T-track, but which dimensions?

Hey there,

I'm planning on making a little T-track layout. I don't have the time and money for it yet, but planning a bit can't hurt.

Firstly, I have a M1 Unitrack set, so I actually want to use the tracks included in that one too. The M1 set includes 315mm radius curved tracks, even though it's a bit wide for T-track, it should be doable. But I just can't get to find the right dimensions for a module with 315mm radius, I tried doing the maths myself but am not totally sure if it's right what I'm doing. I finally found a page on the internet (scroll to 'Corners for Alternate Track Spacing'), but it says "module size 14-3/8" ", and I have seriously no idea what this means apart from that it are inches since I'm using centimetres all my life. Is there anybody who knows how to interpret this?

I also read somewhere that it is better to make the module so that the track is 1mm off the module so that the other module fits better, I assume I have to change my dimensions of the module also a little bit when doing that?

Hi Densha....

I'm also in the process to planning and build a T-Trak module.

I don't know if you have checked "T-Trak.org" site. It has a lot of information about T-Trak modules (including dimension in milimeters.... since I'm Mexican I have also used metric system all my life):

http://www.t-trak.org/index.html

That's the "front page"..... more specifically, this other page has the dimensions (in inches and milimeters) for straight modules:

http://www.t-trak.org/straight,track.html

These two other pages have the information for corners (the first one is more complete, the other is more simplified):

http://www.t-trak.org/corners.html

http://www.t-trak.org/kit-corner.html

First thing you have to note is that there are two versions to build T-TraK modules (both straight and curved): BASIC Modules and ALTERNATE Modules. The diference between them is the rail track separation. Straight modules have the same dimensions in both cases. But corner modules have different dimensions, depending on whether they are Basic or Alternate.

In the straight modules diagram it is clearly indicated that "rail track extends 1 mm beyond module ends". I understand that is to facilitate assembly and disassembly of the modules.

I hope this info be useful for you.

Chava Garcia

Thanks a lot! That really helped me. I did know almost all dimensions, but couldn't find them for the alternate corners. Now I can adjust my plans a bit on it.

Also, after thinking about it a bit, does 14-3/8" actually mean 'fourteen and three eighths inches'?

Densha,

as chava says the main distinction in ttrak is the two spacings, standard (straight tracks butt up against each other) and alternate (all 33mm).

the original japanese modules were the standard 25mm spacing for doing mainly streetcar stuff. the corners are an odd swing out curve (using r216 curves and s29 and s45 spacers) to work with the 25mm track spacing which is not part of the unitrak standard geometry. its and odd curve, but there are corners like this in japan actually in streetcar tracks. these make for modules 12.25" square roughly the same width as ttrak modules.

later when ttrak started to catch on in the us folks wanted to run bigger equipment and do more standard rr scenery so they moved to doing the unitrak 33mm spacing and thus you can use any radius curves you want from kato for the corners. the standard for most ttrak setups is to use the r282 amd r315 curves to make corners that are 14.375" square. you can actually make corners any size you want using larger or smaller radius elements for your own use, might or might not work in a show environments where most use the 14" square corners.

the main thing for your straight modules if you want to bring them to shows with other modelers is to find out what they are doing. you can also make a module to go from the 33mm spacing to the 25mm spacing to run both kinds of modules on the same layout.

might take a look at the australian ttrak group. basically the same stuff, but their stuff is all dimensioned in metric for you!

http://t-trak.nscale.org.au/guidelines

yell with more questions!

jeff

Thanks a lot! That really helped me. I did know almost all dimensions, but couldn't find them for the alternate corners. Now I can adjust my plans a bit on it.

 

Also, after thinking about it a bit, does 14-3/8" actually mean 'fourteen and three eighths inches'?

yep 14-3/8" means 14" and 3/8" or 14.375" or about 365mm

quick trick for conversions is to just type them into google search

14 3/8 inches to mm

yeilds:

(14 3/8) inches = 365.12500 millimeters

english units are confusing when you are not use to them and even then they take some noodling!

cheers

jeff

Yes..... 14-3/8 means "14 inches plus 3/8 inches" and it's about 36.5 cm

1 inch = 2.54 cm

14 3/8 = 14.375 inches

(14.375 inches) x (2.54 cm/inch) =  36.5125 cm

As Queensland state T-TRAK rep I was going to suggest looking at the Australian guidelines but someone beat me to it.

