Terminal stations

[Martijn Meerts]

Considering it looks like I might have quite a bit of space available for a layout in not all that long, I've started figuring out what I want it to look like. Apart from Tokyo Station, I'm looking at adding a small terminal station (branch line type).

 

Does anyone know some good examples of terminal stations in Japan, preferably those that have high res maps available on google maps. I need some track plan inspiration ;)

[scott]

I can't help, but if you're modeling Tokyo Station, I'm going to buy stock in whichever track manufacturer you're going to use.  :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Tomix for the most part and whichever flex track fits best with Tomix visually ;)

[Bernard]

I can't help, but if you're modeling Tokyo Station, I'm going to buy stock in whichever track manufacturer you're going to use.  :)

 

LOL - That should help the economy! :D

[Martijn Meerts]

Hey, it's only about 20 x 2.5 meter, plus "a couple" of turnouts and some extra meters on each side of the station..

 

The problem is of course, no one makes flex track with a concrete slab look, like the shinkansen tracks. That might have to be scratch built, which is going to be painful ;)

[cteno4]

Martijn,

 

Do you have the tokyo station paper model thats at 1:500 scale? its a fantastic resource if you want to model the station. i got it for T scale and plan to scan it before ever make it in order to have it incase i would ever want to model the station in N scale. the nice thing its pretty repetitive in its design and was thinking i could get it into cad and then have a friend with a laser cutter cut walls (the laser system can even do brick texture if you want) or just cut it out of chipboard with brick pattern printed on it. windows are also very repetitive so those could be done as a stereolithography for the prototypes then just mould those and mass produce. station itself would be like 2.5m!

 

its very nice. Hobbylink has had it it in stock in the past and may backorder it if you put in an order.

 

http://www.hlj.com/product/SHU10092

 

good luck and keep us posted on this, it would be a grand project to document!

 

how big of a space are you going to get to play with? my biggest hurdle here in the house is getting room enough to get a full 3m shinkansen station (to hold 16 car trains and passing tracks) and the curves coming off of them to go elsewhere. you end up needing like 4.5m stretch and thats hard with the places i have to play with trains in the house here!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Jeff,

 

I don't have a paper model no, didn't even know it existed ;) Might have a look at it, would definitely be helpful. Of course, they're working on the station build quite heavily now, so I'll have to wait until they're done with that. The main reason I want to wait is that I heard they want to replace the current simple roofs with replica's of the original dome roofs that got destroyed. I am also planning on making a 3d version on the computer first, and based on that scratch build the whole thing using styrene sheets and profiles etc. It'll also get a computer controlled LED illumination.

 

Having looked at google maps a lot (and having drawn an initial sketch for the track plan), I know that the platforms are only just long enough for a 16 part shinkansen. That means that the platform lengths would need to be around the 2.30 - 2.40 meters mark, give or take a few.

 

Not sure how much space I'll have available exactly. Chances are I'll be moving back to The Netherlands, and back into my parents' house (to help them with the daily task and necessities etc.) If that's the case, I'll have a large attic space which I can pretty much completely use. To make a wild guess, I would say it's about 6 by 8 meters, possibly a bit more depending on how far off the ground the layout would be.

 

Of course, it won't be 100% prototypical, that's just not doable unless I hand lay all tracks including turnouts. Also, I'm going to make the entire station as modules (or more sections really), so I can transport it easily. Because of that the tracks will be a lot more straight than they are in the real station.

 

I've always wanted to model a big station, and Tokyo is just perfect for that because it has no large roof over all the tracks like so many big stations have, and the main building is easily recognizable. And really, that's what I'm going for. Those who've never seen Tokyo station should (and probably will) be impressed by the size of the thing, and those who have seen the station should be able to recognize it ;)

 

And yes, I plan on keeping a building diary of the whole thing. Just as soon as I've updated my current pages to a new design and CMS I'll start more actively updating my pages. It's just too time consuming with the current CMS.

[cteno4]

Wow! ambitious plan (japan)!

 

You might find the cardstock model a great resource to get all the odd walls laid out easily. they are not changing any of the outside walls, correct?

 

smart to make it in modules/sections. that moving thing is the pits with a layout!

 

for all this effort it would be great if you could have the station in the center of the room so that folks could see both sides! One plan i had for the home layout here was in a large Z formation with the large shinkansen in the cross bar of the Z so it could be seen from each side plus it gave the longest diagonal dimension in the room for length. then on each arm of the Z it would be a loop back. the station had 4 thru tracks (center two with no platforms) and two passing tracks on each side. the idea being trains would leave from the platform side of a thru track loop out the arm of the Z, come back on the center thru track out the other arm of the Z loop back to stop on the other side thru platform (or onto a passing/platform track if wanted). allowed for a massive station and large local station next to it on the ground level, but was pretty unwieldy to break up into moveable modules. i too figured about the time i would get something like this under construction it would make Mr Murphy make us move!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

One of the things I wished we had for the club layout, and that's the ability to view it well from both sides and not just from the front.

[Martijn Meerts]

I'm not entirely sure yet how much space I would have exactly, so I can't really get a good view of how things should be. However, due to the size (not just the length, but the width as well) of the station, building it alongside a wall is the most optimal use of space.

