Ready, Set, New Mistakes

I've finally started my 1950's waterfront themed layout; albeit a small one at 2'x 10'. It's sitting on some lightweight benchwork (as seen in our new video download). The benchwork is as minimal as can be - just PVC pipe and a hollow core door. It's not the kind you can stand on, but sturdy enough to hold some foam, scenery and some structures - trains too.

So now I'll have something to work on when I get stuck in the mud on my modern day layout. I think this can work out; keeping my interests in both eras alive.

I 'm ready to make some new mistakes; I love making mistakes, screwing up my layout and tearing sections out and starting over. This might not work for some people, maybe not for most. It works for me. By default anything I work on is always a blank piece of paper for which I can exercise my right to crumple it up and toss it in the trash. It comes from drawing, sketching. Working on a model railroad is replete with moments of precision, but I tend to let large brush strokes make decisions for me sometimes; as opposed to a measured, calculated one. When you work like that; sometimes the brush gets away from you - you can over reach.

So what? So you start over. I'm almost always having fun while doing it so it doesn't bother me to start a anew. I'm enjoying just seeing my marker lines on the pink foam, anticipating what's to come.

Since I've made so many mistakes and learned from many of them, I won't be trying to over crowd my waterfront. It's what tripped me up in the past. I've been drawing the same track plan for the last ten years with a list of must haves; car float, pier on pilings, pier with stone walls, low tidal flats, tug boats, etc...if I get one of those elements in successfully I'll be content. I'm going to try harder less. Do less. We'll see how that goes.

Today's Special: Chicken Carcass

Whenever I can, I visit the World Trade Center site, as I did this weekend. I've been watching the construction progress from the beginning, since the early weeks of 9/11 when it was still a smoking pile of debris. It's been both a subject of interest for many reasons, some personal, knowing two people who perished in the attacks; one a college acquaintance, the other a childhood friend who became a fireman . Others are my interest in architecture and personal memories of my countless visits to the WTC as a child and beyond, including a first date with Anna Maria to the observation deck.

This weekend I came across a gallery that displayed the master plan model for the site, including the proposed new transportation hub for the PATH and subway trains. I'd been following the design progress of the station by Santiago Calatrava since it was announced back in 2004. At the time the design seemed like a breath of fresh air; the design was unlike anything built in NY before - yet at the same time the design appeared more appropriate for an airport than for trains. The roof appeared like skeletal wings; intentionally bird like.

The two wings could be separated, providing fresh air to the train station below; that I liked. Of late, the design has been diluted, modified and pared down. At one point it soared passed it's budget of $2 billion to $3.2 billion. What once looked like a bird ready to take flight , literally looks like a bird carcass picked clean. Impatience and the unfortunate practicality of commercial development have morphed what could have been potentially a dynamic and quite literally a refreshing civic space, into a disappointing boondoggle. The roof will no longer open or close. The two main entrances are merely insignificant slits, muting any sense of arrival or departure. Due to the current location within the site, commuters will have to walk almost two blocks of underground corridors to get in and out and instead of filtering through the main hall as you would at Grand Central Terminal, you'll be forced to walk the upper levels, passing the retail shops.

That last bit seems like some slight of hand by the developer, misconstruing a train station for a shopping mall. I understand it pays the rent and at Grand Central, the retail avenues helped pave the way for its restoration 15 years ago. But I'm sure there are ways to balance both the need for grand space and retail space , without being pushed into a cash register.

At this point though I'm glad any progress is being made. It'll be a decade , 16 months from now, since that dark day. It was thrilling to see over twenty stories already built for the new 1 World Trade Center Tower. At the moment it looks like a steel fortress - not unlike the Borg cube ship from Star Trek. Eventually it will be sheathed in reflective glass and will be a sight to see. The footprints of the former Twin Towers are now defined, being turned into memorial space, with simple yet effective reflecting pools.

I just wish that $2 billion dollars was being well spent. I'd rather see the temporary station stay as is and take that money and rebuild Penn Station, a space that took into account that people actually use it, enter and exit and arrive or depart, kind of like a train station.