Sort of club for Dutch/German/Belgian members?

[Densha]

Looking great Martijn! The backdrop is a bit low though.

[Martijn Meerts]

Yeah, any higher and it wouldn't have fit on the sheet of plywood anymore ;)

 

 

I'm wondering actually.. Which is the more common size for a T-Trak module, 308 x 200 or 308 x 250? I'm fairly certain I can get 4 308 x 200 modules out of 1 sheet of plywood, while the 308 x 250 will likely be 3 per sheet of plywood.

[Densha]

I have some modules of 280x280mm here, and I can for certain say that the larger the better. 30cm depth is actually even better IMO. Just a few buildings and it's already crammed.

[Martijn Meerts]

I guess it depends a bit on the scenery you're planning to go with. If you want to add some buildings, or model a station area or whatever, you definitely want more depth. On the other hand, if you just have a single (or double) line going through some landscape, you can get away with less depth.

 

A quick search shows that the standard T-Trak module is around 21cm in depth apparently .. I'll just have to do a little more testing and see what I can get out of the sheets of plywood. I'll need to draw some corner modules as well.

[Darklighter]

Looking very good. Where did you order the parts? How about this shop: http://www.williwinsen.de/lasern/index.shtml ?

[Martijn Meerts]

I had my stuff cut by laserbeest.nl

[Martijn Meerts]

I glued and nailed 2 of the modules now. They seem to be insanely strong, I think I'll try 4mm next time ;)

 

Now I just need to figure out how to glue the track to the modules. They don't ever have to come off again, so a good bond is preferred. Also still need to figure out if I want to go for single or double track. I think the 2 stations I ordered are really meant for single track, although I don't HAVE to use them of course.

 

I also still need to sand the modules a little bit to get rid of the burnt edges as well as smoothen them a little. Also wondering if I should paint/stain the sides before working on the scenery...

 

Of course, time is still limited, and considering my holidays have been scheduled in now, I'm getting a huge amount of work to finish before I lock myself in the train room for 3.5 weeks ;)

[cteno4]

Martijn,

 

Yeah finger joints are very strong! In guessing the 3mm nice birch ply they probably have will be plenty strong with your design. The more I think on it I doubt there would be a sagging issue, maybe on a full corner, but one small cross brace would totally take care of that! Really is a great way to build them, too bad it's not super cheap, but certainly so much easier to a Semele a perfect module that you can toss across the room w.o breaking!

 

I've always used tiny screws I put thru the top of the track. Super simple, I just have a little jig that holds the track in the right place and put the screws thru the top. I use super tiny 00 Philips screws from trainaidsa. You can cover the heads up with dab of gray paint. Super strong and removable if needed easily.

 

http://www.trainaidsa.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=55&osCsid=176d1af6e32f34f18d1ea767f3e0278e

 

Gluing works, just have to make sure its set just perfectly, keep some pressure on to and it not move. Many use caulk and also PDA glue as they both can be taken up pretty well later, but ends can come loose with eventual use and torquing of ends, that never happens with screws. Epoxy will do the job but be permanent!

 

Jeff

Edited November 26, 2013 by cteno4

[Martijn Meerts]

3mm might be a bit iffy considering I'm using 1mm nails in addition to the glue. It might be overkill, but I don't want them to fall apart anytime soon. Besides, I don't think there's much of a price difference between 3 and 4mm, probably only about 5 Euro per sheet of plywood including laser cost.

 

I tend to use screws myself to hold track temporarily in place, ballast the lot, and then remove the screws. For Unitrack that might be somewhat more of a problem though. I am going to paint and ballast the track, but the layer of ballast will be really light compared to using Peco track for example. I was thinking about using universal glue that basically glues everything, some drops of epoxy on the rail ends, and hold them temporarily in place with either screws or nails. Again, it might be overkill :)

 

In the end though, I'm probably overthinking all of it again, and I should apply the KISS principle. I've seen layouts where the track was held in place by staples, so ....

 

 

Also found some info on the 2 station kits I've ordered.. They're quite interesting, and not what you'd call modern. They could actually make some quite interesting scenes.

 

Yagisawa: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/八木沢駅

Nakanocho: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakanochō_Station

Edited November 25, 2013 by Martijn Meerts

[cteno4]

Martijn,

 

Yep that's wayyy overkill! Some pva glue on those finger joints and they will never come apart! Nails also may bulge or split thin plys. Interlocking joints like that are super strong!

 

Just screws also hold the track down super well, you would tear the rails off and have to break the roadbed to ever get it to come off! You can counter sink the screw heads a tad and thin ballast will cover it no problem.

