What would keep you from building a TTRAK module?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Not a lot of testing. The oldest is four days old, but I am looking for beta testers!

[signalmaintainer]

Like theseT-TRAK modules? (Built by Michael Buhrer of Switzerland)

Those are amazing! Well done!

[packers#1]

For me, it’s an issue of time and where it’s spent. Right now I’ve been playing around with switching layout designs and finally have settled on something, but given the limited time I have right now with everything I have going on any hobby time is best spent focusing on that portion. But my interests don’t really lie in double track racetracks and going to shows, so Ttrack doesn’t really appeal to me. One of my favorite aspects of the hobby is freight car weathering, and grain cars and these Indiana layouts are really something inspiring, so I’d like to explore a small town grain elevator next, and that’s tough to do in T-track but relatively easy in Free-mo, which is a medium I want to explore, along with HO scale. Plus I can then make a Free-moN module for an interchange yard for the switching layout afterwards.

[signalmaintainer]

@Ed Kapuscinski, any interest in having a TRW TTrak challenge? Beginning in a month or so, say, so we can get supplies and frames?

[pdx1955]

For the current layout reboot I'm just using short fitter pieces at the ends and everything else is code 55 on cork. For this T shaped layout, I don't have an interior loop on the stem portion so I've repurposed portions so , for example, the interior line to the right of the crossover is an industrial spur.



For the top part of the T, while there is a loop, it won't be run like that. Half will be a staging yard lead, part will be a arrival/departure yard track, part yard lead and part industrial lead to the ice dock and tofc ramp (can be seen on the right below). For this top portion,  I put two deep triples together for the yard , and then merged together two junction modules plus split a single in half and put these on the ends to avoid a nasty s scurve with the end cap turns. Another advantage here is the junction modules have the mainline to the back and regular ones have it in the front so that creates a wide gap. I'll have a staging yard dropped into this portion to support the yard ops.These big modules won't be transported to shows, but some of the others could be.
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True that there are limitations such as radii, but being able to work up close  and just flip it over for wiring, switch machines, or for signal detection is paying off in spades. You can pretty much do whatever you want.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

@Ed Kapuscinski, any interest in having a TRW TTrak challenge? Beginning in a month or so, say, so we can get supplies and frames?

How bout this: best new TTRAK module done by the end of the year gets an N&W 611 locomotive reverser.

I do like the idea though, but I'd say the real challenge is creating some awesome stuff and then getting together to show off.

[chessie system fan]

I'd be in for a RW challenge.

[CharlesW]

I think this is my first post outside the introduction thread, but this discussion really hit home for me and I wanted to chime in from the perspective of someone who doesn't have a permanent layout at home (or belong to a club with a permanent layout).

I think the biggest issue for me with T-Trak was where to source a module. Most of the modules in our club have been passed from member to member over time, especially on the Ntrak side. New module construction is pretty intimidating when you don't have good woodworking skills. Fortunately for us, our T-Trak advocate bought a couple dozen modules from someone several states away several years ago. Most of the modules were completed but some were void of both track and scenery.

In our club we have multiple module standards. Historically we were all Ntrak, but bad leadership and bad actors had doused a lot of the club's enthusiasm over the years. We had one member pick up a couple T-Trak kits and try to convince the rest of us that T-Trak was a neat alternative to the heavy and bulky Ntrak modules, but it didn't catch on until the modules from Oklahoma arrived (our T-Trak advocate is not the member who technically introduced us to T-Trak).

I was fortunate to get three of the blank doubles, which became a three-module set that can be operated independently from the rest of the layout during a show. I'm slowly working on the scenery, but detailed scenery is not one of my strengths. I can't focus long enough to actually model a prototype, so I shoot for something that looks accurate but doesn't have a specific prototype. Luckily my modules were built before I found out that T-Trak isn't meant for operations, just running trains around in a circle/oval/etc. Whether that's accurate or not, I don't know, but nobody in my club has objected so far....

Most of our club members don't have permanent home layouts. There's a splinter group from our club that built a freelanced combination Bendtrack/Ntrak layout almost 30 years ago that pushed a lot of the boundaries for a modular layout at the time, but we're pretty much a modular-only club, which means we can operate trains together at train shows or other events. In our area there are very few local train shows. I think the only fall show within an hour drive time for most of us was today.

