Easy Trolley + TTrak-N design progress

I have had a little time to work some more on the 3d mockup of an idea for an Easy Trolley loop.

For reference, see blogs of Mar. 6 and Mar. 13 for details on the structure mockups.

The idea has been to have the trolley loop run beneath the TTrak module main lines on a double length straight.

At the same time, I've been figuring out 'large' corners for the super elevated track. The track curves are 99mm larger in radius, so a larger base is needed to hold them.

These two ideas have merged into a single cityscape. It will form the end of a loop of modules.

The corners are 18" (~460mm) square. The width of the whole end is 60" (~1525mm.) This will perfectly fit across a pair of folding banquet tables. This is the first picture.

The second picture shows a close-up of the center module. The structures drawn there are for Tomix under track stores, etc.

Thanks to Jeff Reynolds, Doug Coster, and Bill Robb in the Yahoo Tomix Group for their advice and assistance determining the measurements for these pieces.

In all these pictures, one square on the graph paper = 20mm. That's about 10.5 ft, prototype size.

Since I am helping with a show at a local library, I "borrowed" a couple of donated books (with permission) that were about the right thickness to represent the module base. The books themselves have no significance.

Here's an oblique view of the overall scheme. The solid orange blocks represent trains on the parallel main lines crossing above the shops, and the trolleys on the loop below.

The rear view shows the passing siding I want to use. My goal here is to have two trolleys or trams alternate direction across the front. I think this will be interesting for viewers to try to figure how it is done.

The control for the trolley loop will come from a Minitronics RU2 Controller I got a while back. It is new, and came from an individual who sold it very, very cheap.

The overhead view may give a bit more clarity to the track plan. TTrak above, Easy Trolley below.

Finally, a low level front view of the center module.

My approximations for dimensions aren't exact, of course, but I think they are close enough to give a pretty good look and feel to the project.

Right now, I've got other things to finish for the club before the May 1-2 Arts Festival show. It's one of our biggest showings of the year, exposure-wise.

Once that show is over, construction can begin. I'm trying to allow plenty of time, and setting my club's typical October show date as the target. If all the structures arrive, with no cancellations or extended back orders, maybe ...

My First Easy Trolley Design

Today, I baby-sat three 1-1/2 hour high school classes. They were good, but had no work
to do on the day before spring break. So, while they talked and played games, I spent a
lot of time drawing and figuring.

I have come up with a simple demo loop for an N-scale traction line on a module with 'normal' TTrak tracks. The loop has a passing siding along one side. From the beginning, I had planned for the loop to run under the main lines.

To fit it on a standard-size double module (24" long x 12" deep) some games had to be played.
Rough sketches were encouraging, so I made a measured drawing today. The main lines will be relocated approximately 1-5/8" towards the rear. So, the module itself will extend this far forward of 'normal' modules.

The loop uses very small 4" (103mm) radius curves. One long side of the loop is out
front, and the other with the passing siding is 'hidden' around back. The scheme is for the loop to run through a couple of tunnel portals in a stone wall. Between the portals, in the wall, under the main lines, are to be a couple of shops and a small parking lot. The trackage will appear to run down the middle of the street in front of the stores.

I asked on the Yahoo N Traction group, and the small Tomix turnouts (all the loop trackage is Tomix) will work fine as spring switches right out of the package. By using them this way, anything running CW will always take one siding, that running CCW will take the other.

I want it to have two trams, different colors, clearly different. Then, from the front, one will appear, run R-to-L and disappear. Then the other will run L-to-R. They will alternate. With the passing siding hidden, it should be entertaining, eh?

The controls for something like this are trivial. I plan to put a diode in each tram, in series with the motor. That will make it run only one way. By facing the trams in opposite directions, and flipping track polarity (a relay, or an H-chip) the trams will take turns. A simple sensor in each passing siding detects when a tram 'arrives' in its siding and flips the power.

Simple, yes? Imagine someone walking up, seeing one run past and expecting to see it
again when the other shows in the opposite direction.

I'll probably order the track over the weekend. This should be a very fun module.

Junction Module Rework

I decided, after seeing an N-scale junction module done this way at the Plano show, that I wanted a trestle on mine.

I attacked my TTrak-N junction module this morning. After pulling up the track, I took a jigsaw to it. Then I glued in some blue foam.

Uh-oh, I forgot that it needs to be ready to go on Friday - and I'm working Thursday and Friday!

Well, it won't be anywhere near finished by Friday, but I can slip the track back on it. It won't be pretty, but it will run.

Maybe it'll be a good show-n-tell for visitors, eh?

The pictures will give you an idea where I am going with it. Before Friday, I'll scoop it out with my big hot wire cutter. It'll take longer to set the cutter up than to do the job.

By the big show on May 1-2 it'll look decent, with some scenery, maybe a couple of low hills, too.

Sometimes things would go better if I tried to think just a little ahead, but where's the fun in that?

Joe

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.?)

Cindy's day

Cindy had a tough day helping the kids cope with the loss of two of their classmates.
There were a lot of tears shed, a lot of comfort given and received.

It was tough on her. I'm sure the kids at the school are better off for her having been there.

Tough Day on the Wife

Tomorrow will be a tough day for my wife. She subs in some of the area elementary schools.
Last Friday (3/6) there was a wreck near Lubbock that killed six, including some students where she regularly works. She remembers them as good, bright kids.

She has been asked to come to the school in the morning to assist with the kids while the teachers have an early meeting to help perpare them for working with the kids. She may only be there an hour or so, or she may be there all day. It all depends on how things go. It could be that she stays to watch various rooms while teachers concentrate on individual students who need the attention.

So, I'm asking that you say a prayer for Cindy, the kids, and the whole Willow Bend Elememtary School.

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.