N Gauge T-Trak

Broithe · May 28, 2017

Great stuff!

That house looks remarkably like Mr Mashima's house. When it was announced that Mashima Motors was closing, I looked up the address on Street View and found that it was not the industrial unit that I was expecting, but a house, just like that one, with a bicycle leaning against the open gate.

Broithe · May 28, 2017

Managed to find it again - this is it, even his dog on the drive.

MikeO · May 29, 2017

Broithe

Thanks I will pass on the comments to the module's owner. Perhaps in time the House will be extended and the dog and bicycle added.

MikeO

Broithe · May 29, 2017

Broithe

Thanks I will pass on the comments to the module's owner. Perhaps in time the House will be extended and the dog and bicycle added.

MikeO

I hope so - a little shrine to Mr Mashima.

Noel · May 29, 2017

I'm just loving this thread. Fabulous collection of N gauge Irish rolling stock.

MikeO · May 31, 2017

Noel thanks for the compliment on the rolling stock. Expanding the collection is becoming addictive but finding suitable donors, time and information slows things down considerably.

MikeO

MikeO · November 2, 2017

A few photos of the T-Trak layout at the SDMRC Show at the weekend. This was a collaboration between the of us so not the modules or stock was Irish. The first four photos give a general view while the next seven photos show a little of the detail.

The layout comprised one outer loop and 3 inner loops. We had 4 trains running at the same time on the outer loop and one each on the inner loops. The rolling stock comprise British, German, Irish and Swedish outline models; some RTR and the rest scratch built or conversions.

MikeO

Irish_N · February 5, 2018

Great stuff Mike. Your stock has certainly built up well since I saw it last!

MikeO · February 7, 2018

Thanks Irish_N. Yes my Irish stock continues to expand mostly due to seeing the creative talents of many members of this forum. i just have to try emulating some of the stock I see. For some exhibitions my stock is supplemented by that of other operators. The modules also from a variety of contributors.

MikeO

MikeO · June 9, 2018

A few photos of my T trak layout from the !st Bangor show in May 2018. Some new features are the Strand Hotel module, a new back scene to the Girder Bridge module and 2 new locomotives a C class, based on a BR Class 22 and a WT class based on a Fairbarin , my other WT class is based on BR 4MT. They have been numbered 56 and 57 respectively.

MikeO

Edited June 9, 2018 by MikeO

MikeO · August 27, 2018

A few photos of the T Trak layout at the UMRC show in Belfast this weekend (25/26 August).

The first 2 photos show the layout over view. The each side was 6m (20ft)

The second 2 Show The Strand Hotel and Wooden Bridge modules with new backscenes. The Atlantic and Pacific Hotels are an approximation of how they may have looked deduced from The links members provided. The other houses are based mostly on existing houses on Upper Strand.

Trains in the fiddleyard awaiting turn

Some cameos from the Strand Hotel and the Village modules

The final set show a number of train formations recorded during the weekend

A Class

071 with cement train

GNR PPS no. 18 with mixed Goods

The Class 8500 series DART and the Mixed goods train passing

Lastly WT Class 57 with the Enterprise

MikeO

Edited August 27, 2018 by MikeO

MikeO · November 16, 2018

Attached are a few photos of scenes of my T-Trak layout taken at the Cultra Exhibition on 10th November. There was a very good attendance on the day and the people seemed to appreciate all of the layouts.

The first is a general view of the front of the layout.

The next is a view at the back showing trains awaiting their turn.

Next there are 3 detail scenes showing respectively vehicle on the corner module, Class 800 with a variety of bogie coaches and a U2 class with some LMS NCC bogie coaches

This next set of photos were taken at a small local show on the 14th November held at La Mon House

First up is an overview of the front modules

The show reflects farming interests so the next photo is a close up of the farming module developed for the day.

The last 2 photos show an A Class with a rake of Black and Tan coaches and a C class at the head of a mixed freight train

MikeO

MikeO · April 22, 2019

A few photos of the T-Track layout taken at the North Down Show 13th and 14th April.

This year there was a modernish and international theme both to the stock and the modules. In terms of stock the countries represented were Austria, Germany, Ireland and Sweden. The most modern stock was German where a variety of DMUs featured heavily.

The first 2 photos show an overview of the front of the layout.

