Progress On The T-trak Modules

I painted the front fascia of the lengthwise modules rattle-can black and added the NCE PowerCab interface to the primary one:

The lengthwise module that goes opposite this one, at least in the current scheme of things, is a Masterpiece Modules double wide depressed deck. I cut down the lengthwise faces of the module to go down to the depressed deck. I also took a hint from David Popp and the MR Video Plus T-trak module series and glued pieces of wood inside the end walls to provide a solid surface to attach the Unitrack, since the rest of the track will go on foam.

One of the prototypes I intend to run on these modules, which will focus on modern passenger service, is Chicago Metra. Most modelers who do a Chicago prototype miss a major feature of Chicago: it's a multilevel city. In the 19th century, Chicago raised the level of its city streets above the lake level to avoid flooding, but places where the level wasn't raised are common.

But then between about 1900 and 1930, the city required the railroads to elevate their rights of way in a massive grade separation project. So this is a common sight when you're driving through the city:

(This was taken on Cicero Avenue near the Irving Park station on the Milwaukee Northwest District.) I will build up the fill with foam and add an overpass similar to the one in the picture. This will also be an opportunity to add street furniture.

Assembling The T-trak Module Kits

I ordered some T-trak module kits from Masterpiece Module Kits. Once the packing is removed, this is how they arrive:

This turns out to be a very high-quality product on good-quality plywood. There's an instructional video on Youtube that is very helpful in assembly. There are a number of value-added features, including predrilled holes for screwing Unitrack sections into place from below -- screws are included for this. In addition to the video, the instructions are detailed and comprehensive, and they give diagrams for how to lay out the Unitrack for common layout designs. The kit is so complete that it includes sandpaper, although you have to supply your own carpenter's glue.

So much thought has gone into this that each module piece has been given a serial number corresponding to each individual module. This is very helpful in keeping the assembly straight and avoiding errors.

A serial number on one of the pieces is shown below:

The pieces are a hammer fit, which is a little fussy until you get used to it, and result in a very robust module. The size and weight make them easy to carry and work on. Below is a completed module, front and back:

With the modules complete, I've begun tracklaying.

The track to the left is the Kato concrete-tie Unitrack with superelevated curves. This is a very nice feature, and I'm surprised that no forums, magazines, or blogs mention it. There are a few Youtibe videos that show it in use, but they're all along the line of living room floor layouts that don't suggest the scenic potential of this track.

Once I got this module this far, I really started to feel encouraged about this project.

Below is tracklaying progress on a lengthwise module:

There will be a double crossover in the lower left and a third main line at the bottom. Finally, here are electronic components going in below this module:

At the upper right is a Digitrax DS52 stationary decoder for the Kato switch machines. A second one will go in as well. Radio Shack terminal strips for track power are in the upper left. My aim is to make each module self-contained for wiring. Again, the ability simply to flip a module and work on the wiring from above is a great advantage.

Kato N Concrete-tie Unitrack

The thing that really tipped my decision to take another run at N scale using T-trak was what I discovered about Kato's newer concrete-tie N Unitrack. I remarked in my last post about the problems with the ties in Kato's older N Unitrack. But poking around Youtube, I found this video that brought me up short: it was very hard to tell the Metra F40 was N and not HO, and the detail and proportions on the track had a lot to do with it.

Now that I've actually got my hands on some new concrete-tie Unitrack, here's a comparison. (The section at the top has been weathered; the one below it is mint.)

This is simply a 1000% improvement. The older ties are too widely spaced and too short. (They're still marginally better than Atlas flex, in my view.) The newer ties are more closely spaced and longer. For comparison, here's a section of prototype concrete tie track:

The Kato track simply needs some weathering. Here's the recent concrete-tie single crossover:

The discussions I've seen say these are based on Japanese practice of making switch ties out of some kind of resin material, because the stresses in a switch would be bad for concrete ties, and because the custom lengths don't lend themselves to concrete tie production. Switch ties in the US are often (though not exclusively) wood in otherwise concrete-tie track. The color difference between resin and wood is close enough. Here's a US prototype crossover with wood ties in concrete track:

In bright sun and with some weathering, the difference is hard to distinguish. Here's a Kato crossover from a similar angle:

Well, with some weathering and work to kill the shiny rails, this won't be bad at all.

Notice the switch machines, which don't come (the detail, not the model feature, which does) with the Kato Unitrack. I'll be fixing this.

In the US, concrete tie track is mostly used on UP and BNSF main lines, on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, and some commuter operators. BNSF went to concrete ties in my area in the mid to late 1990s. UP changed about 10 years later. NS, CSX, CN, and CP seem to be holdouts for wood ties.

I'll probably be using the concrete-tie T-trak modules primarily with Metra, Metrolink, and Amtrak equipment.

Thinking About Kato N Unitrack

I had a mild case of the model railroad doldrums, and what pulled me out of it was going back over my stash of N scale stuff. This included some Kato Unitrack. I got two N gauge Unitrack sets about 1993 when we moved to this house and I still wasn't sure if I was going to switch to HO. It was what is now the M1 set, although at the time this didn't include the power pack, and the V1 set with two switches and a siding. Now and then I made false starts with this, but never really followed through.