 

I just drill out the two screw shafts from the undersides then you can set the location and tap the screw and then start screwing, they are self starting into ply.

 

KISS is good!

 

Jeff

Edited November 25, 2013 by cteno4

[Martijn Meerts]

The reason I used nails is because I don't have a good way of clamping everything in place, and while the pieces fit really well, there is still a little bit of play. On the 6mm ply there's no problem with splitting, but with the 3mm and 4mm that's obviously going to be a major issue. When I try the 3mm stuff I'll check if I can find a good way too keep everything in place and put some pressure on it.

 

I'll have to look for some small screws over here. Having them shipped form the US is going to make them the worlds' most expensive screws =)  As I said though, I don't plan to ever reuse the track used on the modules, so it's really no issue when they're glued on permanently.

[cteno4]

Cutting some 1cm strips of wax paper to wrap the corners and then use masking tape to hold the corners. Don't need much to hold the box together if the finger joints are tight.

 

Yeah check Trainaidsa shipping, I know he does a lot of international shipping, but you are probably right it was pretty nasty when I was going to ship something over to you. These are to replace marlin track screws which are hard to get over here, but probably available locally.

 

Jeff

Edited November 26, 2013 by cteno4

[Martijn Meerts]

The Marklin K-track screws are (relatively) easily available here. They'll be a bit too long when using 3 or 4mm ply though, but that's a minor issue :)

 

The finger joints are fairly tight, but not enough to keep everything securely in place. I taped the modules together using a bit of masking tape to test fit them, and there were some noticeable gaps here and there. Caused of course by the fact that the laser has a certain diameter, and my designs weren't really drawn to compensate for that. I don't think I'll do it that way either, I'd rather have a little bit of play than having to hammer the bits and pieces in place ;)

 

I do think I have one of those miniature version tie-down straps, I think I can use that one around the module, and just place a book of decent weight on the of the thing. That should pretty much do the trick.

[cteno4]

yeah, ardarsh has made them in a number of lengths, folks started asking for them in various lenghts. but no worries if it goes long underneath! can always glue a little block of wood under the screw areas to screw into.

 

might be good to experiment with the finger joints as once they get perfect should be very reproducible! when ive done box or dovetail joints with router templates its amazing when they just slide together perfectly.

 

spot on, the bands are the way to go to clamp these. just make some little corner L pieces out of 12mm x like 24-30mm wood to put on each corner (with wax paper in between!) and then strap around it. spreads the force out nicely. its funny like 10 minutes ago i was looking at a woodworking catalog that came in the mail that has nice finger joint clamping corners like this (technical term is cauls) that even have alternating fingers in the inside corner that push on each finger to mash it well into its notch.

 

http://www.rockler.com/box-joint-cauls-box-joint-jig-cauls-sold-separately

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

I may have to experiment a little with taking the laser's diameter into consideration in the drawings. Not sure what the diameter is of their machine, but on average it seems it's somewhere around 0.32mm. Only problem is if you calculate too small a diameter, you'll end up having to sand down every single joint to make it fit ;)  I'll probably also want to design some actual modules I'll be using rather than test a couple of different dimensions. I don't want to experiment too much though considering it'll still be around 25-30 euro per module when using the 3mm ply.

[cteno4]

yeah but at that dia if it veries a tad it probably wont be a problem. a tenth of a mm too tight and they should squeeze together!

 

will they let you do a tiny piece of scrap to do some tests for your final fitting cheap?

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

I've never actually asked about that to be honest. I might decide to go over there and have a chat with them, and figure stuff out. They do provide all sorts of help and guidance, and you're always welcome to go and see how the entire process works.

[cteno4]

Oooh field trip! sounds like something to do on your vacation. big bright toys! surprised you were not on there already like a fly on pie!

 

Ill bet if you show interest they might do a quick test there for free to see what is best. i bet they have this worked out as its a big thing for tolerances, etc.

 

also you are doing something that others may want to make at their service so they can win big in the long run! I bet they will like you a lot!

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Some pictures of the Flor Verde kits I received a while ago.. This one is the unpainted kit of the Nakanocho Station.

 

 

Image 001:

The base plate, which is fairly thick card stock.

 

Image 002:

Close up of the base plate, (hopefully) showing the detail that's either stamped or engraved into the actual card stock. From a scale perspective, the detail is probably way too rough, but it does look pretty good from the normal N-scale viewing distance.

 

Image 003:

Sheet with all the exterior walls and and interior support.

 

Image 004:

Detail shot, again showing all the detail engraved in it.

