Tsurumi line construction

[Khaul]

1 hour ago, JR 500系 said:

WOW!

 

I love the weathering on the station, it really fits to the era of the diorama! Very nice indeed!

 

You would need some showa era vehicles for this! Thanks for sharing!

 

 

It is definitely Showa. I would say early to late 80s so I can run the getaden from the picture, a 101 series, a DD13, a DE10, an ED16 pulling Takis, Hokis, Wamus... Pity there are only Taki 1000 available. I would much prefer the 43000. 

[Das Steinkopf]

4 minutes ago, Khaul said:

 

It is definitely Showa. I would say early to late 80s so I can run the getaden from the picture, a 101 series, a DD13, a DE10, an ED16 pulling Takis, Hokis, Wamus... Pity there are only Taki 1000 available. I would much prefer the 43000. 

 

Don't worry, it won't be much longer until Kato does a re release of the Taki 4300's, or even better if Tomix does their own version.

[Khaul]

22 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

Looking good Khaul!  What lighting unit did you use for the EMU?  The weathering looks really good.

 

Thanks!

 

I used the Kato 11-214, interior lighting unit version 2. I mounted the orange filter to give an incandescent light look. I found it is very important to keep the light diffuser as close as possible to the filter for best results. A bit of tape helps with some models. The Tomix N1001cl works very well with this train. The lights go at full intensity before it starts running.

[Kiha66]

Thanks!  I may have to look into getting a CL lighting pack now, the effect is really nice.  

[Khaul]

On 31/10/2017 at 8:21 PM, Kiha66 said:

Thanks!  I may have to look into getting a CL lighting pack now, the effect is really nice.  

 

I am very happy with my N1001CL. However, I have just noticed the Kato Hyper DX has the CL trick http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10357995. It's a bit pricey and it reaches 14.5V so it may not be good to run the Tomix trains at full throttle but it would come handy to do a reverse loop easily. Also, some people say mixing Tomix and Kato controllers is a bit risky.

 

PS: see kvp’s post below. A pwm controller runs always at the maximum voltage, 14.5V in this case.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Khaul
Adding PS

[Kiha66]

I was actually was just looking at getting the Hyper DX, now that I know it has CL I'm much more tempted.  Most of my trains are kato to begin with, I wasnt sure if they would buzz on CL or not.  Sounds like they work just fine.

[Khaul]

44 minutes ago, Kiha66 said:

I was actually was just looking at getting the Hyper DX, now that I know it has CL I'm much more tempted.  Most of my trains are kato to begin with, I wasnt sure if they would buzz on CL or not.  Sounds like they work just fine.

 

None of my Kato trains buzzes with pwm cl. The interior lights in my two EMUs stay on with the train stopped. The effect is indeed very nice. The lights in my 101 series EMU are not fully bright without movement, only about 80%. The headlights of my locos are only bright when moving even with CL. 

 

The Kato C11 works with pwm, but mine runs significantly better with the simple Kato analog controller. It can literally crawl!

[kvp]

13 hours ago, Khaul said:

and it reaches 14.5V so it may not be good to run the Tomix trains at full throttle

I would suggest adding some series diodes to it, especially for Tomytec motors. 14.5V pwm is pulsed full voltage, so it can harm the 12V motors even at a low settings. A standard silicone diode drops around 0.6V to 0.7V, so 3 or 4 pairs would bring it down to 12.1V to 12.4V at the track. With block detection, the detectors already have two diode pairs, so in that case, one or two extra pairs would be enough. Of course, using a lower voltage adapter is also a possibility.

[Kiha66]

Thanks KVP!  What do you mean by block detection?  

[Khaul]

Now that I am reasonably happy with the station lights I finally glued down the platform. I had a lot of time a home today because my 9yo is sick with a cold. We worked quite a lot! First we ballasted the track on both the platform and the gutter side. Then we weathered and glued down some fencing. Because I finally managed to produce a nice weathering wash and I had plenty of it I also applied it to the platform to make it smooth and non reflective. It works. Then I got carried away and weathered the Hoki tarpaulins that have been bothering me for a while. Finally we added some landscape. These are the results:

 

Unitrack ballasting. The gutter is visible in the upper picture. The glue is not dry yet.

 

Some freight passing by...

 

Finally I added a couple of scenery patches I made to try techniques. That looks like a bucolic rural line railway than the gritty Tsurumi line.

[Kiha66]

Amazing work!  The hoki's look really nice.

[Khaul]

I just go the Green Max factory. I am tempted to add it to the modules currently under construction.

 

The green roof Kato building would be a loading/unloading facility for both trucks and rail freight. Manufacturing happens in the Green Max building.

 

Road access. Probably half the width would be enough. There must be space for the trucks to manouver.

 

I just like this picture.

 

Now, how does this work in terms of the overall track plan and operations?