None of those funny fractions the yanks use down here mate. 

what westfalen, you chaps down under never learned you your fractions in grade school?!  ;-p

cheers

jeff

Densha

Here is a link to anyrail it has a free track laying program/version that allows you to place 50 pieces of track how ever you want. It has all the unitrack pieces and easy to manage.

You should be able to design what you want.

Inobu

what westfalen, you chaps down under never learned you your fractions in grade school?!  ;-p

 

cheers

 

jeff

The only thing I can remember from grade school is the 4-6-0's that ran on the coal mine branch a quarter mile away (sorry, 0.402km) until I was in third grade.

But seriously, the Australian T-TRAK guide is widely used by those in countries using the metric system like Germany and Sweden to name a couple. I have a Swedish translation of it done by a guy over there that I show to people at train shows to show that T-TRAK is a worldwide thing.

Densha,

 

as chava says the main distinction in ttrak is the two spacings, standard (straight tracks butt up against each other) and alternate (all 33mm).

 

the original japanese modules were the standard 25mm spacing for doing mainly streetcar stuff. the corners are an odd swing out curve (using r216 curves and s29 and s45 spacers) to work with the 25mm track spacing which is not part of the unitrak standard geometry. its and odd curve, but there are corners like this in japan actually in streetcar tracks. these make for modules 12.25" square roughly the same width as ttrak modules.

 

later when ttrak started to catch on in the us folks wanted to run bigger equipment and do more standard rr scenery so they moved to doing the unitrak 33mm spacing and thus you can use any radius curves you want from kato for the corners. the standard for most ttrak setups is to use the r282 amd r315 curves to make corners that are 14.375" square. you can actually make corners any size you want using larger or smaller radius elements for your own use, might or might not work in a show environments where most use the 14" square corners.

 

the main thing for your straight modules if you want to bring them to shows with other modelers is to find out what they are doing. you can also make a module to go from the 33mm spacing to the 25mm spacing to run both kinds of modules on the same layout.

 

might take a look at the australian ttrak group. basically the same stuff, but their stuff is all dimensioned in metric for you!

 

http://t-trak.nscale.org.au/guidelines

 

yell with more questions!

 

jeff

Ah, right. I presumed 25mm was the spacing used by the 126mm switches and 33mm by the 186mm switches, but that's not quite right. So 33mm spacing will be the one I will be using at all my modules. Two 365mm wide modules fit exactly at my table, so that's also good.

I have absolutely no idea if there are any (Japanese) train modellers in the Netherlands who work with T-track, so I guess I should just go with 33mm.

I basically got the whole idea of T-track from Sir Madog's layout, I liked it so much and started googling upon it and found out that it was exactly how I wanted to create a little layout to test my abilities before starting to a larger on his layout. I found a page about his layout on JRM, and there was a link to a website I found somewhere at that page.

I prefer the width of 15cm over 30cm, at least 30cm is much to wide for a small rural Japanese layout I'm planning to do. I guess I could better make the straight modules also 310mm long like that site implies and use a 248+64mm track instead of 248+62 since it's much easier to do the maths and cut the wood that way. He used 100mm as height, which I think is also good.

I also don't plan to make the bases of the modules extravagant, and I like the idea of just 3 parts of wood, and maybe some blocks of wood in the corners to make it more firm.

Also, the main line of the layout is going to be a single track, no double track since I don't like that on small layouts and it's going to be rural after all. So the corners will be like that too.

Thanks a lot! That really helped me. I did know almost all dimensions, but couldn't find them for the alternate corners. Now I can adjust my plans a bit on it.

 

Also, after thinking about it a bit, does 14-3/8" actually mean 'fourteen and three eighths inches'?

