Lubbock Arts Festival train videos

I shot a number of videos at the Arts Festival. Rather than spending
time to repost them here, I've listed the youtube links:

Youtube videos from the setup pril 30, 2009:

N Scale #1 - Super Chief Coming Across the Yard -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLDLgpSmibI

N Scale #2 - Super Chief Arrives -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn86Q1-JjuU

N Scale #3 - Super Chief at the Junction -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZR2za5Seuk

N Scale #4 - Super Chief Going Across the Yard -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkhUcf4_Tdo

Videos from the show May 2, 2009:

Lubbock Arts Festival-HO-01.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8zWc35frWE

Lubbock Arts Festival-HO-02.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDF2E6Te7wM

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-HO-01.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5mYOWODGs8

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-HO-02.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyXa2tlE8k0

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-HO-03.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOzAYYNxvF0

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-N-AH-01.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zd9jgq6Yqk

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-N-AH-02.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-6U2NifAs

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-N-JP-01.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogJfKiAqlX8

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-N-JP-02.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwaW1tl9o3Y

Lubbock Arts Festival-TTrak-N-JP-03.MOV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sr_sHd3s0s


I shot a number of still pictures, too. Maybe I'll get time to select some and
post them.

Later.

Sealing Modules

After using Tuesday to do some necessary tasks around the house, I got back to working
on the modules on Wednesday morning. I touched up ground cover here and there, then
added scrub bushes wherever they looked okay to me, a few trees here and there, and some
flowers.

These are a new item from Noch, and I like the way they look. In the picture, they are the row of five white ones and two yellow ones. There are some red ones in the set, too. I used some of them on another module.

They may be a bit small in HO and larger scales, but they are a nice size for N.

Once this was done, I started the thing I hate most in model railroading ... sealing with water and white glue mixture. I'm very messy, and I feel that I'm ruining everything I've been working on. I know from past experiences that all will be okay, but still that's the feelings I have while doing it.

I sealed five modules today, four N and one HO. There are two more HO modules to do
tomorrow. Once all are done, I'll wind up the proceedings by attaching the track and
wiring (where needed.)

The HO module stack shows the four club single-length straights. They are stored and transported in two Payne frames, two per frame. The upper two modules are tomorrow's victims, uh, subjects.

The third from the top was the one sealed today. The bottom module is being worked on by Jan K. whenever she has time. She's also doing a couple of other modules, so she isn't missing this one right now.

The N stack has the other four modules sealed today. Like the HO modules, there are two of these double-length modules per Payne frame.

On top of the frames sits the junction module. I tried a couple of different ideas for the center depression. I didn't like them, so I did it like it is a dry gulch/lake bed ares, overgrown in grass and scrub bushes.

The junction and the next three frames below it were all treated today.

The bottom module was finished some time back. It is the one that was in the Plano show as a visitor, courtesy of the North Texas T-Trak Group.

Once the last two are sealed tomorrow, it's track time, and the smaller structures (that will fit while sliding the modules in and out of the frames) will be glued down.

If you're not familiar with these frames, they were inspired by a similar item made by Don Payne, hence Payne frames. I make mine 18" high, and usually place the upper module support in the middle, vertically. In some cases, however, I have offset the placement of the support to allow for a taller module above it while having a lower-profile module below. Except for this one fact, all slots are pretty much interchangeable, not module specific.

Why 18" high? That's the clearance under the solid tonneau cover on my pickup bed.

And, I'm going to add a thin sheet of cardboard (from a refrigerator box, for example) to the bottom of each frame position. This won't affect the capacity of the frames at all, but will keep wires dangling underneath from snagging on anything else.

To go to a show, I just slide the frames in the pickup bed, along with a dolly. They make it easy to transport a number of modules. In fact, the frames for the single-length straights and the corners hold four modules. So, they are about the same size as the double-length frames. The four frames fit on the dolly, carrying 12 modules at once.

If there's time, there's also two new 6-foot N modules that need me do something. They may have to be run with just bare paint, but I really hate that. I think I'd rather not show them at all. Their purpose it to be a long interconnect between my TTrak-N lop of modules and those of Allen's. We'll see if they make it to the show or not.

