kvp's layout ideas and attempts

[cteno4]

Nice job kvp, really makes the model pop nicely!

 

800 grit is great for roofs! Hit it with some dull coat. Also weathers nicely to make puddle stains etc.

 

Makes great fast roads as well. Drop some pin tape on it for the road lines and then hit it with some dull coat to set a nice asphalt texture and fix the pin tape in place (it doesn't stick well to the sandpaper.)

 

Jeff

[kvp]

 

800 grit is great for roofs!

It's somewhere around that. Imho the credit should go to Ken Shores of Sumida Crossing.

[cteno4]

Very nice of you kvp to credit ken! But truth be told he probably learned it from one of the model railroader books as its a really old technique! I learned it when I was a kid doing trains like 45 years back and I learned it I think from an old scenery book from the 50s!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

Using sandpaper to represent asphalt roofing... genius.

 

I find that black masking tape works well, and provides the seams between sheets.

[kvp]

I'm trying to cram a bus terminal into the available space:

(i need some ideas for a prototypical combination of bus/road/sidewalk)

[JR 500系]

Wow that IS A small space. How about this one?

 

 

I took this photo from the Bus Collection Manual. It utilizes a really small space for a bus terminal with a bus stop for about 3 buses...

[Terangeree]

What about half of something like the bus terminus at Tomonoura? It's basically two bus stops on opposite sides of the street. The arriving bus discharges its passengers at one stop, does an awkward three-point turn in the T intersection on the harbourside, about 30 feet away, and then pulls in to the bus stop opposite from the first to wait for passengers to carry on the return journey to Fukuyama.

For such a bus terminal, all you would need would be the space occupied by a T-junction. (the bus terminus is in the red box on the Google Earth screenshot)

 

[kvp]

Thanks for the tips. I went with the bus collection example as this is what fits.

The stop is at the station enterance and the turnaround way goes around the parking bus. The road is just off the module. The rest will be green with some fencing towards the tracks.

[kvp]

The talk about the 12 series emus in the Kato release thread inspired me to actually draw up a small layout using only small radius Kato unitrack. The layout has 3 single track stations with point to point operations and continous running ability. The idea is to have a larger station (at the bottom) that is the connection point to a mainline, with two destinations inside the oval. Two trains can go to the main station and then back, circling any number of times. This layout can be run with any kind of short emu, but i was drawing it with a Kato kumoha12 and kumoni13 in mind, but have space for 2 car trains. The setting could be mixed use industrial-residential-seaport, very much like the area of the Tsurumi line. (it seems possible to sneak in a small waterway across the left or right side with small railroad bridge sections)

[enodenlover]

I really like your small layout trackplan, kvp. If I ever decide to take another shot at building a permanent layout, this is a possibility. A little larger though so that there'll be more distance between the downtown and outlying terminals.

[kvp]

One of the finer points of Tomix Finetrack is that you can move the elevated piers wherever you want and the clips still keep everything together.

 

[railsquid]

You could say it's without pier.

 

I'll get my coat.

 

But seriously, at one point I had an ordinary curve of Tomix track crossing some other curved track, held in place only by the connection to the adjacent track pieces, no supports at all.

[kvp]

Nick's great b-train layout redrawn for Tomix track and normal length trains (up to 5 cars long):

(The cut off corner is missing in the bottom left, but the given depth (750mm) is just barely enough to use the two standard cuves in a double track loop. Going under 280mm would be possible, but that could be too tight for some normal length trains. The only tricks are the 18.5mm pieces used to fit the island platform in and the 72.5mm straight used to compensate for the rotated turnout. I would add the power feeds to the bottom left curve for simple power routing and isolating joiners between the two loops between the two turnouts at the bottom.)

Edited January 10, 2016 by kvp

[katoftw]

One of the finer points of Tomix Finetrack is that you can move the elevated piers wherever you want and the clips still keep everything together.

 

IMG_20160110_165454.jpg

That is pretty good then.  Kato can only do the midway of each piece from memory.

[Blobby]

Nick's great b-train layout redrawn for Tomix track and normal length trains (up to 5 cars long):

(The cut off corner is missing in the bottom left, but the given depth (750mm) is just barely enough to use the two standard cuves in a double track loop. Going under 280mm would be possible, but that could be too tight for some normal length trains. The only tricks are the 18.5mm pieces used to fit the island platform in and the 72.5mm straight used to compensate for the rotated turnout. I would add the power feeds to the bottom left curve for simple power routing and isolating joiners between the two loops between the two turnouts at the bottom.)

