H0e T-Trak

[Beaver]

A few years back I mulled over the concept. Recently I actually tried making a module using the unofficial N single track standard for dimensions and track positions. The traditional 'A4 paper sized' shallow module looks ever so much better than those square things and is much easier to store too.

 

 

The sticking point was the appearance of Kato Unitrack being wrong for HO narrow gauge, which was addressed by using 3D printed adaptors available from 'Waldbahner' on Shapeways which allow Peco 009/H0e track placed on a roadbed of appropriate thickness to be connected by unijoiners seamlessly to Unitrak. I have tested it with a dummy module laid with unmodified Unitrack and they connect and run through perfectly.

 

The module is designed to be viewed from either side. Used with the track at the back I can add a simple 'green wall' mountain backscene and use it as a photo plank.

 

 

It is much more convenient than my Amenomiya layout for taking photos of rolling stock as the camera angles and views are not restricted by fixed backscenes, buildings or clutter. It is easier to pose lighting for the shots too rather than relying on the layout's fixed lighting boom.

 

 

Next module will probably be another single, a tiny unstaffed wayside halt.

 

This is not a replacement for Amenomiya but a portable/flexible alternative for club meets, possibly exhibitions, etc. The main layout is movable but too big and heavy to want to do so for anything more frequent than moving house. It depicts more of the Kohei Eletric Railway, probably around the lower end. After leaving the junction town of Nagawara the line crosses ruler-fashion to the edge of the Nagawara Plain and noses around the base of the mountains to reach the entry to the Kohei Valleys, whereupon the long straight stretches over flat ground suddenly give way to the steep and twisty 'Yagimichi' (Goat Road) climbing through tea plantations and tangled forests up to the lofty Kohei (Small Flat) Plateau.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Beaver

[katoftw]

Can you expand on what you mean that Kato tracks does look right for HO narrow modelling? Is it the height of the track bed?

[Beaver]

The sleepers are much too small. Too thin, too close together and much too short.

 

Real narrow gauge track does not look like miniature standard gauge track, the proportions are quite different, because many components such as sleepers are much the same size regardless of gauge, and the closer the rails are the further the sleepers must protrude beyond the rails to spread the train weight. H0 narrow gauge track should properly look more like H0 track with the rails closer together than like N track.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Beaver

[cteno4]

Nice module.

 

I’ve often daydreamed of doing some single track modules. I like the smaller Ttrak modules over the big full depth modules everyone has been going to here in the us along with full depth 2x modules. I’m doing a few modules using 9”x12” wood canvases that are 1.5” thick to play around with some smaller module scenes. Hoping it will be a more inexpensive introduction for newbies as module prices here (and even just raw wood price if you cut your own) have been soaring. These 9x12 frames can be bought for like $4 each!

 

I’ve also been playing with a Kato mini diorama system with single track but slightly larger using 3/4} deep wooden canvases if varying small sizes and aspect ratios that fit various track lengths. Idea is to develop something that uses inexpensive modules (the smaller frames are like $2-4 ea) that have enough room for a scene with a building or a few buildings on them. The mini diorama are fun, but no room for even a shack on them… same concept thought to be able to meander around the table some with different sized and shaped modules. It’s feeling good.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Pictures?  That price point - $2 to $4 - sounds appealing to me - lots of margin for error since the investment is so small.

 

Tony Galiani

[cteno4]

We have a topic on the wood canvas units for Ttrak modules here

 

https://jnsforum.com/community/topic/19206-wooden-canvas-panels-for-ttrak-modules/#comment-239590

unfortunately I talked this up several months ago on the Ttrak group and ntrak picked it up in the monthly zoom and the really cheap ones 1.5” tall 9x12 at $14 for 4 sold out at amazon! I guess a lot of folks are giving the idea a try. But others there for 4 for $30, still way cheaper than the few commercial offerings. I talked with the ntrak folks and they were thinking of maybe selling a kit with insets bolts, track and screws to complete the module. I also experimented with using #10-24 threaded rivets for the leveling inserts and #10-24 bolts instead of 1/4”-20 bolts, lighter simpler and cheaper.