Monday Module Musings

It's Monday, time to work on the modules some more. Today's efforts focused on adding ground cover and ballast to HO and N modules.


The TTrak-HO module is different from the one in the last post. This one will be The Sheep Pen. If you look carefully, you can see a couple of tracks for a pickup running just behind the track location. The large area to the module's rear, with a greener color, will be the pen. The fence, the sheep, a couple of codgers leaning over to look at them and few details should complete it.

The next are the new 6-foot modules. Today, tee-nuts were glued underneath with epoxy and the first coat of paint applied to the visible surfaces. For this show, I think that a few low mounds of blue foam or Sculptamould to represent open, arid prairie will do. Something cheap and removable for future development. In fact, to point towards that, I have the 'Surveyor Crew' figure set to put out there.
The long term plans for these do involve a scene I've wanted to do for a while, and this will give me the place to do it. What is it? It may be October before it finds its way out.

The Grain Elevator module received grass around the office and weedy ground cover elsewhere. A few details, shrubs and flowers by the office entry, and seal it. Then, just add track and call it done.

The Main Street module got the ground cover treatment, too. I need to make a sidewalk for a building or two.

Finally, the Junction module. For me, this has been a difficult module to add scenery.I finally settled on a low hill running lengthwise. A dry lake is down in front. The story is that the RR first ran a track parallel to hill, spanning the lake. Later, it was decided to make a cut and connect this track to another line the RR had just purchased.

I plan to "streak" the reddish-brown areas with a lighter color to try to represent erosion of the top soil layers down over the revealed deeper dirt.

Sorry, but that's the best I can come up with at this time. Maybe in the future, the lake will have water.

All modules need details, including trees, scrub bush clumps, and, of course, figures and vehicles everywhere. I'm looking for narrow (1/32" I hope) white and yellow tape for road markings.

That's it for Monday, 2009/04/20.

Module progress, 4/18

This morning I worked on details for the modules for the show in about 1 1/2 weeks. While it was cool outside (I have no heat in the large part of my shop) I stayed in and glued together fencing for a module. It's not shown this time, but it will be featured in a blog soon. There were a few other sundry items, such as track details, but I won't over-bore you with them. Besides, my memory's not that great.

After it had warmed up some, I spent this afternoon in the shop working on modules. That is, when Darrell wasn't over here. We did "invest" some time in good "discussions" which were "mostly" on rr stuff - ha! The module we are doing "together" is a story for another time.

The main efort today has been to finalize the structures and their placement on two modules, one HO and the other N, and get a start on the groung coverings.

The TTrak-HO module is single wide, and is club-owned. I had asked the club members to donate a few buildings for it. Several have provided more structures than I can use, a happy problem.

After a bit of trial fitting, I settled on the scene shown here. Clockwise, from the bottom center, first we have a switch tower. I know there are no turnouts on the module, but with a little imagination, ...

Then there is a small freight house. Across the track from the freight house is a converted boxcar serving as the local bar, serving, well, don't ask.

Next, the small green one is a set of his n' hers toilets. Behind that is an old general store.

Across the road is the local bank. Obviously, it's doing well in these difficult times.

The red barn has been refurbished into a diner. And finally, on the right front are a pair of oil tanks, for the oil patch here in West Texas. In it's final placement, it will be turned so the ladder is away from the tracks.

Once all this was settled, I started applying gravel, grass, weeds and grey paint (for a concrete road) to the module. Obviously, a bit more touch up will be needed, but good progress was made.

One of the things I wanted to have here is a road that is not square to the tracks, and I did achieve that.

The other module is a TTrak-N module, double length. All I got done there, after locating the pieces, was the gravel drive around the office/warehouse and through the elevator shed.

The return curve's a bit tight for semi's, but that's all the space available. One must assume that the entry drive is off-module to the viewer's right.

For size perspective, if the module were a football field, about half of each end zone would hang off the ends. It is a small space. Some grass around the office, and a some weeds and scrub bushes should finish it off okay.

Module Fest - Spring '09

For the past few days I have been working on TTrak modules, new and old, N and HO. First, there are three club-owned TTrak-HO modules.

