# Stadium



## Dan Riley (Sep 20, 2020)

I want to create an entire university campus HO scale. For my center piece, I would like to have a football stadium. Does anybody make one or do I need to try and create my own.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I know of no manufacturer that produces US sporting venues. There are a few European soccer stadiums and fields, but nothing for American football.

BTW, that field will be over 4' long on a layout, not counting the stadium structure.


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## cid (Jul 3, 2014)

That was my first thought also  too dang big! BUT... I notice now that, Dan never said anything about a layout!
He just said he wanted to model the university, in 1:87.1 scale. SO, Dan, are you gonna include a train????


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

I realize that. But if you have that kind of real estate you may as well include at least a tram for the campus.


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## Dan Riley (Sep 20, 2020)

cid said:


> That was my first thought also  too dang big! BUT... I notice now that, Dan never said anything about a layout!
> He just said he wanted to model the university, in 1:87.1 scale. SO, Dan, are you gonna include a train????


My table is 4' by 5 1/2', and no, there is no railroad. I am not interested in the actual trains, but have always been fascinated by the beautiful layouts.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Dan Riley said:


> I want to create an entire university campus HO scale. For my center piece, I would like to have a football stadium. Does anybody make one or do I need to try and create my own.


Unless your university has a remarkably small campus, or you go to a much smaller scale, it won't fit in 4' x 5'-6".
In HO-scale (1/87) the sports stadium alone would fill, or more than fill, that entire space.

You might want to go to a much smaller scale. Model railroading's N-scale is 1/160th and Z-scale is 1/220th. I suspect they will also both be too large a scale for your model of an entire university project.
Architectural models are typically in scales much smaller than model railroad ones.
If you have the dimensions of the overall campus, and those of whatever buildings you want to include, that would be a good place to start. Then divide the real length and width of the actual campus by 87 for an HO-scale model, 160 for N-scale, and 1/220 for Z-scale. The result will be the number of real, full-size feet your proposed model would occupy.

San Diego, where I live, has several college campuses. One of the smaller ones is San Diego University (a catholic college.) Even it's small campus, modeled in HO-scale would fill a (full-size) bowling alley! San Diego State University, and the sprawling University of California-San Diego campus are each much, much, larger.

By the way, should you change your mind about including a train, the San Diego Trolley system has a line that goes right through the San Diego State campus and has a station below one of the campus buildings. 😄

Good Luck & Have Fun

Traction Fan 🙂


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Yeah, unfortunately HO scale, at 1:87 is going to be too darn big. Just the football field, never mind the whole stadium, is going to be 3' 6" x 21" in HO scale. Common scales for city planning are 1:2500 or 1:5000. Even in those tiny scales, a square mile in 1:2500 is going to be a little over 2 ft by 2 ft (4 square feet). Kn your table, that would buy you about 5 square miles -- pretty small for a university campus. Even a compact, urban campus (minus the athletic fields) is going to run half to a full square mile. A big land grant university like Penn State or Michigan State is dozens of square miles.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Department 56 made a number of famous stadiums, but theirs are just the front facades. Recommend you take a look at them and see if you could adapt or add to them to meet your needs.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Department 56 made 5 facades, all are baseball parks. They are about HO scale but likely not what you need for your college campus.


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## Dan Riley (Sep 20, 2020)

To give y'all a better idea, here is what I currently have on my table, in 'O' scale. See, I'm thinking small university with a small stadium. I like the idea of a facade of a stadium on the back wall though.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I like it -- it's a nice looking scene. But it's not to scale. Judged by the line markings on the field, your background buildings are about 40 yards tall (each story of a building is about 15', or 5 yards tall), and your players are about 15' tall (an average player, lying prone, would just about cover the distance of two hash marks).

So if this is what you're planning -- a somewhat whimsical representation of a campus with some severe compromises in terms of scale and selective compression -- then I think you're going to create something wonderful. So long as you don't pretend to be making a true scale model.


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## Original Woody's Workshop (Jan 29, 2020)

Normal structures run 10 to 12 feet per story depending upon what type of duct is called for between floors.
In all my years of construction, I've never seen a 15' tall story.
Not to say they are not some out there, I've just never witnessed one.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Original Woody's Workshop said:


> Normal structures run 10 to 12 feet per story depending upon what type of duct is called for between floors.
> In all my years of construction, I've never seen a 15' tall story.
> Not to say they are not some out there, I've just never witnessed one.


That's what you call a rule of thumb, because the math is easy.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Applying 10' per story would make the math even easier.


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