Cumberland Station TTrak and Other Adventures

[OldEastRR]

I really enjoy this thread. I hope you keep it running,

[Rich_S]

Well, we had a successful run at N Scale Weekend, I'd say.


I also snagged a classic Arnold GG1, in pretty good shape despite lacking a box, and I have installed an LED to improve the view...



Lee

Hi Lee, It was a pleasure meeting you in Altoona this past weekend. The T-Trak modules looked fantastic, loved the station and the bridge work over the river, spot on and two thumbs up. I was also there to see the first run of your newly acquired Arnold GG1, very nice find.  Talk about deals, I purchased a brand new DT 500 throttle cheaper than you can get via mail order / online. Lots of good stuff and hope to see everyone again next year.

[wm3798]

We'll have to print some a$$hat name badges next time...  So many names, screen handles, and faces... Hard to keep everyone straight!
I assume I enjoyed meeting you too!  I had a great time meeting everyone...  This was one of the best N Scale Weekends I've been to.  Looking forward to next year.  I'm already plotting and scheming my next set of modules...and maybe the set after that!
Lee

[randgust]

I really think that adapting Cumberland into a T-trak format and doing it as accurately as you have was one of the highlights of the show.

Anyone that's ever been there simply responded with a 'wow', and the design engineering behind it from the light switch to the placement of the battery (without flipping the module upside down to change it) get extra credit.    To say nothing of the 'easter eggs' (love that phrase) that reward the intense study of the model through detail work.

I started off with one module and now have...6...... so there's no tips on how to slow down the thing after you've got it started.

[wm3798]

One thing is certain.  I've decided to separate my TTrak work from the Retro Layout, since the latter has a limited piece of real estate to work with.  A major remodel of the office layout is now underway. That said, I will include a port where TTrack modules can be added when the need arises...
To that end, I went to the jobsite at Habitat where they were discarding some surplus materials...



Much of this will be converted to high school theater sets in the fall, but there's definitely a couple of slices in there that will be put to much higher use!

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Can an N Scale Helmstetters be too far away?

[MK]

That's a mint in 2" foam! 

[Point353]

Can an N Scale Helmstetters be too far away?

Not to deter you from trying, but it's been suggested previously: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=46293.msg616195#msg616195
Instead, he seems to have a thing for Sabillasville.

[mu26aeh]

Then Highfield could be next

[wm3798]

I'm thinking a third unit to complete (more or less) the scene in Cumberland.  I'm working on a 30 degree wedge to go between the two modules that are extant, then adding a third double module just east of the station with another 30 degree bend, showing the B&O interchange track and the girder plate bridge across the Potomac to Ridgely, WVa.  Then I'll just need two 15 degree wedges to create a full inside 90 that gently curves through three modules (and 4 wedges).

Of course, in order to properly crate it all up, I'll need a fourth double...  Should I do City Junction?  or head down toward Ridgely and Maryland Junction?  Write your choice on the back of a $20 bill, and send it to "Lee's Next Module" care of this station...

Lee

[Ed Kapuscinski]

How about "boring countryside" to add some breathing room to your empire?

Or... https://goo.gl/maps/LTo96VfS7MkXf3CX8

[wm3798]

Depends on if I model the full junction there...  At one time there were 4 rail lines converging on that point...  Not exactly boring countryside!
PRR Bedford Secondary/WM State Line Branch came in from the left just past that bridge, the Cumberland and Pennsylvania split off the B&O to the left and crossed under the bridge
The B&O main is off to the left, and of course, Wild Mary is on the steel bridge.

Come to think of it, a proper "diamond cutter" could almost be done with prototypical accuracy!
But that would be two or three modules upstream...
Lee

[randgust]

I vote Elkins, as that's as recognizable a spot to show viewers as any place in the region, had two track main, a turntable across from the depot, and a relatively compact yard area.  And WM all the way.

You can never have enough 'yards' on T-trak...as you observed in Altoona, there's more equipment to set up than space to hold it.   Elkins was pretty darn tight to begin with.

Not many would be up to building the Elkins depot, but that's a bit smaller than Cumberland, and on the INSIDE of the track with the yard to the back.   As you can see with what I've done, you can make a detachable 'section' up front if you run into space issues; take it or leave it, but for most shows the tight back-to-back T-trak modules aren't used that much.

OOOh, and another bridge....

I did always like Maryland Junction though, particularly that extremely odd tunnel out of there, it looks like a model without trying.

One of the reasons that everybody loves your Cumberland is that the building survives as an active excursion site, and so does much of the scene.    Elkins would pull a close second here.

[wm3798]

Elkins would be fun, and would give me my own staging yard to play with... but then I'd have to build all the modules needed to get from there to Cumberland!

But, I already have the station drawn up in my design program, and all I'd have to do is convert it to the newest version to output a file that can be 3D printed...  Hmmm...



(That's a 2D printout of the 3-D image lurking there in the background...)

Lee

[randgust]

See,you know you want to build it.    It's calling you.....

I never got to Cumberland in WM days, but I did get to Elkins in 1977.