I know what you mean about BWWB v. BWBW. I wasn't sure what to do at Altoona. What I ended up doing was putting a micro DPDT toggle switch on the 'inside' track to switch it between the rear plug supply, my 'local power' plug when I had it home, and 'off' so all it would do would be to suck power from the adjacent module. I also put all the track wires to a screw terminal strip so it was painfully easy to swap wires around on the inside track. I put the DPDT right beside the power jack in the back edge and labelled it accordingly. Anyway, it worked. There was all kinds of stuff running over it. The only thing that seemed to cough and sputter going over it was BLI PA1's, and that was the diamond crossings. Mine's mildly complicated because the 'inside' main track can be powered via the standard module, or connected to the interior yard trackage when it is either stand-alone or connected to my home layout. The interior yard trackage is either connected to the inner track or home layout power. I also put a wiring diagram underneath it with labels so that a show setup person can easily figure it out.
another gorgeous day here in coastal Alabama...snaded the fascia after the messy paint and gluing phases, then quickly repainted. Still need to ballast, add telephone poles, and the signal bridges...oh, and something in the way of a backdrop!
I was able to assemble my modules and, after a little debugging, get a train running: One thing I notice is that the modules are lightweight and easy to disassemble, reassemble, and maintain. The modularity of the Unitrack helps a great deal.
Pensacola Railfest coming up in 9 days-had to rush but it appears that the 'Arbo Canyon' and 'Queenman Canyon' modules will be ready for the SWARMTrak setup! (still have to ballast the endcap and add telephone poles) ~Bruce
finished the ballast on "Queenman Canyon"... some telephone poles and she's ready for the SWARMTrak setup at the Pensacola Railfest show this coming weekend... ~Bruce
First one, the frame and every thing has been built for at least 6 months but summer and house projects got in the way. Its just a plain double. Learned a little, next module will be more creative. Also the brown house paint was the perfect color for dirt..... my wife now says we have to paint the house asap because we live in the mud hut. Guess I will be painting the house in the spring... oh boy.
OK, here's something that's occurred to me. I rather like the entire T-trak concept, particularly after both building a module and participating in a quick modular setup. I also like the OneTrak concept, for the wandering rural branch line idea, and single-track operations. So what I'm wondering.... has anybody ever thought of 'splitting' a T-track module with an adapter design - where two separate tracks can go wandering off on either side of a central divider and then 're-merge' back into the standard position? Or a single-track main T-trak design? Or maybe bury the second 'main' in the back behind a vertical divider out of sight yet have a 'single track' main visible? I got away with West Hickory because of the passing siding, but beyond that, it's a one-track railroad world out there, and in some manner, there should be a better way to do this. I'm very rarely capable of original thought, so I'm nudging the assembled readers here for what they've seen. I'm finding myself designing single-track additions to the PRR/HVRR world done to T-trak dimensions and curves and wondering if I'm early, or late, to an idea.
Randy, the problem with splitting off T-Trak lines is the benchwork is too narrow. However it could work as a return loop
I'll take a minute or two to interject into this progressive discussion. WOW! Wouldn't of thought it possible. Nice!
The nice thing about Onetrak is the single track design. It is more prototypical in most cases and it makes running trains more challenging. Our club combines Onetrak, Ntrak, and Onetrak-with-double-trak modules in the same layout. As long as you make transition modules, there is no problem.
I guess I'm wondering if it's evolved already to the point where the default 'single track' is the outer main on a one-track design? That would seem to make sense to me, and that the 'inner main' is the one that would be diverted around or otherwise aligned to the back edge. It looks like I'm going to be building some single-track modules, and will probably adhere to T-track length standards, only question is where the horizontally align the main. The 1 1/2 offset from the front edge seems good, and I may simply guess 1 1/2 off the back edge as well if I'm doing that so that it is 'flippable'. Or, just make it narrower so it would be at least possible to put a bypass track 'behind' a single-track 14" module by allowing for it in the design (say taking it down to 12"). My 'West Hickory' takes an industrial siding to the back edge of a triple and in some ways already resembles an adapter of some kind. I set my third tracks (industrial tracks) up with the same horizontal track spacing as the mains for no other reason than trying to adhere to a nonexistent standard.
Why not produce a 'single main'-'freemo-style' dividion that can run off of a standard T-TRAK set up...We're doing, essentially, the same with a couple of balloons built by Joshua Murrah, one of our newest members... combined with two junction modules, oriented so that they face 'outward', we've given the the Red line (outer line) a longer run... Here we are testing it last Sunday in my garage (it reached 23 degrees that morning!... for coastal Alabama that is COLD!!!!
Yeah, that's basically what's happening here. If you look at the West Hickory design with the diamonds, I'll be coming off essentially at a 90-degree angle to the existing two tracks with a single track. The first module will be the three-span truss bridge across the river that will be a full triple 'plus' a little more, but then I got to thinking about what to do next. If I made a 90-degree curved, single-track module I could then connect it to my entire Hickory Valley system running approximately 45" out on an "L" peninsula running parallel to the main T-trak setup - an interesting show possibility. It just so happens that there really was that sharp 90-degree curve off the other end of the river bridge, and it was on a long pile trestle. In general, it's got me thinking in terms of a couple basic rules here - keep the standard module top of rail to table dimensions; keep that 1 1/2" offset from the front edge to first track center and 33mm track spacing; work in single/double/triple units of measurement for length; don't exceed maximum module width but for single track, narrower might be better to allow a hidden 'return' track across the back behind a scenic divider. As much as I like Freemo as an artistic concept I've definitely been convinced of the wisdom of the world described in T-track design blocks, thanks to this thread. And it was just super impressive to see the size and number of T-trak modules up and running at Altoona. This is a concept that everybody from beginners to masters can participate in.
Has any one made unusual junctions? I have been kicking around some ideas with the club, and we were talking about the need ( want) to allow 2 layouts to be connected but operate separately from each other - similar to n trak Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, is the quickest answer. There are clubs where they use a set of crossings and wyes to connect the mains making for a very interesting interchange. All for the purpose of allowing two clubs to interconnect at a train show. Trying to remember where I saw an article on such a thing. On a side note I just discovered another way to add a quote. Pretty slick. You highlight the section of the post you want to quote. Click on "Quote" up comes a series of prompts click - click and it's in. But then you all probably already knew that. Sigh!
That would be much appreciated! Photos as well! I was thinking about making a junction of some kind, but I could use a little inspiration. Also dumb question, what do you guys recommend for minimum radius? Last club event I had trouble with bigger equipment on an inside corner, I think it was an 11" radius. I had some kato ac4400s that kept derailing the leading truck on some intermodal equipment Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
