Small Town USA - Old Pueblo Tram Shelf Project - N Scale

[Guest Closed Account 1]

My Christmas Trolley never went back into the box :) I decided that it's going to evolve into a real layout. Thanks to Kato Unitram.

 

This week in the News, the new Tucson LTR project will begin soon. Been waiting.

 

Well, you can guess that my little Tram line won't be downtown Tokyo. The odds are higher that you may see a Gila Monster trample the buildings before Godzilla has a chance to visit.

 

Scene is only a portion of life, to give the allusion of more.  So the Left lane driving fits into the Downtown Tucson one way street grid. Just looks as if the Tram can zip past you on the right while you are stuck in traffic.

 

For those that helped solve the yard issues, thank you. I attempted to re-start the yard from a 45 Tram track and there was not enough room for correct track spacing for the long engine houses. Upon re-building the old design I discovered my stash of 30 Degree curves which significantly reduced the number short track pieces. When I get another #4 switch then I can create the crossover and shuffle the Trams.

 

In the pictures below, all the V54 expansion sets are in place and only one station is present. The second will arrive with the Silver Tram.

 

The 3 Long Engine Houses are the perfect jewel boxes for the 6 Kato Trams.

 

Trees, vehicles, figures, details, are ordered.  Time to think about buildings. Until a easy DCC install is discovered, DC Auto-Reversers with multiple stops will be used.

[Bernard]

I like the design of the Tram sheds. What do you envision the dimension of your layout to be?

 

The auto-reverse unit with multiple stops is a good idea, Jeff has that unit. Take a look at this thread:

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,1255.0.html

 

I have the simpler version that is only auto-reverse but no stops.

[Hobby Dreamer]

Great start!

 

I never get tired of Kato tram track - better than one could have hoped for in terms of look.

 

Your tram barns look great!

Rick

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Thanks! I'll shoot another engine house pic when all 6 Trams arrive. Did you count how many long walls were used?

 

The 9 feet of Unitram Track is it. Each Corner Plate is almost 10 inches square. The Bar Counter is 11 inches wide so this is it. Someday, it may move to a Shinkansen layout but, right now this is a cool start to my first N Scale layout.

 

Some ReadyGrass could be added under the layout to separate it from the counter, and nothing will be nailed down per say, because more cool additions are planned for the Unitram family, and switches have to be one of them.

 

I was using a Miniatronic RU1 Auto-Reverser. Once you figure out that the schematics are not perfect then the module works well even in dim light. I didn't trust it after finding my Tram grinding the track because it was stuck against the bumper.

 

Bakatronics has an advanced one with multiple stop options for much less. Works without light which is what I needed for the Christmas Tree Line.

 

I'm waiting to hear from them about a custom module with DC control.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Not much to report this week. Been busy.

 

The rest of the Trams arrived.

 

Installed the second Tram Stop and Catenaries. Starting to look like a real city Tram line now.

 

First pic, this guy won't leave the park. Park closes at dusk.

 

The freedom of assembling a kit your way tends to show your creativity.

 

I used all rounded Catenary medians for a finished look rather than what the directions showed.

 

Finishing and planting the park is next...

[Morian Miner]

Looking forward to seeing your model of the Old Pueblo trolley.  Have you been able to find a commercial one that matches what they actually use?

[Guest Closed Account 1]

The project is not supposed to be a perfect miniature of downtown. I do want to mimic some of the colors. Just a modern day looking scene with most of the right colors. Hard to find lighted long arm streetlights.

 

Trolley, the Kato Trams are what I'm using. Suppose I could ask for the white Tram to be painted by a friend who who for Suntram but, then everything else will have to follow.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Like most of my projects that don't get finished...they just get more complexed as time goes on. This one has evolved into an Ntrak Module.