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Naples Street - a US Switching Layout in TT


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Having sold my HO switching layout Yorkford, PA to a good home, I've decided to stick with US outline for my next layout but to try something in TT.

 

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This mock-up on cardboard is 40 inches by 10 and the finished thing will be about the same, maybe a little deeper so the track isn't too close to the front edge. The somewhat bashed-around and well-used track shown is from the 3mm Society, with a mix of Peco and hand-built turnouts. I may go for Peco HOm track instead for a more uniform look, but either way I think the sleeper spacing needs reducing to make it look more prototypical (see next post).

 

There will be some industrial low relief buildings across the back, and industries in the spaces to left and right, with maybe a scrap yard and a team track. A road will run diagonally somewhere from back to front. Trains will enter and leave the layout via a fiddle yard at right. In fact, it's a mini-Yorkford without the run-round.

 

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Only a limited range of American TT is available. The stock in the picture (detailing parts yet to be added) is from different European manufacturers but all ordered from Zeuke in Holland, and very nice it is too. TT is also available from Lok-n-Roll and Shapeways. It's not cheap - but that's a good way to stop me buying too much!

 

The loco in the picture is by MTB and has an NEM651 DCC socket. I'll be converting it and any other locos I get to DCC and will probably get sound from a couple of under-baseboard MRC sounders I have left over from Yorkford.

 

The idea is to end up with another layout to take to shows, possibly with interchangeable backscenes for giving my British 3mm stock a run-out. But we'll see how that goes, I said it before with Yorkford and it never happened.

 

Smoking factory chimney (again) for spectators to operate is a must!

 

Ideally I'd like the buildings to be 'proper' 3D, from styrene etc., but to avoid too much scratchbuilding I'll probably go for some card kits.

 

That's the plan anyway...

Edited by rodshaw
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As to track, here's a picture of some options. From left to right: Peco HOm unmodified; same with sleeper spacing reduced; 3mm Society track unmodified; same with sleeper spacing reduced.

 

Any views on which is best?

 

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  • 1 month later...

To my eyes the 3mm Society ties are quite narrow, with the unmodified track almost looking like a feldbahn line.

 

The Peco HOm looks more like American track, and for an industrial area the ties can be left as they come.  You might want to tighten the spacing if you were representing a mainline.

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Is there any reason not to use Tillig or Kuehn track?

 

 

 

The very good reason that I don't have any and don't propose to buy any. I don't know whether Tillig or Kuehn are prototypical for the US - they look ok - but I do have lots of Peco and 3mm Society track, which I can live with.

 

As Velotrain pointed out, I've discovered that for an industrial area, prototypical tie spacing can be wider (up to 2ft 6in or more), so the track I have could be used unmodified.

 

All my turnouts are live frog. I daresay Tillig do live frog too but to my eyes those brown plastic dead frogs and check rails spoil the effect somewhat.

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I'd use the HOm track, because the sleepers/ties seem a bit shorter. The 3mm soc stuff looks more like narrow gauge because of the sleeper length (which makes sense, since at 3mm/ft it is 4ft gauge track, and I bet those are scale length sleepers).

 

To be honest the peco looks like narrow gauge too, but it's not as bad to my eyes. Which is odd, since it's supposed to be narrow gauge...

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I agree about the 3mm Society sleeper length and that neither option is ideal.

 

I think it's got to be the Peco, it pretty well matches the turnouts anyway. It's more pleasant to work with than the Society track too. After painting and ballasting I'll have forgotten all about it not being quite right.

 

I will assemble it all anyway and wire it up to get some trains running. If I decide I can't live with it (unlikely), I will give my Paypal account another battering and get an alternative. The layout is so small that switching to another option won't take long.

 

Thanks all for comments.

Edited by rodshaw
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  • 3 weeks later...

During the last couple of months I've managed to get the track laid and wired up. There are some obvious sleeper gaps that need filling.

 

The two Peco turnouts are live frog. I have isolated the switchblades from the frog and bonded them to the stock rails for reliability. So the Peco frogs have to have their polarity changed by a switch, as with the hand-built turnouts.

 

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The track is fixed with N gauge track pins, which I may take out when it's ballasted.

