US T-Trakers - ever run into resistance?

[Ken Ford]

I recently "discovered" T-Trak at a local show.  My main interest in Japanese prototype is trams, but I can see myself picking up some heavy rail and Shinkansen.  I especially have my eye on a EH200 and some green oil tanks and/or intermodal flats...

 

If I were to build T-Trak modules I'd be very tempted to do Japanese prototype complete with ROW fencing and catenary.  I'm just a little worried that other T-Trakers will be offended by non-US modeling.

 

What has your experience been?  I haven't found a single other person interested in Japanese modeling around here, or at least none that will admit to it.  I suppose I could start with a few simple modules and see if attracts any interest.

[bikkuri bahn]

I'm curious why others would be offended by Japanese prototype- these are modules, after all. 

[Ken Ford]

I'm not offended, but I've run into issues at clubs through the years where anything but US prototype was discouraged.  What I'm trying to find out is if T-Trak as it is practiced in the US tends to be more ecumenical in its outlook.

[bill937ca]

I'm not offended, but I've run into issues at clubs through the years where anything but US prototype was discouraged. 

 

That does not surprise me.  There are many who are only interested in local prototypes.  But these are probably people who have never held a passport or traveled internationally.

 

I'm interested in first generation trams, streetcars, trolleys--whatever you want to call them--and the technology tends to be the same whether they are in North America, Portugal, Italy or Japan. I tend to travel to fulfill my interest because everything here is retired and in a museum. Nothing better than walking a tram line, taking photos and riding. Modeling is a newer interest for me.

[cteno4]

Ken

 

The big issue with ttrak in the us and trams is that most all us ttrak clubs run alternate spaced modules and run larger us prototype freight for the most part. If you do prototypical street and private row modules sd40s running thru these modules will look a bit silly as well as your trams running on their us freight row!

 

For doing regular Japanese freight and passenger row modules I think most ttrak clubs I've seen or heard talk are pretty mellow about the scenes that you do. Actually there seems to be little wish to worry about what goes where all that much -- it's usually more about how big the layout is. A couple years ago I floated the idea for the ttrak setup at the national show perhaps be 3 or 4 smaller themed setups rather than just do one giant layout. The idea went over like a large lead ballon... The issue i find more is that the focus can be on doing more modules (ie longer layouts) rather than better modules or a better overall presentation/exhibit.

 

So I think if you have a series of Japanese themed modules they would probably be accepted fine, just may not have a lot of others following suit, but that's ok as your modules may be the seed that creates interest in a few others.

 

Here in dc we probably have about 20 Modelers interested in Japan, just enough to form our own little club that hovers around a dozen members. Your modules could be a nucleus to find others doing Japanese rail or encourage others to get into it.

 

One of our local n trak clubs, the northern Virginia ntrak club has a chap that did three wonderful Japanese ntrak modules and they have been very well accepted.

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/modulesofjapan.html

 

One of our JRM members is also a member of the Baltimore ntrak club and has run a variety od Japanese equipment on their ntrak layout at shows with lots of interest. Both nva ntrak and bantrak members have some Japanese trains and their ttrak groups are pretty mellow. One of the chaps here on the forum is a member of the west Texas ttrak club and done some Japanese themed modules and runs a lot of Japanese equipment on their setups.

 

So I think there should be acceptance of a set of Japanese ttrak modules and good starting point to potentially get others interested. If you are concerned you might be shunned by your local ttrak group, then I would suggest having a frank conversation about this with them as this is a pretty basic thing to a club's spirit and should be at the surface, not buried!

 

Might also help educate them with some pictures and videos of Japanese scenes and equipment to show them the way cool scenes, details, density, variety, trains, etc that there. Take the tack that they can create much more unique module scenes than the pretty uniform and boring us row scenes. Most us row has practically nothing but dirt, scrub, and trash in the scale row area on a ttrak module.

 

Worst case is you make a little loop on your own and have fun with that and maybe show it off now and then and be different!

