Simplicity ~ Wednesday, May 23, 2007

This is about a simple a layout as you can get, but still it's fun!



The track is Tomix Fine Track. The curves are 103mm (4in) radius. The articulated Tram is by Modemo/Hasegawa. I ordered this stuff via Plaza-Japan's eBay store (which I will recommend for good service and quick shipping).

My daughter helped set up the track and test everything out.



I'm not sure why she decided to wear the Santa's Elf outfit, but it did feel like Christmas!

The light bulb is wired in parallel with the layout, to siphon off some of the current, so that I can run modern equipment with a vintage '70's "gold box" MRC controller and not have everything take off at warp 6.

There are also turnouts to go with this track. They are 140mm (5.5in) radius, and there are curve pieces to match. The turnouts have electric frogs, and even small cars like the Kato single truck tram go through reliably.



I was able to put together a track plan along the lines of the end table layout I planned earlier.



I don't think it'll quite fit, but sooner or later, a slightly bigger table will turn up.

The turnouts route power according to which way the points are thrown, so it's easy to put two trolleys on a layout, and let them take turns running around while the other waits on a siding, all without having to deal with wiring blocks.

This track is really nice, and goes a long way towards making N scale trolley modeling feel more like a hobby (instead of another engineering puzzle like the stuff I do at work)... if you've been having trouble getting a layout going, I highly recommend picking up some of this stuff and diving in.

I'll close out this Japanese-themed post with the logo of the Nippon Sharyo company, builders of prototype electric railway cars, including the ones on the L.A. Blue Line and Chicago's South Shore Line.



For more examples of modeling with Tomix Fine Track, see the EasyTrolley Gallery of the NScaleTraction group.