 

yep 14-3/8" means 14" and 3/8" or 14.375" or about 365mm

 

quick trick for conversions is to just type them into google search

 

14 3/8 inches to mm

 

yeilds:

 

(14 3/8) inches = 365.12500 millimeters

 

english units are confusing when you are not use to them and even then they take some noodling!

 

cheers

 

jeff

I know the google trick, but it didn't work with 14-3/8, it did with 14.375. I do have a liner from a British museum railway with cm and inches though, it comes a bit in handy.

Densha

 

Here is a link to anyrail it has a free track laying program/version that allows you to place 50 pieces of track how ever you want. It has all the unitrack pieces and easy to manage.

 

You should be able to design what you want.

 

Inobu

As a Dutchman I already knew of the program, I've been designing a bit with it for a pretty long time now. They said they would update the program with the new wye switch of Kato in January, but still haven't done it.

Densha,

the 25mm spacing is not in kato geometry at all. you wont get any switches that will make a crossover between them unless you were to do some hacking and whacking to them to cut them back to do this. the #4 (r481 124mm long)) switches will cross over 33mm tracks directly if turnouts are butted right up to each other. the #6 (r718 / 186mm long) go to a 49mm spacing if used for a cross over.

the 25 was just done to get the tracks close to each other for simulating dense street car track.

if you dont think you are going to run with others, then you may wan to take sir maddog's route and just do you own modules. then you can wander things around as you like. you could plan it out as a sectional layout where you have a layout in mind and plop the track plan down on some modules to split it up into convenient places. then you can always come back in and add modules at any joint later to expand.

the only down side with the ttrak (or any modular) standard is that things can get pretty boring being straight straight straight for the most point in smaller setups. in ttrak you can cheat and have modules that swing the tracks to the center or rear of the module, just have to have other modules that will work with the track in the center or back and of course another one to bring it back to the standard if you are running with others.

the main concept of ttrak was for folks to get together and make larger setups sharing modules, less for doing your own at home, but many do use their ttrak at home as loops or some have them built into a larger layout.

first thing is to fiddle with a track planning software some, second is (and before you make your mind up), get some of the track that you are pretty sure you will be using, and set it up on a table and see if the setup is satisfying before building bases and nailing stuff down. the great advantage of unitrak is you can play like this and get use to what you are going to build. its hard sometimes to really get the feel of how it will be playing with trains on a track plan. you can also mockup your scene ideas with some cardboard taped up for buildings and crumpled paper for hills and such. really is a great way to help visualize how you will do your scenes. even frank gehry works this way!

cheers

jeff

That about the (switch) spacing was already clear to me, but thanks anyway for the explanation.

Maybe I'll ask around a bit about T-track in that topic about a Benelux Japanese train 'club'. Maybe there are people somewhere here who are already doing T-track modules or are also planning to do so. Most guides for T-track all have the same dimensions, the length is always the same (maybe a mm or two larger sometimes), the width should be 15cm or 30cm, and the curved parts are fixed because there aren't many possibilities in them. I personally prefer track positioning of 3cm from the side of the track bed to the end of the wood, since I just don't like having weird lengths like 3,4 cm for track positioning and 308mm for a straight module, even though the latter one comes in handy when designing the layout, making those modules is fairly annoying that way I think.

I think I'll first start with a little station on a double sized module (not even room for it, my planned station takes up three modules, will probably do it some other way then for the moment), four curved modules and two normal sized straight modules, that will fit exactly on my table. After that I can decide what I'm going to do then.

I will take the advice. It is even possible to print out the track parts with Anyrail, so I don't even have to buy parts when doing that. It's not exactly the same, but it's possible at least.

Densha,

there are a few netherlander japanese rail modelers on the list, martijn for one, that may be able to point you to some others.

printing out the track 1:1 does help give an idea, but you cant run your trains on it! mocking things up really does help though. also helps you figure what depth you want/need for your scene ideas.

some clubs are looser on letting folks have the distance from the front of the  module to the front track be a bit off spec if there is a reason for it. you can also pop out further for a special detail as well. it really depends on the group. some like to have the rules all the way to the color of the box, etc, others are really loose. the idea on keeping a standard distance of the tracks from the front is so that you dont have the front module edge bobbing in and out all over the place. rear is not as important as that moving in and out is not as distracting as the front edge.

you can also do shorter or longer modules that are not multiples of the standard module length, you just have to have pairs of them so they can be on either side of a run to make it come up even at the corners.

the only hard and fast thing that has to happen to play with others is have their track spacing on the ends (ie 25 or 33mm) and be able to get your module to the same height as theirs. rest is as i say up to your local group.