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[Ken Ford]

Jeff, I'll give it a try.  Any scenery I do would be pretty low-key (no temples, no Godzilla) so the only characteristics that would make it obviously Japanese would be ROW fencing, catenary and the like.

 

It sounds like the very nature of modular groups makes them more open to variety.

[bill937ca]

Jeff, I'll give it a try.  Any scenery I do would be pretty low-key (no temples, no Godzilla) so the only characteristics that would make it obviously Japanese would be ROW fencing, catenary and the like.

 

And the trains!!   

[Ken Ford]

Jeff, I'll give it a try.  Any scenery I do would be pretty low-key (no temples, no Godzilla) so the only characteristics that would make it obviously Japanese would be ROW fencing, catenary and the like.

 

And the trains!!   

 

Well, yes - that too!

[cteno4]

ken,

 

i would do what you want with scenery, again most clubs ive seen are not that picky about what goes on with ttrak. dont limit yourself! temples can be really neat and unique and near rail lines! that the charm and coolness about japanese rail is that you can have all sorts of really interesting scenery right next to and even over the tracks! if you are going to be different, be different! show them the contrast and fun you can have with japanese scenes compared to regular us scenes which are pretty limited! granted godzilla might be a bit much, but he brings a smile to almost everyone who sees our club layout, even old us prototypers have to smirk! kids especially love him and it becomes a great memory anchor in the viewer's mind. im thinking a temple at some point for you might do the same thing.

 

jeff

[Davo Dentetsu]

I'm not offended, but I've run into issues at clubs through the years where anything but US prototype was discouraged.

 

Which is a shame, as we are all just enjoying our common interest.

 

I'm sure it's something along the lines of people just not knowing the big wide world of trains out there.  My old rule for myself was "model what you know".  Luckily, I recently given up on that, because there's not much call for mid-80s to present day ScotRail stock in Western Australia.  If anything, I've already bought it all... :D

[Howard1975]

    I have also witnessed that at shows. Few people will pay much attention to something, outside of their comfort zone. I live in the Chicago area, but I don't know a single person, that likes Japanese trains. I'm sure there must be a few, but I don't know they personally. There are a few people around here, that are interested in European trains, or Lego Trains. But the vast majority of people, only are interested in US prototype trains, and their models.

 

    On the other hand, I like trains from all nations. I like US prototype trains, Japanese trains, European trains, etc. And I like all kinds of trains, from modern diesel freight trains, to classic steam, to narrow gauge, to old time trolley, to modern trams, well, anything on rails. And I'm able to enjoy all scales and gauges of model trains, including N scale, HO scale, G scale, O scale, Lego, even Lionel 3 rail trains. And I don't care if the model was recently built, like a high quality Kato model -- or an ancient model train made in the 1930's. I just love all trains, I guess.

 

    I don't currently have any layout, not even a t-track. But a small portable layout does intrigue me a lot. I don't have the space, or the money, for a large permenant layout. Plus I'm a renter anyway. But something small, sounds nice to me. All I have right now, is some pieces of Kato track, to run my trains.

 

    At the end of the day, I do what I enjoy -- because afterall, this is a hobby.

[Sir Madog]

Howard,

 

I certainly do agree to what you say. Most people model what they find at their doorstep. Modeling Japanese prototype is something really extraordinary here in Germany - there may be not more than two hands full of folks here, pursuing this side of the hobby. The flip side of it is, that sourcing is a problem. We have one (!) shop carrying a limited range of Tomix, MicroAce Modemo and Greenmax products, but no Kato.

 

As for building a layout without space and limited funds, may I suggest to take a look at this page:

 

http://www.japanrailmodelers.org/pages/modelingjapan/minimodules.html

[Bernard]

I know some members of clubs in the US have big layouts in their homes and do operating sessions where they run their trains in a prototypical fashion. Members get a waybill and pick up freight cars and the delivery them to a specific destination.....one member acts as the controller and gives directions to each engineer/member.......these same guys also belong to clubs and therefore their trains transfer over to the modular designs. You'll see a lot of freight cars being pulled at these meets.

