Is there a wider broader curve module, and can you make the modules wider Than specification and still bring them to shows?
One of the 2 t-trak module kits makers, MasterPiece, makes a module that uses the Kato elevated curves 20-185/20-186 which are 19" and 17 5/8" radius, the modules being 21"x 21". As together they measure 42" they can not fit on the 30" banquet table. You have to use 2 tables side by side then joined to others at the ends or place all tables side to side for either 6' or 8' width. Those corners are not standard and you would have to use 4 of the 19R corners without any inside corners or junctions unless you care to try and figure out the geometry of those pieces. For a simple loop, the 19R corners are useable, for anything else, you have to use the standard corners 14 3/8" x 14 3/8". The 2 could not be mixed without making special pieces. For straight modules, the width could be larger than 14 3/8" if you had a module on the other side which was thinner. The overall width is about 29", so you could use a 6" wide and a 23" wide but the two would have to be the same length and always used opposite each other. Complicates the layout design. I have seen modules that are about 29" wide and double or triple in length, by using them, you are getting to n-trak 2'x4' size quickly. The ones I have seen had a river flowing under bridges on each set of tracks, of course, no sky boards.
Thank you very much, the reason I asked was for when I eventually build modules as I think they are the best way to go! Is that most of my passenger fleet would not fit around that, thank you!
I was thinking and I Thought if you wanted them for set up at home you could cut legs to your desired length, drill 2 holes in each of the 4 corner supports get bolts and attach the legs for easy take down and set up or with the option to still set up at shows?
That's really a fine looking module you've done Bruce and I take it that it's not your only one. Have you displayed these modules in a public layout yet or are they just for you to use as a home layout ?
Brad, search through the back pages of this thread...plenty of pics of other modules and setup at shows Bruce
Construction is proceeding on "West Hickory", with the triple box getting cut, glued and prepped last weekend, and painted last night. Is there any reason why the skyboards can't be permanently attached? I usually permanently mount my backdrop board and make that part of the carrying case, and build scenery right into it. The other thing I've observed is that if the basic box is 2 3/4, and you're supposed to elevate it to 4" to top of rail with the adjusting screws.... why do you even need power jumper plugs on the edges? Lots of room for wire running underneath, or am I missing something? I'm debating whether I want to use plywood, Masonite, or buy a skyboard from one of the T-trak suppliers. I've used plywood where it's part of the permanent carry box and Masonite on my larger layout, neither has been entirely satisfactory, particularly the Masonite due to the expansion/contraction and periodic chipping of the paint off. I may go with a photo backdrop on a basic blue, not sure yet, as there's very little horizontal distance to work with. The basic hills in the background haven't changed all that much since the 1800's and this one would be fairly easy to do that way. You can google "West Hickory, PA" if you want to follow along with this project, and here's the valuation map of the railroad as it was. The HVRR bridge was a rail+road toll bridge and was in place until 2004 when it got replaced by a concrete structure. The PRR line was a main with a long passing siding - two tracks - that's the basic T-trak module. HVRR crossed the Allegheny river on a 641' truss bridge, immediately crossed the PRR tracks on two diamonds, and swung around behind the PRR station to interchange and service the tannery just south of the PRR depot. While it won't be T-trak kosher, I'll have a bridge module coming off the front at a 90-degree angle to link this module to my existing HVRR logging operations. Here's the 1917 valuation map that is the inspiration: http://www.randgust.com/West Hickory Valmap Extract.jpg I got a set of PRR track charts from the '50's, and they did finally connect the house track with the HVRR track after the HVRR was abandoned in 1938 so they could serve the tannery. I'm probably building that connection in to make operations easier. The "PRR station" in the middle will be the focus point, the diamonds will be on the right edge, tannery area on the left. Here's an old photo from across the river: http://www.randgust.com/westhick.jpg PRR station at right, tannery at left. The "S" curve with the lumber stacks on both sides is the HVRR. The bridge is out of sight at right. My mom took this shot when she worked at the tannery in WWII: http://www.randgust.com/WESTHICKBR1.jpg If you look at that shot you can see the drop-off from the edge of PRR track down into the river is immediate. I've cut the edge of the module right back to the edge of ballast across the front to put that slope in. For personal history, this location is where I first operated a Penn Central GP38 in 1975, 'volunteering' with the crew switching the lumber transload at the house track, and banged into a car right at the end of the West Hickory bridge where that diamond was. No injuries, but that was the exact moment I decided I might not want to be a train engineer.
