Big times ahead

[ToniBabelony]

Hello all,

 

Last weekend, I visited a friend, who is a very big fan of model trains and boosts quite a huge collection of model trains. He also has a lot of room to spare, but due to his lack of experience, self confidence and motivation, he has never made an attempt of making a layout. With his knowing of me coming to Japan for an undefined time, he had some kind of planning made up in his mind on creating a model train room at his home. The biggest problem won't be space or finances, but time. Maybe it's space and time in all, because there is really a lot of room to spare (especially in regard to space in Japan) and we won't be having all the time in the world to work on it. Luckily, we'll probably have a few more hands of other friends to help out as well.

 

Anyway, he has a large collection of commuter and express trains, so these will largely be represented on the layout. He's also planning a Shinkansen track (which will run parallel to the tracks for express trains) and he desperately wants a Tokyu Ikegami/Tamagawa style line for 3-car commuter trains. As for me, I'd also like to see a local line that starts from a local station on the commuter line. So, there will be:

- Elevated Shinkansen line (17 cars);

- Long-distance line (16 cars);

- Commuter line (11 cars);

- Commuter line (3 cars);

- Local line (2~3 cars);

 

The layout will consist of three parts, a dense urban, concentrated domestic and spacious rural (mountains and fields) environment. On the layout there will be one large main station in the urban area, housing all railway lines, except the local line. The commuter line will stop on a local station, as well as under the main station as a subway. In between this local station and the main station there will be a shared commuter/long-distance train depot.

 

The local line will start at the local station on the commuter line, and will also feature a few small stops along the way to the terminal. Somewhere in between there will also be a small depot. I hope to model an entire A to B local line within the space available.

 

The atmosphere of the layout will largely focus on the Kanto-area and will feature a lot of JR East 205 Series, Keikyu/Keisei and Blue Trains and Tohoku Shinkansen trains. All lines will also feature a staging yard of some kind, just because we really dislike putting the trains in and out of the boxes. Especially MicroAce trains...

 

Anyway, this will be a very very big project and I realise not all of the plans will be realisable, but it's still all in the planning phase, so dreaming big is still at large.

[cteno4]

Toni,

 

Wow, that sounds like quite a fun project to be able to be a part of during your time there! Great!

 

Keep us posted!

 

Jeff

[JR 500系]

Wow! Sounds like a massively large project! A 17 car shinkansen! I must guess the E6 is aready pre-ordered!

 

Will be interesting to see the developments of this project! Sweet! 

[Densha]

Interesting project to say the least. I spotted your fav train!

[ToniBabelony]

Yep, it's a very impressive project to say the least. I'm also very glad my pal and I share the same interests in trains as well! He's a big fan of the 205 Series, Keikyu and the two 'interurban' lines of Tokyu. It's strange he doesn't own any Keisei trains (well, not in running condition at least), but has a large collection of Keisei trains, either in running or still unbuilt Greenmax kits. That'll probably change in the future. I also think he'll be able to recreate quite a large part of the Tokyu Ikegami/Tamagawa line trains, since he has a lot of 1000 and 7x00 Type kits lying around.

 

As he and I meet up more and more (I plan on a meeting this week again), the plans will be made more detailed. It'll take a long time before we'll start building the layout, but I want to plan a modular approach, so that when we actually start building the real thing, we have a few (half-)finished parts to start with immediately.

 

P.s. I think, if we do this right, we could end up with a legendary style layout, as I want to implement a European/British approach to the layout as well. You know, invisible staging yards and things like that.

Edited January 21, 2013 by Toni Babelony

[Martijn Meerts]

The general idea of the layout sounds very similar to what I want to build, the only real difference is that I'm not really inspired by a specific prototypical region.

 

One thing I have to say though, the more space you have available, the more difficult everything gets, even when working with modules/segments :)

[ToniBabelony]

One thing I have to say though, the more space you have available, the more difficult everything gets, even when working with modules/segments :)

 

Yeah, we first have to work out what space we'll be able to use after all. The modular thinking is first and foremost the electrical part. I want to automate the Ikegami/Tamagawa-style line with contacts and relays. Old-school electronics, but pretty much fail proof. The layout for this would be:

　　　　　　┃　　　╱───

──────╋───────

███　╳　┃　╳

──────╋───────

　　　　　　┃　　　╲───

 

Pretty straightforward, but I think I can make it even simpler. It should be home to at least 5 trains.

Edited January 21, 2013 by Toni Babelony

[Martijn Meerts]

If you're not going for a block system or anything like that, the wiring should be fairly simple. Just wire it as if it were a non-modular layout, and add connectors where the modules meet up really.

[ianlaw]

Good luck  :) but just how many lifetimes do you have available?

[KenS]

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but five lines is a huge undertaking, and you mentioned time limitations.

 

I'd suggest coming up with a track plan that meets your goals, but has one section that can be built with perhaps one or two lines as a starting point and proof of concept (Mudkip pointed out on another thread that Quinntopia was built this way).  Once you have that working, you'll have something to enjoy running trains on, and where you can add scenery as and when you want, while continuing to add to it (and give some thought to how you'd add new parts incrementally and be able to use them).

 

You're talking about a project that will take years to realize.  That's good, but trying to bite off too much at the start can lead to frustration and abandoning the project (I've been there).

[ToniBabelony]

The undertaking will be massive indeed and it will take up at least a year, at least for the basis to be built and tracks to be laid and runnable. At least we're lucky to have three people on our team already, plus, like I said, it's still largely in the planning phase. We first need to decide on the space we'll be using and then the layout itself.

 

My advice to my friends is to first make a few T-track modules to get some practice in wiring and landscape making. Neither of both have ever worked on a layout or module before, so it's no good to start on a big layout right away anyway.

[IST]

At least we're lucky to have three people on our team already, plus, like I said, it's still largely in the planning phase.

 

It looks like you will have a model train club soon. :)

 

I think making T-trak modules is a good idea, it would be quite a challenge to make such a huge layout without experience in landscape making.

I am very curious how many plans will you do until all of you agree in one and finalize it. :)

Edited January 29, 2013 by IST

[ToniBabelony]

I'm now still in the planning phase and we have to deal with a room where there also has to be a couch and tv. Don't ask me why, but it just needs to be like that.

 

Anyway, we're only ready to seriously start on building the layout until September when my pal finishes his studies, so that's a long way ahead. In the meantime, I'd suggest we do a few tests, like T-Trak modules (he also owns a few trams) with urban, suburban and rual (mountains and fields) themes.