Am Dom... (Japanese translation required)

[AllScales]

Not strictly Japanese, but large delivery of tram track arrived today, so my layout can progress:

 

[AllScales]

The previous trackplan had one big problem: It didn’t fit...

 

So here’s a second attempt. Unfortunately this lacks expansion capability, so needs some further thought as well...

[brill27mcb]

I like this one!

 

Rich K.

[IST]

Me also. You can do some interesting point-to-point operation.

Or you can connect the 2 unfinished end of the line.

[AllScales]

On 9/16/2018 at 12:44 PM, IST said:

Me also. You can do some interesting point-to-point operation.

Or you can connect the 2 unfinished end of the line.

The track is on order... I simply ran out after ordering way too much curved track!

[AllScales]

This picture is probably a bit more complete....

[AllScales]

Sorry, no pictures today, but the table has gone a slate gray colour, the gaps in the track have all been filled and a Tomix 5529 arrived today to power the point motors.

 

I addition a pile of catenary masts arrived from RailNScale/Shapeways and spraying them British Racing Green. The masts are a little too tall, but that can be fixed, I’ll probably not fit wires anyway because it’d look a bit silly given the 140mm curves, so the height is just moot anyway!

 

My plan is to have power feeds along each side of baseboard, each will have a hole underneath for easy access. After some consideration I’ve decided to just have one tram per track at any one time, splitting the loops into sections is just asking for trouble...

 

Still one big problem remains: How to fix the track to the base board (and upper level)?

 

Anyone else done fixed tram layout with Tomix track?

[cteno4]

Folks fix unitrak with pva (white) glue all the time. You can flood the glue joint later with water later and work it loose if needed. Folks also use bathroom caulk as you can scrape the track up with a sharp putty knife and pull the caulking off the track. Caulking holds with just some dabs here and there pretty well. Experiment some and see what gives you the best result for your needs.

 

jeff

[AllScales]

Thanks for that Jeff!

 

The PVA bit I’m not to sure of, so far the PVA I’ve tried has been rather fanatical!

 

The bathroom caulk is also interesting, there are various types. Key differences are based around silicon or not.... Unfortunately brand names can have varying compositions depending on the prevalent water type. So any other details as to which composition would be greatly appreciated!

 

Attached is the cradle for the new 5529 and point switches. They’re being held in place quite firmly, I might put a bracket over the top later if required..

 

[cteno4]

You are most welcome!

 

plain old white Elmer’s is a basic pva that’s pretty water softenable. Some of the fancier wood pvas are more water resistant. For track folks just plain old white glue.

 

on the caulking I think I remeber folks using both. I’ll search my email list archives to see if I can find one of the posts. The Plus with silicone is you can get clear. Keep it on the edge and underside, not on the outside as it won’t completely come off, but you can cut and rub most of it off.

 

again experiment with a few hunks of track to see what YOU like as we all have our own preferences and exact needs. The tram track should need little attachment to keep it in place on a stationary layout. A dot or two of either white glue or caulking on each section should do it well. The Bennie of caulk is it flexes a little bit. You don’t need to totally glue it down, thats only if mobile modular or sectional layout where it will get a lot of torquing and abuse. 

 

With white glue you could easily just do some spots along the outside edges when in place to tack it down. Once dry if it feels too loose then just go back and add another dot inbetween each one you did the first round. Only downside this way is you can’t put something like a building base right up against the edge of the tram track. Could try just lifting a tad and putting the dot in the small gap and pushing down and wiping the outside fillet of glue pretty clean. Putting your glue on the inside underside hides it well but it’s harder to get the glue and track in place. Could trace the track on the baseboard, take up track, put dots just inside the lines and then plop the track back down. Again experiment with some pva and you can figure out which works best in your situation and easily clean the glue off the track after the test.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[AllScales]

Still get some of prep work done, this week I painted the top of the baseboard a uniform “dove grey” (if you have doves that shade of grey, then you have a pollution problem and need to move...). I’ve done the wood along the edges in black, but only half so far, as my wife was working in the hobby room too.

 

Power feeds are in place but not connected up yet. This is a whole can of worms, as I hope to show the layout, so it needs to be transportable.

 

1. I can use a spot of superglue to hold them in place

2. Use some DAS clay when I glue the track down to push the pad firmly up against the track

3. Drill a fat hole to make the connector accessible at all times.

 

Each option has its disadvantages and its advantages! Any advice would be very much appreciated!

 

The track will be stuck down with PVA...

[PaulJ]

I would suggest both gluing the track power feeds and drilling the large access hole too... with any wiring there's a chance it may get snagged and pulled loose so always good to be able to access it. A big hole in the baseboard will be invisible under tramtrack anyway. As to the glue, maybe use a hot glue gun rather than superglue?

[AllScales]

Blimey! Blink and Christmas has been and gone...

 

I drilled the large holes and got around to buying a large sheet of polystyrene for the upper level, this has been cut to fit the baseboard.

 

During the cutting my hot wire broke and I tried using a saw. What a mess that made! So I’ve bought a hot knife (more like a mini wand). That works very nicely as long as you don’t need to have very thin cut lines.

 

Hereks a picture of the sawing... I used a spare factory cut piece of MDF to hold everything in place and provide the cutting line. 

[cteno4]

Yep sawing polystyrene is a mess! The bits get statically charged and tend to stick to thing and repell whatever you use to try to clean it up with! 

 

Do get good ventallation with the hot knife on stryene as the byproducts are nasty.

 

Jeff

[AllScales]

Crikey! Well the polystyrene didn’t last. It proved next to impossible to get a smooth finish, especially on the inclines... So I’ve replaced it with 2mm plywood which has proven much easier to work with.

 

I would attach a picture, but all the ones on my iPad seem to be bigger then 2MB! Grrr...

 

I’ve also found a tramshed: The Kato Long Engine Shed. It’s about the only one long enough for a Kato Düwag and trailer. I’m currently making it a little less creamy coloured... Again that seems to be too big! I’m sure it wasn’t like that back in December?

[Sheffie]

I think your pictures are probably not compressed when the camera saves them. If my experience with iPhone pictures is anything to go by, you just need to edit the picture and save it, and it will be much smaller. Usually I just crop off a little; it’s a harmless or helpful edit most of the time 

[AllScales]

I’ll try that, but I didn’t have to do this on the 30th December, above... But it has worked, the image has shrunk to 967kB. Interestingly I didn’t actually change anything really...

It looks better when stick into place as the lower edge goes into the base. I have also tackled the corrugated walls in the ends, they are grey as well.

 

I shouldn’t have stuck the windows in first though...

Edited April 16, 2019 by AllScales
Extended notes...

[AllScales]

And then the picture of the ramps, with plywood. This is still 1.8MB... Hmmm...

 

[cteno4]

Depends how much you crop on the reduction. If you crop half as wide and tall the. File will drop to 1/4 the original. Crop to a third the width and height then file is 1/9 the size of the original.

 

when I’m snapping Picts for the forum on the iPad I just snap the picture from a bit further back and crop in and half or third and much smaller Picts.

 

jeff