On Location: New York City

I found N Scale Limited about a month ago, and every since I check here about 3-5 times a day. You and Frank have given me the inspiration and courage to try to do a little scratchbuilding/kitbashing of my own.

If you guys venture back to NYC I would love to meet up with you guys as I live in Long Island.

Hey Chris and Frank:

Welcome! If I knew you were coming… Goodness, there are just so many, TOO many things architecturally to see, from the famous to hundreds of odd little gems tucked away on side streets. And then there’s the food, but this ain’t a culinary blog.

Can’t wait to see what creations you may come up with based on your travels here. I see the McGraw Hill Building in your photos and that is one of my faves. Anyway, just have fun!

Thanks Guys,
W. Reed, scratch building is a lot of fun to do but it has its challenges, the best way to learn is to just try it and making mistakes is great. You wont learn if you don’t make mistakes. I love that you value our site, we spend allot of time on and hearing peoples comments makes the personal time spent worth it.

Then for both of you, I kicked around the idea of announcing that we were going to go to NYC but we did not have much time and we hadn’t decided on a day to go until the day before. I am thinking of doing some kind of get together next year in NYC with a few of us.

Jeff, I am in the planning stages of a small waterfront switching layout that will be based on a few that resided in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I cant wait to start it but I need to finish the Hudson first.

Both of you live in a part of the country that is sooooo rich with amazing architecture that I am in a constant state of wow, it is very overwhelming.

Thanks

Hey guys. As Chris said…we did talk about announcing the trip before hand. This particular outing became a little more personal, with our wives going to experience NYC with us. They’ll put up with us dragging them to take photos of random buildings, going to the Skyscraper Museum and discussing trains and this Web site all day. Adding MORE train-related stuff might throw it over them top for them!

Next time, we’ll try to announce in advance.

Gentlemen, enjoy the trip. We have been very lucky weather-wise. This has got to be the mildest summer I have ever experienced here and, as you probably know, yesterday was absolutely perfect.

Chris, the news that you are planning exactly the same type of layout that I am (mine will be HO, though) is really exciting. Mine started out as a pure rapid transit/elevated line with a bit of industrial switching at street level. Now the emphasis has been reversed. Funny how these things evolve.

If you have the time, I would suggest taking a trip into DUMBO to see where the Jay Street Connecting RR ran and all the great industrial waterfront buildings that are now loft conversions. By the way, the April 1983 “Model Railroader” has an excellent track plan based on the Brooklyn waterfront, and this has had a strong influence on my thinking. If the weather cooperates, you can take a nice 20 minute walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and you’re right there.

Enough for now. Enjoy!

That’s understandable, enjoy your stay out here and I can’t wait to see what you have in store.

The old faded billboards 10-20 stories high are what I was amazed at when I was there. I took alot of pics of buildings too. Keep up the good work!

What fantastic architecture….I love the Park Row building….I have some very old postcards of it…….thanks for these pictures….they are buildings I never tire of….these buildings quite simply speak their own language don’t you think……?…………..

New York to me was simply a sensory overload, something that I found was I would pass up on buildings that in another city I would be going “Oh wow look at that building”. Because those kind of buildings were a dime a dozen there. I already cant wait to go back, but I need to go to Chicago first.

Yes I believe Chicago is the same way “sensory overload” I cant get enough of it , even tho I have been there alot ,I am now going to study the buildings and layout of the city . Its fun to go in the middle of the week to watch just how the city runs and works during the day !!!! Simply Amazing City I think I wish I could spend time in NY to compare.

Kirk…how lucky you are to be that close to Chicago…..and New York on the doorstep…..we really are talking about ICONIC architecture in both cities…..forget London…..AGE isn’t everything…….I just love the ‘turn of the century’ architecture up until the 1940′s…..and in New York and Chicago you find it on every street…..I MUST get there again soon….I’ve been to New York 4 times, and Chicago 2 times…..I also love the architecture in San Francisco…..check out the atrium in the Palace Hotel on Market st………..WOW……….

Wow….you have me beat. Still want to go to Chicago. I’ve been to Evanston, right outside of Chicago, which in itself has some really nice architecture, but never to Chicago “proper”.

Kirk,

I know what mean with seeing how the city runs. It may sound strange but one of my favorite things we did in NYC was trying to catch a train at Penn Station. It was amazing, a mass of people all staring at monitors waiting for it to flash what track their train would be leaving on. The second it displays, everybody cuts and runs for a seat. It was brilliant, the strategy and skill required to play the game was so much fun. I am used to sitting in my car in bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour, this way is more exciting.

LOL….that was wild.

great photos of iconic, timeless and stylish architecture……