33mm spacing works better for interurban or private right of way tracks in towns with smaller dmus and emus. the 25 works better if you are doing city trams with tighter track spacing. all up to the scenes you want to do and the trains you want to run.

have fun with it! keep us posted on your noodling!

cheers,

jeff

I already posted something in the topic I was talking about, Martijn was the one who started it so I guess he will read it sooner or later.

I know, I can still put my trains on the paper, but it doesn't have any height either. So it's not perfect but at least a cheap solution I guess.

I'm planning on doing a railway, not a tramway, so it will be 33mm, that's one thing I'm sure of.

7cm high is the perfect height I think, I see almost all clubs use it, I don't really mind about it but it has to be set indeed. After visualizing it a bit I think having a depth of 15-30cm doesn't really matter, since the smallest curved module is 31cm after all.

Densha,

good you have a decision on your trains to set the track spacing. 33 does have more options!

on the height of the module itself you can do different things there. the ttrak standard of 2.75" (7cm) is waaay too tall in my opinion. i have made all my street car modules only 25mm high. i find the front edge at that size on a standard module gives a nice frame size without over powering the module scene. the big fronts i think become really distracting to the eye. its also hard to get a nice finish on a surface that large. its just big enough where the eye starts to notice things and by trimming it down a lot much less chance of that.

instead of propping each module up on bolt legs i rest them on two long strips of wood 4 modules long that are like 20mm w x 40mm high. these two strips are connected by a few pieces of wood dowel to hold them apart about 10cm. this makes a long girder. then i put 4 of the bolt inserts into this girder. this way i can plop 4 modules on top of the girder and then level all 4 up with just the 4 leveling bolts in the girder support instead of 16 individual module bolt legs! also the girder tucks back about 3cm so it make the module float a bit but still have that kick in support look, like the toe kick on cabinets or furniture. makes it float but does not leave a totally visual blank space. see the picture below and you can see why this can make your life much easier if you have to set up on an incline! we leveled 16 modules with 16 bolts total on this setup where the tables were on a slope that had about a 15cm vertical change from one end to the other! if we had done that with individual module legs it would have been 64!

plus i like the fact i save like 5cm per module vertically when i store the modules.

also on your module construction folks have done all sorts of stuff, you dont have to build the standard plywood box. some folks use 12mm foam core, others planks of shelf wood material like 20mm thick, others big slabs of just extruded polystrene foam like 40-50mm thick. just need to figure out how to make it so that it wont warp with time. the thin 6mm foam core does not work well as it tends to warp too much (usually from moisture from scenery building and weight) even with good support under it. i make mine using 3mm plywood for the top and the front and back edges have small rabit joints cut into them to join the plywood into. makes for very strudy modules that are super fast to build (time is in milling the edge stock). the same could be done with simple piece of thin ply with simple wood moulding strips glued to the front and back as well w/o the fancy joint as modules dont take that much abuse!

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/thinttrak/index.html

cheers

jeff

in ttrak you can cheat and have modules that swing the tracks to the center or rear of the module, just have to have other modules that will work with the track in the center or back and of course another one to bring it back to the standard if you are running with others.

Densha, check here for some T-Trak configuration ideas (as Jeff states, the only limit is your imagination):

1. http://www.t-trak.org/layouts.html (the basic arrangements)

2. http://www.t-trak.org/l-layouts.html ("L" shaped layouts)

3. http://www.t-trak.org/u-layouts.html ("U" shaped layouts)

4. http://www.t-trak.org/star-1.html (star junction layouts)

5. http://www.t-trak.org/ntrak-diamond.html (the "Diamond Mill" junction)

6. http://www.t-trak.org/t-trak-future.html ("a possibility for T-Trak in the future")

Chava.

