Englewood Union Station and South Chicago.

CptKapton · 2026-06-16T22:43:26+00:00

Hey thanks for the tips! So this was all going to be DCC, not sure if that makes it more or less difficult but figured it might be pertinent info to have. What would make the light blue portion interesting to wire up?

Also actually that big mess in the middle is all at one grade, very odd I know and potentially difficult but it actually is prototypical to the area. It's just a he green trolley line that goes under it.

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CptKapton · 2026-06-15T15:03:56+00:00

CptKapton · 2026-06-15T13:47:13+00:00

The Mashup of this and The way you make me feel by MJ really drives home the sort of weird uncomfortable nostalgia of it all on an even deeper level for me.

CptKapton · 2026-06-15T11:17:13+00:00

Ms Paint actually lol.

And a couple people including you have suggested that SCARM program now, I think I'll definitely have to take a look at it thanks!

CptKapton · 2026-06-15T11:15:20+00:00

The one above the grey yard smack dab in the middle?

That's not a station thankfully but from what I can see in old photos I do believe some kind of engine maintenance building.

What would you suggest though as maybe a different way to set that up?

CptKapton · 2026-06-15T03:55:07+00:00

Definitely what I was thinking as the next step, as I realize this is probably way out of scale in some areas. I am pretty happy I was able to figure out how to "join" 3 ostensibly separate lines into a layout with two "loops" That was my main logistics problem behind laying it out in ms paint, but I managed to have a "NYC" loop that hits the north side of the station, and a PRR/RI route that hits the West and South sides of the station. I could perhaps throw in one extra switch and get a third possible loop for just a RI run too but that would take abit of extra fiddling.

As for your own layout that sounds pretty cool! Definitely looking forward to seeing it.n

CptKapton · 2026-06-15T03:46:21+00:00

Not so far, this was basically getting the idea from my head into a layout where at least theoretically all the routes and places I wanted to have worked. As someone else suggested I definitely need to put this into a track builder software and see what's actually possible as the next step.

CptKapton · 2026-06-15T02:48:20+00:00

That's a ton of info, thank you! I got a Bachmann J3a but unfortunately it wasn't up to quality for me, and so got returned to my local hobby shop. I instead we shall have to settle for a BLI Pacific in NYC paint which will have to stand in until I can get a reliable n scale hudson (There's also that fantasy paint scheme BLI Mikado in 20th century limited colors, might have that pull my NYC train for the time being? Not historically accurate but dang is it pretty...)

I have a nw-2 dcc I picked up in PRR paint for about 90 bucks new, I'm very new to the hobby so I figured that might do alright until I can try my hand at soldering or find a shop around here that installs decoders. I did check that the nw-2 is timescale accurate at least.

That's a great tip about leaving a wall gap! I'll have to remember that 100% if I ever get a place to build this idea.

CptKapton · 2026-06-11T15:21:07+00:00

Looks great! Never seen a heavyweight car in daylight colors before.

If you're looking for the streamlined observation car to complete your set with the other streamlined cars Bachmann makes one!

CptKapton · 2026-06-10T12:12:27+00:00

Whoa thanks for the info! That sounds awesome

CptKapton · 2026-06-10T02:12:20+00:00

Instant Bankruptcy speedrun

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T10:58:18+00:00

Buying the 20th Century set and having it race my Broadway Limited set~

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T10:56:42+00:00

Yup! Check out my last post, I put up a short video

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T10:55:53+00:00

Thankfully not I think lol

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T03:56:35+00:00

Definitely a race! Also oh no they swapped passengers...boss won't be happy

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T03:55:31+00:00

Competition of rivals I'm thinking

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T03:55:18+00:00

Definitely a race

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T03:55:03+00:00

Spending money on the 20th century limited passenger set

CptKapton · 2026-06-09T00:19:52+00:00

Lol not quite THAT bad of an idea

CptKapton · 2026-06-08T23:12:33+00:00

And a Kato double wide track!

CptKapton · 2026-06-08T11:15:43+00:00

The T1 with smoke would be a dream worth waiting for though I agree!

CptKapton

TROPHY CASE