Thanx again KVP

 

I like this layout and am going to ponder it a while - I've started so many layouts in the past and then found fault with them and given up that I want to get this one right - I could go a bit wider but at the moment the more compact the better I'll put some points in so that I can hopefully extend at a later date - I'm also very keen to get some elevated track in, not least because I've bought a Tomix viaduct station!

[kvp]

While i was looking at the last layout plan i managed to draw, i was thinking about what if it was a bit larger and had a larger station and yard. The result is this layout, which has a 4 track station with 2 island platforms, a double track mainline, a larger emu or freight yard with its own access track that can be used for shunting. There is also place for a shed building in the top corner and a locomotive/mow storage siding at the mainline exit side of the yard (all mainline yard points are trailing). This means the yard can be used in the through mode, so in freight mode, the mainline locos only have to move forward, while the yard shunter can switch the train from the back, all while both mainline tracks are in use. In multiple unit mode, the station connection allows the trains to move between the station and the yard directly, while the opposite side can be reached through the mainline crossover. It's a relatively huge layout (2 meter x 0.8 meters), but has enough operating possibilities and space for a dozen trains at the same time, while allowing up to 3 to run (up to 5 with blocks on the main or dcc) For tracks, i would use wide rails for most of the layout to get a uniformly ballasted look both for the mainline and the yard, with street track pieces added to the yard and shed tracks as paved crossings or loading areas.

 

[miyakoji]

Have you calculated the cost of that beast?

[kvp]

No, i just like to design layouts for fun, but i know that even the ttrak modules i'm building right now cost a lot. (btw it's around a dozen turnouts and a crossover, a double track loop with a single four track station and some straights, the yard ladder is the only expensive looking part as there are no viaducts in it)

[Blobby]

Nick's great b-train layout redrawn for Tomix track and normal length trains (up to 5 cars long):

(The cut off corner is missing in the bottom left, but the given depth (750mm) is just barely enough to use the two standard cuves in a double track loop. Going under 280mm would be possible, but that could be too tight for some normal length trains. The only tricks are the 18.5mm pieces used to fit the island platform in and the 72.5mm straight used to compensate for the rotated turnout. I would add the power feeds to the bottom left curve for simple power routing and isolating joiners between the two loops between the two turnouts at the bottom.)

 

 

Hi KVP have been having a play with this plan you did I'd like to include a spur in the bottom left hand corner leading to the left edge of the baseboard with future expansion. I've played with a couple of ideas but they seem clumsy and throw the track geometry out

[kvp]

The only easy to add way would be to add a turnout just right of the bottom turnout. Since that piece is a curved one with the same geometry of a turnout, you can add the branch there. It's possible to make a single track or a double track branch, the latter requires a double slip turnout if you want to keep the crossover functionality too, otherwise a simple crossing piece is enough.

There is also an ugly hack that fits an R280 turnout into the place of 90 degrees of R317 with a big bag of S18.5 spacers:

 

 

[katoftw]

Gotta love the flexibility Tomix allows you to have with track plans.  You don't get that magic with Kato.

[kvp]

Small progress around the station enterance and the bus terminal:

[kvp]

Bridge module work in progress:

[velotrain]

Gotta love the flexibility Tomix allows you to have with track plans.  You don't get that magic with Kato.

 

What is this heresy I hear?

[Blobby]

Nick's great b-train layout redrawn for Tomix track and normal length trains (up to 5 cars long):

(The cut off corner is missing in the bottom left, but the given depth (750mm) is just barely enough to use the two standard cuves in a double track loop. Going under 280mm would be possible, but that could be too tight for some normal length trains. The only tricks are the 18.5mm pieces used to fit the island platform in and the 72.5mm straight used to compensate for the rotated turnout. I would add the power feeds to the bottom left curve for simple power routing and isolating joiners between the two loops between the two turnouts at the bottom.)

{hi KVP - I'm still pondering this track plan I've ordered the extra track I need to have a play with it - but I would still like to include a viaduct station (I just happen to have the Tomix one) even if it's not full length I really like what nickhp has done with the viaduct on the shorty layout but it would be nice to have it connected to the lower level