Conrail's Allegheny Crossing as NTRAK Modules

[AlkemScaleModels]

we need a list of modules to build and who will be doing them.

simply calling out of the dark is silly - it needs to be an organized effort.  who is building teh yard?

Ask John Drye about the yard. He has a 10 ft long yard currently set up for oNeTRAK but modifiable to this. It was based on the PRR yard at Sodus Point. I actually built it many years ago, used it in a few oNeTRAK layouts and then sold it. JD bought from the guy that bought it from me.

It currently has no scenery, but being a flat yard should not be hard to change.

IIRC it was made with peco track, but I don't recall if it is cd 55 or 80.

[victor miranda]

because I live near this....

I'd like to make a filler and a corner ...

I already have cold feet, who can I meet with to go over the specs ?

victor

[asciibaron]

i'll do the Slide after the tracks were pulled, but i'm not doing the tunnels

actually, scratch that, i'll do the 24 1/2 street overpass.  i'm not touching "the hill"

[wm3798]

Sounds like it's time for a Google Docs spreadsheet for location assignments.

Can we set a target date for an initial set up so those of us who work well with deadlines can plan our procrastination more carefully?

Dammit.  Now I'll have to buy some Conrail engines... ;D
Lee

[keystonecrossings]

Before you go down the road of assigning/building modules -- which happened to the ill-fated PRRMO -- I suggest you nail down the following:

* How grades are going to be addressed.
* NTRAK or proprietary
* DC or DCC
* If not NTRAK, standards for track centerline locations between owners
* How adjustable legs will be handled
* How getting back to base height will be handled (helix, stacked loops, etc.)

Ed's idea about non-scene modules is worthy. Knowing Cassandra, where Lee wants to model, it is very rural. I think the correct interpretation should be "two feet of non-specific scenery at opposite ends of each owner's group of modules".

[wm3798]

Jerry was obviously dozing at the console...  Ed has wrestled most of those alligators into submission.  No grades, sadly... But I think DCC goes without saying.

Lee

[asciibaron]

actually, i'll do an interlocker - we'll need several crossovers in this sucker.

[lashedup]

The modutrak guys have gotten lucky, but I don't trust luck. These are a good way to make up for unevenness, incorrect setbacks, electrical isolation, etc... as I said, this is years of experience speaking here.

Oh man, lucky... I'm insulted!   

Hey, I'm just glad we don't have IT guys running our show otherwise we'd still be doing NTRAK...

<I kid, I kid...>

[sizemore]

The modutrak guys have gotten lucky, but I don't trust luck. These are a good way to make up for unevenness, incorrect setbacks, electrical isolation, etc... as I said, this is years of experience speaking here.

Oh man, lucky... I'm insulted!   

Hey, I'm just glad we don't have IT guys running our show otherwise we'd still be doing NTRAK...

<I kid, I kid...>

Hey now, I'm on the bleeding edge. My blood, their edge.

The S.

[keystonecrossings]

Jerry was obviously dozing at the console...  Ed has wrestled most of those alligators into submission.  No grades, sadly... But I think DCC goes without saying.

Lee

I did miss the "no grades" decision. I humbly submit to the majority, but doing the Pittsburgh Line without grades is like...  :-[

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm not saying we're not going to put in grades, I'm just saying that we're not building them into the modules.

[AlkemScaleModels]

I'm not saying we're not going to put in grades, I'm just saying that we're not building them into the modules.

We have had grades on standard NTRAK modules numerous times, sometimes intentionally too!  Remember the 1996 show at the Radisson Hotel garage, the whole layout was on grades, up and down. To paraphrase, General Rawlins at City Point, 1865, "the train resembled a fly crawling on a washboard."

Using carpenter shims and wood blocks it is very easy to add grades to modular layouts. The frames absorb the small angular distortion without too much trouble, especially for grades like 1 or 2 percent. It just takes some care to make sure you are adding the grade uniformly.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh yeah, I LOVED those grades in '96. They made that layout fun.

I still remember working the GUTS out of an SD40 and RS11 over the see-saw. You really had to learn how to handle a train if you were anywhere near the tonnage ratings of your power.

THAT was fun.

I think we can still do THAT with this, but exactly how you say, using the leveling bolts and shims. This way we can do it, or we can not do it, as the situation dictates.

[davefoxx]

Geez, Ed, make up your mind.  Grades or no grades.   ;D

I will give you a grade .. F

[sizemore]

SO where is the sign-up sheet?

And...I don't have room for two modules...only one, please advise.