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A question from an outsider


Hando
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Hello all!

 

I'm a newcomer to the world of T gauge and I'm interested in building a future layout...

My question is: are T gauge trains able to operate in an end-to-end fashion? 

From what I've seen of T gauge layouts, all of them are in a circular formation; is this in order to ease train operation or is it the only way that the track can be arranged for the trains to work?

Please enlighten me

 

Thanks,

Alex

:)

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I suspect that the answer lies in the couplings.  An end to end type layout normally requires a lot of coupling and uncoupling whether for shunting, running round or loco release, which I'd suggest is less that ideal in this scale.  Fixed rakes will be easier, which points towards a continuous run type layout.

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It depends on what you mean by end-to-end.  A simple automatic back-and-forth shuttle using multiple unit stock is very easy to do, since the standard controller comes with a pair of reversing sensors.  For a terminus that requires shunting, well, that is a completely different story...

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It does depend on context - from a mechanical point of view all of the trains are pretty much as happy going back and forth as they are going round and round. So a representation of a terminus served by DMUs (or even loco hauled push-pull trains) would be absolutely fine and should work pretty decently (albeit with the characteristic of T Gauge to go from 0 to a scale 50 almost instantaneously)
 

But, if you are looking to represent locomotive hauled trains with shunting, running around etc then the answer would be a firm ‘no’. T gauge just can’t do that yet and I doubt that the mechanics to do that will ever be in place to be honest

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4 hours ago, Edge said:

But, if you are looking to represent locomotive hauled trains with shunting, running around etc then the answer would be a firm ‘no’. T gauge just can’t do that yet and I doubt that the mechanics to do that will ever be in place to be honest

 

4 hours ago, martink said:

It depends on what you mean by end-to-end.  A simple automatic back-and-forth shuttle using multiple unit stock is very easy to do, since the standard controller comes with a pair of reversing sensors.  For a terminus that requires shunting, well, that is a completely different story...

tgauge.com used to sell a rather crude class 08 "Gronk" for £45 (https://www.tgauge.com/product/432/t-gauge-class-08-shunter).

I don't know whether it was motorised or not, but if it was; it seems that the provision for shunting uk-style was (at one time) sort of possible, although it was belligerently fiddly.

 

Uwe Fenk of Germany constructed a detailed minuscule 0-4-0, something which is absolutely amazing (shown below). I cannot find the details for this specific loco, but from what I have found on his website: http://www.uwefenk.de/QTT.htm I'm pretty certain that this loco is not powered and is propelled by a motorised van. Uwe has also constructed larger working tank locos, proving that building smaller non-express steam locos is viable, but painfully difficult and labour-intensive to construct due to their size and complexity. This shows that the near-impossibility of shunting was almost possible, but not easy enough to do to warrant such operation.

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Edited by Hando
grammar fixes
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Seriously, the limitations of the lightweight trains, poor electrical pickup, less-than-satisfactory points, fixed couplings, etc., really do preclude anything other than the back-and-forth and continuous-run options.  Even getting reliable running in those cases takes a lot of work, for example using multiple locos per train and permanently wiring them together.  Plus lots and lots of maintenance.  Some people are now using DCC, which improves things a bit, but does not change the fundamentals.  That is why I have chosen to head off on a complete tangent with my own linear motor stuff, because I really DO want to have a fully functional T Gauge model railway.   Unfortunately, that isn't a generally available option. 

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7 hours ago, Edge said:

(albeit with the characteristic of T Gauge to go from 0 to a scale 50 almost instantaneously)

 

I'm still very new to T Gauge, and only have a class 67 so far, but I would say this is a bit of an exaggeration. Having tried a few PWM circuits as "controllers" (I didn't buy the 'official' controller), I managed to get reasonable slow running - I think the PWM frequency seems to make a big difference. Potentially experimenting with PWM frequency a bit more (using an Arduino?) might improve things further.

 

I haven't tried the DCC decoder route (am I right in assuming the decoder is mounted statically and feeds the track, rather than being in the loco?) - presumably the advantage is having a back-EMF function to better respond to the motor's load etc. 

 

7 hours ago, Edge said:

But, if you are looking to represent locomotive hauled trains with shunting, running around etc then the answer would be a firm ‘no’. T gauge just can’t do that yet and I doubt that the mechanics to do that will ever be in place to be honest

 

Agreed - now - but perhaps a bit pessimistic to say never. With the right materials and tooling, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to engineer a Kaydee / Micro-Trains style coupling in a similar size to the stock T knuckle coupler. In fact the magnetic wheels might actually help with that - shunting with Microtrains couplings in Z can suffer from the stock being too free-wheeling\light so running away rather than coupling. 

 

I imagine sooner or later DCC decoders (or radio control equivalents) will be shrunk/integrated to single chip solutions rather than today's relatively complex small PCBs (if only to save costs in larger scales) which might unlock a lot more possibilities in T - not least higher track voltage (and therefore fewer stalls on starting) and more potential for extra functions like couplers. 

 

e.g. check out the single chip motor driver chip, AT-tiny microcontroller (i.e. Arduino-alike) and IR receiver used in this 1:150 car conversion that is doing the rounds online at the moment!

 

 

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DCC in the loco is quite feasible in 1/450. Tgauge.com sell the chips for about £35 or so - made in Germany ISTR. Fitting them is.. interesting but possible. Doug K's Forth bridge T gauge exhibition layout uses them a lot.

 

https://www.tgauge.com/product/395/250ma-5v-decoder

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xuI00Vg9l0

 

 

Hope that helps/inspires you!

 

Edited by DavidMatthewson
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