Was able to do some touch up with the scenery with this single module after I got the road laid. Since the extension track for the small yard that connects to the right of this module covers the holes to access the leveling bolts on the rear are covered by the track, I just planted trees to cover the holes on the front. Got to get some ballast down now. Regards, Charles
Looks good, Charles. You are a bit ahead of me in construction. I enjoyed your creative solution to covering the leveling holes. Please keep us updated. Roger
My train club is thinking about T trek. I hope we do it. Thinking about doing it as a home layout. Thinking about 19" radius curves.
The t-trak standard is for corners to use 282mm/315mm (10-110 & 10-120 kato unitrack) that corner is about 14 3/8" square. However, some clubs and 1 t-trak module manufacturer is using 20-185 & 20-186 about 19" R on a corner that is about 21" square. I have seen several clubs use the 19R corners from that module manufacturer and my own club does also. The national t-trak layout at the NMRA convention is using the 282/315mm R corners. If it is just your club's layout no problem, when combining modules always check with the other clubs to see what size corners they are using. I have yet to see any junction modules using the 19" R single track available. The 19"R corner layouts I have seen are usually rectangles or a "T" using a layout on that manufacturer's web site. Use what you like, the other guys can always furnish the corners and your club the straights.
Denise and I traveled to New Braunfels, TX last weekend; combining a mini-vacation with the very nice New Braunfels Model Train Show. We got to see old friends and had lunch with Terry Nathan. Here are some photos from the T-TRAK groups there. AustNtrak was set up with the New Braunfels Railroad Museum T-TRAKkers, and SANTRAK (San Antonio) had their own layout on the stage in one of the exhibit halls. If you haven't yet seen Howard Young's Circus themed series of modules in person, you're missing out!
Whenever I see Howard, I tease him that with all those people, he needs to put a bunch of porta-potties somewhere. With that big a crowd, someone is going to have "to go".
just a reminder! only one week left for you NTS T-TRAK layout in Kansas city participants to submit your entry to win one of two $100 shopping sprees at The N Scale Architect!!!
Step-by-step construction of a new design T-Kits Steve Jackson Junction module, showing the simplicity and ease of construction of these modules from T-Kits. http://www.t-kits.com/ The Junction module kit as delivered from T-Kits, well packaged , shrink wrapped, with label and instructions included. The entire process took (including drying time for glue) 1-1/2 hours! ~Bruce
Finally had a chance today to assemble the quad module from Terry at T-Kits.com. The assembly process went smoothly thanks to the excellent tutorial by Bruce Arbo of Coastal Alabama T-TRAK. You can view the pictorial here. The next steps will be to paint the fascia, the deck and start assembling and laying the track. Regards, Charles
PROJECT FOR TODAY: Gathering the materials for the project at hand for today. This is an experimental depressed deck double module that Terry from T-kits did. The deck sits 2 inches below the top in dadoes that were cut around the frames that make up the fascia. This way I can cut my river as deep as I want. In the first picture of the module you can see a 2" piece of foam that Terry supplied as part of the packing material so that once assembled it is easy to check that the foam will be flush. Two inch foam is not available in my immediate area; however, my local Home Depot has 1" x 24" x 24" Foamular Project panels, https://www.homedepot.com/p/Project-Panels-FOAMUL…/203553730. I will "sandwich" two panels together using Loctite PL300 adhesive for foamboard. If you use these make sure you take your tape measure with you to measure the foamboard panel as all panels are not created equal despite the stated dimensions. In this case I made sure that each panel was as equal as possible before selecting them. You may have to pick through them for any imperfections from being stored on the shelf just as you would if selecting dimensional lumber. You will have to trim the panels to fit the double module but don't throw away the excess. Save the excess for future landscaping applications. Regards, Charles
I cut the first piece of 1" x 24" x 24" to 12 1/2 inches and just had to trim a little off the one side for the length and placed it in the module. It was a very tight fit which is what I wanted. I then tapped it in around the 4 corners where the leveling bolts are. I then cut the second piece using the same procedure. I only partially placed it in to ensure that I had the same snugness. I removed it and applied the adhesive being careful that none was going to get around the leveling bolts. I placed some weight on it until it dries. At this point I removed the leveling bolts to make sure there wasn't any adhesive on them. I forgot to add that it was not necessary for me to make sure I could access the leveling bolts from the topside as the town scene will be along the back edge of the module and the holes would be covered anyway. I will just make any adjustments from the bottom. Regards, Charles
I printed out the track plan in AnyRail for the depressed deck, double module and placed it on the module to get an idea of how things would look. Although not totally perfect because of how the paper is sometimes pulled through the printer it is close enough. My placement of the courthouse on the plan and the ability to cover the cut out for access to the power receptacles is a little off. I do have some wriggle room in real life to adjust for that fact. Regards, Charles