The first has the Atlas rerailer/grade crossings spliced into the Kato Unitrack. If you're new to this, check a previous blog entry for details. At any rate, the TTrak-HO loop will have the rerailer functions that Kato does not provide. The track is just sitting there, not yet fastened.









Certainly, a bit of work will be needed to make the ramps from plywood up to the edge of the Atlas pieces. This module will have a small town with buildings along the road from the front to the rear, probably angling a bit.

Several club members have generously donated more structures than I can use here. The open space behind the tracks is about 19" wide x 20" deep.





The second of the club-owned TTrak-HO modules (not shown) has a 'sand hill' running front to rear, with a small cut for the tracks. It is nearly finished. The third (also not shown) is bare, but will finish out quickly. A bit of 'grass' and a fence, some sheep, and a pair of old codgers looking at them. I have all the pieces and supplies, so it won't take long to finish them.

Then, there are three TTrak-N double length modules. These frames are left over from my teardown a year ago. Since then Allen, a local modeler, has become involved in TTrak-N. This winter he has built four corners, four single and four double straights, and a junction. We had a test day recently, and interconnected his and my modules in an expanded double-loop layout. It was fun. Anyway, that has re-ignited the N fire for me. So, I've pulled these carcasses out and started re-doing them.

The first has a grade crossing and the double cross-over on it. The light and dark gray areas represent gravel roads and business lots. A hedge or two, a little grass, some trees and plop down the structures (I did keep most of them from the tear down) and it's complete. Since it has the double cross-over, I think I will add power connections to this module.

The dark gray is an attempt to capture the look of recycled paving material. I think it turned out a bit dark, but it's okay.



The next also has a grade crossing. The gray is concrete colored paint for streets and driveways. Again, there's the dark gray gravel parking lot. If you look close you can see the names of the businesses that are planed here. On the left end will be a small terminal for the railroad.









The third one will have a grain elevator. Don't worry about the irregular light stripes. That area is under the track, out of sight (all pictures.)

I have found that it is best for me to mark the Kato roadbed outlines, then ballast from just inside the line to the desired width outside. The track is added last, after everything is sealed, and can be easily removed and replaced without disturbing anything else.




The big holes allow the Kato turnout control leads to drop under the module. Some holes are left-over and will be covered by track. Where they are visible, they are plugged and filled. This applies to all recycled modules.


The final module in the old group is a TTrak-N junction, ala the design of Steve Jackson (NVNTRAK.) After seeing Mike Moore's (North Texas T-Trak) junction with a trestle, I knew my trestle had finally found a home after laying around here for a couple of years. The blue foam areas will get a lighter "sandy dirt" color and grass, bushes, etc. The roadbed will get gray and ballast, and the somewhat vertical surfaces along the cut and the washout end will be an experiment. I'm going to try to streak them with a dry brush using the light color, to represent erosion washing down the faces.

Now, for the new. Both Allen and I have ATSF Super Chief sets. He pulls his with an E8 A-B set, as I remember, while I use an F7 A-B-B-A in front of mine. We moaned about the lack of space for such long (locos + 12 cars) trains. I remembered something I had considered once before, and he cut the wood for me. He's a cabinet maker, and has the shop to do precision cuts quickly on sheet plywood.

He cut some 2 1/2" rails from cabinet grade 1/2" ply he had left over. I bought some 1/4" birch ply and he ripped it for me. With this ready to go, today I assembled two new module carcasses. They are 12" wide and 6' (yes, a 6x module!) long.

Yes, the cross braces are not evenly spaced along the bottom. The top was only available in 60" lengths, so it had to be spliced. That located the first brace nearer one end. The other brace is centered from the first to the far end.

Why so long? To create a long, open plains type space. Why 1/2" ply? To be self supporting when spanning between tables, and not requiring one under it. Why 6'? Because I can carry them in the enclosed bed of my pickup, weather protected.

Just for a feeling of size, that's an Alco PA sitting there in SP&S green and yellow.

