Back To T-TRAK

I've been experimenting with more variations on T-TRAK modules for home use. Not long after I first got started doing this, a fledgling T-TRAK group got organized in the Los Angeles area, but the COVID lockdowns took all its potential venues away for a couple of years, and when meets became possible again, a lot of potential members had lost interest, and then some of the best venues began requiring insurance from meet participants.

Thus I've had less motivation to build modules that follow T-TRAK interchange standards, like the double main line, since it's less likely I'll ever run modules at a meet. So here's a new module, a double track to single, which is not kosher for standard T-TRAK at all:

Conceptually, this is a CTC control point plus a short spur. It uses Peco code 80 switches with Peco switch machines, which I find more reliable than Kato Unitrack switches. Unitrack end sections are spliced onto the Peco or Atlas switches and flex track to allow the modules to be connected with Kato Unijoiners.

The underside of the module shows the Peco switch machines and the start of the numerous terminal strips and other hardware that go under my modules. The switch machines will be controlled by a Digitrax DS52. My modules have a DCC bus that runs through the rails via the Unijoiner connections between modules, and each module has takeoffs from drops between the track and the terminal strips.

There will also be an NCE Illuminator that will convert the DCC signal in the rails to DC current for signals and lighting. The signals will reflect the switch positions via Atlas Snap Relays running in parallel with the switch machines.

The module itself is from Osborn Model Kits. I've seen that vendors for T-TRAK module kits come and go. One problem seems to be the availability of plywood due to supply chain interruptions, but Osborn is still in business, ships promptly, and has a good product.