Freight Layout

[macdon]

[cteno4]

Impressive! Really coming together quickly! Amazing mountain. Rare you see scenery like that you could stand on!

 

Good lacquer primer and white glue solutions should stick to that well enough I would think if a flat was used.

 

Jeff

Edited April 10, 2013 by cteno4

[macdon]

I think I got overzealous with the way the printers did the backdrop, that I decided to have them make this temporary scenery till the appropriate scenery stuff arrives..........

 

 

 

 

Mardon

[JR 500系]

I'm loving what you're doing Mardon! It's lovely, especially the mountain pass!

 

Oh Kato road plates! And a Tomica Bus making it's maiden journey~ Reminds me of my previous Tomica collections~

[macdon]

I'm loving what you're doing Mardon! It's lovely, especially the mountain pass!

 

Oh Kato road plates! And a Tomica Bus making it's maiden journey~ Reminds me of my previous Tomica collections~

 

Thanks JR.

 

I think I would need your haul from Fmodels to somehow fill the gaping emptiness of my layout! 

 

Mardon

[cteno4]

Mardon,

 

no worries it will fill in with time. you might try some card stock models in the mean time, i have a whole bunch of pdf files for free ones from the web if you are interested. just cut them out quickly and tape up to get something there and start visualizing buildings there! 

 

fmodels said they do 20% off on tomytec buildings for their standard, so that would be 15% off list (their % off is from list+5% tax store price), still 5% better than hs if you are buying a bunch! that reminds me that package should be showing up soon! loco1 is also starting to stock some tomytec buildings.

 

also you might pick up a pack of those chinese architectural model cars off ebay. you get 50 of them for around $8 (they use to be cheaper!)

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-MIXED-N-SCALE-TRAINS-MODEL-RAILROAD-LAYOUT-CAR-1-150-/190467264805?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2c58bbd125

 

crude and not great to look at close up, but for just having some vehicles to scatter around until you have better they are uber cheap. then you can use them in the far bits or in parking garage, scrap yard, etc!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[macdon]

Mardon,

 

no worries it will fill in with time. you might try some card stock models in the mean time, i have a whole bunch of pdf files for free ones from the web if you are interested. just cut them out quickly and tape up to get something there and start visualizing buildings there! 

 

fmodels said they do 20% off on tomytec buildings for their standard, so that would be 15% off list (their % off is from list+5% tax store price), still 5% better than hs if you are buying a bunch! that reminds me that package should be showing up soon! loco1 is also starting to stock some tomytec buildings.

 

also you might pick up a pack of those chinese architectural model cars off ebay. you get 50 of them for around $8 (they use to be cheaper!)

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-MIXED-N-SCALE-TRAINS-MODEL-RAILROAD-LAYOUT-CAR-1-150-/190467264805?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2c58bbd125

 

crude and not great to look at close up, but for just having some vehicles to scatter around until you have better they are uber cheap. then you can use them in the far bits or in parking garage, scrap yard, etc!

 

cheers

 

jeff

 

 

I was actually looking at those paper models before I saw your post. I got some free pdf from a japanese website (clinic, clothes shop, small office bldg and a bar). If you have more, feel free to send thru email  :).

Scalescenes.com looks interesting - but only modern buildings if modeling Japan. Some are too american/european.

 

The city block and roadways I have is temporary, so freebie/inexpensive paper models would be more practical for now. 

I also contacted Fmodels, but havent received any response yet. Yup, I got those cheapo cars and people from ebay/china just recently as fillers too. Will probably take a few weeks before they arrive thou.

 

Mardon

[cteno4]

Cool they are a great way to start messing around for little money, then later you can fill in with the nicer, more expensive stuff as time and budget allows.

 

I'll pm you to get you access to my PDF stash...

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

Edited April 11, 2013 by cteno4

[Ochanomizu]

Hello Mr macdon,

 

I am extremely impressed with your fibreglass demonstration.  I wish to try this method myself but have no experience.  Is it a task that the novice may complete?

[westfalen]

Here is my 3 ft x 2 ft Nekotani Dentetsu based on a plan from the sadly out of print Kato track plan book using 249mm radius curves. Small layouts can be quite effective and you don't spend the rest of your life detailing them.

 

[macdon]

Hello Mr macdon,

 

I am extremely impressed with your fibreglass demonstration.  I wish to try this method myself but have no experience.  Is it a task that the novice may complete?

 

I wouldnt recommend it for a first time beginner. Maybe start with a small fiberglass kit but I strongly recommend you have fiberglassers do it or maybe at least have someone to teach you and practice on small projects.

Fiberglass fumes is toxic while curing, so best to do it outdoors - and dont forget to wear a mask. My fiberglass workers have been doing these half their lives, so they're used to it. Calculating the hardener for the resin is based on the size of the project with considerations based on the weather (sunny,  overcast or rainy) as you dont want any wastage. 

 

Mardon

[macdon]

Here is my 3 ft x 2 ft Nekotani Dentetsu based on a plan from the sadly out of print Kato track plan book using 249mm radius curves. Small layouts can be quite effective and you don't spend the rest of your life detailing them.

 

That layout looks great! Pretty detailed too. 

Sadly, it'll be a long ways for me to possibly be even close to the vicinity of your work. 

