P&LE Logo

thingiverse

My O scale model train layout recreates a crucial section of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad between McKees Rocks and Youngstown. The layout is based on a 3D printed version of the P&LE's iconic McKees Rocks Locomotive Shop, which can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2312384. A prototype photo of the shop is also available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwdavidson/4880853220. To fit the layout into a smaller space, I condensed it from 17 sections to 7 sections and abbreviated the railroad name. However, I learned that the original shop featured an unfaded oval of bricks on each end with the "New York Central System" logo, as revealed by a member of the NYC Historical Society. This logo was removed when the P&LE gained independence after the merger of the NYC and Pennsy to form the Penn Central. In my alternate universe, I decided to give the P&LE its own logo on the shops, reflecting the railroad's independent status until 1992. The resulting logo can be found here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2312384. To achieve a good size for O scale models, I determined that a diameter of 100mm worked well. Using OpenSCAD, I created the logo as a 50mm circle and then scaled it up to 200% in my slicer. To remove the background from the OpenSCAD stl file, I used the 'cut' command in Slic3r. Next, I designed a 100mm background using yellow PLA and printed it first. Then, I printed the rest of the logo in black, eliminating the need for painting. To adapt this design to N, HO, or G scale models, simply scale it accordingly.