Underground station design at ekikabe.net

[Madsing]

While looking for inspiration to design my underground station, I found this web site: https://ekikabe.net/

It details the layout and design of dozens of stations, with photos and even drawings. If I understand well, we can order the sheets to print and build the stations (example here: https://ekikabe.net/print-request).

This is my preferred design: https://ekikabe.net/f12 (F12 Fukutoshin Line Higashi Shinjuku Station) 😀

[gavino200]

Awesome. Perhaps we can use this thread as a general Subway thread. The layout I'm working on will have a one line that is subway for some of it's loop and overground suburban train for the rest. I'm planning on having "ground level" rise and fall rather than having gradients. I'm hoping to place my subway station under my main train station. The design isn't settled yet. I'm toying with the idea of an intermediate level with shops and then a lower level with the subway platforms. It's exciting that someone else is interested in subways and tunnels!!

Edited May 18, 2021 by gavino200

[Madsing]

Yes 😀

This is a photo taken on Sunday. I am working on the tram station, that will be moved over the tracks going down to the future subway station.

 

[gavino200]

Yes, I've seen your tram terminal. It's really nice. I thought it was already in place. Are you moving it?

 

Edit: I'm guessing you removed the tram terminal in order to install and wire the LED strips on the wall of your subway tunnel. I'm happy to see that you're modelling the inside of the subway tunnel and not just the station/platform. I think the tunnels themselves look just as cool inside.

Edited May 18, 2021 by gavino200

[Madsing]

No. I just removed it to work on the tracks below, I will put it back at the same place.

[cteno4]

Damn this makes me want to get back to the Ttrak subway loop! Nice site madsing. Some fun walls and such to pull.

 

Can’t get printing at our 7/11s, lucky if they have an operating hot dog machine most of the time. I was in one last week and the slurpie machine was literally throwing up and the clerk had no idea how to stop it and I suggested they just pull the plug, response was “oh”. It worked.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Ha, yes. I worked out what you were doing. See my edit above. The modeled tunnel is going to look amazing. I can picture how it will look through a train-mounted video. There aren't many subway platform/stations on the market and those that exist aren't fantastic. That's going to force me to do a fair bit of scratchbuilding/kit bashing. I'm actually happy about that as I really enjoy it but am sometimes reluctant due to inexperience. 

 

I have some photos that I took at the Tokyo subway museum. The quality is horrible but there's some good inspiration. If you don't mind me messing up your thread with blurry photos, I'll post some of them here. 

[gavino200]

1 minute ago, cteno4 said:

Damn this makes me want to get back to the Ttrak subway loop! Nice site madsing. Some fun walls and such to pull.

 

You HAVE to do it Jeff!!! Or just forget about Ttrack and build a non-communal layout. You can post everything here at JNS!!!! No pesky club members holding you back!!!

[cteno4]

Yeah but the Ttrak is fun to take out for display and others to enjoy, but your right it’s a two edged sword. Ttrak also is a delay as I’m not sure what I want for a big narly layout when I grow up! Lately I’ve enjoyed little bits more. Plus always that Murphy’s law fear of build a layout and you will move thing!

 

jeff

[gavino200]

7 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Yeah but the Ttrak is fun to take out for display and others to enjoy,

 

You mean like, on the internet? More enjoyment by more people.

 

7 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

 Ttrak also is a delay as I’m not sure what I want for a big narly layout when I grow up!

 

Of course you don't. Every decision is an angst-ridden compromise between a blurry dream and a judgy ego. We're all in that boat. Just get in and row!

 

7 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Plus always that Murphy’s law fear of build a layout and you will move thing!

 

 

So make it modular. Mine is going to be completely disasemblable for exactly that reason (and others).

[cteno4]

12 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

You mean like, on the internet? More enjoyment by more people.

No out in person doing shows. Nice to interact with the public to try to push the hobby! Very rewarding to see the glee on little kids faces watching the trains!

 

12 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

Of course you don't. Every decision is an angst-ridden compromise between a blurry dream and a judgy ego. We're all in that boat. Just get in and row!

much more fun watching you guys sweat rowing that boat. I’m just not as sure on what my long term goals are in the hobby for a big investment of time and space yet. I’ll get there. I’ve plenty of train projects to keep me busy for a long while.

 

12 minutes ago, gavino200 said:

So make it modular. Mine is going to be completely disasemblable for exactly that reason (and others).

not the issue moving the layout, it’s the idea of moving at this point I dont want to get near!

 

jeff

[Madsing]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:35 AM, gavino200 said:

I have some photos that I took at the Tokyo subway museum. The quality is horrible but there's some good inspiration. If you don't mind me messing up your thread with blurry photos, I'll post some of them here. 