Regarding module height:

With those "low-rider" modules you can´t do this:

Ahhh, but street car scenes rarely have those dips!

That's why the girder is used to raise the low rider modules up to a higher level so you can then easily interface with deeper modules like your revene module!

Cheers

Jeff

Also check out the offset modules (scroll down the page).

http://t-trak.cincy.home.insightbb.com/TTOC/New.Index.htm?AAO

This is what I was talking about moving the tracks around some.

Jeff

Densha,

 

good you have a decision on your trains to set the track spacing. 33 does have more options!

That's even more better!

on the height of the module itself you can do different things there. the ttrak standard of 2.75" (7cm) is waaay too tall in my opinion. i have made all my street car modules only 25mm high. i find the front edge at that size on a standard module gives a nice frame size without over powering the module scene. the big fronts i think become really distracting to the eye. its also hard to get a nice finish on a surface that large. its just big enough where the eye starts to notice things and by trimming it down a lot much less chance of that.

also on your module construction folks have done all sorts of stuff, you dont have to build the standard plywood box. some folks use 12mm foam core, others planks of shelf wood material like 20mm thick, others big slabs of just extruded polystrene foam like 40-50mm thick. just need to figure out how to make it so that it wont warp with time. the thin 6mm foam core does not work well as it tends to warp too much (usually from moisture from scenery building and weight) even with good support under it. i make mine using 3mm plywood for the top and the front and back edges have small rabit joints cut into them to join the plywood into. makes for very strudy modules that are super fast to build (time is in milling the edge stock). the same could be done with simple piece of thin ply with simple wood moulding strips glued to the front and back as well w/o the fancy joint as modules dont take that much abuse!

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/thinttrak/index.html

I agree with you that it would be distracting, but for some reason I don't like it so low. But it could be made the way sir madog does it too, so without fronts and only some supporting wood on the sides. (That's not the best English ever, but I hope you understand what I mean.) That is less stable though and could cause that it bends over a long time, I don't expect so after painting it with that certain stuff I forgot the name of. Also it depends of the thickness of the used wood of course. I think I'll be using MDF by the way, because plywood is actually more expensive here.

instead of propping each module up on bolt legs i rest them on two long strips of wood 4 modules long that are like 20mm w x 40mm high. these two strips are connected by a few pieces of wood dowel to hold them apart about 10cm. this makes a long girder. then i put 4 of the bolt inserts into this girder. this way i can plop 4 modules on top of the girder and then level all 4 up with just the 4 leveling bolts in the girder support instead of 16 individual module bolt legs! also the girder tucks back about 3cm so it make the module float a bit but still have that kick in support look, like the toe kick on cabinets or furniture. makes it float but does not leave a totally visual blank space. see the picture below and you can see why this can make your life much easier if you have to set up on an incline! we leveled 16 modules with 16 bolts total on this setup where the tables were on a slope that had about a 15cm vertical change from one end to the other! if we had done that with individual module legs it would have been 64!

That's a great tip, but I doubt it will be very useful at home, except for that those bolts don't have to be bought and placed.

plus i like the fact i save like 5cm per module vertically when i store the modules.

That's not something I really care about, but less is always better, in this case at least.

in ttrak you can cheat and have modules that swing the tracks to the center or rear of the module, just have to have other modules that will work with the track in the center or back and of course another one to bring it back to the standard if you are running with others.

 

Densha, check here for some T-Trak configuration ideas (as Jeff states, the only limit is your imagination):

 

1. http://www.t-trak.org/layouts.html (the basic arrangements)

2. http://www.t-trak.org/l-layouts.html ("L" shaped layouts)

3. http://www.t-trak.org/u-layouts.html ("U" shaped layouts)

4. http://www.t-trak.org/star-1.html (star junction layouts)

5. http://www.t-trak.org/ntrak-diamond.html (the "Diamond Mill" junction)

6. http://www.t-trak.org/t-trak-future.html ("a possibility for T-Trak in the future")

 

Chava.

