Modular Station Project

[cteno4]

they have a couple of free buildings you can download and try out to see if it works for you. Nice thing with printing is you can also decide to make your own clear windows or recess some of the windows and such.

 

https://paperstructure.jimdofree.com/フリー-無料展開図/

 

jeff

[gavino200]

29 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

they have a couple of free buildings you can download and try out to see if it works for you. Nice thing with printing is you can also decide to make your own clear windows or recess some of the windows and such.

 

https://paperstructure.jimdofree.com/フリー-無料展開図/

 

jeff

 

What I may do is just print them out on regular paper and use them as templates to cut pieces of styrene. Then build the structure out of styrene. That's what I meant by a "guided-scratch-build". I may learn enough from doing a few of those to later attempt a real scratch-build. 

[cteno4]

Yeah that’s a good approach. Just slapping together the printed ones can also be great quick comps to pop around and see what works in spaces as well.

 

some of the siding patterns may be fine as is on top of styrenes or taskboard and chop out windows and make your own acetate windows. Try the silver pin tape I sent you for making window mullions on larger building windows. Check out the taskboard I sent, it’s easier to cut out window corners than stryene. Most of the surface textures are so small at scale, printing is fine and can give you a lot of play in what you do.

 

anyhow a good place to start and as you say start evolving it into scratch building.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Getting back to the station. I made mockups of the West and East end modules. The next step will be to to procure some plastic foamboard and to place the structures. I bought a few more platforms from Philip in case I want to extend the station in future. An advantage to the modular method will be that it will be relatively easy to extend the station if I decide to. 

 

I'm also going to prepare a Tomix station control house that I bought ages ago. And I'll try to hunt down a Greenmax electrical substation to add to the station complex. I need to look a Japanese station videos and pictures too for detail ideas. 

 

 

West end module

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East end module

 

 

[gavino200]

3 sheets of 4x8 foot Ultra-board in the back of a van, on it's way to me from the nearest large city. Soon the project will be back on!!

 

[Kamome]

How did you get your #4 kato turnouts to line up with the concrete sleeper tracks on the East end? Did you paint the S60 pieces or slice off some roadbed on the straight tracks?

 

I really like the idea of this. I might need to look at doing something similar so that i can expand my station in the future due to recent lack of hobby space.

 

I would also like a secondary shinkansen station with 2 platforms and 2 through lines but i really like the look of these on a gradual canted curve. I think modular is a great way to proceed and get satisfaction from completing small objectives rather than the overwhelming thought of building a large layout. 

[gavino200]

7 minutes ago, Kamome said:

How did you get your #4 kato turnouts to line up with the concrete sleeper tracks on the East end? Did you paint the S60 pieces or slice off some roadbed on the straight tracks?

 

I make custom lengths of Kato track. On this project so far I've just made custom single track, but I'll have to do some double track too. The trick is to take some out of the middle and keep the ends untouched. When I get around to doing the double track I'll post some pictures. 

 

7 minutes ago, Kamome said:

 

I really like the idea of this. I might need to look at doing something similar so that i can expand my station in the future due to recent lack of hobby space.

 

I would also like a secondary shinkansen station with 2 platforms and 2 through lines but i really like the look of these on a gradual canted curve. I think modular is a great way to proceed and get satisfaction from completing small objectives rather than the overwhelming thought of building a large layout. 

 

I think it makes sense. I was forced to do it as I wanted to get started on my layout, but I can't assemble my tables until my floor guys eventually get round to working on my train room. I also want to be able to move if absolutely necessary without destroying the layout. Expandability is an added bonus. I may want to expand to full 16 car length in the future. If I do I should be able to do it by just sliding in an extra segment. 

 

That reminds me, I need to hunt down a few more old style Kato island platforms for future expandability. 

[gavino200]

 It's here. I'm much more excited than I should be about some sheets of plastic. 

 

 

 

[Madsing]

8 hours ago, gavino200 said:

 It's here. I'm much more excited than I should be about some sheets of plastic. 

Me: I have to stay at home today

My wife: The whole day?

Me: Yes

My wife: Why?

Me: I am expecting a delivery from Japan and I don't want to miss it...

My wife: If you are not here they will come back tomorrow, correct?

Me: Yes, but I don't want to wait until tomorrow

My wife: What is it?

Me: Some plastic parts for my model train...

[gavino200]

LOL. I think that would push her beyond her limit. I was dropped off while I was a work. I'll be in trouble if I don't haul it down to the basement soon! 😱

[cteno4]

At least it’s a tiny fraction of the weight of similar sized plywood! I alway about toss ultraboard when ever I lift a chunk as it’s so light.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

I finally plucked up the courage to cut the plastic for the modules. It wasn't too hard but there's definitely a bit of a learning curve. I'm glad I took Jeffs advice on buying a giant straight edge. I did the cutting on the floor. I'm replacing the floor so scoring it doesn't matter. I definitely see the point of setting up a cutting table for this kind of thing. 

 

I cut the center module to exact length, but decided to oversize the length of the two end pieces. It'll be easier to adjust them later. All modules are likely deeper than they need to be. At this stage I really don't know how deep to make them. So, I'll decide later and cut them down. The center piece is especially "over-deep" as I'm not sure if the station front with building (not yet sourced) will be part of this module. I'm thinking more likely it will be a separate connecting module, so this will probably be cut down quite a bit. 

 

Next stage? I had planned on painting them first a "concrete color". But I'm changing my mind. The station is a central part of the layout and it would be better if I experimented a bit with concrete paint hues and effects before painting it. 

 

So instead I'm going to work on the tracks, platforms, and signals. I may even set the station modules up with a simple loop layout and experiment with automating the station function and signals. 

 

Next up:

1. Cutting custom length track section

2. Detailing and lighting the remaining platforms (I have all except one end piece)

3. Finish painting the junctions.

4. Wire everything for DCC, automation, and signaling. Likely magnet connectors for the platforms.

5. Deciding on and buying further details. I need to do a lot of inspiration searches. 

 

Center section. The length is pretty exact. There's a lot of extra depth.

 

 

East module - Slight deliberate overlength. A lot of deliberate overdepth. The small piece on the end that connects to the turnouts may not be part of the final module. The signal box also probably won't stay there. 

 

 

West module - slight overlength and generous overdepth (same as the east module)

 

 

Both modules fit nicely on this old layout table. Much less mess now. 

 

 

 

[gavino200]

I cut the foamboard down to the correct length. I'm leaving the width oversized for the time being until I know more about how I'm going to model the outline/borders of the station.

 

 

Next up (maybe tomorrow. I'm going to make some custom track lengths to complete the rails. I'm not going to wire it up yet. First I'll make a "track only" mock-up to find out how many blocks I need to automate the station.

 

 

 

I'm trying to decide If I want to keep this stairwell entrance. My concern is that it will get in the way of a laneway that I'm planning on having run along this side of the station.

 

[gavino200]

I finished making the custom track pieces. Next thing will be to hook up a loop and test them in DC. I bet there'll be a few problems to troubleshoot. The station holds an 11 car Shinkansen or a 13 car commuter train with plenty of room to spare. That's more than enough for me. I'll work on the layout as a whole now, for a while, before circling back to model and wire the station.

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Looking good. Any seams are nearly invisible on the pictures.