No problem, of course. Please post these photos, we always need more inspiration!

 

On 5/18/2021 at 8:35 AM, gavino200 said:

That's going to force me to do a fair bit of scratchbuilding/kit bashing

Now I love scratch building. And I like working with styrene. I have just purchased a sheet of Evergreen 4250 Opaque White Polystyrene V Groove Siding. This should be perfect to start the underground station walls.

 

 

 

This is a drawing I made last week, but after finding ekikabe.net, I will probably change to https://ekikabe.net/f12 or something like that... 

 

[gavino200]

6 minutes ago, Madsing said:

Now I love scratch building. And I like working with styrene. I have just purchased a sheet of Evergreen 4250 Opaque White Polystyrene V Groove Siding. This should be perfect to start the underground station walls.

 

That looks perfect.

 

6 minutes ago, Madsing said:

 

 This is a drawing I made last week, but after finding ekikabe.net, I will probably change to https://ekikabe.net/f12 or something like that... 

 

You're drawing looks pretty good. But I agree, the ekikabe ones are excellent. Are you considering inserting a small OLED for the information screen? I think it would look great. I just received a few OLEDs in the mail today btw. I can't wait to start experimenting with them.  🙂

 

 

 

[Madsing]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:22 AM, gavino200 said:

I think the tunnels themselves look just as cool inside.

Yes, I got inspiration from photos such as these: https://henndennkidenntushinnmoromoro.blogspot.com/2015/09/407.html and I decided to try to model the catenary system. I used styrene parts from Evergreen (their I beams and H columns). This is the result (or, more accurately, how it looks now 😀):

 

 

 

[gavino200]

5 minutes ago, Madsing said:

Yes, I got inspiration from photos such as these: https://henndennkidenntushinnmoromoro.blogspot.com/2015/09/407.html and I decided to try to model the catenary system. I used styrene parts from Evergreen (their I beams and H columns). This is the result (or, more accurately, how it looks now 😀😞

 

 

 

 

That looks really great! I love those catenaries. They're basically a rail. I've never seen those but I love how they look. Your concrete technique is also very nice. How do you do it? 

 

I like the signals. I wonder if they would look even better if you bury or countersink the square bases and just have the pole coming up out of the concrete. 

 

Your side wall cables are excellent. Thread? They really make the scene come to life!!

[katoftw]

Those rigid overhead conductor beams are becoming more common these days.

 

Just a newer tech you'll see widespread over time in underground railways.

[Madsing]

11 hours ago, gavino200 said:

Your concrete technique is also very nice. How do you do it?

I have tried so many things, concrete is so difficult. Here I have directly scored the plywood using an X-Acto #15 saw blade, painted it grey (neutral grey, mix of white and black acrylic paint) with a brush then weathered it using a neutral grey enamel wash (AK Interactive AK677) and dark brown (AK045), then light dust (AK040) and city dirt (AK145) pigments.

 

11 hours ago, gavino200 said:

I like the signals. I wonder if they would look even better if you bury or countersink the square bases and just have the pole coming up out of the concrete. 

Yes, yes, yes, you are so right. Unfortunately the underground track at that place is at level zero, i.e. directly on the bottom wooden plank of the drawer (remember, my layout lives in a drawer). I will try to hide the base using an electrical cabinet. These are working Tomix signals that I decided to spruce up a bit after reading Jeff's remark that they don't look so prototypical (thanks Jeff 😀).

 

 

I have removed the white body, painted the mast, made a new maintenance platform using Finemolds AE-01 metal mesh and added labels. I also took that opportunity to continue working on the signal DCC decoder (which can control ten Tomix signals with a single Arduino Nano!). The signals will be controlled by Rocrail.

 

 

The signal on the right has been kitbashed using two Tomix signals. It's a route signal, just before the switch going to platforms 6 and 7.

 

[Madsing]

11 hours ago, gavino200 said:

Your side wall cables are excellent. Thread? They really make the scene come to life!!

Standard 30 AWG electrical wires. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32842839738.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d2LrlUg

I have used the same wire here:

 

 

By the way, this concrete wall is made with Kobaru MB-07 Planoita Concrete wall (https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10300495). I like it very much!

 

 

[cteno4]

Wrapping wire is great as it looks just like 2-3” conduit and precolored to boot! Excellent wire for leds and scenery bits like this. It’s pretinned so it strips well w.o breaking strands the way most small gauge wires can do when you strip insulation. Does require a very small stripper.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

9 hours ago, Madsing said:

I have tried so many things, concrete is so difficult. Here I have directly scored the plywood using an X-Acto #15 saw blade, painted it grey (neutral grey, mix of white and black acrylic paint) with a brush then weathered it using a neutral grey enamel wash (AK Interactive AK677) and dark brown (AK045), then light dust (AK040) and city dirt (AK145) pigments.

