Truro Junction Layout in Progress!

[holdenburg]

1017s MT Trucks

Herb: when I did N scale (over 35 years ago) i converted full-length passenger cars 2 ways.
Some I just replaced the stock trucks with the neatest MT version. Others I carved the coupler mount off the truck and mounted a MT coupler on the floor.
I never had any problems with the body mounts down to 12" r curves.

Hi...
A bit off topic, please excuse my interuption to Name That Layout...!

Thanks... I am learning and setup a MT 1017s set on one Atlas car. This has been really interesting. I have another test car and everthing is lining up. I also bought the alignment jig and tested the setup. What is interesting using MT couplers, is I found that the 1017 series has a really long uncoupler wire that extends farther down than what the jig says will work! The directions tell you to move up the un-coupler hose. In order to have the hose clear the test jig, it extends through the coupler by about 1/16th inch and shows on top of the coupler!

Also, there is a great article in the Feb. MR issue for us rivet counters that covers setting up a hand build passenger train using kit parts and sides. This is very informative and give a lot of great tips on customizing your passenger trains.
TTYL and thanks for the help!

Herb

 

[holdenburg]

How's the track layout going??

Not even remotely close! I''m still working on Subterrain. I have one bridge essentially in place, but a few others planned. They will have to wait for a little while yet.

Agatheron
Newbie Who Posts Too

You have everyone wondering what is going on?? How's the foam work going and did you convert your rolling stock to MT?? Is it working on the grade??

Herb

 

[Herc Driver]

Wow...what great work! What's the latest???

 

[Agatheron]

I have a few updates sitting at home. I may be able to get to them tonight. I've filmed two more clips of trains moving on the layout as I have it, plus I've snapped a few more pictures as well. All the pictures are taken with my digital camera, including the videos... which account for their poor quality. I may try something basic with my higher-quality webcam when I am able to.

As of now I have the fascia up, but not carved down to match the yet-to-be built scenery just yet. I also have started securing some of the wiring, but I want to take a bit of time to be careful on how that part works.

One of the big plusses is that my passenger train is now complete... at least as far as rolling stock is concerned. I managed to get my hands on the last car in the California Zephyr, which is great match for Via rail. My passenger train is now 1 locomotive and 6 cars long... plenty of length for this layout. I've upgraded one of the cars with MT trucks and couplers... but only because the coupler itself was damaged.

As for the grade issue, I've done a slight re-adjustment that makes it a bit easier to run. I give the climbing locos a bit of a break mid-way through the incline... but it still gets to where it needs to be at the right height.

Anyway, less talk... more pictures... more video... coming soon!

 

[Agatheron]

Here we are... no video yet... I need to play with the raw footage a little bit... but here's an overview shot of the whole layout with the fascia applied. Since this picture was taken, the offending piece that sticks out I have trimmed back. Eventually the fascia will be trimmed down to form an external set of contours to match the scenery. It will happen before I actually put any plaster cloth down...

Secondly, two shots of my complete passenger train. All Kato cars and locos. Right now, 4 of the cars are Southern Budd cars, 1 is a Canadian Pacific Dome car, and the last car in the train is the observation dome from the California Zephyr set that I picked up on ebay. In all, 6 cars, which will all eventually be sporting Via Rail decals. In the first picture, you can also see the height of the incline and how I've levelled it off partway through:

The last picture isn't great, but you can see the tail lights in the rear of the Zephyr car... I hadn't realized they did that, so it was an added bonus:

 

[Agatheron]

As promised, here's the link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loCKTYrRm7c

Enjoy!