Traction Terminal Shed - Counting rivets

Drawing work requires patience. The trusswork is not made of really standardized pieces and profiles. And there are so many rivets.

Fortunally, the inner spans are nearly all the same, so that once drawn one (or even a half one) I will "copy and paste". More coming soon....

3D modelling of the Traction Terminal Train Shed

As announced, I started drawing the Train Shed in 3D-Software (Cinema4D). All elements are drawn in Illustrator on a scale of 1/72 (1DTP-point equals 1 inch), and then imported into Cinema4D.

The first truss is done - and the result is surprising. Some details as rivets are still missing. But work is progressing easier than thought.

Thoughts on scale

When I started drawing, I used metric scale. Nothing but normal for an European. But quickly I feel that recalculating all North American sources would be difficult. So I switched to a scale of 10 computer-points equalling 1 foot. Not so bad, except for very small details. Converting inch to decimal feet is not always easy. Rounding up or down the figures creates sometimes small gaps. 

During last weeks, I recieved many very fine documents. They will permitting me to draw details of unthinkable precision. So I consider to switch to 1 computer-point equalling 1 inch, or 1 foot = 12 points. Older drawings could be reused after scaling up to 120 percent.

Indianapolis Traction Terminal Building - The Big Picture

Traction Terminal Building on Illinois Street

Anderson Shops - Union Traction Co. of Indiana

During Summer holidays I searched for a subject a little bit easier than the pharaonic work on the Inianapolis Traction Terminal. I found some plans of the UTC Anderson Shops. Only little work was done. As my work on the Terminal has priority, there will be not so much progress. But if anybody feels inspired...