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.