making a tomix track

[keitaro]

Hey all,

new to here and to train sets besides when i was a kid.

go to japan often and bought a tomix set few years back.

decided to make a set as i have done modelling before but in the mintures area. 40k warhammer etc and done some scenery.

i have now just bought a bunch of new track seperate and the d set i think it was with the double track switch.

will be taking it back to aus in a few weeks after finished here and begin making the layout there.

i wasn`t sure of the app to use for desiging layout i found anyrail demo and tried it. my track does not match by a touch and this app does not seem to take height into consideration when laying the track.



anyway attached is a quick sketch of my planned layout it may be a little ambitious.

basicly it`s not showing all i want to do as my pc kept crashing when i sized to 1200 x 800

this is drawn on 1200 x 600.

it will have 2 stations and a few tunnells one leading to a table same siz underneath where i will put trains when not in use.

i bought a thomas train and a diesel train 2 car to place on it and i have some normal trains and a shinkansen to put on it all kato or tomix models.

look forward to posting here and asking for hints as i start project.

let me know what u think of the mock up

[Martijn Meerts]

What type of trains are you planning on using? Most of the curves you used in the plan are too sharp for shinkansen for example, and the top right curve is a 103mm curve, which only works for trams.

Tomix recommends 317mm as minimum radius for shinkansen, and usually 243mm minimum radius for anything else. Some locomotives can also handle the mini curves (177mm and 140mm) but I have yet to see a locomotive that can handle the super mini curve (103mm) apart from railbusses like the Kiha01, Kiha02 and Kiha03.

[keitaro]

ahh yeah ignore that like i said i had to compact it a bit cause the app kept crashing when i went to size of 800


will be most likely be using S140F, S280F, C280-45F, C140-60F?


plus i have this set.

http://en.item.rakuten.com/hobinavi/4904810910640/

since i am not home i can`t quote the model of the shinkansen nor the standard passenger train.

the shinkansen was the basic set with controller and oval track set.

i have the tomix thomas train.

http://en.item.rakuten.com/hobinavi/4904810021400/ 120 Kiha Tomix Diesel Car

the electric passenger train i have looks very much like the train on the jr loop line in tokyo has 4 cars.

i don`t really intend to use the shinkansen or the passenger train on this set well if i do not with all cars.

[Bernard]

keitaro - Welcome to the forum.
Marti's first question was the one on every modelers mind.
The one thing I would ask is do you want a small yard on the layout? Even if your trains aren't running it's always a nice display of your roster.

[Martijn Meerts]

ahh yeah ignore that like i said i had to compact it a bit cause the app kept crashing when i went to size of 800


will be most likely be using S140F, S280F, C280-45F, C140-60F?


plus i have this set.

http://en.item.rakuten.com/hobinavi/4904810910640/

since i am not home i can`t quote the model of the shinkansen nor the standard passenger train.

the shinkansen was the basic set with controller and oval track set.

i have the tomix thomas train.

http://en.item.rakuten.com/hobinavi/4904810021400/ 120 Kiha Tomix Diesel Car

the electric passenger train i have looks very much like the train on the jr loop line in tokyo has 4 cars.

i don`t really intend to use the shinkansen or the passenger train on this set well if i do not with all cars.

Your shinkansen might have problems with the 280mm radius curves, but on the other hand, it might not. I have shinkansen that go through 280mm curves without problems and other that derail in 280mm curves. I also have some older shinkansen that can handle smaller curves. It doesn't depend on the length of the train, but rather the couplers between the cars. The 280mm curves will work for all other trains though.

I personally wouldn't use the 140mm curves though, they are part of Tomix's tram track (C177 and C140 are called "Mini", C103 is called "Super Mini") and a lot of trains will derail on the curves. The bogies just can't rotate enough to handle the curves. The trains that CAN handle the small curves are usually marked with a "Mini" or "Super Mini" logo on the box. The Kiha120 will likely also derail on the 140mm curves, unless you run the motor car solo, in which case it might be able to handle it.


It's really important to check the minimum radius on trains, unlike most European brands, which generally design all their trains to be able to run on all their track, the Japanese brands tend to just specify the minimum radius, and expect people to have that at least that radius on their layout. In a way it's annoying to have to make sure you can run a train on your layout before buying it, but on the other hand, a shinkansen would look silly going though something like a 177mm curve. Even the 317mm minimum looks a bit silly ;)

[Mudkip Orange]

Yeah the thing that makes me scratch my head on this one is you've got tight curves in a few places but broader ones elsewhere.

If you're going to stick to trams - and most will handle an R140 curve just fine - then there's no reason not to use that more places and squeeze more track into the plan.

Otherwise if you want to run full length trains than R243 is the absolute BARE minimum and you'll need more than that for Shinkansen.

[Kumo]

Both my Shinkansen (Tomix 0 and 300 series) run well on 280 curves.

But smaller would it look kinda weird. That's what I like about N gauge over HO or O: more realistic curves, especially with HS trains.

Recently saw a HO TGV running on a small table top layout (maybe 1 meter or 1,50 meter wide), sorry but it looks plain ridiculous... :-/

[keitaro]

kk so I just got back from megi jima and ogi jima for last few days and takamatsu so sorry for late reply.

Will be most likely using S140F, S280F, C280-45F, C243-45F not the C140-60F (pasted the wrong piece). I need the 70mm straight I have all others.