 

Very nice effect. It looks great. Especially in place. 

 

 

9 hours ago, Madsing said:

 

Yes, yes, yes, you are so right. Unfortunately the underground track at that place is at level zero, i.e. directly on the bottom wooden plank of the drawer (remember, my layout lives in a drawer). I will try to hide the base using an electrical cabinet.

 

Well, even as is they look great. But throwing out a few ideas. Is it important to not touch the wood of the drawer itself? (Is it wood?). And how thick is the shelf wood? Perhaps you could chisel into the shelf wood in a few spots. You could fill it in later if you needed to ready the house/apartment for resale. Or maybe you could gain a few millimeters by placing another thin layer of foamboard under the lower level track. 

 

9 hours ago, Madsing said:

 

These are working Tomix signals that I decided to spruce up a bit after reading Jeff's remark that they don't look so prototypical (thanks Jeff 😀).

 

 

I have removed the white body, painted the mast, made a new maintenance platform using Finemolds AE-01 metal mesh and added labels.

 

Excellent improvements. That mesh is a nice touch. I need to order some of that. 

 

9 hours ago, Madsing said:

 

I also took that opportunity to continue working on the signal DCC decoder (which can control ten Tomix signals with a single Arduino Nano!). The signals will be controlled by Rocrail.

 

 

 

Excellent. Is that a commercial break-out board, or something you made yourself? Did you write the code yourself from scratch, or was there a sketch out there that you were able to modify? Was there anything special you need to do to make your project compatible with Rocrail? Did Roco have any instructions or specifications?

 

I'm working my way through my Arduino book and had planned on playing with some OLED displays for future building kit-bashes. But maybe I'll switch gears and give some thought to signals. It fits with my current modeling project - building my station. I definitely want my station to have signals. I'll have to start sourcing signals. I probably don't have the patience to wait for a crowd sourced 3D printed solution. 

[gavino200]

9 hours ago, Madsing said:

Standard 30 AWG electrical wires. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32842839738.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d2LrlUg

I have used the same wire here:

 

 

By the way, this concrete wall is made with Kobaru MB-07 Planoita Concrete wall (https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10300495). I like it very much!

 

 

 

That looks perfect. I love the dots of paint to simulate fasteners. The poured concrete is a Kobaru sheet? I really like how you piled up the ballast at the end of the track. That's exactly how it looks!!! 

[Madsing]

On 5/20/2021 at 7:10 AM, gavino200 said:

Excellent. Is that a commercial break-out board, or something you made yourself? Did you write the code yourself from scratch, or was there a sketch out there that you were able to modify? Was there anything special you need to do to make your project compatible with Rocrail? Did Roco have any instructions or specifications?

 

It's a break-out board that I made myself. Designing and manufacturing a PCB is easy and cheap these days. These are the highlights of this project:

- DCC input. I used the DCC Decoder library from Mynabay (http://www.mynabay.com/dcc_monitor/).

- Driving railroad signals using DCC is difficult (it's my opinion only). There seems to be many ways to achieve that, so I picked one supported by Rocrail, analyzed the DCC packets generated by the Z21 and wrote the corresponding Arduino software.

- I reversed engineered the Tomix signals (they are smart, just using 4 pins for any number of aspects)

- I designed a circuit to drive them (actually, you just need the Arduino, six transistors and a few resistors)

- I used Charlieplexing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlieplexing) to be able to connect up to ten signals to a single Arduino Nano. Programming that was the most difficult part.

- The Arduino software currently supports up to five aspects (Japanese style signals, of course). But I have not been able to figure out yet how to control them all using DCC (the current limit is three: green, yellow and red).

I can share everything if you are interested (I should start a different thread about this project), but it's still pretty much work in progress (well, you know that already 😀) .

 

Marc

[Madsing]

On 5/20/2021 at 7:15 AM, gavino200 said:

The poured concrete is a Kobaru sheet?

 

Yes. Kobaru MB-07 Planoita · Concrete wall. Main unit price ¥ 600 (tax included ¥ 648). Release date November 2014. Plastic material imitating the walls of concrete. It is ideal for building outer walls, retaining walls, bridge piers etc. Material: PS, size: 84 x 120 mm 3 pieces.

Unfortunately out of production...

[cteno4]

Looks like sakatsu is making it now!

 

https://shopsakatsu.com/shopdetail/000000010581/ct254/page1/order/

 

im tempted to do an order from sakatsu here!

 

jeff

[Madsing]

Thanks Jeff, I forgot already 😀

Marc