The next set show the various trains in the 2 fiddleyards

The blue and white coaches are Austrian and The Steam Train is Swedish. I did not get a photo of the more modern Swedish passenger train.

Some of the more modern Irish stock are the ballast wagons and the Container wagons, the latter are all scratch built and both were inspired by those depicted in Popeye's workbench thread.

The following 2 photos are of Intercity and Arrows liveried trains which will have been seen in photos previously posted in this thread. However they are seen passing the new WH Mills station module. The Signal cabin is a Saxeby and Farmer type, both are scaled down Alphagraix 00 gauge card kits.

The last 2 photos show a McDonalds module and a German Freight Train.

MikeO

Edited April 22, 2019 by MikeO

murrayec · April 22, 2019

Looking great @MikeO

Looking forward to seeing that 121 up close

Eoin

MikeO · May 26, 2019

A few photos of the T Trak layout from the 1st Bangor show held on Friday and Saturday(24 and 25 May).

These are not in any particular order

First up is a Double headed Class 121 train followed by one with 2 jeeps. The jeeps were on the move hence the poor quality of this photo. The first jeep is a conversion from a BR 4MT and the Second from a Fairbairn.

Next is a Class 800 with a motley collection of Green liveried CIE Coaches. This is followed by a K1a Class on the same train but with an added "tin" van.

Two diesels, an A Class and coaches and then a C Class with a short container rake.

Finally a J15 with a variety of 6 Wheel coaches, a jeep with UTA coaches and brown vans and an NCC U2 class with various LMS NCC coaches

Mikeo

Galteemore · May 29, 2019

Looks great, Mike. Is that a blue 4-4-0 I see lurking in some of the shots?

MikeO · May 29, 2019

Galteemore

Thanks. Yes it is a GNR S Class converted from a Union Mills T9

MikeO

Galteemore · May 29, 2019

4 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Galteemore

Thanks. Yes it is a GNR S Class converted from a Union Mills T9

MikeO

Thought it might have a UM pedigree! Looks great - any chance of a closeup please?

MikeO · May 29, 2019

Galteemore

This is a shot I took just after the conversion

This shot gives an idea of the some of the conversion work required as the T9 is a little different from the S Class

MikeO

Galteemore · May 29, 2019

Thanks! V nice bit of work

MikeO · September 2, 2019

A few photos of the T Trak layout at the Ulster Model Railway Show last weekend.

For this show the total running length was around 12m (about 40ft)

The first 2 photos feature a rake of MK1s with a 121 and A class in charge respectively. There were seven coaches in the rake and given the length of the layout the train did not look like it was chasing its tail.

Next is an SG3 with a UTA rake of about coaches. In the next photo the SG3 is passing a GNR PPs class with a goods train.

This time an S class with an LMS NCC rake is passing the 121 class with its MK1 rake

At the back of the layout a variety of trains await their turn.

Here we have a Southern N Class in its original grey livery double heading with a K1A class which was converted from a green version of the N Class

Although not ready in time for this show I have included some photos of the MK3 coaches recently completed.

The first two photos show the rake being pulled by a 201 and then with the DVT at the front. The photos show the coaches in a sort of yellow colour but the are in fact orange as can be seen in the next set of photos. The rake comprises 4 open standards, a restaurant car and the DVT. Despite the advice elsewhere on the forum I used an intercity restaurant car as the donor. Removing the roof vents put holes in the roof so I had to do some repairs which did not turn out too well. The DVT was converted from an open standard and the others were open standards repainted. I did heed the advice and got the HST versions. Some came with buffers but most did not.

MikeO

Edited September 2, 2019 by MikeO

Galteemore · September 2, 2019

Lovely stuff. Pure Great Northern mainline - love it!

David Holman · September 3, 2019

Bearing in mind how tiny all this stuff is, it would be fascinating to hear more about where all the stock comes from - bodywork, mechanisms, couplings and so on.

MikeO · September 3, 2019

Hi David

Your question would require a very long answer to be comprehensive. In brief about 98% of the stock is RTR either repainted or adapted in some way. A few wagons and coaches have scratch built bodies and occasional chassis.

