Transit Modeling – A Broad Niche

First in a Series - page 3

By Alfred Barten

Special Techniques

Admittedly, transit modeling usually includes something more than train modeling, such as overhead wire or outside third rail construction. For the most part, these components require additional effort to construct or install. If one is truly averse to dealing with overhead wires or outside third rails, consider the trolleys in New York’s borough of Manhattan, Washington DC, and London. All collected power from a conduit between and below the rails. All you have to do is model a slot in the street to model one of these systems (in a small scale, such as N, a line should suffice). With low-cost, mass produced trolleys by Bachmann readily available, building a New York-style layout is a snap.


Slot between the rails provides access to the power conduit as seen in this postcard view of New York's 23rd Street.

Building an outside third rail is also easy. Although there are various types of prototype configurations, the simplest to model is simply a rail mounted on insulators (costume jewelry beads) at every fifth crosstie. You will have to extend the tie in each case, but how hard is that? And while we’re at it, there were several prototype outside third-rail trolley lines, including the Albany and Hudson (later Albany Southern) in New York, the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley and the Wilkes Barre and Hazelton and the Philadelphia and Western, all in Pennsylvania. The latter still exists as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA’s) Norristown line and still operates single cars using outside third-rail power.


Modern-day third-rail "trolley" car on SEPTA's Norristown Line. Photo by Alfred Barten at Norristown, September 7, 1997.

A Sampling of Resources

In part 2 I’ll provide a brief history of the streetcar in America. Then I’ll cover modeling streetcars – traditional and virtual. In time I’ll cover all the aspects of transit modeling. Meanwhile, in case you’re eager to learn more about transit modeling and perhaps even get started, here are some sources:

Publications.

• Traction Guidebook for Model Railroaders, edited by Mike Schaffer. Kalmbach Books.
• Traction Planbook, edited by Harold H. Carstens. Carstens Publications, Inc. - here
• Traction Handbook for Model Railroaders by Paul Mallory and Steven Mallory. 2-10-4 Publications.
• This is V-Scale by Alfred Barten. E-book on CD-ROM soon to be available at the VR ProShop
• Trolley Talk magazine available here
• TramFare magazine available here
• VR Reading Room here

• hotractionmodeling here
• oscaletraction here
• Interurbans here
• BostonTraction here
• ModelBusLines here
• Train-sim.com here
• UKTrainSim here
• Trainz here

• New York City Model Transit Association here
• Virtual Railroader here
• East Penn Traction Club here
• nycsubway.org here

• Corgi – diecast - here
• Bachmann – mass produced trolleys in numerous scales - here
• Bowser – HO trolley kits - here
• Roco – modern HO trams - here
• MTS Imports – brass imports - here
• Imperial Hobby Productions – cast resin HO models - here
• Auran – Trainz Railroad Simulator - here

• Kevin T. Farrell here
• Ron’s Books here

Al