 

However, I'll be modeling details on all sides, and considering the whole station will be in sections, it would be possible to take the entire thing to an exhibition for example, and allow people to get a view all around it. At home, I would likely put some mirrors on the wall behind the station so you can see all the details.

 

I'm also planning on having the modules fairly low above the ground, so that if you sit down and watch it, you have a view you'd normally have when standing, and when you're standing you have a bird's eye view.

 

But again, I won't know until I've moved (which is still not 100% certain), isolated the attack, discussed with my parents what I can or can't use with regards to space, and then measured everything up. The general idea is there, the details need to be worked out at a later stage =)

 

 

Oh, and on a sidenote, the 1:500 paper model of the station is the original one from before it got bombed, which means the model has the (much better looking) dome roofs, but it also still has the 3rd floor, which was never rebuilt along with the rest of the station ;) That said, its still well worth trying to get, I'll check through the site and see if they have some more interesting architecture =)

[cteno4]

Matthew just got back to town this week and we started talking about Version 3 of jrm layout to start planning now (so we dont wait till the last minute) and something like doing a big Dumbell could be cool with the station in the center and viewed from both sides. matthew is thinking some sort of bend track idea. perhaps that could branch off from a large central station. this could then have us set the loop backs in via modules or even track laid out on tables if the center station modules had their own support (ie saw horses or legs).

 

in version 2 is should be a hybrid with the local station being at one end of the shinkansen station. also see if we can make more glass in the shinkansen station walls to get more of a view of those trains there.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[to2leo]

Hey, it's only about 20 x 2.5 meter, plus "a couple" of turnouts and some extra meters on each side of the station..

 

The problem is of course, no one makes flex track with a concrete slab look, like the shinkansen tracks. That might have to be scratch built, which is going to be painful ;)

 

Hey Martjin,

Do you mean these?

They are from Peco and I heard the British praised about them.

[Martijn Meerts]

I could go for the grey/concrete code 80 and fill them up to make them look like concrete slabs, but it depends a little on the tie spacing. I'm no rivet counter, but the tie spacing should be similar to that of the Tomix track at least ;)

[bikkuri bahn]

If you find out that Tokyo Station is a little too big, another modelgenic Shinkansen terminal is Kagoshima Chuo Station on the Kyushu Shinkansen line. It's a two platform, four track stub end arrangement.  As for trackwork, it looks like there is only a single crossover in the station throat, not the double crossover you would expect.

 

 

 

 

 

Google maps:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=31.583818,130.53976&spn=0.002363,0.004828&z=18

 

Wikimapia view (unfortunately doesn't zoom any further):

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=31.583832&lon=130.5401677&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2

[Martijn Meerts]

I think there's a double crossover, it's just difficult to see because you can't zoom in enough.

 

It's an interesting station, I like how the shinkansen platforms are pretty much perpendicular to the regular tracks on the lower floor, could make a rather interesting model.

[bikkuri bahn]

Here is a small terminal station, the Eizan Railway Demachiyanagi Station in Kyoto:

 

 

 

 

 

track layout:

 

wikimapia view:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=35.0306366&lon=135.7732795&z=20&l=0&m=a&v=2

[disturbman]

I know of this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takamatsu_Station_(Kagawa). It's quite big and known so I think you can find some informations and track plan if you try.

 

But there is no Shinkansen there since it's on Shikoku.

[scott]

Here is a small terminal station, the Eizan Railway Demachiyanagi Station in Kyoto:

 

That's a very cool station -- what are those little white devices (?) between the rails?

[Martijn Meerts]

Takamatsu seems like a rather nice place in general ;)

[railzilla]

Here is a small terminal station, the Eizan Railway Demachiyanagi Station in Kyoto:

 

That's a very cool station -- what are those little white devices (?) between the rails?

 

Those devices belong to an train protection system. Don't ask me which type but those system are very common and are mandatory on most railways in the world.  Its function there is to prevent the train run into a buffer and to prevent the train leaves its track when there turnouts and signals are not set correctly.

On the first picture you can see the trainborn transmitter on the train which is just over the track mounted device.

[Martijn Meerts]

In model railway terms, those would be reed contacts, and the transmitter on the train would be a simple magnet ;)

 

You can very effectively automate small stations like that.

[bill937ca]

This is Ueno Station with the stub end terminal on the lower level.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/JNR_Ueno_station_track_map_1985.svg

 

Shinjkuku Station, its not a terminal but its interesting.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/JR_Shinjuku_station_track_map_2010.svg

 

Tennoji Station (Osaka) with through tracks and terminal tracks

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Rail_Tracks_map_JR-W_between_Imamiya_and_Tennoji_Station.svg

 

Inside the terminal.

 

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Some nice schematics there, will definitely use those for inspiration =)

[Mudkip Orange]

Katase Enoshima has an interesting profile (tracks are below ground, so platforms mesh with the street height perfectly) and some of my favorite station architecture:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=kataseenoshima+station,+japan&sll=35.309036,139.483141&sspn=0.002968,0.004828&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=16&iwloc=A