Questions about Model Trainzing

JonMyrlennBailey

Active member
Is there train table content available to construct train tables and benches instead of using ground for a table top and punching out dig holes along the edges?

Can this table top be shaped to have rounded contours along the edges?

Can this table top be worked with Topo tools like ground to form hills and valleys?

Can this table top also be Painted with textures like ground?
 
I have decided that my figure 8 double-track layout is not a realistic model layout on square/rectangular table tops. There are town buildings, streets and parcels of land between the train tracks and the edge of the table. It is physically hard to get close to the train tracks to clearly see and hear the locomotives rumble through the crossings as if one were sitting inside the car waiting at the crossing. Imagine if real people were standing or sitting in the train room observing the layout.

The railroad trains are the items that should be fairly close to the edge of the table where humans observe. Towns and motor roadways should be away from the edge more perhaps on the other side of the tracks. I figure I should adopt the modern custom of horseshoeing the layout around the walls of the train room with people standing nearer the middle of the room looking toward the walls with skyline backdrop. A figure 8 on a large rectangular train board is old hat these days.

The railroad action is what should be nearest the people watching for the most part. The majority of non-railroad scenery should be in the background. I want to design my G-scale layout in a room about as long as a football field. The room would be about the width of a football field. Trains could practically get up to 50 scale miles per hour on the long straightaways. the G-scale curves at the corners would be very broad. Perhaps 25 to 30 actual foot radius. I don't like the looks of tight curves with American standard gauge rolling stock.

My curves have to be broad enough that even scale-model trains moving at cruising scale speeds have to look natural doing so. On a physical model layout, my track would be super-elevated on turns as well. I fancy American rolling stock with LONG wheelbases as Pullman heavyweights and 3-axle-truck mainline diesels as shown in my avatar. On a physical layout those WIDE broad high-speed curves of mainline in the corners would have curved train board edges to conform to them.

How does one have big 30-foot-actual-radius curves fit well in SQUARE corners? In real scale, 30 foot radius G curves translate to 960 foot radius and even with super-elevation, that is about as fast as a standard gauge train would hit them and still feel comfortable.

In 1989, a runaway SP freight in San Bernardino, California en route to Colton hit a 1,000 foot radius turn at about 110 mph and jumped right off killing two of four crewmen on board. I think 40 mph was the legal limit for that fateful turn but I still wouldn't feel uncomfortable w/ 50 mph in such a tight corner. Railroad trains are not roller coasters and require the proper track geometry and vehicle velocities accordingly.

I wish to design a model railroad that puts human observers CLOSE to the train action. The focus is on the trains.
 
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Jon --

A suggestion.

That big block of text is just so difficult to read that I gave up at the first line.

If you do want people to read your postings, and I'm sure you do, think about making paragraph breaks. It's not that hard. If you require guidance you will find plenty of primmers on the Net.

Phil
 
Phil, do you have a link for "my Klozett?

Some video tutorials on more advanced Model Trainz would be nice.

Basically I want to do something different from a simple layout on a square train board.
 
Jon --

Excellent edit. Well done! I've actually read it.

Klozett?

1. See here:
https://forums.auran.com/trainz/sho...ny-a-NG-Model-Trainz-layout&highlight=klozett

or
2. Use T:ANE Manage Content to search for "Klozett".

or
3. Go to the Download Station White Pages and search with "Klozett". The White Pages are here:
https://www.auran.com/DLS/

2. above will list the layout and sessions. The easiest way to find Download Station content using Manage Content is to set the filters to:
Installed = False
Name = Klozett
 
The railroad action is what should be nearest the people watching for the most part

It is also necessary to bear in mind that, on a real model railroad/railway, tracks must be within the physical reach of the operator in order to deal with the derailments which will inevitably occur - yes, I know that this is not a problem in Trainz, but if one wants to simulate a model railway, then as you say, Jon, it must be as realistic as possible.

My arm reach is about 2'6", or 75cm, and I ensure that all VMR tracks are no further than that from the edge of the baseboard. This also assumes that scenery further from the edge than this has been placed before tracks are laid - not the normal way of doing things, I agree - or that access from behind is possible, which would allow for a wider board.

Personally, if I want a wider board I leave about 2'6"/75cm between it and the wall of the railway room.

I know that in the States, many layouts are constructed in basements which we do not normally have in the UK so layouts tend to be larger.

As a final thought, one could imagine a lift-out section for access to remote tracks - I don't see that this could be made to work in Trainz! In any case, at the age of almost 87 I don't fancy crawling under a layout and this solution for me would not be realistic!

Ray
 
My imaginary model layout is to be a BIG, indoor G scale (1:32) set inside a building with about the floor area of an American football field. 300 feet x 150 feet. This is for a rich man who has infinite amount of money for the necessary real estate to even build this layout upon. Arm reach would not be an issue as the rich man could afford some type of equipment to lift a person right over a wide layout table for layout construction and maintenance.

