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I have not heard anything since I built my sample and wrote a review/critique and sent it in to Kato.
I saw them on a Japanese web site. Could not determine if they will be available without or with track. Converting Yen to Dollars they seem a bit pricey for my budget. Will see what an e-tailer might do with a slight discount, if and when they come to North America. I do like the Masterpiece kits...
The sample did come with track. Two sections of double track so you don't have to worry about spacing between the tracks. I did provide my own wiring harnesses, some equivalent to the #24-818 that I built up myself.
The modules on the Japanese website are not the ones that Kato will be releasing in the US market. The Kato modules will have the concrete tie track included.
Well, I am not interested in that track style. Hmmm. If available without track... Otherwise, sounds like I won't be a buyer.
The concrete tie track has the advantage of a slightly closer tie spacing that appears more prototypical. You can paint the ties to make them appear like wood.
A very simple solution would be for them to offer the module kit without track. Also, they could easily sell a matching track "kit", with tie style option.
You're just not contributing to their desired profit margins are you? This is capitalism- give them what they think they want. The rest can get lost.... d
I still have my T-TRAK modules that I bought a while ago. They're sitting in my ex's garage along with all of my other stuff. Now that I'm working again, hopefully my modelling life will get back on track!
For my temporary layout, I’m seriously considering shelving my original 16”x0.5” x8’ “back to back” shelf idea . Pun intended. Even moving those heavy bare boards around was unwieldy. I have two questions before I can commit. (Btw even if I have some non compliant sections for home use that is fine by me. I’m the only DCC Nscale guy in town it seems, and I’m more interested in t1 trak than true track 1: can an IM ac12 make it around a standard end cap? I only have a V6 set (13.75 inch radius iirc) and it was hiking the pilot pretty well on my tabletop. If not I’ll have to go with a couple of masterpieces 16” radius corners. I also have a closecoupled and diaphragm equipped ABA set, and I’m pretty sure they won’t go around 9” turns anymore, though I haven’t really had a chance to try them. 2: everyone seems to run dead flat track... can you change elevation assuming you return to original location on A following module? My idea was to flip a couple of triples over, foam core them and not run most of the fronts so I can better model a curving bay beach scene like Santa Claus beach, where the tracks are tight and low to the beach. I figure a couple of neodymium magnets and a guide pin would be an effective aligner, and adding 2 mm balsa would keep the correct gap so I wouldn’t have to break the set and could use atlas across both, returning to standard position and Kato at each end of the (effectively) sextuplet. On the other side I wanted a couple of triples to make a trestle and cliffs worthwhile. Though that one I am willing to put on the back burner for now to model something easier, like orange groves and other farming, or some warehouses, fruit processors, etc I’d still like to have some elevation change somewhere, so I am thinking the 1 inch recessed deck would be ideal. I like unitrack, but hate how it makes steam look like a lowrider on Cinco de Mayo with the cab bouncing up and down on every unijoint. And it does! Thus the desire to run atlas flex track instead.
Question: as I was buying some 1x3” poplar sticks, and some 5mm 2’x4’ underlayment plywood at the Orange box home improvement place, I happened across something called Parson legs. Basically really plain legs with a single threaded bolt. Come in 6” sizes, 15” and 23 something inches. I was thinking these would be fun for assembling a short height layout on the living room floor to play trains with my daughter, just screw them into either foam on plank or 1x3 modules instead of Allen’s or carrriage bolts. Wondered if anyone had tried something similar? And yes, I’m going to start by breaking most of the do’s and dont’s and build 2 triples with an 18” depth, and then a spacer with the remaining 7.5”, or I might bump it down to 17.5 so I can have an 8” spacer module the same length. 13-14” just seemed too small for what I really wanted to do, and 11 and 12” radiuses were a complete no go for me. Wanted to buy the modules to begin with but it’s jsut too much money after factoring in shipping. Two 18 depth modules would match up nicely to a 36.5 x 18” triple to use as a larger radius end cap down the road.
Well, lines drawn... wish me luck! 18” deep, by 36.5” long, will be foam on plank construction. *fingers crossed*
My first module is under way. I used a inexpensive electric carving knife to cut the foam, (it cuts fast and easy) and a jigsaw to cut the 5mm plywood. I used foam bonding glue found in the construction section, comes ready to use with a caulk gun. Put weights on it and we will see how it looks in the morning! I did leave the foam a little long in width so I can trim it up after glue dries, as I saw suggested on the T-TRAK wiki.
Well here is the plan, once I get hom3 from my second honeymoon /1 year anniversary next week. Priorities! Wife is getting a 16” double and a 16” quad on Thursday to build her up own freelance SoCal 1950s-ish town she wants. I’ll probably be taking pics and writing an article or two on her experiences as a complete neophyte coming into the hobby.
Can someone post some pictures of how you made the buss line and attaching the modules? Our local N Scale and NMRA groups are going to get involved in T-Trak. I envision a T-Trak Freemo type setup. Thanks , Mike