Having T-Trak as an alternative to Ntrak, or the splinter group's aging layout, has been a boon for our club. It allows us to participate in the few remaining shows much easier and cheaper than when we were Ntrak only. It also allows us to experiment with scenery techniques that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day. It's also a lot easier on knees, backs and other aches and pains that come with transporting, setting up and tearing down Ntrak and Bendtrack modules. Setup and teardown are a breeze compared to the other layouts- we're usually lucky to get the Bendtrack/Ntrak layout torn down and loaded into its trailer in an hour after a show ends, Ntrak is usually a little quicker. 10-15 minutes after the last train stopped moving this afternoon we had the layout disassembled and loaded into vehicles for the trip home.

While I understand (and sometimes agree) that the whimsical modules aren't always as neat as the builder thinks they are, the N scale War of the World's module one of our members built drew far more comments from people walking by our layout today than any of the other modules combined. It's a scene that works well on a T-Trak module, that probably wouldn't carry over to an Ntrak module very well. Is it prototypical? No, not exactly. But it gives us a way to combine the other things we're interested in with our trains.

The ease of setup with T-Trak is probably the most important thing for us. Because most of us don't have home layouts, opportunities to run our trains are fairly limited. Considering the price of most new equipment, we're spending a lot of money on trains that spend more time collecting dust than moving. We're trying to make a point of dedicating our monthly club meeting every couple months to actually running trains. That's a non-issue with the larger module standards- you can't setup, run and tear down a modular layout in 2 hours or less, but you can do it with T-Trak.

Something else that I think is important is that we don't have a rule that you have to have a module in the layout to run a train on any of our modular layouts. You do have to help with setup, teardown and keeping the track clean (plus other maintenance items) during the event. If T-Trak isn't your thing, you're not prohibited from participating in club events. We have too many modular standards (and too few members) in our club for most members to have modules for each standard. The participation requirement helps keep the workload lighter, and means that members who don't have the room or desire to build modules to a particular standard aren't excluded.

As much of a problem as tiny fingers can be, the bigger issue is how fragile the newest models are. We don't usually have problems with kids grabbing things on the layout, although teens and adults are a completely different story. We tend to setup as a club only, and don't put our T-Trak modules right on the edge of the tables (usually there's a buffer, which helps tremendously with setup when we don't have room for a staging yard). We also tend to stick close to the layout when operating, which means we usually have eyes on the layout and can react to someone getting too close (sticky fingers have been a bigger issue than tiny fingers). But the comments about tiny fingers hit another sore spot, particularly that most of the really neat models coming out now have too many fragile parts to be viable to run at a show. The temporary nature of the modular layout kind of works against realistically being able to run most of the newer releases from companies like ScaleTrains, Rapido and others because the details are too fragile for the amount of handling needed to run them at a show. Tiny fingers just make it worse.

One last thought, on the issue of getting modules that are already assembled - our club T-Trak advocate is starting to manufacture T-Trak modules under the name Dark Sky Modules. One of the things he's talked about possibly doing is shipping assembled modules. He's purchased and assembled modules from various sources in the past and has complained about some of the same things I see others complaining about in this discussion regarding the kits available and the lack of parts shipped with some of those kits. He's building a catalog of designs though, instead of building everything custom.

[One of One-Sixty]

As someone who is getting back into the hobby I am wrestling between T-Trak and N-Trak.  I don't have the space for a full-blown layout so the idea of a modular system appeals to me. 

As the members who remember me knows I always had ambitious plans.

With T-Trak it is kinda grounding me to be realistic about my plans and is helping me stay focused.

I have worked out the track plan for one of my modules, and it forced me to be creative by having 4 track main with a a freight siding that services an ice cream plant.

While building this module I will be teaching myself how to use audrino and DCCEX/++ as it will be incorporated into the layout.

I don't know if Lee W is still a member here bit he had a great T-TRAK module he showcased at Altoona. 

Even when you go to JP you have a mixture of rather exquisite modules as well as the whimsical ones.  For the ones who balked at the Star Wars one it was an attraction like Universal Studios or Disney and the train is adjacent to the property. 

Ironically enough I recall the same argument against T-TRAK is the same ones made against N-Trak,  which didn't kill the hobby.

 It's funny Jimmy from DIY & Digital Railroad just did a video on "Gatekeepers" in the hobby and how not to be one, and there is a lot of gatekeepers here. 

[dem34]

As someone who is getting back into the hobby I am wrestling between T-Trak and N-Trak.  I don't have the space for a full-blown layout so the idea of a modular system appeals to me. 

