My little Honshu layout

[leegodwine]

Hi all

I am posting this up for some suggestions and advice.  I am new to building model trains.  I had some experience when I was younger building HO scale train with my dad, but this will be my first solo experience and first experience with an N gauge train.  The idea is to build a small "Honshu", its not exactly "Honshu", but just Tokyo and Kyoto and a small area linking the 2 by Shinkansen.  Anyways, the idea is to build along one wall of my dining room.  The length will be approximately 13 feet in length. 

The far left will be an area of 4x4, this will be my Tokyo area.  It will have one set of train to start, the Yamanote line, I will have tracks in place to eventually put a Chuo line train in as well.  My wife also suggested the addition of a smaill area to represent the sakuragicho area in Yokohama (Including the view in Miato Mirai, if i do add this in, the Chuo line will cut across this as well.  But this is probably going to be "phase II"  The far right will consist of Kyoto, I don't have any solid plans for train in that area yet, but it will likely be a light rail kit (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360221043917&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_3622wt_1167) with the Kato Unitram kit (http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10100320).  This area will be 3x4, and will consist of a "offsite" train yard and station

Conencting the 2 wil be a 6x1 "bridge" that will run a shinkansen train between "Tokyo Station" and "Kyoto Station", with some minor scenary along the way and a plaster moulded mountain in between and some rice fields.  The only train I currently have in possession  is the Yamanote and a Dr Yellow, I MAY get a "proper" Nozomi train later on, but for now, Dr Yellow will be the shinkansen that runs between the 2 station

Thoughts?

[Bernard]

Let me see if I got this right, the landlord (wife) is giving you 13' in length to work with (if that is true where did you find this  )
 What is the depth that you will be allowed to work with? Also could you post a photo of the room that you plan to put the layout in and will it be a permanent layout or does it have to have the ability to move? 

[to2leo]

I am just adding onto Bernard's suggestions...

I think you already did several things right.

1) Choosing Kato, Tomix and other Japanese brand for your trains...they are the most reliable and affordable in the n gauge/ n scale market.
2) Communicating with family members and getting their support and understanding goes a long way in your future expansion!

Things you should also look into:
1) Type of tracks (Viaduct Shinkansen track or regular), Kato Unitrack, Atlas snap track or Peco flex track?
2) How many trains will you be running? DC or DCC?
3) How many main lines will you have 4, 6, 20?
4) How big will your stations be, will they be able to handle a full Shinkansen consist or the basic set?

[leegodwine]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback.  Yes I am suprise, my wife is actually very supportive towards all my hobbies, including photography, gundam models, figures, etc etc etc.  I guess I am just lucky.  All that she asked is that "Be reasonable"

Anyways.  The layout will NOT be permanent, we currently live in a small town house, we do anticipate to sell my other property in a few years and use the fund to move up.  That said, the general idea of the layout will NOT change much, it will probably retain the "Honshu" idea, but maybe with a few addition when I do move up.  My plan is to create a setup that I can break it up in to 4 modules, so that when its time to move, I can move without causing too much damage to this layout

i can post photo up if someone can tell me how to attach an image to my post, i suppose I can have the pic hosted off a different server and HTML it in if someone can suggest a good server

The type of tracks.  It will be a hybrid of a few things.  I probably will play around with the Tomix track to start, but my research shows that Atlas track may be more affordable in a long run, so I may go with that.  I have never heard of Flex track before, can someone educate me in this?  On the "Kyoto" side, it probably will be Unitrack, I wanted give it a "light rail" sensation

To start it will be DC, I have a few plans to convert it to computer control, but that will probably be phase II.  I don't know how many main lines I will have yet, probably 4.  There isn't enough room for a 20 track layout, not at the present place anyways, unless i completely take out the dining table as well and turn that into my layout room.  Which is really "unreasonable" then :)

Stations, same story, it will just be basic set for now, probably will expand it if we do move to a bigger place that lets me expand this....

