Going Japanese!!!

[beakaboy]

Nice to see the mountain layout going to a good home. I imagine it would be good therapy for his son as well. Having recently attended a show near my home to display my (TT) mini modules and do some soldering of kits, I was amazed by one lady. her son is severely affected by health issues and struggles to communicate. (he is in his 20's) she says bringing him to shows brings out a strong bond between them and he loves it. while they were there, all I could hear was him going choo/choo at trains and moving his arm as though blowing whistle. fascinating to watch how engaged he was. One of the reasons I love exhibiting at shows. all the best with the new project

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

good on ya to do this again! Glad he is going to have a great xmas and this layout have a good home again!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Pauljag900]

Yesterday we lowered the base boards by about 8" to dining table height and cut them to size for the module boards which will be made over the next few days.

This morning I laid out what track I could so I can make a list of what I need.

Station and storage area will be raised 2" and the four tracks at the front are ground level with rd plates in between.

Double viaduct track is nt laid yet as I m concentrating on the ground level first.once that s all up and running I ll lay the double viaduct track.

[Pauljag900]

Managed to get all the module boards assembled and base painted yesterday,station area track loosely laid and will start to assemble the rest of the track later today when my parcel arrives with some extra track I need.

[Pauljag900]

Track arrived,all laid loose,track test next before I glue it all down,need to scratch build a girder bridge for across the front and the right hand side will be an embankment so piers are only temporary

[JR 500系]

Nice work Paul! Great job mate!

[serotta1972]

On his next post he'll have the scenery completed.  :)

[Pauljag900]

Hi gents,I know this is nt really the place but I ve got some track left over from the layout change,anyone intrested check the for sale thread,

Paul

[nah00]

Track arrived,all laid loose,track test next before I glue it all down,need to scratch build a girder bridge for across the front and the right hand side will be an embankment so piers are only temporary

 

Are you scratch building the bridge for any particular reason? Seems like the Kato double track (or even single track) bridges would work.

[Pauljag900]

Are you scratch building the bridge for any particular reason? Seems like the Kato double track (or even single track) bridges would work.

Hi nahOO,

The gap to span is 105cm and I would need to buy 5 bridges at a cost of about £20 each inc delivery,the other option is viaduct track but at the moment there seems to be a bit of a shortage of 248mm packs and even they would cost about £70 with delivery.I ve already got enough double track to span that length,so I ve made a base from styrene foam boards,5mm thick and I found a guy on eBay making laser cut 3mm mdf bridge sides,any size you want,for what I need is £11 inc postage plus some paint about £2.I ve ordered them and will make the bridge but if it looks rubbish when it's done then I ll eventually buy the viaduct track or kato bridges.So to answer your question,I wanted to use as much track as I could from what I already had,and to be honest I was trying to save a bit of money as I ve already spent in excess of £100 on track I needed to buy to complete it.To be honest had the viaduct track been available I d have probably done that but thought it may be fun to have a go at scratch building one.The problem is,as it's eBay I ve no idea what these bridge sides look like until they arrive so it s fingers crossed,

Thanks for the post nahOO,

Paul

[Drunkenclam]

I got some spare 248 double viaduct sections. Not sure how many. I'd have to check. It would also depend on your location too.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Drunkenclam

[nah00]

Oh that makes sense, I thought you were doing the bridge from scratch and I know how fun making mm size trusses is, especially when you have to make dozens of them that moderately the same. I keep forgetting that now with laser cutting and 3D printing it makes it a lot easier to scratchbuild. And I understand the trying to save money part, Unitrack gets expensive when you for big projects. 

 

[Pauljag900]

I got some spare 248 double viaduct sections. Not sure how many. I'd have to check. It would also depend on your location too.

Hi clam,thanks a lot for replying buddy,but it s single I need not the double,I ve made the base now and ordered the bridge trusses so I ll see what happens in the next few day.

Just for the record I m in Chester mate,so at least the same continent

Edited November 3, 2016 by Pauljag900

[Pauljag900]

Oh that makes sense, I thought you were doing the bridge from scratch and I know how fun making mm size trusses is, especially when you have to make dozens of them that moderately the same. I keep forgetting that now with laser cutting and 3D printing it makes it a lot easier to scratchbuild. And I understand the trying to save money part, Unitrack gets expensive when you for big projects.

 

Hi mate,

Yes it does,one pack and you think,that's not bad,then you put a few in the basket and go to checkout,wham!! It soon adds up buddy.

I may well end up with the kato ones eventually but at least if it's not up to scratch at least I ll have something there for now,

Paul

[cteno4]

Paul,

 

Worth taking a shot at rolling your own! Will be fun to see how it turns out.