That's really a gigantic one, the last one.

Regarding module height:

 

With those "low-rider" modules you can´t do this:

I was also planning on making a bridge module sometime, I almost forgot about that the height of the module also depends on it of course. Thanks for the reminder.

Ahhh, but street car scenes rarely have those dips!

 

That's why the girder is used to raise the low rider modules up to a higher level so you can then easily interface with deeper modules like your revene module!

 

Cheers

 

Jeff

But I wasn't planning on making a streetcar layout, but a railway, you know. If possible I want to build something Enoden-like sometime too, but that's mostly single track, and that is only a far future plan.

I guess so, but if all modules are the same height it doesn't really matter (except for uneven floors, but you already came up with a solution for that).

Also check out the offset modules (scroll down the page).

 

http://t-trak.cincy.home.insightbb.com/TTOC/New.Index.htm?AAO

 

This is what I was talking about moving the tracks around some.

 

Jeff

You mean the curved modules for compensating things when having larger T-track layouts?

Also check out the offset modules (scroll down the page).

 

http://t-trak.cincy.home.insightbb.com/TTOC/New.Index.htm?AAO

 

This is what I was talking about moving the tracks around some.

 

Jeff

You mean the curved modules for compensating things when having larger T-track layouts?

no i was referring to having the tracks on the module move from the front of the module to the middle or rear of the module for a few modules. by doing this you can mix up the loop a little bit so its not the perfect oval all the time! also nice as you can flip to having the majority of your scenery on the front of the module (instead of behind the tracks) for a few modules. this also then lets the train be a bit hidden for a short while which is also really good on smaller loops to make the plan feel less like a loop. folks always love seeing the train then pop back out again.

yeah leveling and leveling bolts are usually an issue when you are on what ever surface at an event and also with other modelers who's module heights might be a bit different.

there are lots of ways to skin the cat on you module construction! I was only throwing all these different ideas out there for you to see and think about what you want/need for your modules! again to run with others you just really only have to get the track spacing and height to match up!

Sir Mad dog's modules are a great system for very simple construction from like 18mm wood you can get at your lumber yard. minimal of cutting and assembly, you could even do it with a hand saw. they are nice as you can flip them over for the deep scenes as well. the 18mm thick wood should not bend/warp if its decent wood and the end plates should help that. just look for nice and dry pieces that are flat when you choose the wood. then also after you assemble it give it a coat of some sort of sealer (water sealer, varnish, paint, whatever) and that should help prevent it from warping later.

here is sir mad dog's article on how he made his modules

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

lots of pictures

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/minimodules/index.html

some other scene ideas from philip cook

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/_ttrak-philip/index.html

enjoy!

Also check out the offset modules (scroll down the page).

 

http://t-trak.cincy.home.insightbb.com/TTOC/New.Index.htm?AAO

 

This is what I was talking about moving the tracks around some.

 

Jeff

You mean the curved modules for compensating things when having larger T-track layouts?

 

no i was referring to having the tracks on the module move from the front of the module to the middle or rear of the module for a few modules. by doing this you can mix up the loop a little bit so its not the perfect oval all the time! also nice as you can flip to having the majority of your scenery on the front of the module (instead of behind the tracks) for a few modules. this also then lets the train be a bit hidden for a short while which is also really good on smaller loops to make the plan feel less like a loop. folks always love seeing the train then pop back out again.

I totally agree.

yeah leveling and leveling bolts are usually an issue when you are on what ever surface at an event and also with other modelers who's module heights might be a bit different.

 

there are lots of ways to skin the cat on you module construction! I was only throwing all these different ideas out there for you to see and think about what you want/need for your modules! again to run with others you just really only have to get the track spacing and height to match up!

 

Sir Mad dog's modules are a great system for very simple construction from like 18mm wood you can get at your lumber yard. minimal of cutting and assembly, you could even do it with a hand saw. they are nice as you can flip them over for the deep scenes as well. the 18mm thick wood should not bend/warp if its decent wood and the end plates should help that. just look for nice and dry pieces that are flat when you choose the wood. then also after you assemble it give it a coat of some sort of sealer (water sealer, varnish, paint, whatever) and that should help prevent it from warping later.