 

for the mini one track idea it’s using smaller 3/4” tall modules like 4x4, 4x6, 5x7, 8x8, 6x6, 6x12, 10x10 for the straights and 10x10 for corners with 216r curves and track 1” from front. Tons of inexpensive wood canvases out there.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0834LT7T2/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0?ie=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&th=1
 

I’ll start a new topic on the mini onetrak so as not to hijack this topic.

 

jeff

 

 

[katoftw]

2 hours ago, Beaver said:

The sleepers are much too small. Too thin, too close together and much too short.

 

Real narrow gauge track does not look like miniature standard gauge track, the proportions are quite different, because many components such as sleepers are much the same size regardless of gauge, and the closer the rails are the further the sleepers must protrude beyond the rails to spread the train weight. H0 narrow gauge track should properly look more like H0 track with the rails closer together than like N track.

Could just use Peco OO-9 track or similar cut to whatever length you like and whatever connecter you like.

[Beaver]

Waiting shelter for the halt module is under construction. I really need to learn how to scratchbuild convincing Japanese buildings to get around the limited range, low availability and generally high cost of HO kits so this small structure is a good place to start. It didn't convince to begin with until I realised the windows needed to be oblong, not square. Wobbly edges will need filing where the apertures have been reshaped and resized.

 

 

Totan walls, and the roof will be sheet metal, probably corrugated iron. All plasticard in reality of course. The door comes off a scrapped Minitrains H0n30 carriage set which have provided useful bits for many projects, particularly these nice panelled sliding doors.

 

I'm making it up as I go along so not sure yet how to do the window frames.

[cteno4]

Great start!

 

jeff

[Kamome]

Looks good so far @Beaver 

I would say you should add some weighty looking external rafters at each end to support the roof. I might also be inclined to extend the window opening to be able to add a 12 pane window or larger. Some buildings would have the wood panelling going horizontally so perhaps alternate with various buildings.  

 

Have a look at Echo models website for some inspiration. They produce some nice older looking kits and you could mimic the style of architecture.

 

https://www.echomodel.com/index.php?Ms COLLECTION

[Beaver]

Planning out the halt module.

 

 

 

Halt at level crossing on rural dirt track. Thin platform of 2 car length. Tiny inari shrine next to station. Long sliver of rice field along front, raised reservoir supplying water to fields at rear. Provisional name; Inarimae.

[Beaver]

Layout power and control is via a Rokuhan controller spliced to a Kato feeder cable.

 

 

You will not get N gauge mechanisms running at main line/shinkansen speeds with one of these, but it is perfectly sufficient for HO-Narrow trains pootling along at scale speeds of up to 45km/h, so should be fine for trams, interurbans and local lines in N. With the batteries for power the whole setup is very compact and efficient. I think a change of batteries would be needed for a day out at a club event though.

 

The track joints using flexitrack and adaptors are not as precise as actual Unitrack but testing proves the small gaps and misalignments do not impede reliable running.

[Beaver]

On 2/6/2023 at 2:35 AM, katoftw said:

Could just use Peco OO-9 track or similar cut to whatever length you like and whatever connecter you like.

 

Yeaaaahhhhh............... I don't like how this is working out - or rather not working.

 

Unijoiners and adaptors massively increase the price and never really align properly. Actual Unitrack only fits together properly because it is factory made. You can't get that accuracy by hand.

 

Electrical arrangements also bely the fact the whole system was designed for simple loops with little real pointwork.

 

One reason for working to a recognised standard was that at the time it looked like members of the 009 Society and NGRM forum were interested in making this a joint project with meet ups. Lots of people collecting Tomytec and wondering about doing something Japanese instead of anglicising the models. Months later that has all fizzled out and come to nothing.

 

Lack of backscene is a serious problem. Makes photography hard and leaves the model with no 'presence' or visibility. Looks like clutter on a shelf rather than a scene. Not enough space for the track to appear to be in the scene rather than beside it.

 

I can still see the value of a small single board thingy for a display/photography diorama but not for something operational. Use a diorama board kit like this one, build purely for appearance with no intention to power the track or join to anything else. Just a photo plank.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125960296640?hash=item1d53d198c0:g:Zv0AAOSwQj9ijgWM

 

For making trains move, set track on a table looks like a better way of having something interesting to operate if space for a proper layout is not available. I'm finding that for me these little module schemes combine the worst of temporary and permanent layouts.

 

So that's it for the H0e T-Trak experiment.