 

Years ago I had a discussion at another forum when one member posted a comment, "Does anyone know where I can purchase a cheep Bullet train for my grandson to run on my layout? Then I'll hide the train so my train friends won't see that I have one :)"  His post prompted me to start a thread in this forum called, "Why are Japanese trains taboo?"  Then offered this challenge, "If you ever ran a Shinkansen (Bullet train) at one of your public meets, I make a bet more people from the general public would be interested in that train because it was so different from all the other trains you would be running."

[Sir Madog]

Bernard,

 

I think it is a wonderful idea to run a Shinkansen over an otherwise US-themed layout! I am playing a little bit a devil´s advocate here. HSR is a highly controversial issue in the US. Hardly any other rail related issue sees more "iconoclastic" discussions than this one. Maybe showing people what HSR is about on a scale model helps to develop a little more understanding.

[Guest Closed Account 1]

Ken:

 

Make your layouts to make you happy.

 

Your club will change their minds when they see the crowds drool over your Japanese trains. That's what mine did.  The bullets are a crowd favorite especially to the children, especially to Orientals. Fast recognition.

 

Maxi-IV double stacks and car haulers do make it under catenary. The catenary fit the clearance rules. Makes sense.

 

You are just modeling in today's era while your club is still doing pre-1950

[cteno4]

Ken,

 

I do think its as webskipper said, do what you like and i bet some others will follow once they see the trains and the fun scenes. The cool thing with japanese modeling is there are lots and lots of exotic equipment to run and scenes that are wild to model. The public sees pretty much the same things at all the us shows, the us ROW scenes get pretty boring pretty fast. with japanese scenes you can do all sorts of stuff in very small areas in the ROW and be totally prototypical (print out some photos to prove it to them!). that along with the exotic trains will totally wow them and is the best way to break down the walls and find the converts!

 

thats the beauty of ttrak style modules as you are focused to work on a small scene so you can get really detailed in it. these are much faster to build and detail than larger modules or a full layout. so it helps get you to having something really nice looking running quickly. even if you just start out with a few modules really done nicely and the rest with simple perceived scenery (or even blank) folks will see where you are going so much better than larger patchy module setups that are all over the place. street cars are a good place to start as there is a lot of rather exotic equipment out there to run on them compared to the few offerings for us ones that folks may have seen and most streetcar stuff done in the us is all early 20th century.

 

so keep on going, worst case is you will build something you love to play with, but you already dredged up one other Chicagoan here in jns already and i bet there are a few more lurking out there that you can find and then converts as well!

 

jeff

[Railtunes]

This will be reopening an older topic, I know, but I just wanted to add my experience here in the San Francisco Bay area.

I belong to the Peninsula NTRAK club as well as being the coordinator for AsiaNRail, which, as the name suggests, is focused on N scale modules of Asian prototypes.

Along with fellow NTRAKer and AsiaNRailer, Brad Myers [see his blog "Tokyo in N scale"], we've built both types of modules with Asian themes. Brad has built a Japanese hot springs module [see his blog for the details on building this module] that also includes a connection from the NTRAK mountain division line to our AsiaNRail modules so that we can set up combined layouts.

Another of the NTRAK club members recently refurbished an NTRAK corner module with Tomix and Kato Japanese structures.

My own concentration is on other Asian prototypes - Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and some Japanese - and a focus on single track branch line style operations, so this has allowed us to offer a variety of prototypes and operations modes for the visitors to enjoy and contemplate.

Beyond that, I also model British (Scottish) and Canadian prototypes using those same modules. I do this by making the structures and other prototype-specific elements interchangeable to accommodate the variety of prototypes. I can, of course, also use this approach to change eras, moving from steam to modern Diesel eras with ease.

We've had complete acceptance of our choice of prototypes by both club members and viewers, so I would not worry about being accepted.

Since it's been a few years since your original post, can you show us what you've accomplished with your T-Trak project in the interim? 

- Paul Ingraham, Coordinator, AsiaNRail N scale modular group.

[katoftw]

If you build it, they will come.  :laughing3: