N Scale Hi Rail - Retro Hollow Core Door Layout

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The Great Albino Locomotive! 

Actually, lots of stuff was painted like that for it's builders photos, then painted properly.

[peteski]

Actually, lots of stuff was painted like that for it's builders photos, then painted properly.

Yes, European N scale manufacturers offered multiple steam loco models in "photo livery".

[wm3798]

I found her boobs and the dog house.


I've Frankensteined some tender pick ups, but the are terrible.
The Rivarossi truck screws are too short, the Trix screws are too fat, and the whole operation is pretty spotty.
True to vintage form, it runs fine at 1000 mph, but stalls like a salesman when it's his turn to pick up the tab at lunch.
How is Kato for parts?  I'd like to get so 3 axle trucks with all wheel pickup.

Lee

[Point353]

How is Kato for parts?  I'd like to get so 3 axle trucks with all wheel pickup.

[wm3798]

That's the guy!  Thanks.  What's the best source?  Right from Kato or is there a good retailer I should try?

[Point353]

That's the guy!  Thanks.  What's the best source?  Right from Kato or is there a good retailer I should try?

A quick search doesn't seem to turn up any retailers with the truck set in stock, whereas the Kato parts department presently has them available for purchase.
You might want to contact Kato to make sure that they can ship, because they were shut down for a while due to IL Covid-19 restrictions.

[glakedylan]

Lee, that I1s....wow. simply wow!
that is quite the nicely done shell
too bad they are not still available
that is going to be one fantastic looking locomotive
looking forward to its progress and completion


sincerely
Gary

[wm3798]

Thanks, Gary.  Theres always a fine line between preserving the antiques in their original form, and fixixing them up to run the hell out of them.  Im certainly trending toward the latter!
Lee

[wm3798]

Here's 15 minutes of your life you'll never get back...

Lee

[wm3798]

I have no idea where I'm going to put it, or what the end game will be, but I've acquired a slightly used Walther's/Heljan 120' turntable kit on the cheap.
This replicates literally the FIRST model railroad purchase I made with my first paycheck ever.  (I worked for my uncle and grandfather at the Candler Building in Baltimore, a short 4 or 5 blocks from M.B. Klein's old place on N. Gay Street)  Sure, I had drizzled away small amounts of cash from my allowance prior to this occasion in 1979, but this was the first substantial wad of dead presidents that I was handed by someone other than my dad.

Miss Carol handed me my paycheck at about 11 a.m., I promptly strode through the enormous brass revolving door of the Equitable Trust Bank at the corner of the building and cashed it, and hustled up the street to see how quickly I could spread that wealth around (I think the check was for $185 or so for a 40 hour week)
I bought the turntable kit, the accompanying roundhouse kit, and who knows what else.  I had about as much idea what to do with it then as I do now.

Over the years, the turntable was scrapped, and the roundhouse gradually whittled away and reduced in size to meet whatever needs my layout du-jour had.  But I can say with confidence that chunks of it still exist in the floor and framing of the Hagerstown Roundhouse I built 10 years ago to much fanfare.  I recently re-acquired that structure from @seusscaboose as he re-imagined his layout and it became surplus.  It's out in a storage trailer in the driveway at this moment.

A thought that has occurred to me as I've accumulated my growing fleet of decrepit old steam engines is to create a diorama of roughly 3' square to include the roundhouse and provide a place to display the collection, but I was deterred by the idea of the turntable.  As much as I'd love to replace the beautiful, if unreliable Walther's 130' motorized model, I really don't need it to be functional for a diorama display.  I'd looked at Peco, since theirs' is cheap, but it's only an 80' bridge.  And pretty much anything else is either a bigger investment than I want to make, or otherwise incompatible with the goal.  Then last night I see a new auction listing for the 120' with a $15 starting bid, and "Make an Offer" as an option.  I sheepishly offered $25, figuring the guy started low in hopes of ending high, but rather than the rejection I expected, about 5 minutes later I'm sending the total with shipping... which ended up being less than I paid for the original back in 1979.

So now it's winging it's way here, probably to spend some time in the drawer with the other pile of "sooner or later" projects.  But I think I'm looking forward to dabbling with this more than just about anything else I have on the docket.

