Garage Unit Tram Layout

[bill937ca]

After 15 years I took down my 30" x 60" layout table in the living room of my condo during the winter.  This opened up an area with three book cases, leading to finding some long though lost books. The layout table was replaced with a 36"' x 24" garage unit.  On top of that is piece of cork salvaged from a Staples bulletin board.

 

My plan is to create rotating layouts for N scale trams, N scale local trains and O gauge trolleys using Super Streets.

 

A big step forward has been scrounging up a chair, essential for my knee's current state.

 

So far I am on my second tram layout where I play with Kato Greenmover LEX.  I am using Tomix Wide Tram on simple track plans

 

I have plans for running my Kato C12 later this year on a local railway layout. 

 

The photo shows the garage unit shortly after being brought up from storage and set up.  That is one of the O gauge MTH trolleys and an Altas O gauge 80-watt power pack.

Edited May 8, 2022 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

The layout as it current stands with city base of foamboard covered by styrene sheets. In the background are a rather motley collection of buildings that will be places on the layout after some work and my Greenmax sidewalks arrive. The backdrop is Bristol board sheets held in place by A claps from the dollar store. the base is the cork sheet from a Staples bulletin board.

Edited April 14, 2021 by bill937ca

[Kamome]

When i read the title I thought you meant something similar to these record turntable layouts.

[Kiha66]

Looking great bill!  A cheap green tablecloth can be a easy way to make such a temporary setup look more finished, that's how mine was set up in my last apartment.

 

 

[bill937ca]

13 hours ago, Kiha66 said:

Looking great bill!  A cheap green tablecloth can be a easy way to make such a temporary setup look more finished, that's how mine was set up in my last apartment. 

Great idea. I'm more focused on the how the tram layout looks up close than the whole layout.  I have to  fill in the space inside the tram tracks first to create a scene.

 

[bill937ca]

With the arrival of my Kato Piccolo and Piccola set have again modified the layout. Now there are two independent loops. Now I need more foamboard for the the building base. The motley buildings will remain while I work on some Greenmax 46-6 and 2611 kits and then determine the role of those buildings.

 

This is stage one of a plan to add a small carbarn at the back (where many of the buildings now are) once the carbarn kit arrives, maybe this week.

 

[bill937ca]

I have completed the foamboard sub-base for the bulk of the revised layout. White parts of the foamboard were blackened with a permanent pen from the dollar store. This will be covered with styrene and painted.  In stage 2, once the Greenmax sidewalks arrive, will add a carbarn or covered tram station at the back of the layout allowing all three Kato Hiroshima trams to be on the layout.

Edited April 28, 2021 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

Some first draft signs, mainly store names and company logos printed on photo-paper.  These will be added to my Greenmax and Outland Models commercial buildings.

Edited May 9, 2021 by bill937ca

[inobu]

Bill937,

 

Save yourself a lot of strife. Get the Pink foam  https://www.homedepot.ca/product/owens-corning-foamular-codebord-xps-insulation-24-inch-x-96-inch-x-1-inch-ship-lap-edge/1001013107

 

Use it as your main base. The board is ridged enough to hold. Placing the firs will lift the base and allow you to wire things easier.

 

 

 

Inobu

 

[bill937ca]

Thank you.  Good idea, but implementing it is not as simple as it might seem. We are still in lockdown. I have my first vaccine, but the rollout has been slow to date. It's picking up now. As the weather warms up we are gradually getting outside more.

 

I live in a condo and don't have a vehicle.  I have  nowhere to cut it.  I am in a condo. I don't have a garage. That's part of the reason why the layout is the way it is. Disposing of the leftovers is not that simple.  No  construction waste allowed in our garbage.  There are other things that are more pressing in the condo this summer.

[bill937ca]

I've got a new layout.  I changed the orientation and now I have four tracks coming together in the center of the layout.

 

 

[bill937ca]

This was take 5. Slower running.

