How / why did N T-Track come up with the reduced size for the modules of 8 1/4" wide x 12 1/8" long x 2 3/4" high? Where would I find a N T-Track would module for sale as a kit? John
They sell the 1/4" plywood in kits cut to size on the T-Trak website. You have to have somewhere to start with standards so everything comes together and works the first time. Like N-Trak, the modules can be expanded in size as long as the track standards, wiring and height standard are met.
Thanks. We had a lot of fun doing it. The lighting strips we knocked up in a couple of hours a few weeks before. They use LED strips intended for cars that we picked up on ebay for $6 each. The rest was mostly scrap that we had lying around. They just sit on the top of the sky boards. We have started to fill in the faces (to hide the wood pieces).
I can confirm these are very nice modules, they look even better in person. There was a very good T-TRAK showing at the Brisbane show this year with four (by my count) separate layouts.
I'll see where we go on the club thing for Eastern T-Trak. I have one module that needs to be refreshed and two that need built. Two need to be done for Galesburg RR Days but just for display on a new N scale engine I'm working on.
A new member using Foam-On-Plank modules I'm getting back into N scale rail after a 30 absence. Because of very limited storage space, I chose T-TRAK. I don't have any woodworking tools, so I'm having module components made by a local cabinet maker with a CNC router. I'm using AnyRail4 to make dimensioned drawings. The CAD aspects are really nice and I'm getting scary good at T-TRAK dimensions. I'm going to sit back and monitor the group for a while. CELY
Sure. All of my modules are 340mm deep, following the guidelines of SANTRAK, a San Antonio club with both N-Trak and T-Trak. I will eventually join them...but for now I'm experimenting with FOAM-ON-PLANK. Here is a dimensioned drawing of the base to a Triple Wide Bay Window module. I have to add a table of XY positions for the 5/16" holes that accept the leveling hardware. I bond 2 1/2" thick Dow Styrofoam Brand Square Edge Foam Insulation to the base and then use a hot wire foam cutter of my own design to trim the foam plumb and flush to the base. In addition, here is a file that I call "Goofing Around". For the time being, it's my 5-year plan that I will have when my grandson is ready for trains.
Inside Corners -- does the loop close perfectly? I wanted to find the magnitude of the loop closure error when using an INSIDE CORNER to make a simple "L" shaped layout. It turns out the formula is really simple: The loop closure error in both the X and the Y direction is: 2 x Minimum Straight Module Length - Min Curve Radius - Max Curve Radius In mm and using T-TRAK definitions and KATO track, 2 x 310mm - 282mm - 315mm = 23mm error in both the X and the Y direction Converting this to a track length that can be inserted into the middle of the INSIDE CORNER at 45 degrees, yields 32.5mm. That is, to close the loop perfectly, the straight in the middle of the INSIDE CORNER needs to be 32.5mm long. The closest KATO track is the KATO 20091B at 29mm. So the T-TRAK loop closure error when using an INSIDE CORNER is 32.5mm - 29 mm = 3.5mm (0.128 inches). This converts to 2.3mm (0.09 inches) in both the X and the Y. I'm pretty sure nobody has ever noticed that it's not perfect. By the way, the formula works for 3-track and 4-track mainlines. Positive results mean you add track to the middle of the INSIDE CORNER to close the loop. Negative results mean you add track to the middle of an OUTSIDE CORNER opposite the INSIDE CORNER to close the loop...and a bad thing to do because it has other consequences. The things that cloud my mind in my dotage.
Sounds like clouding similar to when I am looking at that pile on my work bench and decide 'I'll go watch a NASCAR race instead...' Boxcab E50
3-Track Mainline While working out the equation to determine how to close a loop with an INSIDE CORNER...I tried to see if I could do a 3-track mainline. Everybody tells me that even 40' box cars look bad on a 249mm (9.8 inch) radius curve...so this too is another solution looking for a problem. It does however, prove the equation works. 2 x 310mm - 249mm - 315mm = 56mm 56mm * SQRT(2) = 79.2mm That is, I should be able to make an INSIDE CORNER with a 3-track mainline that closes the loop by adding a 79.2mm straight in the middle of the curve. And it does. The drawing is the minimum loop. I would always add straight modules so there are no reversing curves. The only way I could get to 79.2mm was to use the KATO 20050 Extendable Straight.
I may have posted these before but one of our club members built these modules to experiment with different radius curves. You could add another track on the inside using the 216mm radius but that would be pushing things a bit. I think a three track mainline is overdoing it a little on T-TRAK modules because the track starts to overpower the rest of the scenery.