I'm wondering if there's a way to fashion it into a TTrak module to have the opportunity to display it and share it, and even include some operating opportunities, or if I should just detail the heck out of it as a diorama and photo bed.  The space requirements and small module standards of TTrak make that seem a bigger challenge, but I think that's the best direction to take.  When and if I have space for a larger layout, I could incorporate it into the design as a module, plus using c-80 Unitrak (supplemented with the 130 million miles of Atlas and Peco c80 I still have) will be Retro-Fleet friendly, thereby supporting the significant investment of time and money I've put into my collection.

So anyway... while this project has little or nothing to do with the present layout, I just thought I'd throw that out there for your feedback.  I'll keep you posted as I sort through my own thoughts on it.
All the best,
Lee

[Point353]

Is the old Arnold Rapido turntable either a bigger investment than you want to make, or otherwise incompatible with the goal?

Here's an example of a turntable on a T-Trak module: http://ttrak.wikidot.com/turntable-module

You can build a triple-length module that is about 36" long.
Also, the depth can be up to about 24". You might want to also then build a 4" deep "partner" module.
Or, you can build a "non-conforming" module, but this may prevent the module from being used in a layout depending upon how it is configured.
http://ttrak.wdfiles.com/local--files/t-trak-standards/T-Trak%20Interface%20Guidelines%20Ver%201a.pdf

[wm3798]

The turntable wouldn't be the limiting factor.  It's the roundhouse.


22 stalls, it occupies about 8 square feet...
Lee

[Point353]

The turntable wouldn't be the limiting factor.  It's the roundhouse.
22 stalls, it occupies about 8 square feet...
Lee

To accommodate the turntable and roundhouse, how much depth would be required - as measured from the front edge of the turntable pit to the back wall of the roundhouse?
If necessary, would you be willing to cut off the back of a few stalls to make the roundhouse fit within the depth limits of a "unique" module?
That would be about 20.5", assuming a maximum 24.5" deep module with about 4" lost to the two front tracks.

[wm3798]

I dug up some better pictures.


The turntable in the picture scales out to 9.75", and I just measured the building, the stall depth is a hair over 9".  Assuming there's about 8 or 9" of rail between the pit and the stall door, that's a total of 26 to 27" of depth from the outer edge of the pit to the back wall of the roundhouse.

Now the new turntable is only 120', which works out to 9" dead, but that only saves 3/8" because the reduction of diameter will be concentric.

I'm not enthusiastic about cutting the stalls at the back of a portion of it, mostly because on the prototype, there was a section that was actually extended further out to handled the Challengers when they arrived on the property in the late 1940s, and if I do end up using this on a layout, I'd like to model that.

It might make more sense to work it into an N trak module, probably a corner that can be more square, combined with a straight to gain enough space to properly spread the thing out.  I could still work it into a fixed track plan as a removable module, and if I can link up with a suitable "play group" it could still make the public rounds.

I guess it will just stay in storage until I have something more concrete to work with in terms of real estate.

Lee

[Point353]

I dug up some better pictures.


The turntable in the picture scales out to 9.75", and I just measured the building, the stall depth is a hair over 9".  Assuming there's about 8 or 9" of rail between the pit and the stall door, that's a total of 26 to 27" of depth from the outer edge of the pit to the back wall of the roundhouse.

Now the new turntable is only 120', which works out to 9" dead, but that only saves 3/8" because the reduction of diameter will be concentric.

I'm not enthusiastic about cutting the stalls at the back of a portion of it, mostly because on the prototype, there was a section that was actually extended further out to handled the Challengers when they arrived on the property in the late 1940s, and if I do end up using this on a layout, I'd like to model that.

It might make more sense to work it into an N trak module, probably a corner that can be more square, combined with a straight to gain enough space to properly spread the thing out.  I could still work it into a fixed track plan as a removable module, and if I can link up with a suitable "play group" it could still make the public rounds.

I guess it will just stay in storage until I have something more concrete to work with in terms of real estate.

Lee

It would depend upon with which "play group" you want your module to be compatible.

Ntrak is obviously less restrictive, since the modules aren't intended to be set up back-to-back on 30" deep folding tables and there's generally an open operator's area behind the modules.

This video shows a turntable and roundhouse sited on an inside curve module:

That being said, the total depth of two back-to-back T-Trak modules is almost 29".
If T-Trak is going to be your target play group, then you might might consider building a full-depth straight module (of whatever length you need) and place the turntable/roundhouse scene on a higher level than the two through tracks.
The through tracks - at both the front and the rear of the module - would then tunnel under your scene, perhaps with the front of the "tunnel" left open for access.
You could construct some sort of ramp or switchback track to one side of the scene to create a connection between the through tracks and the turntable.