The 1903-built Pittsburgh Union Station stands as a testament to the power of the once-mighty Pennsylvania Railroad. The grand architecture of this building reveals the grandeur involved rail travel of the past. (See 4/17/2018 post under Train Nerd's Blog) In front of the once-bustling PRR office tower is an elaborate entrance known as the rotunda. This signature structure is unmistakably from Pittsburgh. Accordingly, we wanted to feature it on the Pittsburgh Mainline. There was just one problem: how do you begin to scratch build a structure in this odd shape? Our answer: 3D print it. Here is how I did it. ~ Charlie |
A potential candidate for the station building itself is the Custom Model Railroads Merchant Bank & Trust Company kit. We're still debating between kitbashing a structure or trying to 3D print the tower as well. Regardless, the rotunda was left with a truncated back side to allow it to abut the station building.
4 Comments
William Alko
10/15/2019 09:41:00 am
This is quite impressive! The PRR rotunda is unique to Pittsburgh history and architecture, but now it will also be a one-of-a-kind model you created as a tribute to the prototype. No doubt this will be a signature feature and focal point on your model railroad. Thank you for sharing!
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Andy
10/16/2019 09:23:36 am
Thanks Bill! I agree 100%. Some engineering firm will be fortunate to hire Charlie when he graduates...(wink, wink).
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Deane Mellander
10/15/2019 11:20:52 am
Charlie: Really great work on the rotunda. I'm sort of in awe of what's being done with 3D printing, and it looks like you've mastered it! That office building kit looks a bit thin for the tower, but maybe you can widen it out a few window columns in doing the layout for the print.
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Robert M Braeuner
10/18/2019 08:37:06 am
Awesome work Charlie! Very impressive
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