 

Underside views showing the wiring, turnout levers and how I work the microswitches. I have made the wooden dowels a tightish fit through the baseboard holes, packing them with bits of cardboard, which makes sure they stay set in place when the points are changed:

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I decided to re-vamp the track layout and incorporate a run-round. In fact I haven't really lost anything because the run-round doubles as a siding when switching, to compensate for the siding I've ditched.

 

Before:

 

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After, with positions of potential industries marked:

 

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Not sure yet how this is all going to go, but I'm thinking of incorporating some street running, maybe even having a road running all along from top right to bottom left.

 

 

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Here are a couple of photos showing the fiddle yard attached to the main board. It's 20in. long, or half as much as the layout itself. I've designed it as a sector plate, so the length of wood the track is resting on swivels at the back end to swap between two tracks if need be. (The track in the photo isn't fixed down yet.)

 

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The gap at bottom left is to accommodate the post for a lighting gantry, as yet to be built.

 

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Also on view are the legs for the fiddle yard and layout, they are simply in the form of an upside down table and the baseboards just rest on them. This way I can easily get underneath the layout if I need to.

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  • 1 month later...

Made a start on scratchbuilding a couple of industries out of plastic and card.

 

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The one on the right is just more or less following the typical design of many American factory buildings. The other one is based on this photo I found:

 

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Though mine will probably be an engineer's rather than a paintball arena!

 

Fortunately I found some corrugated paper lying around, which does the job nicely. The window and door are Walthers HO spares.

 

I thought I'd try out that piece of copper pipe for size as a chimney. It will accommodate a smoke unit nicely but maybe it's a bit wide?

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  • 1 month later...

Here are a few more photos showing progress to date - notably, a backscene and a start on some more buildings. I decided to get the basics of all the buildings done before I go round again detailing and weathering them.

 

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I'm not too happy with the windows in the right-hand factory, they were done with Excel but I may have another go.

 

The low brick building on the backscene will be derelict and boarded up. It's loosely based on this:

 

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The nearmost track at right is intended to serve a team track and scrap yard, I thought something like this mobile crane might fit in nicely:

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/Q3YDCJSHZ/bekohlungskran-spur-tt-1-120?optionId=3272219&li=marketplace

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  • 1 month later...

A few more pictures showing recent additions to the layout. Including the smoking chimney, operated using a press switch on the front of the layout which triggers a timer.
Four of the buildings are loosely based on photos of actual buildings in Illinois which I found on the internet. So I reckon the layout is going to be set in Illinois.

One final building to place is a small diner, a 3mm Society resin casting, which will be by the roadside at front left.

 

The layout is going to be called Naples Street, for no other reason than that my mother came from Naples.

 

There's plenty detail left to do such as trees, shrubs, road vehicles, rail bumpers and figures. And a few freight car kits to make. There's also a lighting gantry to do which will frame the layout. All in all I'm optimistic it will all be ready for a local show in early July.

I will be doing a full write-up of the layout and posting it on my website when it's finished.

 

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Interesting stuff in a different-to-usual Scale ;)

 

I like one of the Switchers in particular!! :yes: ;) :mosking:

 

Well, I only have two, one in Man Utd and one in Chelsea strip. So-o - which one is it? I can't possibly guess.

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  • 1 month later...

A few more scenic details added. Just a few figures to add, a lighting frame to make and everything to stick down. The gondola and flat car could do with a couple of loads too.

In addition to the smoking chimney I decided to install a glowing brazier for added kid appeal!

Then I may well call it a day and try to book it in to a few shows (I'm already down for NCAM, Hampsthwaite on 1 July).

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Guest Bishoptrains

Rod very nice modelling even though I'm interested in n gauge i do Like the American railroad modelling..:)

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are now a few figures on the layout and apart from a lighting frame and fascia it's just about done. Here are some more pictures.

I'll be taking it to NCAM, Hampsthwaite on 1 July.

 

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Guest ShildonShunter

Rod thanks for the link this is a fantastic layout and the pictures are great thanks for sharing your modelling skills and layout.:)

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I was a very lucky boy to get Naples Street featured in the July Continental Modeller. You can also see it at its first outing, a week on Sunday (1 July) at the NCAM meeting in Hampsthwaite near Harrogate.

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