r/TTRAK

Has anyone seen, or actually constructed, a module using sheets of XPS? I’m referring to the dense stuff that comes in pink, blue, or green. I am thinking of laminating a couple of layers and somehow banding the whole thing with some 1/4” plywood. #HO

I suspect that I will mainly use my T-TRAK modules at home -- mostly because there aren't many HO scale T-TRAK layouts at shows around me. :-)

I will make it down to SC at some point, u/HomeyHal.

When attend club meetings, my impression is that a lot of folks who enjoy T-TRAK build modules at home but don't only run trains on them at shows -- but I don't know whether that's true -- at my club(s) -- or prevalent in T-TRAK.

It looks to me like you'd have to have a giant room to run an N-TRAK layout at home -- or a lot more room than I have. :-)

When I first retired, I went to some Sipping and Switching Society NC shows -- to run an S&SS layout at home, I think you would need a billionaire size home.

I plant to have street running track on modules, so I think that I will beed to lie the scenery "base" up to the level that Walther's Concrete Street system will be at track level.

I think that people commonly use foam board (two pieces of poster board with foam in between), but I have wondered about using the corrugated plastic people use for campaign signs.

If it's available, it seems as thought it might be more durable.

Any insights?

My local T-TRAK club has been using groups.io for quite a while, but the data quota for the free accounts is pretty stingy -- 1 GB.

I am working on implementing a hybrid, where the club continues to use groups.io email functions, but a lot of the data storage moves to Google Drive.

For those of you who are members of a local T-TRAK club, if you use some kind if community software -- groups.io, Google Groups, discord, etc., I would be interested to hear what you are using -- particularly any terrific -- or terrible -- experiences.

I understand that this a question in some ways relevant to all model railroaders, but my sense -- over the short time that I have been involved with T-TRAK is that we are a particularly social group of model railroaders.

I think that's probably because collaborations is baked in to modular rail roading -- and T-TRAK in particular -- putting layouts together for shows seem to a huge source of motivation for a lot of T-TRAKers -- perhaps the most important motivation for a lot of folks.

I have been reading about double track ROW for my commuter rail layout — I am beginning to plan first stages of scenery, and since the first modules are urban, the ROW will be fenced.

The concept of my layout is a commuter system running low floor DMUs on under utilized freight lines.

I think that is actually a prototypical scenario, see the referenced site.

I think 100’ ROW — which I think is pretty reasonable for double track freight — 7.5” in N, about 13.75” in HO will seem a bit too wide on modules.

My first inclination is 50’, but that might be a bit type.

What ROWs do you model on your T-TRAK modules? What is your thinking behind the ROW width you implemented?