The majority of the steam locos are from Union Mills for example T9s(S class and PPs class), 3f(J15), 2p( U2 class) etc anything that looked like it could be easily converted to a reasonable likeness of the prototype. There are also some Farish, 4mt(WT class jeeps), Royal Scot rebuilt ( 800 class) and Southern N class(K1a) and a couple of Dapols.

The diesels are mainly Farish with some from Dapol and Hobbytrain. The Farish ones include class 158s as Comuter and Arrows liveried DMUs, class 350 as a DART. The Dapol class 22 became the C class and a class 31 the A class while the various class 201s were originally class 66s. the class 181 is a Hobbytrain Vissloth BB 2000(1;160 scale) because it was about the right length, had 2 cabs, walkway rails and the correct wheel arrangement.

In terms of coaching stock they are mainly Farish although the new MK3s are Dapol HST coaches. A small number of coaches are either scratch built or scaled down OO gauge alphagraphix card kits. If a coach could not be repainted then the sides were computer generated and scaled from IRSS drawings for GSR and GNR coaches. I bought a series of books from Richard at one of the Dublin shows a few years back..

The wagons are nearly all Farish with a sprinkling of Lima although I did have to resort to scratch building the cement wagons and bubbles as well as the bogie parcels van. The container wagons are all scratch built bodies and chassis; the bogies are RTR.

The mechanisms and cuplings are those that came with the donor stock.

My approach to this has been that the look is more important than 100% accuracy but I endeavour to include as much detail as possible to give the right look.

MikeO

Edited September 3, 2019 by MikeO

David Holman · September 4, 2019

Many thanks, Mike. I somehow read it as T-scale, so was in awe of so much stock that small!

Nevertheless, N gauge is still going some and for a project this size and am sure you are right going for overall impressions ahead of complete fidelity. At the usual range of about a metre,am sure it all blends together beautifully.

Thanks again.

MikeO · September 22, 2019

A short selection of T trak photos at the Erne show on 21 September.

Fist up a general overview. This was a smaller size layout, around 3.6m (12ft)

The DART passes a rural station

A 121 in charge of a goods train comprised mostly of GNR stock

The 121 and DART passing in the fiddleyard

A 181 with an intercity rake with the Class 2600 series rail car in the background

Lastly the class 400 with a mixed livery set of 6 wheelers and a J15 at the head of the goods train

I did get to see Gerry's diesel depot which is superb but little else.

MikeO

Galteemore · September 22, 2019

Nice station with the DART, Mike. Looks like Manorhamilton....

Irishrailwayman · September 22, 2019

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

Nice station with the DART, Mike. Looks like Manorhamilton....

or Glenfarne (based on Alphagraphix kit?)...

Galteemore · September 22, 2019

Of course it’s Glenfarne..thank you!

MikeO · September 23, 2019

Galteemore/Irishrailwayman

It is Glenfarne as is the goods shed. The signal cabin is a generic GNR type. All 3 are scaled down Alphagraphix kits. They are used together in this way to give the feel of a rural type station. Modelling specific locations does not fit in with my overall theme of an impression of Ireland and many would be difficult to replicate on T trak modules.

MikeO

Edited September 23, 2019 by MikeO

GNRi1959 · September 23, 2019

Mike,

Really impressed with your layout spoke to you briefly in enniskillen (until my grandson needed to go to the loo!). I think the next layout I do will most certainly be n gauge. Between you and david Wynne there is a lot to get excited about.

MikeO · September 24, 2019

Tony

Thanks for the comments. I do remember that incident. Did not know that was you. N gauge has a lot of possibilities and lots of RTR but not for Irish but I think the effort is rewarding

MikeO

David Holman · September 24, 2019

The current edition of Railway Modeller has an article on N gauge T-trak. They made a module for a big convention in Japan, where the format is really popular.

MikeO · November 14, 2019

Over the last 4 weeks the T Trak layout has made 3 appearances, Blackrock, Whitehead and La Mon Hotel.

The following photos are a selection from each. Included in the Blackrock Section are some more photos of Ballyconnel Road.

Unfortunately the T Trak photos do not have any trains apart from 1 Swedish railcar.

T Trak

Ballyconnel Road

Whitehead

At this show we were fortunate to be located inside the Directors Saloon (No 50). Include are some photos of other layouts located in the main train gallery. I did not get to see any others in the rest of the museum.

The first two photos show the inside of the saloon.