 

Are you planning on a drawbridge to get into the center pit? If you are remeber you need a special hinge to get the tracks at the hinge point to clear each other. Forgive me if you have thought of this, but one friend had not and got to mounting piano hinge before he realized this! We were able to fabricate him some wooden hinges that did the trick.

 

Jeff

[Pauljag900]

Hi Jeff,

I could nt really justify spending £100 on a bridge when I ve actually got enough track to span the area,just the wrong sort,so I looked for an alternative,as you can see I m gonna give a home made bridge a try.

As for hinges and how to access the center,at the mom ent I ve got all the modules fastened together with brackets to keep it all square while I lay the track and I ve been crawling under to be honest,I can manage it ok to a degree,once the modules are wired up I only really need to access the center occaisionally so I m thinking of leaving it as it is and just crawling under when I have to.I looked at hinges after you mentioned it the other week,I looked at removing the joiners and adding in power feeds to the dead areas and I looked at the expansion tracks,for the amount of time I need to be in the center I m wondering if it's worth the effort or to just make do with crawling under.i ve just ordered the last two pieces of track I need so sat will see the track layout complete.

I was dubious about having it running in a square but now it's all laid out I m quite pleased with it.I m going to fix the station area tracks down then leave it a while and just run trains to make sure there s no issues before I fix it down permenant or start any scenics.

Remember the issue you helped me with regarding the parked train moving in the passing loop even tho it was closed off? Well I m going to have that scenario again but this time I will have to do it the way you suggested,I ve looked at the diagram you did for me,would it be ok to ask you to look at how I m going to do it? I just want to be sure I ve understood it properly,

Cheers Jeff,

Paul

[beakaboy]

the other option instead of a lift up section on hinges, would be a piece that lifts up and out as a unit and when you slot it in it makes electrical contact with the rest of modules. Just a thought Paul for down the track.(no pun intended)

[Pauljag900]

Hi beaka,

I did think of that one too,but I m just a bit concerned with it expanding and contracting as it's outside,I m probably just goi g to see how it goes climbing under.i know I struggle a bit with my knees but it's all so much more accesable now,I m actually quite pleased with myself at the moment

[nah00]

Hi mate,

Yes it does,one pack and you think,that's not bad,then you put a few in the basket and go to checkout,wham!! It soon adds up buddy.

I may well end up with the kato ones eventually but at least if it's not up to scratch at least I ll have something there for now,

Paul

 

I think a scrathbuilt bridge will look better honestly. It'll be different from the same Kato and Tomix bridges we all use and you can start out with something basic and add to it as time goes on. That's on top of the cost savings as well, I hate when I go to buy one piece of track I need only to walk out with 5 other pieces I 'might' need. 

[Pauljag900]

I think a scrathbuilt bridge will look better honestly. It'll be different from the same Kato and Tomix bridges we all use and you can start out with something basic and add to it as time goes on. That's on top of the cost savings as well, I hate when I go to buy one piece of track I need only to walk out with 5 other pieces I 'might' need.

 

Ha ha,I think we ve all done that nah,this is such an addictive hobby!! I m just glad I m at the point where I really do nt need anymore at the moment,well I thought that last week then realised today I needed two more packs! Hopefully I can complete the track layout at the weekend,

Paul

[nah00]

Every time I think I need more I just remind myself of the container of extra track I have under where I store my train sets and locos. Pretty bad when you have an 'extra' (for the time being) double crossover. 

[Pauljag900]

You re not the only one who's doing that either mate,I ve got boxes of stuff I ll probably never use or need but have kept 'just in case'!

Once I ve got this layout up and running I m getting shut of it all via eBay!

And this morning I decided to lengthen the incline to reduce the degree of incline,so now I need even more viaduct track!!

Edited November 4, 2016 by Pauljag900

[Pauljag900]

Station area track fixed in place and holes drilled for point motor wires,platforms placed in position,next step is to sort the wiring on the platform lights then drop them through and screw the viaduct station base down to the framework.

As it stands I ve decided to operate it from the front instead of the middle but may change it depending on how things work out later on,if I sit in the middle I can reach the controls anyway,it s just easier at the moment to not have it all in the center while I m working on it.

[Pauljag900]

Well putting it together was straight forward forward enough.I may put a top on it like the kato ones but will wait till it's painted and it's too cold at the moment to use spray paint so could be a while.

[cteno4]

Nice! are you going to lop off the corners on each end like the Kato ones? These girder bridges usually have cross pieces of some type between the sides. Might just try some straight pieces at the major uprights. May not need Seth X pieces on top. Would the ones you bought work on the top? Looks almost perfect for the width. Or could the guy cut you custom pieces?

 

Jeff

Edited November 7, 2016 by cteno4