Derailments would have a very low probability as the train rolling stock, the switches and the track would all be designed and built with Swiss-watch precision. There would be no China-made garbage on this billionaire's pike. These trains would be hand-crafted most likely by European old-world craftsmen as from Germany or Switzerland on a special contract. Track would be tediously laid one wooden tie and one piece of steel rail at a time.

Dial indicators, jigs and/or laser instruments would level, bevel, gauge and grade the tracks precisely. Railheads, train wheels, bearings and axles would be machined to perfection. Locomotive motors and controllers would have the most precise computer-controlled variable speed control available. They and the automatic operating couplers too would have clock maker precision. Master carpenters, master machinists, world-renowned model train experts and master cabinet makers would be contracted.

Switch frogs and rail joints would be machined with the care given the parts inside a Rolex watch. Locomotives and railcars would have titanium wheel/axle bearings and all rolling stock would be on working spring suspensions. There'd be no plastic tracks which are prone to warping. I can't stand watching videos of model trains which jiggle side to side like a bowl of jello or bob like a cork on water. This is likely the result of sloppy track laying. Speeds would all be computer-controlled and all railroad traffic would follow strict speed and signal logic rules. I can fantasize about being rich as well as being a PHYSICAL model train maker and runner.

Heck, such dream layout could even be a 1/10th scale with an SD40-T-2 diesel locomotive actually longer (6.50 feet) than the bed you sleep in if you are an adult.
 
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Soooooo ... What exactly is ... your main question again ?

All I see is rambling on ... and on ... and on ... and on ..... in another pointless thread ... about nothing at all !

You seem to need a friend, to talk their ear off to ?

What, do you want ?
 
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Thanks, Cascade. The mystery of those nice rounded bench corners has been unlocked! Grass splines that are bendable and wall spline as moldings. I could use HUGE plaster wall too if that will bend.

I don't suppose there are other terrain-colored splines besides grass?
 
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It is amazing ... Creators make a train to run ... and people want to be able to turn it off

A creator makes a nicely weathered fantastic loco ... and people want to turn it into a rusting hulk derelict bound for the scrapers torch

They make a fantastic Trainz program, and Transdem, that can make a vastly huge terrain map, all the way from Phila to Pittsburgh ... and people want to cram it, and shove it into a basement room, with floor, ceiling, walls, and fascia boards

I just don't get it ?
 
Trainz is just PC-generated cartoon IMAGES. Physical model trains are something that people can see and touch. We can even smell the loco smoke if the steamer or diesel engine uses smoke oil. Many of us don't have the space or money for a nice physical layout so we have to use some cheap PC gaming program to wing it the best we can. Kinda like the fantasy baseball and football games. Manage fake teams you will never get real money for.

But I am going to have the fantasy of being rich and have a fantasy G-scale layout inside a custom building the floor size of a football field. The first model trainz layout I made was just an appetizer...now for the main course. It is not an N scale in a closet or an HO in a basement I dream of.
 
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Hi cascade --

"I just don't get it ?"

Ah, well. Instead of spending hours thundering mile after mile though monotonous countryside (even if it may be a perfect replica of a real route), some of us want something a bit smaller and much more intense. Some of us even enjoy switching operations, running a wayside freight from spur to spur, cutting out cars, setting switches, ... .

These small fictitious model layouts are idea for the latter. And, hey, they don't take three lifetimes to construct. Just a few days or weeks.

And after all, it's all just pretend, both the long routes and the small layouts. As long as we are all having fun, who cares?

Phil
 
Hi cascade --

"I just don't get it ?"

Ah, well. Instead of spending hours thundering mile after mile though monotonous countryside (even if it may be a perfect replica of a real route), some of us want something a bit smaller and much more intense. Some of us even enjoy switching operations, running a wayside freight from spur to spur, cutting out cars, setting switches, ... .

These small fictitious model layouts are idea for the latter. And, hey, they don't take three lifetimes to construct. Just a few days or weeks.

And after all, it's all just pretend, both the long routes and the small layouts. As long as we are all having fun, who cares?

Phil
Actually, I "get" the model railroad concept now far better than the megaroutes. That wasn't the case at first, but I eventually tired of the spider-like basemaps with their halfway-created mountains that look like digital aberrations dropping into oblivion, or lack of horizon due to the abyss on either side of the track. Some payware routes are among the worst offenders in this respect (because I'm paying good money and expecting better, I suppose?).

Phil is right, too, in pointing out that few of us will be able to tackle a megaroute with any hope of achieving any hope of realism without significant collaborative effort. A model railroad is a great way to bound the project into something doable for the soloist.

I don't see why TransDEM can't be use effectively in model railroading. That is my goal!
 
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