Plymouth Street

[cnw1961]

A while ago I came across this very interesting website with tons of information on "Industrial & Offline Terminal Railroads of Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Bronx & Manhattan": <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/IndustrialLocos.html">http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/IndustrialLocos.html</a><!-- m --> . One of these old, long out of service railroads is the Jay Street Connecting RR. It was a very small railroad that only ran in the streets under the Manhattan Bridge and it's immediate vicinity. One of these streets is Plymouth Street. Don’t get me wrong: I am not modeling the Jay Street Connecting RR, I am not even modeling New York City in paticular. I liked Plymouth Street so much that it inspired me to do an urban layout with a small section of this street, with its old houses, street trackage, cobblestones and cracked blacktop being an important part of it. To model all this will be a real challenge. The other half of the layout is inspired by these old freight terminals like the LIRR Bushwick Terminal with their team tracks and warehouses. When I am running my modern rolling stock on the layout, the freight terminal will be out of service and only a few warehouses will still be served by rail, but I am planning to also run my 1950s equipment and then the terminal will be a busy place.

To put together this aerial pic for my trackplan I used aerial shots from Plymouth Street, Bushwick Terminal and Metropolitan Ave. The size of the layout is 12' x 1 1/2'.



As you can see, the trackplan is quite simple, but I am more into building a layout than operating it. So a few tracks to run my engines and shove a few cars around is enough for me.The little drawing under the trackplan shows the proportions of the structures quite well, especially for Plymouth Street on the left. The shape and size of the warehouses on the right still have to be decided.

If you walk down Plymouth Street from this position: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=de&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=40.703763,-73.986066&panoid=M_C1AHX2IsqDWxlfx8ojbw&cbp=12,97.76,,0,5&ll=40.703861,-73.987349&spn=0.001708,0.00515&z=19">http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=de&ie=UT ... 00515&z=19</a><!-- m --> to the next corner, you’ll see the section I am going to model (well, not exactly, I’ll take some liberties). Maybe you’ll see what I like about it.

[faraway]

Kurt, that looks very good and interesting. It is real challenge to get the spirit of that area in a model. I am sure, you will do it! Good luck

[Steve]

Well Kurt, you should have no trouble making that gantry crane.....I believe there is a thread around somewhere that can show how

Good luck with the new layout

[MasonJar]

Kurt,

Are you familiar with <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.forgotten-ny.com">www.forgotten-ny.com</a><!-- w -->? Excellent website with a section on railroads, trams, and subways.

Andrew

[Steamtrains]

Sad to see the Miami layout go....
But we get to see more wonders develop in a totally different setting..!!

Let the playing begin..!!!

[Herc Driver]

I'm ready...waiting...and know we'll be impressed with this latest challenge.

[Puddlejumper]

This is going to be awesome. I love street running.

[shortliner]

Kurt - I'm operating just up the road from you

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/errhs.html">http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/errhs.html</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/3354-jacks-in-or-shortliners-shortline/">http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index. ... shortline/</a><!-- m -->

It gets its first public showing in 3 weeks time

Best
Jack aka Shortliner

[cn nutbar]

Hello Kurt---based on your last masterpiece,I'm sure this is going to be a beauty---looking forward to it's development BTW,any idea what the shipping charges would be to ship your last layout to Canada

[cnw1961]

Kurt, that looks very good and interesting. It is real challenge to get the spirit of that area in a model. I am sure, you will do it! Good luck

Reinhard, thank you for the encouragement. Looking at the way your beautiful layout develops, I am sure you understand that I needed something new and a new challenge to kindle my interset in modeling ...

Well Kurt, you should have no trouble making that gantry crane.....I believe there is a thread around somewhere that can show how

The link, where is the link???

Are you familiar with <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.forgotten-ny.com">http://www.forgotten-ny.com</a><!-- m -->? Excellent website with a section on railroads, trams, and subways.

Thank you, Andrew. Yes, I know this site. It is a great source of inspiration. Besides the sections you mentioned, I like the "ads" section very much.

Sad to see the Miami layout go.... But we get to see more wonders develop in a totally different setting..!!

Gus, talking about "wonders", the only thing I am wondering about is if I am skilled enough do the scene jusice that I want to model …

I'm ready...waiting...and know we'll be impressed with this latest challenge.

Herc, hope you won’t be disappointed.

This is going to be awesome. I love street running.

I also love street running. First when Saw Plymouth Street view, I though of building a diorama, but to incorporate this scene into a layout and to be able to really run trains through this street seems to be the better solution.

Kurt - I'm operating just up the road from you

Hello neighbor! . I just checked your thread and your Harlem Station – I love it! These old freight terminals are great with lots of railroad action in a very tight space. If I had the space I would build the Erie West 28th Street freight station with this gorgeous big old warehouse ...

Hello Kurt---based on your last masterpiece,I'm sure this is going to be a beauty---looking forward to it's development BTW,any idea what the shipping charges would be to ship your last layout to Canada

Thank you for your encouraging comment and no, I don’t have the sloghtes idea.

[cnw1961]

When I found Plymout Street some months ago, it inpired me to build one of the red brick structures … guess I needed a break from all these Miami conrete warehouses.

I build this small house using .060" styrene and a self adhesive brick sheet made by Noch. This brick sheet works very well, but is very expensive (9.99 EUR for only 12 x 30 cm) so I will use it only sparsely. I did not paint the structure exactly as the prototype … as I said earlier, I’ll take some liberties.







To do the cracked render on the side wall I used thin cardboard and ripped off some pieces. I tried this method for the first time and I am quite convinced with the result.

[Gary S]

Woah, Kurt, that building turned out great! And you are right, the cardboard trick looks very much like plaster over brick. As much as I hate to see the Miami layout get dismantled, I am certainly looking forward to seeing some new tutorials on how you accomplish the look of the new layout!

[faraway]

Thats it! Go ahead, you got it.

[cnw1961]

Gary, Reinhard, thank you!

I know it would make sense to dismantle my old layout next, but the last few days I have been thinking of how to build that tall building in the middle of Plymout Street. I was a real brain teaser. When I knew how, I simply had to do it right away. So, this pic shows the drawing of the structure on the left and the three cutting templates that derive from it.



To make cutting, especially cutting out all these window openings, easy I decided to use .040" styrene for the two big pieces. For the smaller wall section I used .080" styrene, which resulted in some cursing while cutting. It is funny how easy it is to cut these openings in .040" styrene and how hard it is with the thicker stuff. If you need two passes to cut through the thin sheet, you are lucky if you need "only" ten or twelve passes when cutting the thicker sheet.

The next pic shows the assembled three wall section with a few additional details added.

[Gary S]

I really enjoy it when you post progress photos of your builds, Kurt. Definitely let's me see what is possible and how it is done.