[qwertyaardvark]

Interesting layout idea! Can't wait to see you get started on this project~  

As far as photo attachments go:

When you are posting a reply, look at the bottom left hand corner of the gray box the reply box is in; you will see a link labeled "Additional Options" [Red circle of first pic]. Click it. Then click on "Browse..." [Red circle of second pic] and then file the photo file on your computer then hit "open" and that's it! If you want to add more pictures, click on "(more attachments)" located right next to the "Browse..." button [Blue circle of second picture]. Also, make sure pictures aren't too big. perhaps less than 2000 pixels in width is a good starting point. shrink pictures down in MS Paint or whatever fancy program you might have. no raw 8 megapixel pictures. :P

Flex track are 36" inch long pieces of track that are flexible enabling you to make shapes/curves that you wouldn't otherwise be able to do with sectional track; you can chose your own radii curves and make the track fit the layout better, rather than trying to make everything else fit to the track. Several manufacturers make flex track, including Atlas. As a hint when shopping for flex (or sectional) track, you are looking for Code 80 track.

Good luck with the layout~ 

[leegodwine]

Thanks for the help!  And the hint on flex track is simply amaxing, now all i need is to retro fit existing Tomix/Kato tracks with these flex tracks :)

And thanks to the instruction, this is a quickly draft up plan i have for the phase 1 layout

[CaptOblivious]

That could be a very interesting layout indeed. You said the Tokyo area would by 4ft by 4ft? That's going to be a tight space to pack in a station (I figure about 6-cars max, maybe 7) and a double-track loop for the Yamanote Line. Totally doable, but you will need to spend some time with track stencils or a track planning program.

I don't know how closely you want your layout to hew to the prototype, but the shinkansen tracks should be to the outside (left) of the Yamanote line track in Tokyo Station in your diagram ;)

[Bernard]

One important note. If this is not going to be a permanent layout and you don't plan to fix the track to the table, you won't be able to use flex track for curves.
But if you plan to make this a modular layout that can be taken apart and possible set up in another location you can use flex track.
This is one major advantage of Unitrack and Finetrack it can be taken apart. With flex track and even Atlas sectional track it is recommended to solder the track together at the rail joins.

[leegodwine]

Ok, i need to look at other options then, i really want to avoid having to solder the track if i can, but for each module the tracks can stay permanently on it.  So i suppose its not going to be too bad.  as for flex track, i looked at those priefly online, i guess i will have to go to a local hobby store to check it out

[Lawrence]

This is an interesting project, I am still a little confused as to some of the dimensions tho, could you clarify a little please

Have you tried using xtracad for your layout design to everything will fit as you want, it is a free download, you can get it at  http://www.xtrkcad.org/Wikka/HomePage

My old B&O layout was 13 feet by 26 inches and I easily got double track all the way round it, so there may be more scope than you initially think, 4 car commuter trains would look good whizzing about though you would have to watch the curves with your Shinkansens, they might require much head scratching 

[Mudkip Orange]

If the tracks can stay fixed to the module, then flex track shouldn't be a problem.

In fact you'll need it if you want to jam in an urban station on a 4x4 board. Trying to do that with the stock Kato platforms will only give you about four cars to work with, but you can fit more if you kitbash a curved platform...

[leegodwine]

Thanks guys for all the suggestion and advice.  Thanks Lawrence for the link, i will try to do this over the weekend and post screenshots

As for stations and customized structures, my wife have access to a resin injection maching (Similar to this:  http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome) and a moulding machine at her office, so if I am willing to get off my lazy bum to do the sketches in 3d studio, she can get almost anything built for me.

The "site" will eventually have double track, some parts may have even 4, but i want to keep it simple for phase 1.  I will first start with the "Kyoto" side, as i have most of the props needed for that area alread...

