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Decided to stop lurking!


NeMo

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Just a quick 'hello' from the UK.

 

Some of you may know me as the former editor of the NGS Journal. Having passed that along to a very fine chap, I finally had the time to put some effort into a layout of my own. On the other hand, the rest of my family don't allow me much space! So, I have had to use T-TRAK modules that clip together to make an approximately 60 x 150 cm oval that can be set out on the dining room table on those (rare!) occasions when it's not being used by someone higher up the food chain than me. Three modules on one side are North American, and the three modules on the other are Japanese.

 

It's not finished, but most of the buildings have been made and some scenic details added. One constraint has been to build enough terrain on each side that the other 'continent' is mostly hidden from view, while also making connections between the modules smooth enough it looks coherent. While the American side works fairly well, I'm not totally sold on the Japanese side, so may need to go back and undo some of the terrain there! But it all works well enough that I can run reasonably long trains around an oval when I want to -- especially fun with the Kato Sound Box! -- and then pack it all away onto a couple of shelves when I'm done.

 

In any event, I have been loving the much wider scope Japanese railway modelling gives in terms of inexpensive, detailed kits to build when compared to British outline models of similar types. Greenmax kits are lovely!

 

Best wishes, Neale

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Welcome Neale, glad you found us! 
 

great modules and fun to have North American on one side and Japanese on the other! Ttrak is really a great solution to someone with limited space like yourself. Easy to keep working on when you don’t have access to the setup space. Do you have any other Ttrak modelers in the area you run with?

 

please start a topic in the Ttrak forum and present more on your modules, love to see more!

 

cheers

 

jeff

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9 minutes ago, cteno4 said:

Welcome Neale, glad you found us! 
 

great modules and fun to have North American on one side and Japanese on the other! Ttrak is really a great solution to someone with limited space like yourself. Easy to keep working on when you don’t have access to the setup space. Do you have any other Ttrak modelers in the area you run with?

 

please start a topic in the Ttrak forum and present more on your modules, love to see more!

 

cheers

 

jeff

Hi, Jeff, will do!

 

I'll need to take some more, better photos.

 

I'm not aware of any T-TRAK groups nearby, and to be honest, I'm not sure my modules would survive a trip out anywhere! I've been using the Woodland Scenics forest kits with the seafoam 'twigs' and while they look great they're awfully fragile. Live and learn on that one...

 

By the way, I've had the Japan Rail Modelers of Washington DC website bookmarked for the last couple of years. It's a great source of inspiration and ideas.

 

Best wishes, Neale

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Neale,

 

I inherited about a dozen of beautiful hand made sea foam trees from a friend’s layout and they are lovely, but you are right, not meant for Ttrak! I like the stranded wire armature method as those just tend to bend over some if hit and not break and can be easily bent back to shape! I spent an hour at the last show gluing back in about 30 sturdy readymade trees that had been knocked loose the last few shows and transports. Then again a couple of dozen little detail bits! Luckily we use plastic storage boxes for transport so usually you can collect the little pile of loose bits for each module and repair. It’s part of the game! 
 

Local library is a great place to set up your loop to look for potential victims, err, ttrak playmates. Librarians usually love it to bring folks in and do themed book displays and such.

 

I’m glad you have enjoyed the JRM website. We get a ton of newbies thru the site and my goal has been to put up a lot of different stuff there in order to show all the different ways you can approach the hobby.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

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MeTheSwede

Welcome!

 

Greenmax kits are indeed fun. I hope to see more photos from your models at a later point.

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