 

Let's see:

The whole thing should work with just two DC controllers. One does a EMU point to point operation from the EMU sidings to the lower station track. The station is the terminus of the passenger service. The other controller takes care of a freight train. It passes through the station using the upper track and disappears in a tunnel. The loco runs around using the freight run around tracks. Note the magnetic decouplers and the position of the turnouts to make this very easy (in theory). Therefore freight trains go somewhere and come back. The same controller is used for the yard and sidings absent from the diagram.

 

Any thoughts?

 

[Pashina12]

I like it! Though my first thought was, if you're running the passenger trains point to point from the EMU sidings to the station, that's a pretty short run - unless by "lower station track" you mean the inner one? In that case I think it'd be a decent run.

[Khaul]

You are right. The EMUs will be seen just emerging from the tunnel, into the station and back. Mmmm, I could make a shorter tunnel.

[Pashina12]

How about moving the tunnel back to about halfway through the curve, then you could add a forest, or a working class residential area, in that corner? Could make for some interesting scenery to see the EMUs arriving.

[Khaul]

Yes, that’s an obvious solution. The only problem is the mainline coming from the North and leaving towards the North as well. That could be believable in a crowded industrial environment. Also, tunnels are not a Tsurumi line thing. Alternatively tracks can be hidden by bridges, pipes and other industrial clutter.

[Khaul]

The plans for my Tsurumi line inspired layout are still in flux, but I think I am getting somewhere. I have even acted on them so things are rolling. A bit of background, initially I had only one controller and a 1.5mx1m dining table that can be extended to 2.0mx1m. I wanted to run fairly long freight trains and shorts EMUs so I went for this basic design:

 

 

The layout was intended to be partly modular from the beginning.

 

I built the first tow modules, for the station area a while ago. I laid track a while ago and have done some detailing and scenery.

 

Note that only the weathered tracks are glued in this picture. The location of the industrial buildings is just a mock-up.

 

After extensive documentation, a visit to a train show and also learning from my own experience I have decided to alter the basic design. So, instead of a single track with a long loop and a freight branch I will have double double track main with a freight branch. There will be scenery separators for the two modules already built, and I will probably make a third small one. There will be a hidden traverser yard at the back working as both ends of the double track line and the one end of the freight branch. The traverser allows for realistic operations, so EMUs can algo go E-W in one of the tracks (say track 1) and  W-E on track 2. EMUs will reverse and change track using the traverser. In freight mode the set up allows for using the traverser to run around locomotives so trains can be pushed in and out of the freight branch. Note that roundy-round operations are also possible and straightforward.

 

Two trains can run a the same time using two power packs with, maybe, two sound boxes in the future! The circuits are completely independent thanks to the traverser so there is no need for insulating anything. Easy peasy! The idea is to have fun at home and maybe bring the layout to exhibitions. 

 

That's the plan. The curves on both sides will be made each time with sectional track and sit on wooden raisers. Option 1 and Option 2 refer to which separators to build. Option 2 needs a new small module. I think 2 is better but the two tracks will be separated in the middle of the module for storage as my cabinet is only 29cm deep. I think that's doable.

 

In any case one of the modules needs to be adapted to the double track configuration. Work have started on that. Let's see:

 

This crossover is in the way. Surgery is needed to adapt to the double track plan. However, I want to keep the station end. The Kato track geometry does not allow for my plan, or does it?

 

So, I unglued one the #6 turnouts and some of the tracks. The non weathered tracks are not glued in. The 15 degree curve is a 481 radius. The tracks end at the end of the module, but the track separation is not correct.

 

Not good...

 

Hey, it is good now! What happened. Well, I made a 481 radius flex track. You can see the cuts in the picture. I borrowed the idea from a YouTube video of Micheal Fifer. That's such a nice little hack. I am very proud of it. I will have to use one or two nails to keep things in place, but it will work brilliantly.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Khaul

[JR 500系]

That looks neat, the feel of the Tsurumi line is coming on! Are you planning to do the station closest to the sea?

[Khaul]

It is going to be a generic passing station. There is usually housing on one side of the tracks and industry in the opposite side. In my layout housing and industry will be separated by a road, from bottom to top there will be railway, houses/shops, road industry. Industry will be built on the scenic separator. 

[katoftw]

A R282-15 would have done the same job.  But then you would've had to go out and buy a 4 pack only for one curve.  So cutting away makes sense.

Edited June 27, 2018 by katoftw

[Khaul]

51 minutes ago, katoftw said:

A R282-15 would have done the same job.  But then you would've had to go out and buy a 4 pack only for one curve.  So cutting away makes sense.

 

I only have R282-45s. Good to know, though. Thanks.

[Alejandro_SCL]

On 6/11/2017 at 9:40 AM, Khaul said:

 

 

 

So you can split a platform between modules.... very nice. Have you had durability problems with boxboard?

Edited March 12, 2019 by Alejandro_SCL
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