T-TRAK

[peteski]

Some people see fun and others want to drag the fun out to the woods and kill the fun.

T-Trak is fun. "Serious" people only want angst.

Harold

Oh please!  Not everything is so black/white.  Serious people like to have fun too.  Hey, Bruce Arbo here is a perfect example. As he said, he is Code40 snob, yet he is also fully immersed in promoting T-TRAK and the totally toyish Unitrak. 

[Point353]

... and the totally toyish Unitrak. 

If Unitrack is too toylike for you, then Bachmann has just what you need:

[hminky]

Oh please!  Not everything is so black/white.  Serious people like to have fun too.  Hey, Bruce Arbo here is a perfect example. As he said, he is Code40 snob, yet he is also fully immersed in promoting T-TRAK and the totally toyish Unitrak. 

Love T-Track and Unitrak, great entry level.

Have built a layout in the mid-70's with Code 40 after the Odegard articles in Model Railroader, looks good but not very functional over the long haul.

Toyish Unitrak is the backbone of N-scale.

Been in the hobby a long time and  "serious" people don't like fun, that is why I used quotes.

Harold

[arbomambo]

one thing I have noticed, about T-TRAK participants, is their imagination...the folks that like to do 'whimsy', generally, take it to extremes!

Prime example:
Walt Pattison's Farm module...





if that doesn't make you chuckle...well...

[hminky]

Thanks Bruce for all your efforts in promoting T-Trak

Harold

[C855B]

T-TRAK has many excellent attributes and is an especially encouraging medium for both noobs and the experienced hands. I like it as a test bed for scenery techniques - better I fail on a cheap one-foot square than umpteen-hundred square feet of a permanent layout.

My problem is public train shows (versus, say, an RPM meet). IMO the inherent rag-tag nature of a small-module "collection" layout of highly varying quality of execution fosters a perception not far removed from a Lionel or Lego loop - adult toys. On one hand, "you, too, can participate easily", on the other, "oh, isn't that nice they're expressing their second childhood."

The ant farm module is, yes, whimsical, but makes me wince at the thought of it showing up at every local train show. It's a one-note joke, let's move on. Sort of like the infamous N-Trak "tornado module". At least the ants are quiet.    Anyway, the lowered bar (cost, time) for a working module does have the side-effect of encouraging silliness, where a light touch brings smiles, any more than that, eye-rolling.

[jwb]

One feature of T-trak with DCC and Unitrack  that I don't see mentioned is that a lot of additional features used on individual modules can come off the DCC bus. On many home layouts, the DCC bus goes exclusively through the Unitrack joiners, which makes wiring very simple and also makes reconfiguring the layout simple, without the need to do rewiring. The photo below shows on the left an NCE Illuminator, which is a Woodland Scenics Just plug compatible lighting decoder. On the right is a Digitrax DS52 stationary decoder configured to work with Unitrack switches.

I'm using the T-trak architecture purely for home use. Every module has a terminal strip as shown that allows me to install DCC-related features in the space under each module. I also glue pages from the product documentation to the underside of the module for reference, to note addresses, CV values, etc.

The terminal strip also allows me to  run jumpers from the DCC command station to individual modules for programming, testing, etc. But normally, the DCC power is fed exclusively through the Unijoiners connecting the modules.

[arbomambo]

we don't rely on the unijoiners to conduct electricity (although that's a cool setup)...we maintain a 10-12 ga bus around every set up, along with loconet cable.Just as in a home layout, we  try to maintain the 'electrical drop every 3' rule', so we have, at the very least, every other module plugged into the bus.

[arbomambo]

T-TRAK has many excellent attributes and is an especially encouraging medium for both noobs and the experienced hands. I like it as a test bed for scenery techniques - better I fail on a cheap one-foot square than umpteen-hundred square feet of a permanent layout.

My problem is public train shows (versus, say, an RPM meet). IMO the inherent rag-tag nature of a small-module "collection" layout of highly varying quality of execution fosters a perception not far removed from a Lionel or Lego loop - adult toys. On one hand, "you, too, can participate easily", on the other, "oh, isn't that nice they're expressing their second childhood."

The ant farm module is, yes, whimsical, but makes me wince at the thought of it showing up at every local train show. It's a one-note joke, let's move on. Sort of like the infamous N-Trak "tornado module". At least the ants are quiet.    Anyway, the lowered bar (cost, time) for a working module does have the side-effect of encouraging silliness, where a light touch brings smiles, any more than that, eye-rolling.