[Martijn Meerts]

I hope the machine you have access to is of higher quality than the RepRap. I mean, the RepRap is a great idea, and I'm sure it'll improve in time, but for now it's still too rough for N-scale work.

Having access to a decent 3d printer would be great though ;)

[Krackel Hopper]

hey hey,

I think your idea sounds great.  Splitting the layout into modules is a really good idea as well.  I do however have one major concern.  Your shinkansen line.

Looking at your diagram, a point-to-point 13' span is a very tight space to run a bullet train.  Even a 7 car 923 Dr. Yellow is roughly 4ft in length.  With that measurement, the nose of Dr. Yellow is going to be on the edge of town.  Which I suppose is fine, but once you look at running a passenger bullet train (even an 8 car consist) you'll have a car hanging out just outside of town.  Even more concerning, running a "proper" Nozomi consist of 16 cars will have your train taking up half the wall.  Before one end leaves Tokyo, the other will already be in Kyoto.

If possible, putting a curve on the ends of the shinkansen line will allow more of the train to get off of that 6' "bridge" and really get the train into the cities on either end.  Either that or creating a loop of track in the cities on either end.  I'm not sure if there is enough space for the latter.

I wish I had a layout to run my 923 Dr. Yellow on.  For now, I have a Kato V-11 track set (roughly 8' x 3' loop) that gets put on the living room floor.  Maybe once I build enough T-trak modules.. heh..

Jon

[leegodwine]

This place is great, thanks for all the advice people.  For sure I will keep you posted as i build this

I don't plan on going full lenght with the trains, probably going to keep it short, so maybe 3 cars for the yamanote and 5 cars for the shinkansen.  The Dr Yellow package came with just 3 car including the engine, so i will leave it at that for now.  But the info provided is definitely valuable, so it will help me plan my lay out a bit better.  I thought about swapping the location of "Kyoto and Tokyo, so that the wall is north, and closer to the dining room table will be south, this actually will make it a bit closer to what the Honshu island look like geographically, but I haven't decided yet.  I will try the software and post up a couple of layout and see what everyone thinks

The 3d printer my wife has access to is definitely better than RepRap, RepRap is for home use afterall, her company build sensors for differnt auto manufacturer (include a few big names :)), so i am sure the machine they have should be able to build me some high quality parts :)

[Martijn Meerts]

The 3d printer my wife has access to is definitely better than RepRap, RepRap is for home use afterall, her company build sensors for differnt auto manufacturer (include a few big names :)), so i am sure the machine they have should be able to build me some high quality parts :)

Do you take requests? *cough* 

[leegodwine]

Let me find out what she can build first and to what quality and get back to you :)  But its possible as long as i don't have to draw it in 3DStudio for you

[to2leo]

Let me find out what she can build first and to what quality and get back to you :)  But its possible as long as i don't have to draw it in 3DStudio for you

Oh I am seeing the beginning of a small entrepreneur service business here...

[Martijn Meerts]

Let me find out what she can build first and to what quality and get back to you :)  But its possible as long as i don't have to draw it in 3DStudio for you

I use Maya for modeling, but I can export to a variety of formats from there. Interesting though that they use 3D Studio, usually those kind of machines use custom software

[leegodwine]

i am only guessing its 3d studio, i never talked to her about the softwrae they use....  i only know she has a machine like that because she created some small little plastic stuff around the house

[leegodwine]

Finally, some update... i am migrating the plan from the living room to the basement.  My wife agreed to this, so we spend the last 2 weeks having some contractors over to finished our basement, now I actually have a LOT more room for my Honshu.. i will post pics up when i start building this......

Also, this is a good site for wallpaper, it also give you a good idea of railroads and surroundings in different cities (Japan)

Have fun :)

[Bernard]

Does this mean that the landlord (wife) is giving you more real estate (space) for your layout?

[qwertyaardvark]

Oh the things I would do for a basement to put a layout in!!  high water tables in Houston make basements impossible...*jealous*