Model Railroading > Some Recent Progress on the Onondaga Cutoff - the Interstate!

It's been an extremely busy and stressful time at work for me and many of the people involved with my HO model railroad, Conrail's Onondaga Cutoff set in 1994 in Central New York.  So, progress has been slower than I'd hoped, and we've had to burn the midnight oil to get any operating sessons together.  

One of the ways I can keep progress moving is to work with other people who volunteer their help.  In this case, a buddy of mine offered to build a scene I'd envisioned - a piece of Interstate 481 southeast of Syracuse, NY.  He ran with the ball - we created a full size tracing of the area, and after a few months he called and advised it was ready for installation.  So he drove it over, and we set it in place after building a support frame on the benchwork.  Soon there will be a photo backdrop here, and until then it will remain 'roughed in' pending additional scenery - but the effect is dramatic even in the interim stage.

1.  I-481, looking east along the railroad with northbound highway traffic in the foreground.  It wouldn't be a NY interstate without a NYS Trooper. :-)

~RGDave
Modeling Conrail in Central New York in 1994
http://onondagacutoff.blogspot.com/

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Looks good!  Signs appear to be authentic and State Police cruiser bound to pull somebody over...

Excellent work!   The roadway, signs, and curvature all appear to be quite accurate.    Thanks for sharing.

Looks great, but if your guard rails aren't planted yet, they look too high.   They could decapitate one of your HO scale people!

I have driven through there many a time on my trips back and forth from Virginia to Syracuse.  I've known people who have gotten ticketed near the Onondaga Nation on 81 just south of town.  You've captured the look pretty well.

Very realistic looking.

KG

Well done Dave and company!  That makes for a really interesting and realistic scene.  I love your backdrops, by the way.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Looks good, definitely sets the location, by the sign if nothing else.

Agree with the guardrail, needs to be almost on the ground, maybe headlight high.

Thanks for the comments and support!

Yes, the guardrails are just set in place for the photos - they will be mounted much lower for the final install, per the prototype. In fact I'm going to replace these with the standard NY State DOT design guardrail - a rectangular tube, mounted to the I-beam stanchions. But, backdrop and then grass & foliage first.

Thanks again, everyone!
~RGDave

Posted from iPhone

Looks great .very nice work and detail

Are those vehicles larger than ho scale to give a forced perspective? That looks awesome.

Posted from Android

Why the 55 mph speed limit?   Out here in the West, they are typically, 65, 70, or 75.   Sometimes even 80 mph!

In the mid-90's the Feds had only recently eliminated the 55-mph national speed limit.  There were (and are) areas on interstates around Syracuse that, due to tight curvature, limited sight distance, and tight placement of exit and entrance ramps, actually still have a 55-mph limit today for short stretches.  

Good catch, though!  Another little tiny detail that links the highway to a location.

~RGDave