Well, no new progress in the last two months on my layout, but I have been making progress on a side project, a layout for the Central Model Railway and Historical Society. The received a donation of a T gauge starter set, a couple of years ago, and it was handed to me last year to see what I could do with it. I have been following T for years, and have a bunch of my own, that I have not quite put into use yet. It took a while, but eventually I settled on a small simple display loop as the layout will be used to show T scale to the public. Since much of the available equipment is either Japanese or British prototypes, I decided to set the layout in Scotland. The track plan is below.
The resulting loop is simple, but represents in (1:480) about a half scale mile. Not bad for a layout with a 24" by 24" foot print, with 3 square feet of scenic area (and another half of a square foot for the controls in the upper left). The plan includes two major viaducts, one in stone, one in concrete and a short tunnel.
One of the keys I have learned over the years is that the smaller the trains, the more important a solid roadbed is to operation. Small irregularities that are tolerable in HO, will lead to derailments in N or Z, let alone T. So, construction started with a lightweight, but stiff frame with adjustable feet. I plan to simply place the layout on another table for viewing.
Scenery followed, build up with foam layers, with masonite subroadbed under the tracks. Add a few buildings, obtained from Shapeways or from TGauge.co.uk, and it is starting to come together. All of the Shapeways buildings have been cleaned and primed in grey, while the buildings from TGauge are laser cut plywood, that I assembled with CA. It is quite amazing to put together kits in this scale. The results can be seen below.
The masonite in the bottom will become the base for a loch, complete with a small village and harbor on the shore. The viaducts still need to be designed and built, and a third bridge will cross the road in the town by the station. An old castle even overlooks the scene. You can also see part of a British HST set positioned near the station.
Next up is a sculptamold layer to cover the foam, as well as ground cover. I am also planning a small pedestrian bridge in front of the backdrop to connect the station and the town gate (across the main road). Under this bridge would be a mirror. The train crosses the road on a bridge - which I need to fabricate. In addition, there are the two large viaducts, and the waterfront and harbor area to fabricate. Finally, there are the tunnel portals. Right now, the track just disappears into the foam above, and a portal will make this look much better. Those have already been drawn up.
Yes, those are actually bricks in T scale. Once I get the test prints, these will be coming to ModelWorks. I've also got the test print of the station I previously designed in T, but I still need to clean it, prime it, paint it and assemble it - complete with interior detail!
Yes, I may have gone off the T-end. Look for updates to come.
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