As the members who remember me knows I always had ambitious plans.

With T-Trak it is kinda grounding me to be realistic about my plans and is helping me stay focused.

I have worked out the track plan for one of my modules, and it forced me to be creative by having 4 track main with a a freight siding that services an ice cream plant.

While building this module I will be teaching myself how to use audrino and DCCEX/++ as it will be incorporated into the layout.

I don't know if Lee W is still a member here bit he had a great T-TRAK module he showcased at Altoona. 

Even when you go to JP you have a mixture of rather exquisite modules as well as the whimsical ones.  For the ones who balked at the Star Wars one it was an attraction like Universal Studios or Disney and the train is adjacent to the property. 

Ironically enough I recall the same argument against T-TRAK is the same ones made against N-Trak,  which didn't kill the hobby.

 It's funny Jimmy from DIY & Digital Railroad just did a video on "Gatekeepers" in the hobby and how not to be one, and there is a lot of gatekeepers here.

TBF on the last point. There was always a dynamic here about improvement through peer pressure. Atleast personally I always take a poke from a curmudgeon as a challenge.

[One of One-Sixty]

TBF on the last point. There was always a dynamic here about improvement through peer pressure. Atleast personally I always take a poke from a curmudgeon as a challenge.

Yes, that is true, going back to the old days Ian, Ed, Drew, Chuck,  Bernard (Aklem Models?) and a few others have always pushed me to do better and be better.  And they made fun of me (in jest) when I came up with something outlandish and super unrealistic.   
That type of critique is healthy and should be wanted, but when one just out rights  bashes something cause it's not their cup of tea causes friction in the community (talking in generalized terms and not necessarily here as I have been gone since 2016).

We have had the ufo, godzilla, carnival, drive-in movie modules in N-Trak and on personal home layouts, it doesn't make it toy-like it makes it creative or in some cases lazy as you can tell who just slap stuff together just because.

It wasn't that long ago that having a Tyco slot car racing through your layout and making sure it didn't crash into your train was the hottest thing.

Heck O has more toy like features and set-ups at train shows that makes you just shake your head, with the two N scale modular systems it allows those who want to run trains to run trains and who wants to run ips to run ops. 

I've seen the switching puzzle or whatever it's called done in T-Trak.

My gripe is why not take it a step further and ballast and weather your tracks.  I remember here amd on the Atlas forums I was called crazy when I started weathering my unitrack pieces and ppl said it will take to long etc, etc, now everyone does it with their regular sectional amd flex track and unitrack.

[jpwisc]

I'm going to sound like a snob here......so anyways......

In my opinion, 95% of T-trak modules are N-trak on steroids......and not in a good way.  Take the most unrealistic thing you can come up with, put it on the back of the module, and run two straight sections of track down the front.  It is not, and never will be, my cup of tea.

I have seen some excellent T-trak modules; it's just not the norm. 

As a previous poster put it, I think T-trak takes N scale from a true modeler's scale back to the realm of toy trains. 

On a logistical standpoint, the radius of the curves is too small to make prototypical length passenger cars look good going around the corners (again....adding to the toy like look).

Again, maybe I'm just a snob (and that's fine), but T-trak will never by my thing.  It doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Well said Nate. Someone could build a great looking train, and some great looking modules, but those modules could end up next to a UFO crash scene, which kills the overall look and feel to me. Fun for some, but not me.

[robertjohndavis]

I was looking at some pre-built T-Track modules at a train show yesterday. The temptation….

I built my own portable N scale layout to bring to shows and I intentionally decided not to do N-Trak because of the 3-track main standard which is just not a common enough prototype situation to be saddled with.

So, I have to chuckle when I read comments about T-Trak being used for unrealistic scenes.

In the end, what only matters to me is my layout. If other people bring different kinds of creativity to the hobby and help it grow, who cares? If they tickle me, great! They certainly won’t tick me off.

Model railroading should be a big tent hobby.

[signalmaintainer]

Well said Nate. Someone could build a great looking train, and some great looking modules, but those modules could end up next to a UFO crash scene, which kills the overall look and feel to me. Fun for some, but not me.

Yes, indeed, I too would consider that a significant downside to the whole TTrak experience.

[John]

Yes, indeed, I too would consider that a significant downside to the whole TTrak experience.

Actually that's the case for all modular layouts to some extent . there are exceptions where clubs have specific standards, and I suspect some also have work sessions to coordinate scenery etc ..