This is why I chose to go with the Standard track spacing, rather than alternate. To minimize track area as much as possible and leave every potential square inch for any scenery. Boxcab E50
I have seen many HO and N scale modular layouts that are built to standards so as to be connected to other modules conforming to the same standards. I like the idea. But there are many people out there who cram in every track allowed by the standards and more so that they resemble spaghetti bowls of track. As a result the modules are being made bigger and longer to squeeze in some scenery and when included in a layout where adjacent modules don't have the extra trackage looks silly when the unusable tracks dead end at the ends of the module. I built a couple of N Trak modules with trackage based on information given me by the members of a club that I display them with. When they are included in a layout some of the tracks are not used because other modules don't have them and there is no way to connect them to anything else. And they probably never will in my lifetime. I like the T-Trak Idea, and I have several modules, but if I build modules with extra trackage, they will all be accessable from the two main tracks on the module.
My Sickest Moment A while back, when the wife left alone..... My thoughts were kids like to see a lot of trains all running at once. And I suck at scenery. I have since come to the conclusion that the original 2-track mainlline, T-Trak design was inspired.
Got Planks and Foam! The first picture is all my planks and foam. The second picture is how the planks fit on the foam. I have to drill holes, install the leveling hardware, bond the foam to the plank and trim the edges flush and plumb to the edge of the planks with my hot-wire-foam cutter. My foam distributor does not stock 2 1/2" thick material. So my modules will be 1/2" shorter than normal. Since it's my railroad, I figure its not a big deal. He does stock 1" and 1 1/2", but I don't want to bond two pieces together., The search continues for 2 1/2" thick, 25 PSI foam. I may have to go to 40 or 60. The Planks are routed on a CNC router to within +-0.005". Well, that's what my cabinet maker says. I'm thinking more like +-0.01". Anyway, he cut the following from 1 sheeet of 1/4" MDF. 14 Single Wide Planks 4 90 Degree Outside Corner Planks The foam is DOW Styrofoam Brand Scoreboard (scored longitudinally at 16" and 24") which is exactly what I need. In fact, we had to break it down before I could get it into my car. It snaps easily. 1 2"x8"x96" 25 PSI FOAM (for going up as required) 5 2"x16"x96" 25 PSI FOAM (enough for 35 Singles, 30 Doubles or 10 Triples) 1 2"x24"x96" 25 PSI FOAM (enough to 4 Inside Corners) The foam is much more rigid than expected...a good thing. A couple of my MDF planks are warped a tiny bit. It doesn't take much to make them perfectly flat and I'm hoping the foam will be rigid enough. My experiments with softer, white styrofoam were not promising. I understand that I will have a noise problem. Does anybody know how to dampen the track noise? I was thinking of using some automotive deadening tape in the bottom cavity of the KATO track. I'm stoked.....and can't get to work until tomorrow afternoon.
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Just out of curiousity, how old is your grandson? My son is now 5 and he could tell a boxcar apart from a caboose at the 2 1/2. He got his first leapfrog trainset for Xmas when he was 1. I just can't imagine where he got the bug from. smile: My club also has a T-trak division, which is mainly made up of members of Snohish Co. 4H and I have been thinking of making a couple T-trak modules for us to enjoy together.
Age doesn't matter...Excitement does. He just turned 6 months and I've already had discussions with him about fishing, trains and baseball. I even think he knows what "gurl cooties" are. The 5 year plan just got started. I completed the construction phase on 2 single wide foam-on-plank modules. I was experimenting with the order of construction and have decided on 1. Snap the foam to 13.5"x16" 2. Bond it to the plank 3. Clamp until cured (and I need more clamps) 4. Cut the foam plumb and flush to the plank 5. Drill 4 holes 6. Install the #10-24 Propell Nuts using Gorilla Glue 7. Add a 3" wide strip of cork under the mainline The foam at the top of the module measures about 1/2mm narrower than the plank at the bottom. I think it's poor cutting technique on my part. Any way, it's easy to adjust my hot-wire-foam cutter to lean outward a little. I've got some 1/2" thick cork underlayment on order. When it arrives, I'll add a 3" wide strip under the two track mainline so the track will be at standard T-TRAK height and stand a little proud of the scenery. It's hard to see in the photo, but the foam edges are really crisp and sharp. The closest T-Trak club is 50 miles in one direction and 80 miles in the other. I'm going to join the one 80 miles away. I'm going to donate a few modules to the club to get their ideas on how to improve them. Since T-Trak doesn't exist in this area, I'm just going to exhibit as much as possible and work with whoever is interested. I'm just going to play it by ear. BTW. Not counting my labor, my cost for a single wide modules is $4.75 each.
