cteno4 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 (edited) Nick, glad to hear it was a good show! I'm sure the btrains made some converts! Probably could have sold a bunch there! No worries on the article, whenever, want it to be fun for you to do, not a pain! Will look forward to it as btrains seem to have picked up in popularity recently. Great you and Jon got to meet up! Always fun to see when forum folks meet up in person! Cheers, Jeff Edited December 30, 2013 by cteno4 Link to comment
Krackel Hopper Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Sorry Jeff, I failed to take any pictures while I was there. I find it interesting that you've seen nearly the opposite in regards to scenery. I am beginning to wonder if it is because of my location. Most people here model the two railroads here.. BNSF and UP.. and model these in the midwest. A flat module with some static grass may be their interpretation of a mile long UP inter modal crossing the plains? Not sure, just speculating here.. Anyway.. getting back to the topic.. Nick, have you considered adding a small yard to your t-trak setup? Even an unfinished yard across the back would allow you to have at least 6 trains out (3 per loop) to make switching a little faster. Would also allow you to keep both tracks running while changing out trains behind the scenes. Maybe you have one, or at least have though of doing this..? Jonathan Link to comment
cteno4 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Jon, yeah that could be. our local ntrak (northern va and baltimore) are pretty active and long lived so probably a lot of emphasis on modeling plus a wide range of scenery around here to choose from! ttraks have been hell bent on miles of track for a long time, but i think its now getting to the point where folks are getting back to detailed scenery, that topic pops up now and then on the ttrak groups. always felt wrong to not do decent scenery as lee started ttrak with the idea of doing mini dioramas with a lot of scenery and her first modules are some of the most spectacular scenes done in ttrak! Nick, did you get any picts of your setups? cheers jeff Link to comment
nickhp Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 Attached are a couple of photos, I didn't take very many using my camera this time. One photo shows our overall set up. Thoughts for improving things for our next outing include getting table covers (we always seem to get the worst tables at the shows we go to!) to improve the presentation, finishing my layout fascia and adding the lighting pelmet and adding some information boards about Japanese trains. BTW, yes we are planning on the "fiddle yard" modules for storage at the back of the T-Trak set up, but since we typically change one track at a time and only do so every hour or so, it wasn't too important in the short term. As I mentioned, the T-Trak set up we found a bit limiting, so we were not sure if we wanted to do too much more than we already have since we had the other small layout projects going. Cheers Nick 1 Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 wow great layouts! how many did you end up with there at the show. i cant spot that 180 module in the last picture. what is the big black box? looks like you had a lot of fun! jeff Link to comment
Krackel Hopper Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) what is the big black box? That 180 module is behind said black box. Edited January 2, 2014 by Krackel Hopper 2 Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) Way cool, forgot about that module! Awesome! That's really odd I could have sworn I saw another 180 with water somewhere on it! Must have been to late at night! Cheers Jeff Edited January 2, 2014 by cteno4 Link to comment
nickhp Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 Wow, last post is over a year old! I didn't realize how little I have worked on this layout! The layout is good for home use but not as friendly for exhibiting. Amazing how heavy it is given how small it is and the materials used to construct it. With so many things going on I just haven't done anything to this layout for the longest time. I think I will have to get back to working on it soon, I really do want to finish it off. I have almost completed a small article on the layout and will make it available once the layout is completed. After that I may end up selling the layout if I can come up with something lighter and easier to exhibit. Who knows! The over/under layout I came up with is getting some attention, I started it out of boredom and then got too busy to touch it too, but it was exhibited at the local train show in an unfinished state earlier this month and I hope to have it much further along for the bigger show in town early in March. I will update that post with progress. Nick Link to comment
tossedman Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Looking forward to seeing more. I can't get enough of the B Train Show Teas! Cheers eh, Todd Link to comment
cteno4 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 It's amazing how fast a module sub structure will increase in weight! Hard to resist not building things beefy, but when you have to lug it around it adds up sooooo fast! Jeff Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Almost another year with no progress. Well, I started getting the itch to run some b trains over the holidays so uncovered the layout. With a show coming up on the 23rd and 24th I thought I would get the layout closer to finished. So some progress has been made over the last few days! I will post some photos tomorrow if I can, and try to post updates as I prepare for the show. Cheers, Nick Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 A couple of photos to go along with the update. More to follow... 2 Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Some new construction going up?! Jeff Link to comment