I've got plenty to do, and about seven or eight working days to do it. I can do it. I did seven modules from bare wood in three weeks part-time effort last year. Several modules need the same thing (adding 'grass' for example) and I can set up once and do them all, one after another. A module finishing assembly line, if you will. The long modules will get only basic ground cover for now. Possibly, by the time for my club's October show, something else will show on them. Or not.

After sub teaching for the last three days of this week, I'll be concentrating on the modules and the show deadline. I am having fun, a lot of fun.

Module progress for upcoming shows

I have been thinking about the setup for upcoming shows. The first (and smaller) show is next week's library show for Spring Break. The other is the Lubbock Arts Festival, May 1-2, 2009.

We (Allen and I) have several options.

Option 1: Set up one simple layout, two loops of track, combining modules from both of us. Let it stretch as far as there is room for tables. This uses only space along a wall, without much depth.

Option 2: We combine modules for a single setup, with the junctions in the middle. Still only using
the wall space we would be set up like this drawing. I think nearly everything we have built to date would fit on a couple tables, except for the four corners removed for the junctions. That would give three loops of track.

Option 3: Option 1, set up as two separate layouts, on two separate tables, yielding four loops. Maybe, we could mix modules between us.

Option 4: Option 2, but hold out two straights. Then, these straights and the extra corners could make a separate little layout,with two loops. Overall, five loops of track.

My junction module still has no scenery, but it will by the Arts Festival, as will my inside corner. That will open up some more possibilities. Well, they will have some kind of ground cover as a minimum, something more than bare paint on plywood.

Now, for the HO stuff. There are four TTrak-HO single modules needing scenery. I have been making progress on scenery on the first two of these modules. Track power connections will be added during this time. I figure they will be ready to show at Arts Festival, too.

The other two will be picked up after the library show. Right now, they are the only track power connections for that layout. So far, I have scenery ideas coming together for three of the four ...

And, Darrell is working on a double module for me. It will be a WW II RAF fighter base.

Joe

PS - I'm planning new TTrak-N corners for the larger curves. But, that's a summer project. My target for showing is the Fall season (Oct.?)

Modular Musings

Today, I spent the day working on modules. Some are to be used in about a week at the small show in a library during spring break, March 16-21. Most of the others are being readied for a showing at the Lubbock Arts Festival, April 30 - May 2.

In the short term, I'm doing minor repairs and adding details to several TTrak-N modules. I currently have several such modules, enough to set up a complete loop on a 2½' X 8' table.

Another local modeler, Allen, has been building some modules as well. We have put them together to form a larger double layout in a recent test. We are ready for the show.

In the middle term, I am beginning to resurrect three TTrak-N double module boxes left over from last year's teardown. I hope some scenery ideas will present themselves soon.

I have decided that four TTrak-HO modules the club owns need some TLC. The modules are about 20" wide, and have about 20" behind the tracks for scenery. They have been getting knocked around in storage, and have no scenery on them. Just plain, bare, black modules. Since I'm the guy who built the first modules for the club, I've felt the need to make them look better.

So, I'm doing minor repairs to them and adding scenery. I want them to look decent for the Arts Festival. The first of the four now has a hill running front-to-back that's about 3" tall. That's about 22' tall, in scale. The tracks run through a cut. I covered the hill with real sand, and will be adding scrub bushes and cactus to it. Simple, but at least it's something.

The second is a bit more ambitious. I'm building it as a Christmas tree farm. I have all the stuff for it, and warm weather is helping me be able to work in the shop. I'm having fun!

The third of the modules will get a simple small town scene. I'm planning a single street running front to back with structures along both sides, a few trees, and so forth. Several club members are donating buildings for it.

As for the fourth module, well, so far I'm as blank as it is. Hopefully, something will "reveal" itself soon. Nothing exotic, nothing difficult, just something better looking than a bare picec of plywood painted flat black.

And, I have my two TTrak-HO double wide modules. One is almost finished, the other is a ways from that. I have almost all the materials for these as well, but if I don't get anything else done, they are at least presentable enough to show.

There's one more TTrak-HO module to mention. I'll own it, since I've supplied all the kits, but Darrell is building a WW II RAF fighter field on a double-width module. He has assembled most of the kits (aircraft, buildings, ground support equipment) and is ready to start bringing it all together.

