Undertrack Housing

[Tony Galiani]

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15084076

 

Who will be the first to model one of these?  Though it was an odd idea but apparently it seems to work quite well.

 

Tony

[cteno4]

Very cool! Pretty simple scratch build.

 

jeff

[railsquid]

Apartments beneath the Keio Line viaduct in Takao, Tokyo: https://4travel.jp/travelogue/11483601

 

IIRC there is some student accomodation beneath the elevated Chuo Line tracks somewhere between Mitaka and Tachikawa.

[tossedman]

Those look great. Nice use of unconventional space for housing. 

[Tony Galiani]

At first this seemed odd to me but it actually makes a lot of sense - good use for the space.  And, in thinking about it, I lived in NYC and at one point I had an apartment by the IND F train which came out of its underground tunnel to run on a elevated section very close to my building.  And it never really bothered me - didn't really notice it all that much.  Living in an urban environment had me adapted to this I guess.

Ciao,

Tony

[tossedman]

Here in Calgary we have the C Train, our local light transit, exit a tunnel through the new Central Library. It's barely noticeable inside the library. 

https://blog.architizer.com/wp-content/uploads/12-51.jpg

 

If those houses under the viaduct are insulated then sound shouldn't be too bad. Not sure if vibrations would be an issue. Also, not sure if I want to live under a viaduct in a country where earthquakes are common.

 

Cheers,

 

Todd

[cteno4]

Actually I would expect the large concrete viaducts to be pretty good noise and vibration insulators. Also a pretty good bomb shelter!

 

jeff

[MeTheSwede]

Living under the railway means being noise shielded by thick concrete, whereas on the other hand living next to the railway usually means being shielded by nothing.

 

Tokyo Lens recently visited some other newly constructed under the tracks apartments in case anyone wants to look inside:

 

 

 

And here is what a really tiny and noisy apartment look like:

 

 

Now that's an apartment building everyone has space to model. 😀

 

[cteno4]

Growing up on a ship and living on smaller boats a lot these feel very comfortable to me! 
 

jeff

[railsquid]

On 12/30/2023 at 10:06 AM, tossedman said:

Also, not sure if I want to live under a viaduct in a country where earthquakes are common.

 

Provided the viaduct was built or strengthened after 1995, I wouldn't worry too much. It'd be the surrounding buildings and proximity to mounds of earth separating built-up areas from water courses.