forum and my Youtube channel, you will begin to notice some familiar everyday objects that have been "converted"....

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.

Those are SUPERB models. Are they scratch-built?

Happy Tall Building Tuesday!

Yep...it is tall building Tuesday already...again!!  Here is the Ameritowne Hotel surrounded by the encroaching steel and glass forest!

Latest view of downtown with "south" town behind it against the wall....

Time for Tall Building Tuesday!!....here are a couple of pictures of the "Scott Building" in the south town area of the city.  This structure is a combination of a couple of pre-war Scott Bilt E-Z tin building sets I purchased on Ebay...

Very interesting architecture Alan.

Headquarters building for “South Fork Railroad”

OGR CEO-PUBLISHER posted:

Time for Tall Building Tuesday!!....here are a couple of pictures of the "Scott Building" in the south town area of the city.  This structure is a combination of a couple of pre-war Scott Bilt E-Z tin building sets I purchased on Ebay...

Now that is some interesting architecture.

Where's Skip???.....It is time for Tall Building Tuesday!  Here are a couple of early morning shots in the city as the sun is rising:

Here are a couple of the OGR World Headquarters Building....

@OGR CEO-PUBLISHER, Alan, those four shots I would declare imposing. I can remember when I was a squirt maybe 6 years old, the boy scouts sponsored a trip into NYC to see the Statue of Liberty as well as the World Trade Towers(trip didn't include the Empire State Building and that would have been grand). I can remember heading to World Trade and looking up. I'd say that the effect is as those four shots. The Statue of Liberty of course is welcoming not imposing. I guess you may have to get a park with a mini Lady Liberty in it????? Do you have parks with statues, curious?

AmeriTowne Hotel

Nice job Craig on that hotel...!

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

@OGR CEO-PUBLISHER, Alan, those four shots I would declare imposing. I can remember when I was a squirt maybe 6 years old, the boy scouts sponsored a trip into NYC to see the Statue of Liberty as well as the World Trade Towers(trip didn't include the Empire State Building and that would have been grand). I can remember heading to World Trade and looking up. I'd say that the effect is as those four shots. The Statue of Liberty of course is welcoming not imposing. I guess you may have to get a park with a mini Lady Liberty in it????? Do you have parks with statues, curious?

Thanks Dave....and yes I do have a couple of parks on the layout.  One is a small park with a pond right in the city.  The other is larger and is on a lower level under a high bridge and it borders a stream and waterfall.

Here is one of the "Glass Floor Hotel" located downtown above the harbor...

Like I said Alan, imposing. Got to love it.

Last one from me this evening....here is a view from the mini-drone over downtown.  The "Glass Floor Hotel" is in the center with the OGR Headquarters on the left....

In 2001 we were commissioned by the ACE Elevator company to make a model of the World Trade Center for their use at a trade show at the Javits Center in June. Ace was the manager of the WTC elevators and they wanted to share their ability to get the system up and running after the basement bombing. The Twin Towers were made in three sections, each 4' high, for an overall height of 12'. If you want the full effect, you will need about 16' to include the North Tower antenna.

Now that is something else Doug.

These photos are from Gulliver's Gate in NYC's Times Square. An enormous $40M project that approaches the stature of the great Miniature Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. Great scenes from all over the world.

Chrysler Building and 30 Rockefeller Center, New York City

Twin Towers in Dubai

Boy has the week gone by FASTTTTTTT....!  Here is on of the sun rising in the morning just over the tops of the short buildings illuminating one of the Art Deco skyscrapers in "South Town"....

As the trains arrive at the train shed the passengers get a view of the big city skyscrapers...

What are you going to do when you can't build buildings with glass and steel anymore?

My 10’-by-5’ layout represents a single-track New England branch line (just an oval of track) in the 1940s and ‘50s, with a small town, a river valley with bridges, and a tunnel/hill. The tallest building is B. Lipnick Supply Company, built in 2015 from an Altoona Model Works kit.

MELGAR

MELGAR posted:

My 10’-by-5’ layout represents a single-track New England branch line (just an oval of track) in the 1940s and ‘50s, with a small town, a river valley with bridges, and a tunnel/hill. The tallest building is B. Lipnick Supply Company, built in 2015 from an Altoona Model Works kit.

MELGAR

Mel, seeing your layout in the recent run this was the building I was drawn to. I really like the design and was curious to know what exactly it was built from. Very cool and thanks.

Dave NYC Hudson PRR K4 posted:

MELGAR posted:

My 10’-by-5’ layout represents a single-track New England branch line (just an oval of track) in the 1940s and ‘50s, with a small town, a river valley with bridges, and a tunnel/hill. The tallest building is B. Lipnick Supply Company, built in 2015 from an Altoona Model Works kit.

MELGAR

Mel, seeing your layout in the recent run this was the building I was drawn to. I really like the design and was curious to know what exactly it was built from. Very cool and thanks.

First photo shows framework of the model which is made from large pieces of laser-cut masonite. The material is dense, hard, strong and precision-cut. Easy to assemble with yellow carpenter's glue. The framework is covered with milled clapboard sheets made from basswood - as shown in second photo. Plastic window frames. A good quality kit, although I made some minor modifications, such as the rooftop skylight. Water tank kit is an optional extra. If you have further questions or need help, send e-mail.

MELGAR

I checked my calendar, and today is Tuesday. Did someone eat all the tall buildings today? Maybe because it is the end of the month and everyone is busy. At work, its crazy and I've almost lost my train of thought a few times. Are there any tall buildings today even if it is later on today?

The tallest structure on my 12’-by-8’ model railroad is this coal tower that I built from a Gloor craftsman kit around 2000. Although I built many large flying model airplanes as a youngster, this was the first craftsman kit that I built for the railroad, so the process was new to me. I still have the full-sized drawings that came with the kit, so I could easily build another one from scratch – and do a better job. Another kit would be preferable, but I doubt that any exist now…

MELGAR

Hope these qualify!

Now that I have a 45W laser cutter I need to start cutting high-rises that I designed for real and now for my layout. I have been working on a lot of trusses  so far and that part is done.