In the long term, possibly for show in the fall, there's the Trak-N modules mentioned in my previous blog. Right now, I just think and plan on them when I'm at work.

Somewhere in all that, there's On30 ... whew! No wonder I almost feel overwhelmed!

Maybe some pictures next time.

Shopping Cart Bug?

I think I found a bug in the shopping cart some vendors use on the Internet. I placed an order for some kits this week, and I think something happened that may really delay the order.

Thinking back, I'm reasonably sure the catalog said two were available when I clicked to add it to my cart. Then, in the cart, I changed the quantity I wanted. To three of them. The cart allowed it to happen. Another item was also added.

I finished the process, paid with PayPal (as they wanted) and closed out. Shortly after, I received an automatic reply confirming the order for the items I requested, in the quantity I requested.

If I'm right, the vendor may hold my order for however long it takes them to get one more from the Far East. I've checked my account, and I have not been charged with the sale at this time.

Oh, well, hopefully all will arrive eventually.

Update - making use of the warm weather

Yesterday (Mar. 3, 2009) morning I was helping give the state-mandated tests at a local school. It's very rigidly scripted procedure, quite stressful. So, when I got home, I needed a bit of stress relief.

In the afternoon, with temps in the mid 80's, I base coat painted a new module (thanks to Allen for the construction), ballasted three (including the new one) and scenery coated one. All of these modules still need a coat of black around the sides.

The new module is a TTrak-HO double (~40" wide.) It is to become a WW II RAF Fighter field. This module is mine, but Darrell has put a lot of 'sweat equity' into it by building the kits for it. And, he will finish the module as well. He is another local modeler here in Shallowater.

The second and third modules are TTrak-HO singles (~20" wide.) They are club owned. With a display coming at the local Arts Festival, I just couldn't bear to see plain, bare modules with no scenery at all sitting there. Far too ugly.

I apply my base scenery coat (ground foam, ballast, etc.) by painting the base color (supposedly 'bare earth') rather thickly and sprinkling the material onto the wet paint. Then, I tip the module and recover what doesn't stick. I get a good even coverage by doing this.

The first of this pair of modules has a hill about 3" (that's ~22' scale) high, running front to rear. It's made of some white beaded foam I was given recently. Nasty stuff, I'll stick to the blue hereafter.

The tracks pass through a cut. The coating I used here is a bit different. Rather than ground foam, a mixture of sand and fine rock pellets was used. They were scraped up locally by Darrell. I think he 'liberated' some of the excess around a new baseball field. Next is adding a bit of scrub brush and some cacti, seal it all and it will be done.

The third module is to become an Christmas tree farm. It will take a bit more work, bit I believe I have everything I need to finish it. I have some neat figures, including a man with an axe. The plan is for the rows of trees to have a missing tree every so often. The harvested tree stumps will be round toothpick fragments, lightly stained or painted.

All these modules will be finished with a final coat of black around the sides.

Also, I'm working on my other two TTrak-HO double modules, the 'esses' that have been displayed in the past. Cactus and scrub plants are being added to one, and the campground scene is (far too slowly) evolving on the other. Again, all (or almost all) items are on hand, awaiting their turn in all my 'spare time.'

When I scrapped an N layout last year, I kept four module bases, all doubles. One has been rebuilt as a double trestle scene. It's shown in the storage and transport frame. All the modules mentioned here, except the RAF double, have a frame already built for them.

I've decided to resurrect the other three TTrak-N double modules. Right now, I have no idea how these three will be sceniced. They do need a new base coat of paint to start with, so maybe later today...

Another local modeler (Allen) has begun to build some TTrak-N modules. So, I'm no longer alone out here in this format. We recently got together and connected some of his modules with some of mine and had a blast running trains across them.
Here's a couple of pictures of the fun. That's Allen in the first one. My modules are on this end, his on the far end.

In the second picture, note the Super Chief running the outside track. The engines are down at this end, while the Obs car is still in the middle of the straight at the top of the picture!

Between the two of us, we have several more modules ready to run. The table we used that day just would hold this little setup.

