T-TRAK philosophical question

[Dave V]

Should I:

1) Make my scenery come to "neutral" (i.e., the flat module top level) at the ends of every module I build, or

2) make my module scenery "continuous" in the order in which I intend to use them in a home layout?

The former makes any module I build that much more potentially compatible with other modules at a show while the latter will look more natural when used in a home layout.

Given the dramatic difference between a lush central Pennsylvania summer in the Juniata Valley and the kinds of modules I see out here, I feel like the color and texture differences between my modules and any adjacent ones built by others might obviate concerns about the end levels in choice (1) anyway.

But happy to hear thoughts...bearing in mind that these modules will eventually dual-hat between show modules and a (hopefully coherent) home layout.

[nkalanaga]

How about both?  Have two "end" modules, with flat scenery on the outer ends, and the rest of your modules go between.  Even if you only use some of the middle modules, and the terrain doesn't match, the scenery will be similar, while the end modules can blend in with the other modelers' work.

Maybe do farm/pasture scenes on the end modules, even if you don't need them for your home layout, as those can be designed to go well with almost any scenery.  After all, even Pennsylvania has some flat land!

[jargonlet]

So the thing that drives me crazy the most about T-TRAK is the variance between modules. Unless built to do so, no two modules look coherent to each other. This drives me crazy but I’ve heard a lot of people talk about it as a positive. My solution has been to make enough modules that I can claim a corner of a layout. I have an end cap and 6’ feet of modules on each side of the table that I am making one big scene out of. So on my 14.5’ of modules everything jives together as a unit. Past there everyone can do what they would like. You do you Dave and I’m sure it will be fantastic.

[Point353]

Should I:

1) Make my scenery come to "neutral" (i.e., the flat module top level) at the ends of every module I build, or

2) make my module scenery "continuous" in the order in which I intend to use them in a home layout?

The former makes any module I build that much more potentially compatible with other modules at a show while the latter will look more natural when used in a home layout.

Given the dramatic difference between a lush central Pennsylvania summer in the Juniata Valley and the kinds of modules I see out here, I feel like the color and texture differences between my modules and any adjacent ones built by others might obviate concerns about the end levels in choice (1) anyway.

But happy to hear thoughts...bearing in mind that these modules will eventually dual-hat between show modules and a (hopefully coherent) home layout.

IMO, given the relative amount of time your modules will spend at shows versus in a home layout, go with option #2.
Cover the ends above the base with thin panels, painted in a color to match the scenery, so that the material (foam, etc.) supporting the scenery is not visible in case your modules are adjacent to ones with flat tops.

[samusi01]

Option 2.

A gentleman who passed on earlier this year always tried to hammer the difference between "sections" and "modules" - the former comprising the latter - and I recently ran across a Free-moN document reiterating the same.

As it's that season, in the spirit of Festivus, don't think for a second that the modeler cranking out a homage to Hello Kitty with some Unitrack slapped on it is devoting a picosecond of thought towards how that module will look next to yours or if it'll clash with the Star Wars stuff the other side... extend the same courtesy towards that modeler.

[crrcoal]

Option 2. Home layout is where you’ll run the most. You might do a show 2-3x a year.

[basementcalling]

Should I:

1) Make my scenery come to "neutral" (i.e., the flat module top level) at the ends of every module I build, or

2) make my module scenery "continuous" in the order in which I intend to use them in a home layout?

The former makes any module I build that much more potentially compatible with other modules at a show while the latter will look more natural when used in a home layout.

Given the dramatic difference between a lush central Pennsylvania summer in the Juniata Valley and the kinds of modules I see out here, I feel like the color and texture differences between my modules and any adjacent ones built by others might obviate concerns about the end levels in choice (1) anyway.

But happy to hear thoughts...bearing in mind that these modules will eventually dual-hat between show modules and a (hopefully coherent) home layout.

Definitely number 2. The modules will likely spend more time incorporated into your home layout, won't they?

And anyone at a show wil a problem with module end contours needs to remember what you tell them, "It's MY module." Now let's go JRSFTs.

[mkearns]

So the thing that drives me crazy the most about T-TRAK is the variance between modules. Unless built to do so, no two modules look coherent to each other.

Haha. You must have loved my New River Gorge module towering 8 inches over the adjacent ones at the club on Saturday.

[MVW]

IMO, given the relative amount of time your modules will spend at shows versus in a home layout, go with option #2.
Cover the ends above the base with thin panels, painted in a color to match the scenery, so that the material (foam, etc.) supporting the scenery is not visible in case your modules are adjacent to ones with flat tops.

Or take it a step further. Build the modules you plan to use at home the way you want, and built two extra "transition" modules you use only at shows. You'd likely have intermittent use for the "show" modules at home as the layout grows, as well.

