A Reminder Of The Start Of The Freight Car Graffiti Era

I just rediscovered this photo I took on Cajon Pass sometime in early BNSF but pre-triple track in the late 1990s. What's most notable is that it dates from the early freight car graffiti period, where I would see just occasional cars with one tag on one side of the door. Soon enough this expanded to tags on both sides all across the car, as things are now.

Cajon Pass in this specific time fame was double track with concrete ties, with the telegraph lines still in place. This would quickly change.

Scenery On The N Micros

I'm slowly doing scenery work on my N 3-2-2 Inglenook and interchangeable quasi-T-TRAK modules I collectively call the Ingle Secondary. Running in and debugging the track are making good progress.

I added Woodland Scenics light green edging strips to the edges of the channel. This will eventually be filled with Woodland Scenics water.

The structures are from Custom Z Scale so far. These are card kits, cut and scored for assembly, and are very reasonably priced.

The dummy track that crosses the main on a diamond isn't really a dummy, I've wired it as the Digitrax programming track, and it works very well.

More Work With The Cardboard T-TRAK Module

Since I'm using recycled cardboard and track and scenery components from former layouts, this is all a cheap experiment, and if it doesn't work out, I can just deconstruct things or toss it all. But I have a number of DVDs covering Norfolk Southern operations on its Pocahontas Division, especially some of the coal branches, and I wanted to try to see what kind of Virginia-West Virginia coal branch scenery I could squeeze into less than one square foot.

I had a couple of tunnel portals from former N layouts that I decided to reuse. One is an old Alexander Scale Models Lough portal; the other is a Chooch rock portal. I set them up about an inch and a half apart. The short length of the "tunnel" will be concealed with scenery.

I tested the clearances with a Micro Trains high cube boxcar. I had to raise the Chooch rock portal with my Dremel.

I added profiles for the eventual landforms with more corrugated cardboard. Hardshell lattice will be attached to these.

Here's a view of the side with the Chooch rock portal.

I drove an hour to a hobby shop that carries Arizona Rock & Mineral ballast. I found some N White Limestone ballast that matches what the NS uses on its Buchanan Branch. Again, the switch is an old Peco that I damaged removing it from an old layout. It's scenery only and will lead to an abandoned spur.

Corrugated Cardboard T-TRAK Architecture

Now and then I've seen references to building T-TRAK modules from corrugated cardboard. One modeler on his website said he had to get ready for a meet, but he lacked an important module for the intended plan. Looking for a quick solution, he settled on buidling a temporary module from corrugated cardboard. He wound up surprised at how robust it proved to be, and it wound up being a permanent part of his T-TRAK repertoire.

I decided to try a proof-of-concept using corrugated cardboard from packing boxes that had come in from UPS and USPS. They'd otherwise be recycled. I added stiffeners at the corners made from used fireplace matches, and I also added a central stiffening member.

I measured this one out to be full width and half depth, following the dimensions of those that used to be available from Masterpiece Modules. However, the only key dimension is the height, 2-3/4 inches. Even module kits that have been advertised as following T-TRAK standards have some variation, but for home use where you aren't required to fit a layout plan that uses standard modules, you actually have a lot of flexibility in width and depth.

In my case, this is another T-TRAK module I've built using single track. The switch on this one is non-operating, scenery-only using a damaged Peco from a former layout. My first impression is that it's sturdier than I expected and perfectly acceptable for home use.

Up To Hard Shell On The Rolling Bridge Module

The Kato/Woodland Scenics T-TRAK module kit includes materials for a whole scenic system, including what they call Shaper Sheet, with Woodland Scenics plaster to finish it off. It was interesting to try this method. The photo below shows recesses cut in the foam front and back to accommodate the channel, with Shaper Sheet fitted and cut for the basic scenic contours.

Then I used Sculptamold to fill in all the gaps so the plaster wouldn't leak through when I applied it.

Finally I mixed the plaster according to the kit instructions and applied it to the Shaper Sheet and Sculptamold. I used masking tape around the track and bridge while I did this.

The result is classic hard shell. The next steps will be to sand the plaster smooth and clean things up a little more, and then add color to the surface.

Scenery Work On The "Rolling Bridge" Module

The Woodland Scenics T-TRAK module kit includes a section of their Shaper Sheet for the scenery. This is just enough to cover the scenic area of the module. I studied the instructions and decided I could use it as intended to create a stream bed under the bridge into which I can eventually add scenic water. I cut out approximately sized pieces with scissors, used a ruler to help bend the sheet to shape the channel, tested it against the module, and cut the pieeces to final size.

I attached the pieces to the sides of the module with silicone caulk held down with the foam pins provided with the module kit.

Then I connected the module as I'd brought it so far to a temporary T-TRAK compatible layout with power so I could test things out.

I got a chepo foam cutter off eBay to cut the shape of the channel into the front and back of the module to match the shape of the channel in the Shaper Sheet.

I'll fill in the various gaps with Sculptamold, sand things smooth, and add a finishing layer of the Shaper Sheet plaster included with the module kit.

The Woodland Scenics T-TRAK module kit is more expensive than ordinary wood module kits from other sources, but it includes track and scenery material that aren't in those kits, and it's the easiest option for adding something like a stream channel below track level.

More Progress On The "Rolling Bridge"

As I said in my last post, I intend to mount my AHM drawbridge in a single-wide T-TRAK module that's single track but otherwise follows T-TRAK architecture. As it happens, the bridge floor and track that come with the kit, when spliced onto a section of 2-1/2 inch long Unitrack at each end, will just about exactly fit onto a standard single-wide T-TRAK module with roughly 1 mm left over on either end. I wound up shortening one of the Unitrack sections by about 1/16 inch with a cutting disk in a Dremel. I substituted Atlas N rail joiners for the Kato Unijoiners on the ends facing the bridge and soldered everything together.

Then I attached the track assembly to the bridge with CA glue.

And then I mounted that assembly to the kit base, which I had earlier cut down in anticipation of mounting it to a T-TRAK module.

I decided the Kato-Woodland Scenics T-TRAK module kit was the best candidate, since fitting the bridge assembly to the module would be a trial and error process, and foam would be the easiest material to work with. I wound up having to cut more material off the AHM kit base to get everything to fit, but it all worked out in the end. The track is fastened to the foam base witha mix of silicone caulk and the foam adhesive supplied with the module kit.

I still need to pack scrap material around the bridge base to straighten everything out and keep it rigid.