 

here is sir mad dog's article on how he made his modules

 

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

 

lots of pictures

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/minimodules/index.html

 

some other scene ideas from philip cook

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/_ttrak-philip/index.html

 

enjoy!

I guess I'll just go with an easy option eventually, I've liked sir madog's way all time, and since it's cheap I think I'm going with that. There's still enough time to think about it though, since I'm not going to start soon anyway.

I don't know about the bolts though, I actually don't want to bother installing them, but it may come in handy. I haven't ever put bolts in wood, so a stupid question: is it actually possible to just insert the bolts at a later moment when it is needed? So, doesn't it need anything from the side where the scenery is?

Then there's just the point of the track spacing left, I'll guess I'll await Martijn's reply or maybe I'll send him a PM to ask if he knows some Dutch people with Japanese model trains.

the mad dog method is great to get going fast, simple and cheap construction from pretty easy to find materials and no fancy table saw really required.

yes you could add the inserts later. good way to keep cost down and add later if needed. i would definitely drill the holes for them when you build the modules, though, as drilling them straight will not be easy on its side once you have stuff on top of the module. also hard to hold the module steady while drilling if you have stuff now on top of the module. if you have access to a drill press it will make it really fast and easy, but you could use a hand drill with no problems, just try to keep the drill very vertical. i would assemble the ends on the module and then drill the holes for the inserts like 1-2cm back from the ends of the end piece (and centered in the 18mm width). the inserts are very easy to screw in later with a hex wrench or screw driver (depending on the type you get).

screw in inserts here in the us cost like 0.2-0.4 euro a piece if you buy them in small quantities at the hardware store so they can add up! i get them for like 0.1 euro or less each when i buy them in bulk of 100 or more on line. the good ones just use a hex wrench to screw them into your hole. of course in europe you will use metric ones, like ones for 5-6mm dia bolts. not sure what the common one there is like our 1/4" bolt (6mm). you dont want to get the T nut style that you have to hammer into the hole as you wont want to be hammering on your module once you have stuff on it!

you also then need bolts and those can add up as well! i found lots of bolts cheap at a second hand hardware store so you might look around to see if there are any places like that. they dont need to be great quality bolts.

like you said at home you dont need the bolts if you have a nice even surface to go on. just need to make sure to make all the modules to the same height. if for some reason the modules dont quite line up height wise you can always glue some little cardboard or felt shims on the bottom edge to even things up!

if you needed to show with others w/o the bolts you could always cheat and just use hunks of cardboard or little wood blocks to shim up modules as needed to fit with each other or deal with unlevel or warped tables. not pretty but doable!

if there is no local active ttrak group then i would get started with what you want to do on track spacing (ie the 33mm) and how far back from the front you want your tracks. if others join in they can either follow your lead or do the standard and the front edge is just out or in a little from theirs depending on what you do. if you end up doing stretches of modules with an over all scene that visually goes together then your modules will be all together anyway if you show with others added in so no real matter the front moves in or out a little.

you can also do smaller corners with the 33mm spacing using the r282 and r249 tracks. the 249 is a bit tight for bigger trains but fine for most smaller things.

main thing is to get going and get something going for you to play with and then take to some event then and perhaps you will excite others to jump in. that is what has happened here in the us and in australia, one guy does a little loop and takes it to their local train club or train show and a bunch more chaps see it and start making modules and then before you know it you have a little club going!

cheers

jeff

That last post helped me really much!

I guess I'll just do it that way than, I'll prepare the modules for bolts. But I don't totally get an image of what you mean, I get what you mean by the 1-2cm, but not the "centered in the 18mm width" part. I do have a drilling machine/drill press by the way, so that makes things a bit easier and faster so I can start on the scenery faster.

I don't really know about much events/shows where I live though. I know there is a show once a year in a neighboring town, and once a year one in Utrecht which is the main train show of the country, but I don't know about other (little) shows, I guess I should ask around a bit sometime.