 

Mardon

Edited April 12, 2013 by macdon

[macdon]

I tried some freebie paper models which are probably better than nothing, but dont really care much about them. Maybe I just dont have the skill set anymore but hoping that they're still worth a try. 

 

 

Mardon

[macdon]

The simple round layout will be set aside for now while waiting on some things from abroad, however I have already started on my regular 3'x7' layout.

 

I am currently doing the freight line while waiting for more tracks for the commuter line. Just testing trains running around to check for any problems. Incline is at 2% or 1/4" for every foot of track.

 

Mardon

 

 

 

[Mudkip Orange]

I like the track plan. But I gotta wonder about having the yard tracks on a downslope... it's going to be very hard for crews not to hit those buffers!

[macdon]

I like the track plan. But I gotta wonder about having the yard tracks on a downslope... it's going to be very hard for crews not to hit those buffers!

 

Yeah, I was thinking of that too. Will do more test later with load (rolling stock). 

If not, I could still level them.

 

Mardon

[macdon]

Some small progress.............

 

Instead of many holes for each turnout, I decided to make just one bigger hole and inserted all the turnout wires including their extension cords. Individually numbered so no confusion.

 

 

 

Single power pack for the freight line with its turnout controls on a make shift and detachable platform. Another power pack for the commuter line will be placed on the right side.

 

 

"peek-a-boo" mountain. Yard was also leveled off.

 

 

 

 

Mardon

[macdon]

Both freight and commuter lines have been tested - works great.

Some pics.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mardon

[macdon]

Testing the freight line with 2 trains. Sorry about the very amateurish video:

 

 

Mardon

[JR 500系]

Wow!

 

Great Job Mardon! I'm loving the complexcity of the layout! Very impressive to have only one controller and yet two trains running at the same time! Are they DCC? Love the mountains and how they trains enter and exit it!

 

Very nice job! Thanks for sharing!

 

Err.. can i ask where the fibre glass mountain went?

[macdon]

Wow!

 

Great Job Mardon! I'm loving the complexcity of the layout! Very impressive to have only one controller and yet two trains running at the same time! Are they DCC? Love the mountains and how they trains enter and exit it!

 

Very nice job! Thanks for sharing!

 

Err.. can i ask where the fibre glass mountain went?

 

 

Thanks JR!  :)

 

Nope, not DCC just regular, unsweetened DC. I just used a single Kato standard controller ($43) and a single kato feeder track. I need another controller for the commuter line thou. Im hoping it will arrive soon.

The fiberglass mountain is still in the small round setup - it was made for that setup.  The black mountain you see in the video will be the new and bigger fiberglass mountain! Lol!

 

Here's the track plan of the video above:

 

 

Mardon

[cteno4]

mardon,

 

looks good, lots of track to run on but a good strip down the center for some dense building scene and corners and misc spots as well. great thing about japanese scenes is that all sorts of stuff is butt up against the tracks!

 

before you attach your track down you may want to put in another feeder or two in the inside folded figure 8. you might get some voltage drops, especially if you do ballasting as usually a little glue gets in the unijoiners and you can get some resistance.

 

also put a couple of separate drops in the outer loop so you can eventually run this with 2 controllers, one for inner and one for outer loops. 

 

they sell unijoiners that have wires attached to drop a feed anywhere. these work fine, but are delicate so not good if you pull the track up much. or some do a technique of slipping an stripped end of 20g wire between the bottom of the end of the track and the unijoiner. if you are handy with a dremel tool you can also take any section of track and cut a slot in the base just under the rail then solder leads to the underside of the track. ive found this technique to be the best as it gives the most positive joint and you can use heavier gauge wire (like 18g) to get a really good solid connection. sacrifice a hunk of 248 first and get good at cutting your slots and doing the soldering. pretin the wire and the track then just do a quick solder weld as you wont have much room to get the wire in the slot along with the tip and too long and roadbed plastic starts melting fast!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[macdon]

Thanks for the advice Jeff!

Yes sir, will add some more feeders as I've noticed some power drops between turnouts. I have the Kato accessories you mentioned including the 3 way extension, so that'll be 3 power feeders for every controller.

 

The above will act as a basis for fiberglassing like I did with the mountain on the small layout, so I was checking on how the tracks will sit on the contour of the land.

 

Mardon  

[cteno4]

mardon,

 

cool 3 is probably good for that size spread evenly. ballasting is the thing that seems to screw up most folks with power drops eventually. the glue gets into the unijoiners and messes things up some.

 

the kato turnouts are power routing (#6 all the time and #4 switchable), so that track power only goes to the track the point is switched to. this way you can turn off/off a siding or passing track by just routing the switch there. so if you are not putting in insulating joiners and controlling your spurs' power with external switches of some kind, then with the kato power routing you dont want to put a power connection on dead end spurs or between points that are a passing track or the main line like on your outside on the right side. just do power feeds just on the outside this area like the top and bottom. this way you can have the two branches between the points be powered by which one is selected from the point's direction and keep one train on the siding while running another thru the main line or switch to the passing track leaving a train stopped in the main line and run the other thru the passing track.

 

if you do notice a big power drop at some point try replacing the unijoiners around there or squeezing them some with pliers to pinch harder on the track.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[macdon]

This time, we test the commuter line. 

Layout requires 2 controllers, but since I have only one (hope the other one comes in soon), I had to swap the feeder lines.

 

 

Mardon