[CityOfGravella]

Greetings from the City of Gravella. I noticed a post from a while back (original thread) discussing possibly modeling the Washington DC subway system. I'd like to share with you some of our progress in an HO scale subway that's heavily influenced by the DC Metro. I started my layout in 2008 and it was very basic. I just put down the tracks and a little bit of hobby wood for platforms and signage. But in May 2020 I got a 3D printer and have been able to design and print items to emulate the Metro stations. While Gravella isn't supposed any real location it does take inspiration from a number of real world buildings, transit systems and locations. And our subway isn't supposed to be WMATA's Metrorail, but it's a look I've wanted to model since I was a kid. Also many of the station names are a playful parody of real station names. And a few others get their name from an item near them.

Lately I've been taking on renovations of the old layout one station or section of tracks at a time. Got six done so far. The most recent station to be completed is River Bridge station. It is a bi-level station similar to Rosslyn on the DC Metro. Two lines merge then diverge very close to the station on both ends so I've decided to have flyovers instead of the tracks crossing each other. The station is on a removable section that spans the gap between the 6'x12' table (our downtown section) to a shelf on a wall.

Thanks for checking it out. If you folks are interested I can upload photos of other stations.

 

[DonR]

Very interesting...am I seeing the '3rd' rail alongside the
tracks? Is it 'live'?

Are you aware that in the early days of model
railroading, the trains actually used the '3rd rail' for
power pickup...there was a '3rd rail' alongside
every track. Locos including the steamers had multiple power pickup pads
similar to what is used on today's subway cars. That enabled
them to stay powered thru intricate turnout situations.

Your pictures show fairly detailed subway stations, apparently
'underground'...do you have any surface running?

Don

 

[Refugee]

As a former resident I can say you captured the look and feel.

 

[CityOfGravella]

Very interesting...am I seeing the '3rd' rail alongside the
tracks? Is it 'live'?

Are you aware that in the early days of model
railroading, the trains actually used the '3rd rail' for
power pickup...there was a '3rd rail' alongside
every track. Locos including the steamers had multiple power pickup pads
similar to what is used on today's subway cars. That enabled
them to stay powered thru intricate turnout situations.

Your pictures show fairly detailed subway stations, apparently
'underground'...do you have any surface running?

- No. The third rail is purely cosmetic.

- Yes. Also modern day Marklin trains operate in a similar way with studs in the middle of the ties instead of an actual rail.

- I have some "above ground" stations. The next station that I will be upgrading is such one. I'll be starting work on that next week.

 

[CityOfGravella]

As a former resident I can say you captured the look and feel.

Thank you. I've used my personal observations and photos on the internet to design the parts to be 3D printed. Also found some technical specs online and scaled the dimensions down.

 

[CityOfGravella]

Recently completed the first "outdoor" station to be renovated since buying a 3D printer. Eastern Road is served by Gravella Rapid Transit's yellow line. Design of this station was inspired by WMATA's Prince George's Plaza station.

Many more photos posted on our Facebook page - Gravella Model Railroad's Eastern Road station

 

[Big Ed]

Welcome to the site, nice work.
Nice night scene.
All you need a is bunch of people here and there.

 

[Lehigh74]

Just looked at this thread for the first time and I have to agree with Refugee. Excellent modeling of the Metro.

 

[MichaelE]

Your station area and particularly the platforms are very nicely done.

 

[Gramps]

That's great work! Who is the manufacturer of the subway cars?

 

[[email protected]]

Awesome work! As a local it’s instantly recognizable as the metro.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Severn]

I was going to say the same thing.

 

[CityOfGravella]

Thank you all for the kind words.

That's great work! Who is the manufacturer of the subway cars?

They are the ones Walthers made. I bought three from them in the mid-90s and the others via ebay in the 00s. I installed DCC decoders and LEDs for headlights, taillights and route color where the destination would be on the prototype Metro cars.

 

[Severn]

Not to be critical at all but this is intended only in the most constructive way. The concrete portions are a little different color than white in real life. I have no idea what color to call it - "concrete-y off-white".

I asked Google. Well wouldn't you know every photo has a slightly different shade of that.... I picked this one that kinda meets my memory eye.

But maybe someone that rides the thing more often can chime in. I haven't been in a metro station in several years...

But let me add this. The night shot is utterly convincing of reality. In fact I showed it to someone out of context and they thought it was real.

 

[CityOfGravella]

Not to be critical at all but this is intended only in the most constructive way. The concrete portions are a little different color than white in real life. I have no idea what color to call it - "concrete-y off-white".

In the actual stations I believe its granite or supposed to be granite. Not to long ago WMATA started to paint them white to enhance the lighting. Some of the regular riders didn’t like it painted.

The filament I use to make the walls and other concrete features is a marble one. It’s slightly darker than white with black and gray specks in it.

*Correction. It’s concrete and they originally left it unpainted as it was the brutalist style. I mistakenly thought of granite as that’s on the edges of the platforms. Sorry about that.

 

[Severn]

Yeah it's definitely concrete. If they've painted it for some reason then that's occurred more recently since I've been in one. I'd actually just go and take some pics but unfortunate I'm no where near them exactly. Maybe with luck someone that rides them every day will chime in. I'm actually quite near the bwi Amtrak station. I bought of model of it recently to go on my expanding pile of non-started projects. It looks great there among all the others in their unopened boxes. I might add some unopened packages of LEDs and 3d print details too. Maybe a few cannisters of unused static grass, couple of bottles of glue, unused. It's amazing what one can't accomplished if one tries ...

 

[Refugee]

DC Metro was unfinished concrete which got a little greyer over the years. Never known the tunnels to be painted. They might have been cleaned to restore a brighter appearance.

 

[CityOfGravella]

DC Metro was unfinished concrete which got a little greyer over the years. Never known the tunnels to be painted. They might have been cleaned to restore a brighter appearance.

They started painting them five years ago. Mixed reactions to it.

Washington Post article - Metro decision to paint Union Station vault rubs some the wrong way

 

[Refugee]

Interesting. Rode until the pandemic and don't recall any painted stations but of course I didn't see them all.

 

[CityOfGravella]

Here’s another recently completed station, Triplebrook. It’s a combination rapid transit and commuter rail station. Here’s some photos from the subway side. It’s a terminal station for our red line, so a double crossover is before the platform. 3D printed the rail ties and guards for it and then slid the rail in place. Found a paint for the guards and plastic rails that somewhat matches the nickel silver rail. The design of the subway side was inspired by some of WMATA’s red line above ground stations, in particular the canopy from Grosvenor-Strathmore. Got more pictures on our Facebook page @CityOfGravella