you're supposed TO BE ABLE to elevate it to 4' to top of rail...I imagine to allow for very non-standard modules and/or drastically non-level table tops... most setups in which I've participated had all the modules not adjusted; sitting right on the table (standard modules 2-3/4 in height) Many folks do have skyboards permanently attached.I keep mine attached as much as possible; it certainly helps protect them during transport), but I very much enjoy being to have them removeable for access to the rear for detail work, and for outdoor photoshoots with natural background. Bruce
Randgust, as Bruce has already stated, the sky boards can be permanently attached. I use my sky boards as the rear piece so that my modules have a front, rear and 2 sides in addition to the top. The adjustment screw/bolt is so that due to dips in the tables and floors, the modules can be leveled. Many times, due to the way the floor slopes, you need to raise the modules to get a level track surface. This is why you need a small space behind the modules to run the wiring. T-trak specs call for the use of 1/4" baltic birch plywood for all the pieces. You could buy a piece at your favorite home store and cut it to size or purchase it with your module kit if you go that way. Keep asking questions, it is the only way to learn. later, Craig
Skyboards can be permanently attached. Mine are held on by thumb screws into wood insert nuts. Being able to remove them makes working on them, transport and storage much easier.
speaking of skyboards... I created some tall skyboards for the "Arbo Canyon" modules in progress... Here's my quick sketch for the general layout of these two triple modules... The mesas will be built up with foam (similar to my 6' NTrak "Arbonado" module) but I'll improve on the technique with what I've learned since... I was able to paint the skyboards this last weekend (the blue appears much too dark in these pics because they are in shadow but the color is a good one for clear, crisp desert sky) I decided to cut in a dry wash/river/creek bed between the track and what will be a centered foreground rock outcropping...this will give the canyon a 'raison d'etre'...I'll glue layers of foam to the underside of the modules so I can carve and shape the dry wash in the same fashion as the mesa. after this module, an inside corner, and outside corner are done, I'll be able to concentrate on the Kingman Canyon layout which has seen no progress in a year or so... Bruce
OK, so its officially 'under construction'. I did the carpentry last week, painted it during the week, but the first track went on it today. I've tried to explain what I'm doing, but the combination of this shot and the valuation map should make it pretty clear. This is sitting on top of the Hickory Valley case, which is 36". This is a triple. I may add either a single or double to the far end to close the passing siding but I don't have to. Actual track plan: http://www.randgust.com/West Hickory Valmap Extract.jpg The odd cutout in the front is because the track sloped sharply into the river. It will also make photography a lot better if I don't have a table edge right in front of the West Hickory station. The West Hickory Bridge will be another 3', single-track module that can attach to the front at a right angle, and then the existing two Hickory Valley modules (logging, and the sawmill) attach to the bridge module. If everything was put together, it's a continuous railroad about 10' long. Each module (except for the bridge) can be run singly or connected all together. If I can make sufficient progress, this will be down to Altoona this summer.
The tannery area at the left of the module was served by HVRR and PRR; PRR did the inbound hides and HVRR did the inbound bark. I found a 1950's track chart of PRR that showed that they somehow managed to connect the PRR and the ex-HVRR track to the back of the station, not sure when, but they did it. That's all the proof I needed to connect the PRR siding to the HVRR on that end as well, and that also allows a lot more operational flexibility. The depot is pretty well documented, only have a couple rough shots of the tannery, but it also had it's own 25-ton critter after HVRR shut down. That whole diamond and road bridge situation is a hoot, too. There's no clue of signaling on the val maps. A very old shot of West Hickory in the late 1800's actually shows a HIGHBALL signal mast there that looks like it was set by the bridge toll tender. There is at least one very good photo of the toll booth, tracks on the bridge, the 'duck-off' so that the diamond was out of the road surface, etc. My great uncle was the toll tender for many years, but I never thought to ask him about the signal or who controlled it. I find it hard to believe that PRR didn't have a 'real' interlocking here, but hey, you never know. During the 1970's the remnants of this were operated 10 miles further north, and was active under Penn Central to serve my fathers lumber company as a truck reload location. Boxcars were loaded off of the PRR siding long after the station was removed, and a roofed shed was built there to hold a forklift to load outbound cars. HVRR was abandoned in 1938, bridge was converted to road-only in 1945, tannery closed in 1952, PRR-PC line didn't make it to Conrail and ran to 1976. So finally getting a module of this spot runs deep into my family tree. Today you'd be hard-pressed to see there was EVER a railroad, let alone two, in this valley.
