Jeff Moorman / Photos by Jeff Moorman
The next meeting of the Seattle-North clinic will be December 2nd. See the end of this article for directions. Two topics are planned. First, Al Lowe will be on hand to regale us with tales of the Digital Grab Iron. This is your chance to get a firsthand look at the direction the 4th Division is going for its communications, publications, and documentation. Plus Al has been known to tell the occasional joke or two (or two hundred).
Second, we’ll continue our exploration of modules. See the summary of last month’s discussion below. We plan to have at least one example of a T-TRAK module to show folks, plus maybe a guest presenter on the topic.
November’s meeting started with a recap of our October discussion of what we wanted from the clinic. There was general consensus that we wanted to build something (or some things), and that we wanted to run trains, and that we wanted to have something to advertise ourselves to other modelers and especially to youth. That is a lot of things to do, but modules were mentioned as a potential way to fulfill the whole wish list.
Modules still seemed like a good avenue to pursue, but what module standards and in what scale(s)? We reviewed the model railroad module schemes we knew about: NMRA, NTRAK, oNeTRAK (a sort of branch line for NTRAK), Free-mo, and T-TRAK. Most attendees were familiar with NMRA and NTRAK, since the 4th division has groups who use these standards. Free-mo was sort of familiar since we had a presentation on it last year.
T-TRAK was the biggest unknown, but it was mentioned that the United Northwest club was using it as a means to get kids involved in the hobby through 4H. T-TRAK modules are pretty small (about 8 by 12 inches in N scale) and simple. They are made to sit on a tabletop.
It seemed to boil down to this. They might be too simple and toy like for some modelers. And we do not have much experience with these modules locally. But the simplicity also makes them easier to construct, set up, and (most importantly) run trains. Plus there are standards for both N and HO, the primary interests of the clinic attendees.
It was agreed that T-TRAK was something that should be explored further. Jeff, Chris, and Dennis agreed to try and build a T-TRAK demo module by the next meeting.
Show and tell was an eclectic mix. Jeff had a copy of the basic T-TRAK specifications. There were some Milwaukee Road plans and articles. Rob showed another of his many N scale sets – a Great Northern steam locomotive and a string of matching insulated box cars from Con-Cor.
There were some recently-picked hydrangeas, which sparked a discussion of whether it was better to trim them down to the branches right away or let them dry first. There was no conclusion to this debate, but everyone agreed that they made excellent scale tree armatures. And lastly Roger showed a couple of bare generic frames from the early 4th Division module builds
John’s mystery clinic was about calculating the dropping resister values needed for LED lighting. He got the idea when a couple of clinics at the recent regional convention referred people to web-based tables for the calculations. That makes it appear much more complex than it actually is. John’s handout and explanation made it look simple. One thing I didn’t know was that different color LEDs require different amperages. It is always a good idea to get the LED data sheet when you obtain your LEDs.
I made this offer last month, but still do not have a winner. I have a little prize for the first Seattle-North Clinic attendee that can show me documented proof of who first came up with this quote: “The human brain is like a railroad freight car — guaranteed to have a certain capacity but often running empty.” Some of the attendees thought this might be an appropriate unofficial slogan for the Seattle-North clinic.
Next meeting is December 2 and the one after that January 6. The Mart should be there and don’t forget to bring something for show and tell. And, speaking of the Mart, I bet you didn’t know that the economy is so bad that Santa’s off season job is helping out at the Mart.
We meet at the Ronald United Methodist Church, 17839 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline, WA. That is on the west side of Aurora (State Route 99) just north of 175th Street, between the Cadillac dealer and Deseret Industries. Meetings are the first Thursday of each month, except July and August. Enter the lower level of the church from the parking lot at the rear. Doors open around 7:00 PM, announcements at 7:15, and the program starts about 7:30. Hope to see you there or at least sometime on down the line.
Jeff, just a few thoughts.
I like the idea of “t-trak” modules, or dioramas, or whatever they are. They sound simple and quick, an easy way to get people involved.
From the prior discussion, it seems pretty much agreed that the group would prefer to do an HO scale module, or diorama, or whatever.
I went to the t-trak group web site to do a little investigation. From their web site, the dimensions of an HO scale t-trak module are 19.25 inches “long” by 28.0 inches “deep”. For comparison, the NMRA dimensions for an HO scale module, which the Fourth Division group follows, would be 24.0 inches “long” by 30.0 inches “deep”. In other words, the difference in dimensions is negligible, and you would end up with a module, or diorama, or whatever that is incompatible with anybody else in the area.
I’d suggest just building a standard NMRA module, instead. Three + inches longer and 2 inches deeper, plus you’d be able to join an existing and very active group. Doesn’t that make sense?
Also consider, a 2-foot module doesn’t leave much room for scenery. The group uses them for spacers when needed, but a full 4-foot module gives a lot more opportunity for track, operations, signals, structures, scenery, and variety in general. Consider it.
For people who want to just do something small, something they can work on by themselves, consider a project from several years ago. In the mid-1990’s, when the division still held a spring mini-meet, one year we held a diorama contest. The rules specified that any diorama could be in any standard scale recognized by the NMRA, but for fairness it must be exactly 10,000 square feet, no more and no less – just about a quarter acre. In HO scale that works out to 13.75 inches on each side, although the dioramas could be rectangular instead of square. I also recall there were just a few, minimal rules: each diorama must have some track, at least one building or structure (or a piece of rolling stock), at least one tree, and at least one figure or scale person. It seems the diorama contest idea, and the rules, were copied from either a national or regional convention contest. I recall many, many dioramas being entered in that contest, which was by popular vote instead of “achievement judging”. I also recall that Al Carter won the contest. You could have Al Lowe look up the diorama contest rules in the Grab Iron archives. Or maybe Al Carter remembers what year he won that contest.
So those are my ideas. For an operating module, stick with NMRA standards. That provides opportunity to do track, wiring, scenery, operation, and other possibilities. For learning just scenery, have a diorama contest or competition.
Maybe to put things in perspective, where a 10,000 square foot module is almost a quarter acre, a “regular” 4-foot HO module is just about one-and-three-quarter acres. A “regular” t-trak HO module is 0.65 acres.
Hope this helps.
Dan P