Pretty much the standard HO construction method -- at least for modelers above a certain skill set -- is homasote (or equivalent) base, cork roadbed, and flex track. A big problem with this is that it isn't dimensionally stable. Unless it's sealed, homasote shrinks and swells. Flex track by definition isn't stable on either a homasote or cork base and can easily get out of level or go into dips or humps, especially with changes in humidity. I say this based on experience.

The plus side of Unitrack is that it's dimensionally stable. If it's fastened down to a stable base, it's likely to stay how it was laid. The stable measurements impose a lot of discipline on deisgn and construction -- there are basically no fudge factors, which I believe will pay off in performance.

I found this piece of plywood while I was cleaning out my late parents' garage. It measures 28-5/8 x 48 inches. I finally decided to mate it with my Unitrack over the weekend. At this point, I expect to use it as an analog test track while I begin the project of installing DCC in my old N locos. At a certain point, I will convert it to DCC when the project is more or less done and do something to mate it with the T-track modules I have on order. However, while it is not a T-track module itself, I expect to set it up mechanically, electrically and dimensionally to interface with T-track.

Unitrack has downsides, too. It favors people who set things up on living room floors (a good part of the Japanese market), so it assumes you aren't going to drill into the baseboard or install Tortoise machines. This is fine for me, because my days of crawling under baseboards are over, and I can work from the surface without problems here. But not everyone is ready to work this way.

Otherwise, the track is too clean and shiny, and worse, it's dimensioned to appeal to the Japanese market, where the rail lines other than the bullet trains are 3 foot 6 inch gauge. The tie spacing reflects this, although it looks like the newer concrete tie track is better this way.

I weathered my track by hitting the sides of the rails with airbrushed Floquil Rail Brown (no good replacement, I'm afraid) and giving the whole thing an overspray of heavily thinned Floquil Mud mixed with Flat. This lightened the too-brown and shiny ties. I looked at videos to get an idea of how to tone down the Unitrack effect, too. Often you don't see the details of track in videos, since they're focusing on the train itself. Other features like weathering, vegetation, grass encroaching on the ballast, etc, can distract attention from the ties.

On the right is a Kadee N electromagnetic uncoupler installed in a Unitrack section. Kadee no longer makes these, but it's possible to convert an HOn3 version.

Thinking About T-Trak

I was active in N scale on and off for about 20 years when I was younger, ending about 1987. I still have most of this equipment (including some of the very nice brass models that used to be available). I've never officially sworn it off, and especially when the late Carl Arendt was active on his micro layout site, I've sometimes thought about building some type of micro or small layout in N.

Earlier this year, MR and MR Video Plus took up the subject of T-Trak, which I'd never heard of. Neil Besougloff does a quick summary of MR's coverage starting at about 0:58 here. If you have the June 2016 MR or an MRVP subscription, you can see the whole thing. T-Trak began in Japan, where space is very limited, and often modelers assemble temporary layouts using Kato sectional track and accessories right on the living room floor.

T-Trak is an expansion of this concept, using small basic modules a little over a foot square, dimensioned to use Kato N track and connected exclusively with Kato rail joiners where the modules join. A lot of the T-Trak modules I see are pretty simple and seem to be used by module groups that build big communal layouts similar to NTrak or Freemo at gatherings in community centers and so forth, using the folding tables such places have to support the modules.

You need to have a local group to take advantage of this, and I'm always a little leery of groups and politics. In any case, there's no such group in my area. But I think T-Trak modules can be used to build a small individual layout that's easily disassembled and configurable. In addition, I like the idea of Kato-style sectional track in any scale. And if I were to have to downsize in the future, this could form the basis of a layout I might be able to have in the old folks' home, largely pre-built and ready for reassembly, even if my abilities at that point might not allow me to start anything new.

So I ordered some T-Trak module kits. In addition, I want to take advantage of technology advances in the hobby that have come along since I started my HO layout in the 1990s. I like DCC and want to expand my use of it to include controlling switches with stationary decoders. This should simplify wiring and eliminate the need for an old-style control panel. None of my N locos is DCC ready -- I got all of them before DCC came along -- and converting them will be a project in itself. On the other hand, a $20 part will let me connect my existing NCE Power Cab to the T-Trak layout.

Bringing In The Ambroid Western Union Material Car

I like a lot of vintage model railroad equipment, but high on my list is Ambroid 1 of 5000 cars. However, if they haven't been assembled with an eye to operation, they need a lot of work in addition to the usual restoration. The Western Union material car I found at the recent swap needed weight and other tweaks.

I was able to pry off part of one side of the car so I could slide in some extra weight:

The underframe was probably the best part of the car:

However, the couplers needed work:

Whew! The boxes were held in with spikes. This was the sort of thing I did in my teens, when these kits were new, which makes me think the car was probably assembled about 1960. Also, the Kadee coupler boxes were the original MKD style. I pulled these, cleaned them up, reassembled them with better parts where needed, and reattached them with screws:

I removed the diaphragm (the cars didn't have these in their last years) and straightened the grabs. I touched up the paint by masking off the lettering and airbrushing the body with a new coat of Pullman Green, which doesn't match the original, the now-discontinued Floquil:

I need to scrounge a matching fourth digit to renumber the car from a scrap decal set. Then I'll blend the colors in with weathering. The car now weighs about 4 ounces, not quite up to NMRA weight, but close enough. One thing I like about George Sellios's F&SM is the use he makes of vintage cars like these: