Combined AsiaNrail / Ntrak layout in SF Bay Area

[nscalestation]

As part of the Hiller Aviation Museum's "Trains and Planes" exhibit, there will be a combined Ntrak / AsiaNrail layout set up for the week between April 12th and 19th.  

 

For this layout the AsiaNrail layout height will be lowered from 51" to 43" to match Ntrak's Mountain Division track and my new Hot Springs Junction module will make it debut as the connection between the two layouts.  With adjustable legs, in the future this new module can also be used as an AsiaNrail only or Ntrak only module.

 

Scenery on the module is rudimentary at this point but a week long setup is a great way to test track work, etc.  The AsiaNrail part of the layout will also feature several new or rebuilt modules.

 

The Hiller Aviation Museum is located next to the San Carlos Airport and can be seen from US Highway 101.  The hours for the exhibit are 11:00am to 3:00pm.   More details are on the Hiller web site:  http://www.hiller.org/index.shtml

 

Either Paul Ingraham or myself or both of us will be there every day along with several members of Peninsula Ntrak.  If you are in the Bay Area, it would be great to see you.

 

I'll be sure to post some photos from the exhibit afterwards.

 

 

[cteno4]

Brad,

 

Sounds like a lot of great fun playing with ntrak! Glad to see asiaNrails doing well and shows back in my old stomping ground. Maybe don will make it down!

 

Enjoy!

 

Jeff

[nscalestation]

OK, as promised here are some photos from the 8 day long exhibit.     Some of the photos have descriptions on them and some don't.  The exhibit was great, the layout was enjoyed by I would guess thousands.  I know the museum was quite happy with the turnout.  Both Ntrak and AsiaNrail parts of the layout ran with no real problems and I think everyone involved ran everything they had as much as they wanted. 

 

So here are the photos.  There are also a few more on my blog that are different than these.

http://tokyo-in-nscale.blogspot.com/2014/04/trains-n-planes-exhibition.html

 

 

[kvp]

This really looks like fun! Great layouts and pictures.

[Bernard]

Brad congratulations on a successful show.

[cteno4]

Brad,

 

looks like it was a great show! Congrats!

 

did don make it down?

 

jeff

[nscalestation]

Brad,

 

looks like it was a great show! Congrats!

 

did don make it down?

 

jeff

Jeff,  

 

I was not there every day but did not see him when I was there.

[cteno4]

brad,

 

too bad, but he has been a very busy boy with the new job i think.

 

you guys are making me itch to do single track and some more like freemo modules! 

 

nice paint and assembly jobs on the fujimi temple and shrine! 

 

jeff

[nscalestation]

 

you guys are making me itch to do single track and some more like freemo modules! 

 

nice paint and assembly jobs on the fujimi temple and shrine! 

 

jeff

 

I like freemo too.  In fact we've had one of the local young freemo guys help us out with running the AsiaNrail layout.  His freemo module is Japanese prototype and as an experiment at this show we tried to connect it to an unused spur off of Paul's junction module.  It did not work because of the profile board interface of those two particular modules. 

 

We now have an invite to return to the Los Altos History Museum in September.  We've done both the Ntrak and AsiaNrail layouts there before but this would be the first time combined.  So, I've got about 5 months to finish the scenery on my junction module.

[Railtunes]

This was a great outing with the combined layout. And thanks, Jeff,  for the comments on the temples. As you no doubt know, the Fujimi Byodo-in model doesn't include either the base island or the rear "tail" wing of the temple. I scratch built both. The tail is built up using photo overlays made from online images and sized according to plans I found that were used to document the structure for the World Heritage registration, so it's all to correct 1:150 scale.

The other temple in the Fall setting is a Korean model from Young Modeler of the Muryangsujang at Beosoeksa in south-central South Korea. It's a nice laser cut wood kit to which I added detail and paint and the surrounding setting, based on a Fall photo of the temple I found online.

 

Not shown in Brad's great photos is the new port module we had at one end of the 3-point wye-shaped layout. This was fully functional but not yet sceniced. The prototype is from . . . Scotland(?), but with my usual interchangeable structures. It will be joined by a small motive power depot - also Scottish - for the Los Altos show in September. It's built and operable, but needs scenery and structures. So, we keep on growing.

 

And more good news for N scale Asian modelers of the less-well known: CMR, the makers of the wonderful new Chinese DF4D Diesels, is also releasing Taiwan 2700 class railcar and trailer models. These are the Budd-licensed stainless steel ones. And their Chinese YU22 coaches are due out imminently. Rapido Trains in Canada is the designated North American importer, since CMR is their designated Chinese representative and manufacturer.

I also found another Korean manufacturer, Artdm (Art Design Models), who has laser cut acrylic models of a couple of stations, one older and rural and the other a modern commuter station designed to be used with Kato Unitrack. This one is mainly "glass" and has great escalator models inside. They also have apartment buildings, fences and other stuff. Right now, it's all kits - very well designed and easy to assemble - but they are moving over to offering assembled models in the future.

And there's a Korean modeler living in Canada who is doing a distinctly Korean Samaeul Diesel train by Shapeways prototyping. It's still in development, but looks very promising! He has a short demo video on YouTube.

 

- Paul Ingraham

[serotta1972]

Hello, I was on a bike ride and passed by the museum and ate at Burger King next door.  I really wanted to stop by but we had to get back to SF by a certain time and never managed to go back that week.  A couple of years ago I went there and they had the European Train Enthusiast setup which was pretty awesome.  I was wondering if you guys are going back to the Museum again this year? I would love to see some real Japanese themed layouts, tired of watching them on youtube - not really but the real thing would be really nice.  Thanks. -Junior