(If this is exactly what you and Dave were implying ... nevermind.    Didn't get much sleep last night.)

Jim

[Maletrain]

Option 2 👍

I am having a similar thought process about some modules for a limited area T-Trak demo and development display at our club.  There is only room for the end caps and 4' of straight modules.  And, they will only get viewed from one side on that display, because it is against a wall. 

My thinking is that I should provide a 180 degree end cap, 2 90 degree corners, a 2'  module and 2 1' modules.  That way, anybody can bring in any end cap, corner or straight module between 1' and 4' and be able to integrate it into the full or some subset of the club modules for a test run or open house display. And, with nothing but the club modules, we could take it to local events and shows and still have a nice little running layout with at least 2' of straight on each side.

The "view from the other side" aspect, combined with the potentially changing arrangement, still has me pondering how to make it other than flat.  In my case, the 180 degree end cap and the 2' backwards viewed section could be raised where they join, but flat on the other ends.

I want to encourage realistic modeling for the future displays, so that is how I want the club modules to look and integrate with others.  Jarring junctions are something that I want to avoid. 

But, if others want to test out their "Barbie and Ken play Star Wars in their train room" modules, they can do that.  No "Gomez" modules, though!!!

[Dave V]

I appreciate the inputs so far!

Sounds like the "consensus" is to do continuous scenery for my home layout, and consider doing the 1-foot single modules to transition down to neutral for any modules I might care to bring to a show.

FWIW, the "other side" of Iteration 1 of the Juniata Division v2.0 is Huntingdon, PA--a town scene--whose edges can be made with roads and buildings and can be neutral on the ends.

[robert3985]

Some good "modular" advice here!

When designing my own sections for my portable layout that I designed with a good friend of mine (Gregg Cudworth) so that together we had a full layout to take to a few shows every year, but also so that I could set mine up at home  too...I designed "transition" modules that I don't use in my more limited home setup, but blend into Gregg's end modules for a contiguous appearance at shows.

I designated the modules that had a common transition configuration for blending with Gregg's as "modules" and those I built for my home setup, that would always be buckled up in multiples with their own unique track plans, as "sections" because they wouldn't be compatible with any other "module" (with common, connecting track configurations).

Gregg and I initially wanted to leave room for other modelers who might be interested to blend in with our setup, so both Gregg's and my "modules" required standardized end tracks and front-to-back dimensions, but disregarded a standardized terrain topography.  The new guy(s) would have to adapt the terrain topography on their "modular" ends to fit ours, with the show setup always being buckled together in the same way.

As far as wanting to "blend in" with the mostly flat scenery in adjacent TTRAK modules, I'd definitely not worry about it, since, as has been so well stated already, the other module owners aren't worried about blending at all, so show them the same amount of thought.

Definitely Option 2, but finish off the terrain contour slice so that it isn't bare, rough Styrofoam (or whatever), but a nice flat surface. 

If you want, of course, you can always go with end-modules to your sectional layout setup that are "neutral" on one end...but, that requires that any home-layout sections you add in the future have a common terrain contour where they meet up to your "blending-to-neutral" modules, and if you're planning on growing your Pennsy layout sections, I wouldn't want this restriction on any new layout sections design.

Although the "Bob & Gregg" semi-modular layout design for shows doesn't have much in common with TTRAK, it does show how transition "modules" were used to blend our two layout "sections" together...

Photo (1) - Here's the "Bob & Gregg" layout plan with both "sections" and "modules" incorporated to buckle it all together:


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Point353]

Sounds like the "consensus" is to do continuous scenery for my home layout, and consider doing the 1-foot single modules to transition down to neutral for any modules I might care to bring to a show.

The only consensus of concern should be that your modules meet the minimum requirements as specified in the T-Trak standards.
The rest really is up to you.
When I view a T-Trak layout at a show. I focus on each of the modules, not the transitions between them.

[Dave V]

The only consensus of concern should be that your modules meet the minimum requirements as specified in the T-Trak standards.
The rest really is up to you.
When I view a T-Trak layout at a show. I focus on each of the modules, not the transitions between them.

Honestly, the narrow gauge modular club I'm with now also doesn't really worry about scenery transition.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Do what's going to look best the majority of the time.
Paint the ends that extend above 0 "go away green" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_Away_Green) or something neutral (like raw umber).

Don't stress about it too much.

That said, one of the things I'm most proud of with my NCR TTRAK module pair is that it DOES come back to 0 at the ends of the pair. I put a lot of thought into that, but only because it's a stand alone set of modules.

Given how gorgeous your stuff will undoubtedly be, I don't think ANYONE in ANY layout is going to ever complain about them (as long as the track sticks out far enough to join up).