Reverse loop

Hi John,

I enjoyed your video on this 'operation' in turning a complete train. And what a train it is ! Beautiful !

It's nice to see your enthusiasm as you talk us trough the maneuver. A lot of fun to watch.

Success with the ongoing story of building & operating your wonderful layout and thanks for sharing this nice production.

All the best & greetings,

Filip

Thank You

Hi Filip,

Thank you for watching & your comments. 

Since having my second back operation this past August, I have great difficulty getting under the layout or even the lower levels so I have to depend on help from family. I should have also had a lot more fascia up but I have the same problem as I need help to rip cut the Masonite (hardboard) that I need.  Thus progress has slowed significantly over the past several months.

Best wishes,

John

Very Interesting

Hi John, 

Your video and discussion is great information.  I have been studying the Fort Worth & Denver (a CB&Q subsidiary) passenger operations in Fort Woth, Texas during the 1930s - steam and heavyweights.  The FW&D used the Texas & Pacific passenger depot but had its own coach yard and loco service area. The T&P used their depot as through and stub while the FW&D used the T&P Depot as primarily stub. The breakdown, makeup, turn around options of the FW&D have many analogies to your operation which is pure fun.  Thanks for showing us your fun.

Thank You

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your comments.  I used to live in the DFW area and was always amazed seeing the old depot in Fort Worth. Thank you for highlighting some of the operations at the old depot.

John 

DFW Depots

All facets of railroad passenger operations are fascinating.  Your Union Station reminds me of the Dallas Union Station in the late 1940s. I visited there a lot in the late 40s.  There was an overhead walking hallway extending from the 2nd floor waiting room. Then several  stairs led down from the overhead to the tracks just like your station. . That was all replaced in the early 50s by a tunnel under the tracks and walkways up to the tracks. I last rode  a train out of there in 1957.  It is now used by Amtrak and the Trinity Rail Express (TRE) commuter line.

The T&P Depot in Fort Worth was opened in 1931.  It is a very interesting 12 story building. The first floor waiting room is one floor level be!ow the terminal tracks.  A covered area begin the depot leads to a tunnel under the tracks and walkways up to the tracks. Today, the tunnel is used by TRE and TexRail commuter lines. The first floor is now an event center and the upper floors are to be condos. 

Several East West routed railroads used the T&P depot; however, several other railroads, North South,  used the Union Depot to the northeast of the T&P Depot.  It also had a short under tracks tunnel but it was eventually closed..That Depot is now an event center.  A new transportation  terminal to the north is used by Amtrak, TRE, and TexRail.

Interesting Information

Steve,

Are you planning on modeling the T&P Depot?

John

No Plan

I have no plan to model the T&P Depot - I have no layout, just interests in train stuff.   However, the Texas Western Model Railroad Club in Forest Hills,  South of Fort Worth, does have a model of it to scale making it very impressive.  They have a historical based layout of the railroads in the DFW area.

Other tunnels

Just as a point of information, the Charlotte, NC, depot also uses a tunnel between the tracks and the waiting room/arrival area. I was there in 2010, so I am not sure if this was new or original.

In Los Angeles Union Station, IIRC, there is a corridor that is like a tunnel. (Los Angeles Union Station is said to serve almost 110,000 travelers per day, including the bus servicing the station.)

For the now defunct Pacific Electric, Northeast, North and Western bound trolley cars were dispatched from underground through a tunnel about one mile long. As such, the ways to the "trains" were sloping ramps to the boarding platforms. The Eastern, Southern and Southwestern departures were elevated just south of the main Pacific Electric building.

As such, Los Angeles was and is very rail oriented. More light rail is still in development.

Union Station on the ATSF Paradigm Division

Hi Bill,

Thanks for all of the information.  I grew up in the transition era and primarily like passenger trains. My Union Station is based on the Kansas City Union Station. I used scale drawings that I got from Dr. Nick Muff to guide my overall design but modified them and then 3D printed them myself.  This was necessary since I really could not find a commercial kit that would look right either out of the box or kitbashed from a couple of kits. 

John

Ah, the Dr. Muff KCS

Hi John,

Glad you were able to get the info from Dr. Muff. I was really impressed with his layout as described in MRH by Charlie Comstock. I have a copy of the 30 minute interview and was amazed at the detail Dr. Muff had on his Union Station replica. I was quite encouraged to do animation from seeing what he had done. I hope to see more here on what you will be doing.

In 1954, I passed through the KC Union Station on the Santa Fe on my way to Ft. Knox and was able to walk around a few minutes to stretch my legs before getting back on the train. As such I had a personal interest in the replica.

Thank You

Bill,

Thank you for your comments. The information from Dr. Muff was invaluable in creating my version of KCUS.

John

Coach Yard

Hi John,

I ran across a post you had made talking about planning for a coach yard for your Kansas City Union Station area of your layout. I could well have missed a follow-up to that because I have come to learn that you have a large, interesting series of blogs and videos that I have yet to look at in total. If you do have any follow up in video of postings can you refer me to a topic or link. I'm interested in how these yards were modeled to support cleaning and resupply of sleepers and diners along with switching for break up and make up. I realize a KC coach yard model would probably be less complex for ATSF than Chicago as a terminus. Thanks!

Coach Yard

Steve,

I sort of ran out of room so all I have in the coach yard are 4 tracks. The tracks are located adjacent to the engine facility. One is for dining cars and the other three are for primarily pullman car servicing. The overall design is shown on the layout tour videos that are in a playlist on my YouTube site. Most of the ATSF passenger cars will be brought up to Union Station from Ready Tracks East that is located directly below Union Station. 

John