 

 

[bill937ca]

An update on what I have done.  There are now two ovals,  each with R140 and R103 loops. The blocks are filled in with foamboard, covered with .020 styrene and painted a mix of black and gray. Two controllers connected to Tomix 5538 feeders with a Tomix 5812 branching cord supply power. Before I put any trains on the track I checked the polarity. Then the track got a simple cleaning with Kato Unicleaner.. Up to four streetcars can run. Next to come is more work on the buildings. Some day my Greenmax sidewalks will arrive. Then I can add vehicles and figures.  In the meantime I can run streetcars or as Hiroden calls them trains.

Edited May 15, 2021 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

Been working on a new layout for a week or so. It's a R140 figure eight without the crossover (for smoother running) with  a provision for  carhouse in  the botttom right corner. Some of the scenery is in. The city base is painted styrene over a foamboard base. It's just big enough for my level of interest. 

[bill937ca]

Latest layout. This is more like it. Trams in front of buildings instead of behind buildings.  The layout is now an R103 oval inside an expanded R140 oval. Add a bit of foamboard and some buildings and run some trams.  Coming next sidewalks and recycled styrene.

[bill937ca]

Oh, look. Something crept onto my layout. Shades of Lisbon!   hehehe  😄

Edited November 8, 2021 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

After months of building layouts and  scrapping layouts, I have finally created a small layout that I am happy with.  Today I glued down some of the sidewalks and returned the buildings to their places.

 

Most of the  buildings are Tomytec or Kato.  I haven't really got a good picture of the overall layout and daylight is fading already. More scenery details to come in the coming days.

Edited November 11, 2021 by bill937ca

[bill937ca]

After months of not modeling because I was too busy reading spy novels, I have tweaked the tram layout.  There now is a R140 radius oval across he table and a R103 rectangle from the front to the back of the layout. The R140 line allows me to run trams that can't handle R103 curves including Kato Pocket Line trams, Modemo trams and maybe some old Bachmann streetcars. 

[bill937ca]

I didn't realized that I hadn't posted any photos of the previous layout.  It is single track winding around the table with all R103 curves. The new layout retains the front of the layout and expands it into two lines. This photo was taken during the teardown when most of buildings had been removed.

 

 

[bill937ca]

Usually I run my Kato My Trams on  my layout, but today I'm running my Modemo NT60 Tokyu 300 Tamaden  tram. I bought two of these trams in April 2007 when they were about the only trams available. Mid-April will make this tram 15 years old. It still runs fine. The layout is slowly coming along. I still have to do more cardstock buildings 

After cleaning the track today this is the first run around the R140 oval.  I have added some details to the layout like sidewalks,  fire hydrants and trash cans.

Edited March 15, 2022 by bill937ca

[cteno4]

And so it begins!

 

jeff

[Tuga]

On 11/8/2021 at 9:41 PM, bill937ca said:

Oh, look. Something crept onto my layout. Shades of Lisbon!   hehehe  😄

 

That's really nice mate. 

[brill27mcb]

On 3/15/2022 at 4:09 PM, bill937ca said:

Usually I run my Kato My Trams on  my layout, but today I'm running my Modemo NT60 Tokyu 300 Tamaden  tram. I bought two of these trams in April 2007 when they were about the only trams available. Mid-April will make this tram 15 years old. It still runs fine. The layout is slowly coming along. I still have to do more cardstock buildings 

After cleaning the track today this is the first run around the R140 oval.  I have added some details to the layout like sidewalks,  fire hydrants and trash cans.

 

That Tamaden paint scheme is perhaps my favorite one, Bill!

 

Rich K.

[bill937ca]

I have revised the layout again. Now it is a a double oval so I can run a greater variety of my trams.  The curves ar R140 and R177. it has only been three weeks since having my right knee replaced so progress is slow.  Most work gets done late in the evening.

 

First photo is just the foamboard base and the Tomix Wide Tram track.  The second photo is after the sidewalks and a few paper buildings were added.

 

 

[bill937ca]

Now that the layout is R140 and R177 I can run my Tomytec European GT6 trams on the layout. No crossovers or turnouts to slow down my cars.

Edited September 24, 2022 by bill937ca