Challenges and/or Jousting at Old Stations; PRR Torrence Road Station in 1:450 scale.

I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and belong to a local Facebook group for railroad enthusiasts.  We share comments and photos of local interest.  Recently a fellow posted some photos of the remnants of an old Pennsylvania Railroad station in the area--basically bits of the foundation and some concrete.   This was the Torrence Road Station, built in 1907 and closed in 1933.  The main structure has been gone for years and the site was (until recently) heavily overgrown with brush.

In the discussion I mentioned, "Wouldn't it be cool to do an augmented reality of the old station".. This way, you could experience what it used to be like.  This got me thinking .. step one is to build the 3D model.. and being the (somewhat) OCD person I am, I ventured "there goes the next 3 days..."   Sure enough I started into a project to build the station--although it actually took 4 days.

Here is the current site (Photo by Dave Rohdenberg):

Here is what the station used to look like:

Obviously a very interesting structure, but these were the only photos I could find.  I didn't even have much in the way of measurements although an old survey map was available showing some general dimensions and layout:

I started with the foundation and built it up "from scratch" using some estimates (like door height) and eyeballing proportions.  Next the main station building, and the tower were constructed.  I had to do a little guesswork on window and door placement on the trackside walls since no good photos exist.  The tower housed an elevator for taking baggage and passengers up or down to cross the tracks.

Speaking of crossing the tracks, President William Howard Taft lived a few blocks west of the station and surely travel through the station from time to time.  In fact, this is probably one reason such an ornate station was constructed at this site (his presidency was 1909-1913), and why is disappeared not long after Taft passed away.

Another interesting feature of the station is that there is a bas-relief sculpture built in to the retaining wall on the west side of the site adjacent to the tracks and under the overpass.  Here's how it looks today (D. Rohdenberg photo):

An artist named Karl bitters was commissioned to do 10 terracotta sculptures depicting the 10 largest cities the Pennsylvania RR served, to be placed at the PRR Broad St.Station in Philadephia.
When it was destroyed by fire in 1923, they gave each sculpture to the applicable city, so this came to live in Cincinnati.

Back to the model:  I kept on building up the structure, tweaking as needed.. and finally (ta da) I have this;  I'm fairly satisfied:

It seems a print on Shapeways would cost about $75 not counting "test prints" and it would probably have to be split into modules;  In addition, I would do certain details in PE like the fence, signs, etc.. But, since I don't model 1930 Pennsy I really don't have a use for any it.   So the whole project was for.. the challenge, and the fun of it!   So, if you're interested in a model please let me know because it could be made, and it could be re-scaled easily enough to Z or N as well.

-- Jesse

How to Buy Jesse's / CCE Model Kits

I have continuously striven to improve my models which typically means adding finer and more details to my 3D printed designs offered on Shapeways (CCE Models).  HOWEVER.... Shapeways is not consistent in what it will print and sometimes even the quality of printing-- although my experience has usually been positive.   I have yet to see a home-based printer that offers this quality and convenience.

Not long ago Shapeways started offering a service called "Print It Anyway" for designers who push the limits of the technology--basically shifting the risk of trying to print something very small or fine (such as 1:450 scale air horns) onto the designer.  This service is NOT offered to the general public, however.  The end result being that I, as a designer, can order models that the general public cannot.

I recently had a customer order the SW1200 model kit only to be rejected by Shapeways.  I have printed this model at least three times previously and have constructed the model successfully.  I expressed my frustration to Shapeways however they are stuck in their procedures.  My solution is to make the models myself and ship them directly to customers.

So if you want any of my models on Shapeways, just drop me an email and let me know (ccetrains@gmail.com) what you want.  I will quote you and upon approval will order them myself and re-ship to you.  I will accept payment via PayPal.  As an added service, I will also clean and primer the models, and even do custom assembly and decoration if you so desire.

Best Regards,

Jesse