 

Image 005:

The instructions sheet. This one is actually pretty well done compared to the other kit's instructions ;)

 

[Martijn Meerts]

And kit number 2, Yagisawa Station in Nagano, on the Ueda Bessho line. I plan to build the first couple of T-Trak modules around this station.

 

 

Image 001:

The base plates. Like the other kit, this is fairly heavy card stock.

 

Image 002:

Also like the first kit, engraved/stamped detail.

 

Image 003:

The 2 sheets with the actual building and detail parts. The sheets are really rather thin, so it'll be interesting the see how sturdy it'll be in the end.

 

Image 004:

Close up of the engraved detail. Also shows the pre-painting. Looks like they just really quickly threw some colour on there ;)

 

Image 005:

Roof detail.

 

Image 006:

1 page of the instructions. Apparently they decided to build a non-painted version, and the instruction look pretty much like a printed blog post from someone building the kit ;)

 

[Martijn Meerts]

So, I was planning on doing a lot of stuff during my holidays, but of course, I managed to stack up so many things I needed to do, that I ended up only really working on a few projects. Unfortunately, most of those projects had nothing to do with trains. Of course, it didn't help that I kept running out of materials and components, and due to the whole holiday season it was difficult getting new stuff.

 

I did work a little on the Flor Verde kit of Yagisawa station. It'll be used as the basis of the first actual T-Trak module I'll be building. I've also put a little more work into the schematics for the laser cutting, so hopefully I'll be able to send another batch of drawings to be cut soon-ish. The laser cutting place actually had holidays during the same time I had holidays, so haven't been able to try the 3mm ply yet ;)

 

Anyways, here are 2 pictures of the station. I haven't done any pictures while building, mainly because there's nothing special about the way the kits are designed. They're much the same as the Sankei kits, and pretty much any other paper craft kit. While the kit is pre-coloured, I don't think they actually put a lot of thought into the painting process. Some parts that should really be painted on both sides are painted on just 1 site, and there's quite a few cut lines visible, so it definitely requires a little extra work to fix all the unpainted bits. It's not a lot of work, but getting the colours to match will be a pain ;)

 

 

Image 007:

Front (platform side) of the station.

 

Image 008:

Rear of the station.

[Densha]

Just some random station I designed. It's already way too long for T-Trak modules actually (6 modules long ^^; ) but here we go. The houses and other stuff I put on there is to make it easier to relativize.

While I prefer the first one it's not convenient because the station building doesn't fit on there (and if I want at least a road in front of the station I need a few cm extra).

The second one fits on the modules it has a track less and you can't reach the diesel shed and tanking thingy with a through track. While the good point is that you can reach it with the track I would use for short trains like KiHa's, you have less shunting options and I think the switch power routing will be a challenge (which I intend to use).

The third and fourth option are not even that bad, but are even longer and the problem is that the main track is at the other side of the module. Reversing it is ugly and dangerous for the trains because it's near the edge and there should be a background there.

 

Edited January 28, 2014 by Densha

[Martijn Meerts]

You just have to use modules that are 620 instead of 310, and all of a sudden the station is only 3 modules long ;)

 

In all seriousness, I think having a decent size station is actually a good thing, and it's no problem at all if the modules end up being somewhat bigger. The main concern will of course be transporting them. I do like the designs though, it would definitely be worth building (one of) them.

[Densha]

Or one module of 2,17m in case of the latter two options......

 

I wanted to be able to put at least my 5-car express trains on there on at least two tracks, and if possible I thought space for one extra car would be a good thing. I also wanted to include a non-through track (I forgot the word for 'kopspoor' in English :P) and I wanted to include a fueling point as well. So after looking at real-life station and model station layouts for years I'm quite happy with it.

And yes, transporting is a problem. I don't have a car nor am planning on getting my license so transporting is quite impossible with long modules. Up to 620mm should be possible somehow though.

 

But if I have time during the summer vacation (it's not even winter yet but not much free time, I should actually even be studying while typing this), I'll try to start with a simple 310mm module, a house and a railway crossing or something. And maybe add a platform like this for the smallest station module ever: http://www.tomytec.co.jp/diocolle/lineup/tatemono/tate021.html

Edited January 28, 2014 by Densha

[Martijn Meerts]

That's basically what I'm starting with.. just a single track local line with small stations. When looking for small stations I noticed Flor Verde does quite a lot of them, and the 1 I've (partially) built so far is from the Ueda-Bessho line, which looks like a nice one to use as inspiration.

 

Of course, time is very limited in my case as well considering I can't concentrate/work on a single project at a time :)