Here is a remake after various fing around and a reinstall it now lets me push to 800 width

Again this is a prototype need to be waiting till back in aus then put the board up then make sure everything will fit.

I know that the shinkansen and other train run fine on all this track as I have already and it runs all good.

I know it looks really tight on the board but once then slopes come in it should free it from being so close to the edge.

For now I will leave board 2 out of this and make them park up top see how it goes then might either leave 1 there and make one under the top right mountain or do one underneath.

I have also mapped down the general look I will have in terms of what’s happening in the track. will be needing to purchase a few tomix Japanese farming houses etc. as well as I have decided to make my own bridge for the corner piece in top inner line.

anyway I think it`s a bit ambitious but we`ll see how it goes.


oh and summer is going to be the theme so will have rice plants growing in the rice fields.

feel free to criticize

[keitaro]

just acquired https://www.hwjapan.com/sh/KAT103477.aspx to run on the main line and additional cars will be running as 3 car.

already got the 130 kiha and other.

also acquired some houses to assemble and the track I was missing. Now all thats left is the board and lots of foam and glue hahahah.

[Martijn Meerts]

Looks much better now with the correct curves in place =)

[keitaro]

okay so I have again redone a new plan let me know what you think again I will not be running shinkansen on this. possibly some times for fun on outter line.

i have anyrail demo so couldn't finish the buffer line.

The whole board is going to be diesel trains i.e. Kiha's

and will have thomas and a diesel undecided still to pull freight on outer line.

The left side is going to join to module 2 similar lenght I have a basic design for that so far not included as it's long off.

In under bridge and irrigation going to rice fields

It will have 2 stations.

anyhow let me know. Once I start the project (sunday) I will recreate this thread with new title to get rid of all the crap up top to start fresh.

I laid this layout down on my dinner table measured up the board size and everything fits

[KenS]

Keep access in mind.  Reaching from the front (0.8m) is going to be a bit of a strain (possible, but awkward).  As long as you don't have an adjacent table, reaching from the ends (0.6m) should be fine.  But if this is permanently against a backdrop or wall, things will get awkward once you add the second table. 

And don't forget to allow access into any tunnels to clean track and rescue derailments.

The track plan itself looks good, although the front is a bit bland.  If one of the stations is going there, then something like a freight siding might add a bit of interest.  That's prototypical if you're modeling an earlier era, and you could probably still find a station with more complex track at an interchange between two lines, a passenger train storage line if nothing else, although most seem to be just through passenger tracks today.

[brill27mcb]

One of the few things I do not like about the AnyRail software is that they label the track pieces by package number, not the manufacturer's more meaningful product name. The 1121 means a C280-45 (curve, 280mm radius, 45 degree arc) and the 1122 is C317. You should be okay for just about any train (at least made by Tomix), since they use C280 in their basic sets including those with shinkansen trains. An "1121" is actually a blister pack containing 2 C280-45 curves, so be careful if you use AnyRail's track list output for the layout, or you might end up ordering twice as much as you need!

Rich K.

[keitaro]

Keep access in mind.  Reaching from the front (0.8m) is going to be a bit of a strain (possible, but awkward).  As long as you don't have an adjacent table, reaching from the ends (0.6m) should be fine.  But if this is permanently against a backdrop or wall, things will get awkward once you add the second table. 

And don't forget to allow access into any tunnels to clean track and rescue derailments.

The track plan itself looks good, although the front is a bit bland.  If one of the stations is going there, then something like a freight siding might add a bit of interest.  That's prototypical if you're modeling an earlier era, and you could probably still find a station with more complex track at an interchange between two lines, a passenger train storage line if nothing else, although most seem to be just through passenger tracks today.

My goal is to have wheels at the base of the legs and when I attach the boards together will have a bolt holding these 2 boards togetheron each side. for easy access moving the tables about.

Also I made the layout so I could use 1 or both together.

the tunnels will be accesable from behind only in my plans but should leave plent of room to remove the trains or push through the tunnell in derailment i hope.


Interesting you mention the additional line down below for freight.

My goal is with the second board was to have a a freight track that can loop on that table or connect up to the bottom left switch and was going to fit in a small yard so the freight yard below and have the station between the 2 tracks for the passenger trains.

I worked out that if I did a track below I would not have anyroom to make the freight line look as though it had a purpose for being there with scenery around it with the limited space.

while I have not go the board made just yet I am not sure how much extra space I will obtain from the mountains grades.

I will be entirely focusing on building the back half of the track first then i may reasess if i will have more space for a line down below.

[keitaro]

One of the few things I do not like about the AnyRail software is that they label the track pieces by package number, not the manufacturer's more meaningful product name. The 1121 means a C280-45 (curve, 280mm radius, 45 degree arc) and the 1122 is C317. You should be okay for just about any train (at least made by Tomix), since they use C280 in their basic sets including those with shinkansen trains. An "1121" is actually a blister pack containing 2 C280-45 curves, so be careful if you use AnyRail's track list output for the layout, or you might end up ordering twice as much as you need!

Rich K.

Thanks Rich yeah I caught onto that as well.

However I am not too fussed about having a few extras incase any gets dirty or ruined during making the landscape as I can replace or shift to the second module later down the track.


currently from placing it on my table I have 2 of everything in excess not including the switches which I have no spares of.

i think having 2 spares is fine of each either way at some point ones going to wear or not carry power accross so best to have a back up rather than ordering 1 or 2 things online and waiting.