As someone new to Z I'm sure there will be a lot of questions coming your way. One of the first I have is how do some of you disguise the Rokuhan A008 feeder when it is placed on the outside of the track? Regards, Charles
Welcome to Z. I paint my feeder box with grimy black and rust to make them look like trackside electrical boxes. I haven't come up with a solution I like for between the rails. I also like using the Atlas feeder joiners, although I find them a bit tricky when used on non-Atlas rails. Mark
Of course you wouldn't be able to connect to a RC02 unless you found a source for the pins and housing but that kind of defeats the purpose of being economical. Regards, Charles
In all fairness to z.scale.hobo maybe I should have been a little more specific in my question. I'm doing Z as in T-TRAK-Z and the standards call for use of the Rokuhan connectors.
I solder feeders underneath, which isn't easy. You have to dremel out some of the plastic which is a pain. I wish they would leave a "solder window" molded into the track that was big enough to skip this step. Didn't know about the Atlas feeder joiner trick...I might use that some to augment my feeders. My general rule of thumb is to never have track "on an island". This means I don't necessarily have feeders to every piece of track, but there should be no piece of track that isn't touching a track with feeders. To illustrate: Good: fed-notfed-fed (notfed track is touching two fed tracks) Good: fed-notfed-notfed-fed (each notfed track is touching a fed track) Bad: fed-notfed-notfed-notfed-fed (the middle notfed track is an "island", not touching an adjacent fed track) It's that second scenario where having a joiner feeder would be nice. I try to do feeders on every track if I can, especially on the mainline and for yard throat trackage where having good current is key to avoiding stalls. I would only use the Rokuhan feeders for hidden tracks or staging. In theory the idea is great...if the inserts didn't stick out of the sides of the roadbed like that, and if the feeders ran underneath. I would say that a more stealth Rokuhan feeder might be a good aftermarket product, but Rokuhan aggressively pursues the use of their intellectual property (e.g. the design and characteristics of their track) to product accessory products. So I doubt we'll see that anytime soon.
Ah, yes...guess if you're doing T-TRAK-Z then my idea isn't of much use either. Although, depending on the module size I still might be inclined to solder a few feeders and then feed into a Rokuhan connector from there.
Charles, First of all, can you point me to the T-TRAK-Z standard you're using? I've looked at the layouts you've posted: https://www.anyrail.com/forum_en/index.php?topic=2934.0 Interesting design. The expansion in particular looks like it will be a lot of fun. One problem with the Rokuhan system is the exponential growth of connectors as you add feeds. If I look at your basic design, you'll have a feed for each of the 6 modules. To connect those to an RC02, you'll need 5 of the A028 "Y' connectors. For the layout with the expansion set you'll need at least 15, 30 if you want to run two separate tracks. This can get messy (expensive) fast. If you have wiring skills, you may want to consider using module-to-module connections, similar to the Z-bend Track, and connect to the throttles using a single A008. All the Rokuhan cables have a polarization mark (white stripe) on the wire. Mark
I will give you 2 links, one is the table with the standards and the other is a dialogue of what the new standards evolved from. http://ttrak.wikidot.com/t-trak-standards http://ttrak.wikidot.com/t-trak-z As far as the feeders I'm still working on that but feel confident that I have that aspect under control. Regards, Charles
markm, The reason behind my going T-TRAK-Z is because a few of us across the Southeast decided basically why not. I had been doing T-TRAK-N but have always wanted to do Z for years and this seemed like an opportunity. T-TRAK-N is very prolific as was witnessed by the record breaking layout in Kansas City with over 25 scale miles of main line run. There hasn't been much rumbling about Z so a few of us are taking on the challenge to change that. I won't be able to attend the National Train Show in Salt Lake City in 2019 but my completed modules will be there thanks to a friend who will transport them there. I am shooting for St. Louis in 2020.
