Jersey City Industrial Railroad Micro-Layout

[Alaska Railroader]

I like it too (hope me liking it doesn't jinx things!). What if you moved the cornice up a floor, did your magic and splice in a floor of windows or what not, then add an escape route for your N guy by replacing that window with a door. The very end of that building is a PERFECT place for the building's maintenance man to take his cigarette break.

[DKS]

Interesting idea, Karin, but I really wanted to stay true to the real facade.

[DKS]

Karin, you did not jinx it, but in an odd twist of fate, I dropped the building on the floor last night, and the little guy popped off. I was going to replace it when I struck upon a wholly different idea. I'd wanted to incorporate some token snippet of the neighborhood in these fantastic Shorpy images:





The trouble is, I've been out of space for a long time. Or so I thought. The overview of the layout reveals an aspect of it that I haven't liked since the beginning: it feels too self-contained--that is, there aren't enough visual clues to tie it in with the larger world around it. Of course, with respect to the track, that's more or less unavoidable. And there are multiple streets running off the edges, but they didn't seem to be doing the job on their own.



In particular, I have two "dead zones," top right and bottom left. I'd planned on making the top right a kind of marshy area, and the bottom left I'd intended to raise the terrain and have the line run through a shallow cut. But after a while, these seemed like the easy way out. Not that I object to "negative space," but Jersey City does not have an abundance of nothing--something invariably gets built in every nook and cranny.

So, dropping the building on the floor in a way became the catalyst to transform the top right corner of the layout into a snippet of neighborhood, with the little guy squashed in between the tracks and a larger building, something like this:



The space between the left and right buildings would have backyards and laundry lines, just as in the reference images, and a beat up old fence along the tracks.

[davefoxx]

Judging by the pollution in the air over the city, one has to wonder how those folks kept their whites white.   

[DKS]

Judging by the pollution in the air over the city, one has to wonder how those folks kept their whites white.   

Easy. JC was home to:

[Philip H]

being a fan of odd architecture, I was enthused about the Little Oddy (TM).  Sad to see it pop off.  I like your solution - perhaps it can become a test bed fo NZT's forthcoming line of clothes lines and lawnmowers.   

[packers#1]

I like the idea; in the little guy's place on the row of storefronts, why not include a newsstand?

[DKS]

I like the idea; in the little guy's place on the row of storefronts, why not include a newsstand?

For quite a long time, that has been the plan, oddly enough...

[wazzou]

...or, you could just extend that exterior wall to a point, lengthening the facade of the structure by a couple of windows.

[GaryHinshaw]

Lovin' it.  Now I'm starting to think that your next pike should be based on the Feira market in Hanoi:

[eric220]

Lovin' it.  Now I'm starting to think that your next pike should be based on the Feira market in Hanoi:

Only if the canopies actually go up and down as the trains pass!

DKS - I like the snippet idea.

[Chris333]

I know you will make it look great, use all that wasted space, and have more spots to detail up. I just don't know about buildings that run off the edge. How do you handle the edge?


And also off topic (I'm makin' roads now) What is your sidewalk plan on the corner where the track enters Vulcan Mfg.? I'm having a hard time imagining it.

[timwatson]

Just getting caught up on these awesome industrial layouts.

I personally liked the little "whimsical" building. It would have been cool to have a covered exterior staircase that passed to the back side of the building. It would have helped fill the space to the right of the building and would have kind of hovered over the trains.

Kind of like so: http://d.pr/i/9moT

Either way it's looking great.

[DKS]

Now I'm starting to think that your next pike should be based on the Feira market in Hanoi:

I love how casual everyone is about it--the clueless ones seem to be the tourists. There are a number of places just like it, too, including Thailand and Peru.
There are dozens of videos of the Mae Klong market: http://www.youtube.com/channel/HCG-kF917K3Yc

I know you will make it look great, use all that wasted space, and have more spots to detail up. I just don't know about buildings that run off the edge. How do you handle the edge?

I plan to finish the edge with plain sheet styrene that will be flush with the edge of the layout. Then, when I apply a surface treatment to the layout edge, it will cover everything, as if it's all one surface. I did the same thing with my diorama, but don't have a photo--I'll try to shoot one soon. I think it looks OK. I was tempted to do cutaways of the building interiors, but that's waaaay too much work.

What is your sidewalk plan on the corner where the track enters Vulcan Mfg.? I'm having a hard time imagining it.

I'm not totally set on paving style yet--asphalt, cobblestone Belgian block, concrete or a mixture--but I have a reference image that shows exactly the same type of area to use as a guide.

[GaryHinshaw]

These photos are so intoxicating DKS.  I am going to lobby that you stick to mid-century for this pike because it's just so d@mn cool. 

-gfh

P.S. I'm amazed that the produce survives those trains... yum.