I understand that whimsy and 'silly' modules may not be one's cup of tea...I get that (Because it certainly isn't my cup of tea)...
BUT, if you're setting up a large T-TRAK layout, at various shows, locally, regionally, or nationally, one can't afford to be myopic about these things.
You're presenting that layout, to that individual, to that crowd, in that town, for the FIRST time! That's the way you have to view it. Imagine how the manufacturers' reps, who attend all of these shows, all of the time, feel...do you think they may have heard the same question, the same comment, more than just a few times? Just from a different person, in a different town this time. They need to treat that individual as if they've never heard that or had to address it a thousand times over. That guy is seeing and talking to that rep for the first time.
Every time we set up at a public show, we are displaying our modules and T-TRAK FOR THE FIRST TIME to almost every attendee.
So, while some, who see that tornado module, or that Godzilla module, or that UFO module all the time at their local club, remember that at every public show, everyone else is seeing it for the FIRST time.
Concerts, Plays, Ballet, Opera....each of these performances have been rehearsed and performed countless times, but someone, hundreds of, thousands of 'someones', are seeing/hearing that performance, for the FIRST time, every time it is performed.
I have had a great time, displaying and operating layouts, at EVERY show that I have attended throughout the last 30 years. But I have met a few folks who truly should not be displaying in front of, or interacting with, the general public. Otherwise, one should just confine themselves to setting up privately as a club, and refrain from setting up at public shows.

[Point353]

Walt Pattison's Farm module...

This is the solution for the person who "just can't look past the miles and miles of Unitrack double track mainlines".

[C855B]

...Every time we set up at a public show, we are displaying our modules and T-TRAK FOR THE FIRST TIME to almost every attendee.
So, while some, who see that tornado module, or that Godzilla module, or that UFO module all the time at their local club, remember that at every public show, everyone else is seeing it for the FIRST time.
Concerts, Plays, Ballet, Opera....each of these performances have been rehearsed and performed countless times, but someone, hundreds of, thousands of 'someones', are seeing/hearing that performance, for the FIRST time, every time it is performed.
...

I strongly disagree with this sentiment (including, as a professional concert musician, the arts performance equivalencies). Local shows/performances draw approximately the same crowd, show after show, year after year. There may be turnover in terms of the unwashed masses, but my experience is we see the same folks at the same shows, enthusiasts for the medium being presented, in varying degrees of interest. If your assertions were true for, per your example, concerts, then it would be incumbent on us to highly polish a limited number of works for presentation year after year in the assumption we drew a different audience every time. Nothing could be further from reality.

Short version - we cannot assume a new audience unless it is a venue not previously visited. Quality work bears repeat visits. Jokes are stale the third time around.

[arbomambo]

Short version - we cannot assume a new audience unless it is a venue not previously visited. Quality work bears repeat visits. Jokes are stale the third time around.

  What you are stating is, basically, that you 'show' to the same audience over and over.
??? just because you 'perform' at the same venue doesn't mean we do...
We travel to MANY different venues, across the region and the country.
In 2016 we were at the WGH in San Antonio (over 15,000 paid public spectators), in 2017, the NTS in Orlando (11,000 paid public spectators), in 2018, the WGH in Houston (Super Bowl weekend-over 23,000 paid public spectators), NTS Kansas City (over 17,000 paid public spectators), and over 20 venues 'locally' (within a 4 hour drive of home)
Now, what percentage of paid attendees, of any of those shows, went to ANY of the others?
Needless to say, most ALL of the paid public attendees, at those shows, were seeing our T-TRAK modules for the FIRST time.

  Again, T-TRAK is not for everyone, and, some just don't care for the variations in theme, modeling ability, etc.
I enjoy seeing modules from 12 year olds, or brand new model railroaders, who may not, now or ever, have the technical ability that many expert model railroaders may have. I enjoy setting up with them (on our T-TRAK layouts), talking with them, running trains, and having fun. At the end of the day/show, we get to take apart our modules, bring them home, and model what we enjoy.
  I would suggest that those who have an issue with someone else's interpretation, or enjoyment, of model railroading, on their terms, not get involved with T-TRAK other than on a local level, if at all.

[chuck geiger]

I am no longer a doubting Thomas. Been on all the websites, T-Trak, T-Track Wiki, UO T-Trak Handbook as well as searching Pinterist. I have
sold my present layout locally and will begin the foray into the world of T-Trak. Ed and I chatted about it a few weeks ago and after seeing
Bruce's work and some of the gallery shots on different pages, I can accomplish my next chapter in N Scale Model Railroading. We are moving
from Alaska to Arizona next month and I can't wait to build module #1.

[MK]

Alaska to Arizona?  Holy temperature extremes Batman! 

I was part of the combined T-Trak gang at Amherst.  Boy, it was busy and I noticed that (maybe because it's on banquet tables) there were more kids since they don't need a bucket or step stool to stand on to look at the trains.  It also introduces more "issues" like random grabs by kids so you have to be a bit more vigilant.

[arbomambo]

I'm surprised Randgust hasn't weighed in on this topic...
His 'West Hickory' set of T-TRAK modules are beautiful.