Hi Charles, I applaud you and your fellow T-Track-Z module builders for getting together and deciding to do something about running Z scale trains. I don't want to burst your bubble but the "record-breaking" T-Track-N layout wasn't a continuous run. Like N-track, the module groups just clamp the groups together. It's impossible to run a train on all of the modules. The 35/45 Z-bend track group and the MidweZt HaulerZ had 16 scale miles of mainline. We had 2 main lines of 8 scale miles each. We could run a train on all of the modules so a train made a 8-scale-mile trip. It would be nice if all of the N scale groups could assemble a modular layout where you could run a train on all of the modules instead of confining them to just the single group's modules. Thom
Thom, I wished you had popped over to the layout so we could have cleared up your misconceptions about it. Much like the z-bend layout, the T-TRAK-N layout was essentially a folded dogbone, except the T-TRAK-N layout had multiple legs off the spine. The outer track of the layout was continuous so we did exactly what you wished for with ~25 scale miles of continuous track on just the outer line. We also had numerous inner loops with trains running on them to increase the action at our layout but we never really count those inner loops in our track mileage counts. There was also a T-TRAK-HO layout displayed and at future shows we expect to see T-TRAK-Z join the fun. Be sure to stop by next time and have a chat with us. You guys were courteous when I was over at your layout. We're just as friendly. -Vic
If one studies the layout diagram attached to this post, one can easily see that the World Record Breaking T-TRAK layout, at the National Train Show in Kansas City, was not, as stated above, a group of groups clamped together, but an integrated layout that featured a continuous run...across every module...total mainline run of 28.4 scale miles (continuous)...beating the previous record by over 14 scale miles. this figure does not include, as Vic pointed out, the various inner loops on many of the branches/legs... ...and, if one does not want to include the areas where the red track bent around (the folded dogbone that Vic mentioned) and yellow became part of the main as well... then the simple mainline run run, traversing every module only one time, THAT figure is 22.18 scale miles (beating the previous record by over 7 scale miles). If one cares to add the various isolated inner loops that were not attached to the continuous perimeter red mainline trackage, the scale mileage count goes up past 40 scale miles! (this does not include sidings, spurs, or yard trackage...just simple mainline track) Trains navigated the entire layout, on the red (outer) perimeter track, most taking anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to go around the entire layout (at scale speeds! lol) ~Bruce Arbo CATT (Coastal Alabama T-TRAK)
here is the final, revised layout, as it evolved in Kansas City (10 more modules showed up, requiring us to 'hook' the lower left leg, and move the HO layout closer to the spine.) As one can see, all N scale modules were attached to each other, with the Red Track (outer) being common; allowing a train to traverse the entire layout. I also need to note that the NTRAK layout was also continuous, except for one group, who did not want to tie in to the large layout. They remained completely separate, but a train was able to run through every module on the large NTRAK layout as well. With both Kato, and Model Railroader magazine, participating with their modules, I'm at a loss to explain why disinformation about this World Record Breaking layout would be posted. ~Bruce
The statement was made because that's the only way I've seen the modules run. I've also discussed it with various members of both groups. They told me that they get more trains running that way. This observation and discussion didn't happen at the 2018 NTS but at past train shows all over the country. I don't get much of a chance to spend any real length of time at other layouts because our groups depend on me to keep the trains running. There were 4 of us running trains in KC. There were times when I'd look to see how the other operators were doing only to find them missing.
Thom, Lord, I feel your pain!...lol... I was so busy, at the layout, that I didn't even have time to actually run a train of my own!...in fact, the only time I was able to actually go around the layout and see every module, was on Sunday morning, before they opened the show to the public. Denise, was even busier than I, as she was participating as our raffle 'queen', and managing the Kato Youth trainset giveaway as well! but just to clear things up...most T-TRAK layouts are, indeed, set up so a train will navigate the entire layout, on the red, or outer track. and the yellow, or inner track... those layouts that use the unique junction modules, to create inner, isolated loops on the yellow track, are the ones you see with trains all over the place, running on small loops within the confines of the larger layout. Even with those junctions, creating inner loops, the outer, red track is still continuous across the entire layout, so trains travel the entire layout. Our group just recently built some junction modules; up to that time, trains, on our layouts at show, navigated the entire layout regardless of which track they were on. The entire concept of NTRAK, and T-TRAK, BendTrack, FreeMo N, etc, is to allow folks, from clubs, or with individual modules, to get together and create, participate, and run on one, single, large layout...In all my years involved in modular railroading (30+), I've never known of an instance, where clubs would get together, clamp their modules together, and keep them as isolated, separate 'railroads'; otherwise, why would one even go to the trouble of clamping them together? The new World Record T-TRAK layout was, indeed, one large layout! ~Bruce
I have not been in model railroading as long as Bruce nor have I traveled to train shows much beyond the southwest but I am an admin on both the FB T-TRAK forum and the T-TRAK Wiki. I have never heard of smaller T-TRAK layouts being clamped together to appear as a larger layout. I am not refuting that you were told that, or perhaps even witnessed, but this is the first time I have ever heard that statement made about T-TRAK. As Bruce mentioned about the inner loops on a T-TRAK layout, T-TRAK does not have a problem with getting a lot of trains running on a given layout. North Texas T-TRAK alone has exhibited layouts in a 20 x 30 space (4-5 tables). This size layout can easily have four inner loops which we usually run as DC. With four trains running on those loops and 4-6 on the outer DCC loop we easily have 8-10 trains running in that 600 sq ft of space. The point I'm trying to make with this example is that the explanation regarding "running more trains" you were given doesn't match up with my experiences in T-TRAK. Hopefully we can tag up at some future show and I can walk you around one of our layouts. Are you with 35/45?
I am with the MidweZt HaulerZ out of the St. Louis, MO area. I checked with my fellow MidweZt HaulerZ over the weekend to see if I was dreaming or remembering wrong. They both confirmed my observations and were told the same thing about running more trains. They both spend more time away from our layout and talk with other people. I'm glad to hear that the modules are being used to form a large layout with long mainlines. Thom
They are misinformed... the outer ( red) track is always a continuous run; around the entire, connected layout. They are confusing the entire layout with the many inner circles ( on the inner ( yellow) tracks, that may be formed by the use of the junction modules, creating the opportunities to have many, many trains running on the inner loops, as other trains navigate the entire layout on the red line.
