Subway Station Questions

DaltonSpence · February 2023

I am in the process of designing a realistic subway station for a tactical map and have a few questions:

Image: https://forum.profantasy.com/uploads/editor/qk/55ivxungtiud.png

How long should a subway station platform be? (In 34' long "SS3A Subway Tram" cars.)
What should be the minimum turning radius for a subway train track using these cars?
I would like to put a yellow dimpled plastic safety strip on the edges of the platform. I know I've seen that flooring texture before but I can't remember the name or source.

Any help you can give me would be gratefully appreciated.

Monsen · February 2023

That's highly variable. The length of the platform is typically related to the length of the longest train stopping there, which is again dependent on the number of passengers in peak periods. But I've also traveled to subway stations that are actually to small to accommodate the entire train, so they usually announce on the PA system that if you want to get off, the X rear doors won't open, so start moving. But going with a length approximately similar to the train length itself is a good starting point, at least based on my own experiences.
I'm not an expert on that and don't fancy running the calculations myself, but this wikipedia page has some interesting data and formula: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_railway_curve_radius
There is both a dimpled texture (but perhaps not close enough, and it is black) and some nice black&yellow hazard stripes in the @Bitmaps\Tiles\Storyweaver HighSpace folder

DaltonSpence · February 2023

After looking at the Wikipedia article (2) I realized the turning radius I was planning was much too tight so I'm going to delete the curve and double the platform lengths (1) and parallel tracks. I probably should have said "bubbled" texture for the safety strips (3) but that may have been a metal flooring type I saw as a CC3+ fill style. (The yellow plastic one is something I saw used in the Toronto subway.)

JimP · February 2023

Metal flooring would be Cosmographer or one of the High Space annuals.

Wyvern · February 2023

You might also want to check some real-world examples of subway system layouts in different places to avoid having to do too many calculations, although actual computations would be the preferred method if you're using a specific type and size of rolling-stock. Depends how close a simulation you're aiming for, however.

Also, for a modern subway system, many no longer have the "traditional" sleeper/tie and rail on a gravel bed system at underground stations, but have the rails fixed within solid concrete beds instead, as also along much of the subterranean lines overall. Again, it depends how much "true" accuracy you're looking for, and exactly what sort of system is being operated.

JulianDracos · February 2023

My curiosity is getting to me. Did you use polygons to draw the subway, or does CC3 have symbols for them?

JimP · February 2023

The checkerboard floor is Chequer 1 bitmap. The rails could be from Cosmographer deck plans.

DaltonSpence · February 2023

I was inspired by the "Example: Simple Rails" article on page 168 of the Tome of Ultimate Mapping. My "sleeper" symbol was a 10'×1¼' Shaded Polygon (Shade Only Copy) with "Wood Floor Oak h Bitmap" fill (DD3 scaled 10'×5') so the nails looked like spikes. I was going to put the tracks along a circular arc rather than a path so I used the circular array command (CARY) rather than the escarpment function (step 13). I'll explain in more detail if anyone is interested.

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Subway Station Questions

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