katoftw Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Not a huge B-train fan. But love your layout. Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Yes. About time, right?! Finishing up the garage, just the top floor to go. It's taking a bit longer since I am doing a little extra on the top floor. Being that the parking garage overlooks the tracks, I am installing a net down the side and a higher railing. Pictures later... Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) So here are a couple of photos of progress on the parking garage. Probably stupid to spend so much time doing this given that it is hardly visible. Oh well. The netting was a royal pain to install, but it's done now so I can move on to the next thing which is adding the details. Once this is done, I will work on the small "island" section as I call it. Will post photos of that as I make progress. If you look at the attachment to first post on page 2, the mall and parking garage go where the blue blob is on the left side of the photo. The "island" as I call it is the blue area on the right of the photo near the train repair shed on the inside of the loop. Hope that makes sense to anyone that is interested! Nick Edited January 5, 2016 by nickhp 5 Link to comment
JR 500系 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Hi Nick! That netting looks GREAT! It makes the garage looked alive! Great work! I am actually very interested in that small little painted bus at the right side of the mall... It looks like a Bandai 1/150 working bus but I have never seen them in that painted livery before... Don't mind if we can have a closer look at that bus? (Bus addiction illness speaking...) Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 Here are 2 photos of the Bandai bus as requested. Nick 1 Link to comment
Mudkip Orange Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 This is the best looking parking garage I've seen. Congrats. Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 The parking garage is the back end of the aoshima Kit. It was pretty hard work cutting the parts up but I like the result. Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 (edited) So, picture one is the mall and garage loosely laid in place (thought not sitting flat on the deck!) to show why I put up the mesh on the side of the garage structure. I was inspired by a youtube video that showed that kind of meshing applied to a parking garage next to the tracks. The other photos are of the "island" area that will be the next section to get worked. Photo 2 shows the sub-base which is a piece of foamboard with the cardboard faces peeled off. This raises the island up to a better height. Photo 3 shows the way I make my layout sections. A piece of styrene sheet for the overall base. Strip styrene for the walls. Another layer of thick styrene sheet to form the sidewalks. Cut out to sink the base of the tomytec (or Kato in other areas) structures. Photos 4 and 5 show the island area in situ with the 3 small structures set in place. No work on the layout tonight, will get back to work on it tomorrow. Cheers, Nick Edited January 6, 2016 by nickhp 4 Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Really nice work nick! Jeff Link to comment
JR 500系 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Here are 2 photos of the Bandai bus as requested. Nick GREAT looking bus! I have never seen this humming bus before! Is it hand painted? It looks really nice! So, picture one is the mall and garage loosely laid in place (thought not sitting flat on the deck!) to show why I put up the mesh on the side of the garage structure. I was inspired by a youtube video that showed that kind of meshing applied to a parking garage next to the tracks. The other photos are of the "island" area that will be the next section to get worked. Photo 2 shows the sub-base which is a piece of foamboard with the cardboard faces peeled off. This raises the island up to a better height. Photo 3 shows the way I make my layout sections. A piece of styrene sheet for the overall base. Strip styrene for the walls. Another layer of thick styrene sheet to form the sidewalks. Cut out to sink the base of the tomytec (or Kato in other areas) structures. Photos 4 and 5 show the island area in situ with the 3 small structures set in place. No work on the layout tonight, will get back to work on it tomorrow. Cheers, Nick Great idea on the island! I for one would be interested to sit in one of those buildings and see the trains go past on one end and admire the maintenance work on the other end watching the yard ~~ :) Link to comment
nickhp Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 No, the bus is not hand painted. I believe it is the "secret item" out of volume 5 of the vehicles. Cheers, Nick Link to comment
JR 500系 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 No, the bus is not hand painted. I believe it is the "secret item" out of volume 5 of the vehicles. Cheers, Nick Ahah! Now I know what I need to target find! :) Link to comment
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