Finally, I bought a bash kit from Backwoods Minatures. It's the Side Tank conversion for a Bachmann Porter. The parts have been washed and are ready for primer coating. That will not happen until after the Lubbock Arts Festival show on May 1 and 2. All modeling work is pointing towards having modules ready, so other things will just have to wait.

It's getting warm, so I'd best post this and get back to the shop for another day of modeling. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it .

TTrak Module Storage Frames

After some time of transporting TTrak-N modules to show setups as a set of individual modules, I saw a frame for carrying them built by Don Payne. While his frame wouldn't work for me (too tall) it did inspire the design I now use.

I have some limits that I had to include in my "Payne Frames" as I call them. First, the maximum height I can use is 18" (46cm). This is the clearance under the rigid bed cover on my pickup. Second, I wanted them to be 'reasonable' in size and weight for ease of handling. Third, they had to protect the modules, especially the exposed Unijoiners on the end of the modules.

My first attempt didn't take this last point into account, and I was never satisfied with them.

So, a redesign was done. These pictures show the revised design.

I made them as a three layer structure, capable of holding two layers of modules. For the first frames, I made them long enough to hold four modules. The first picture shows four Alt. (33mm spacing) corners nestled in their frame. The other frame holds four single straights, about 12" (31cm) long and 8-1/4" deep (21cm.) Together, this is a small layout in two easy to carry packages.

The wood strips that form each loop are wider than the track overhang on the end of a module. I made them 3/4" (~18mm) square. The exact size is not important, so long as as it is bigger than the overhang. This is a key part of the protection.

The openings in the wood loops are slightly larger than a module, so that it settles down in the opening there. In the second picture, note that on the bottom of the left side is a piece of Masonite running from front to back. A similar strip is on the right side of the opening. The module rests on this pair of strips, held in place by the wood loop.

The three loops in a frame are spaced apart by strips of luan plywood. I used what I had on hand that was light and cheap. They are 18" long, the maximum clearance I can have in my truck bed. I placed two strips on each end and the back, at the corners. In addition, narrow strips were added in the middle for extra support.

The third picture shows The frame for the four straights. Since the straights are smaller than the frame is also smaller than the one for the corners. Noting this, I added extra strips to the top of the larger frame for the corners. These show in the first picture. They allow me to stack the smaller frame on the larger one for storage.

By the way, the brass doors on the lower straights were installed by Don Payne when he built the bare boxes. The intent is to add built-in throttles for the two track loops. I am collecting parts for this addition ...

Also note in the third picture that the middle loop is not placed half way between the top and bottom. This was done to accommodate the taller tunnel module.

This week, as weather has been warm enough to work with glue out in the shop, I built five more frames.

Here's nine loops for three more frames. The smaller six are for two frames, holding four TTrak-HO single modules. These are club-owned modules These modules are approx. 20" (51cm) x 28" (71cm), quite a bit larger than the N modules. The construction, however, is the same. The Masonite strips are clearly visible here.

Note the top loops do not have the Masonite strips. Rather, I braced the corners with 3"x3" thin plywood gussets.

This is a view of one of this pair of frames as the construction is completed. It gives a good overview of a typical complete frame.

Since these frames only hold one larger module per level, the rear center strip is wider for more strength.

Here's the two frames for the four TTrak-HO single modules. These club owned modules are the power feed modules for the loop when it is setup. Two of the modules are in the lower frame.

I am going to take these four bare modules and apply some basic scenery before our next big show. That's May 1-2 at the Lubbock Arts Festival.

The last picture shows the frame I built for my TTrak-HO double modules. This is a large structure. The modules it holds are about 40" (100cm) wide. It is manageable, but I really think that it is about the practical limit in size for these things. It is built like the others, just bigger.

Finally, not shown are two more TTrak-N frames. Each holds two double modules, approx. 24" (62cm) wide by 21" (31cm) deep. I didn't feel that there was any need to add the pictures of these frames. They are about the size of the First frame shown, the TTrak-N corner module unit.

So, that's what I've been doing when I could this week. I did get to work (sub. teacher) two days, and I got the income taxes out of the way, too. All in all, a good, productive week for me.