In a number of threads lately, several people have mentioned that they are dabbling in T gauge. While there are some severe limits to what is possible in that scale, I was wondering how many of us there are, what you/they have been trying, and what results you/they have been getting.
In my case I have spent some of the last couple of months building a little automated tail-chasing display layout named Sarum Bridge.
Any other takers?
I've a small layout which I must get around to completing. It needs a curved viaduct and loads of buildings. Plus I really should buy a couple of the PWM controllers for it.
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/53/thumb_8647.JPG) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=8647)
More pictures in my album at http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=680 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=680)
Best regards
Michael
I strongly considered T Gauge and even joined tgauge.net and spent some months researching it but because they don't have much in the way of British outline (diesel) I decided to go with another N Gauge layout. Maybe someday if/when the scale has gained more steam and a broader list of products I'll do it.
This is as far as I have got (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=17885.msg178758#msg178758)
I'm still deciding what sort of layout to build - I still have a dream of building a variation of Venezia Mestre to Venezia Santa Lucia across the Ponte della Libertà but suspect a rural layout is easiest and most convincing as no need for people/cars/boats etc.
I'm dabbling in T for narrow gauge a bit but my other T plans have been supplanted by N ones. I'd still like to build Berwyn in T, basically as a scenic exercise that happens to have a railway line in it, but I don't have time.
Big problem for T and UK models is that the mechanisms are too fat for 1:450 let alone the correct 1:480 British loading gauge.
Michael - very, very nice bit of modelling there!
Scott - there are a few 3D diesel body shells available: classes 66, 55, 42, 25, 24 and 08. From a foot or so away, they don't look too bad.
Pengi - somehow I managed to miss that thread of yours - all of us are having to tread that same path to figure out how to do things.
EP - I am finding that many more compromises are necessary than just worrying about the correct width! But within limits - narrow limits - it has potential.
Quote from: scottmitchell74 on March 27, 2014, 01:54:36 PM
I strongly considered T Gauge and even joined tgauge.net and spent some months researching it but because they don't have much in the way of British outline (diesel) I decided to go with another N Gauge layout. Maybe someday if/when the scale has gained more steam and a broader list of products I'll do it.
There is a strong UK Z gauge community - lots of 3D printed bodies, HST, Deltics etc. Worth a try??
The Z gauge show is at Swindon, Zedex 2014, 5/10/14.
Quote from: EtchedPixels on March 27, 2014, 02:14:34 PM
Big problem for T and UK models is that the mechanisms are too fat for 1:450 let alone the correct 1:480 British loading gauge.
Are the mechanisms ok for Continental trains :worried:
The worst thing about T for me, is the huge gap between the coaches :(
Suspect that some UK trains are more likely to appear in T than N (and you all know which two I mean ;))
I have been dabbling in T gauge since it first came out in about 2007/08. My plan is eventually to construct a small rural Japanese layout...but that has been the plan for the last 6 years or so!
In early videos of T gauge the trains seemed to whiz round at breakneck speed, perhaps now there is better and
more realistic motion. One feature of T is to have large scenic layouts in a small space. Might have a go some time.
A few years ago T was dismissed as a short lived gimmick, however the range of rolling stock and lineside stuff
seems to be increasing .
Here's a short video of what I've been doing for the last couple of months. I've just got to rework the controllers to fix the speed management problems, and then I'll be getting back to N for the second half of the year. Plymouth Citadel has been sitting there, crying for some attention.
http://youtu.be/dfCoFVD2H_U (http://youtu.be/dfCoFVD2H_U)
I love it Martin!
I've been pondering using one of the baseboards (6'x1'6") I built for Royal Wootton Bassett for a T Gauge layout... I don't have room for all the baseboards I built!
Best regards
Michael
Quote from: Michael Shillabeer on May 08, 2014, 02:36:53 PM
I've been pondering using one of the baseboards (6'x1'6") I built for Royal Wootton Bassett for a T Gauge layout... I don't have room for all the baseboards I built!
What keeps surprising me is how much can be squeezed in - the layout is just 4' 8.5" (a nice round number!) x 1' 8", but that works out to the equivalent of 14' x 5' in N - yours would be a massive 18' long. Keeping everything on one board really simplifies things too. Alas, in many ways it still isn't a fully-fledged working scale, but there is enough there to do some original work. Another big benefit is that because there are so few people playing with it, you almost can't help being the first to break new ground.
Hello Martin
Are your cars magnets being moved by a linear motor under the road?
I'm thinking of a 4 track (or more) line through a city. I downloaded a couple of skyscrapers a while back and printed them out at 1:450 I can't remember where from though (Japanese architect's site I think)
Best regards
Michael
Quote from: Michael Shillabeer on May 08, 2014, 03:17:34 PM
Are your cars magnets being moved by a linear motor under the road?
Yep - they are by a company called IDL Motors. The basic product is pretty limited, but with a bit of work... Their website is http://www.teenytrains.com/ (http://www.teenytrains.com/)
QuoteI'm thinking of a 4 track (or more) line through a city. I downloaded a couple of skyscrapers a while back and printed them out at 1:450 I can't remember where from though (Japanese architect's site I think)
That would look impressive. The idea of a multi-track line would work well and is a straightforward way to get plenty of movement.
Thought so, I've got an IDL set but couldn't remember their name when I posted!
Just found your blog too.
Think I'll look for the skyscrappers tonight (they're somewhere safe and flat...)
I'm liking the idea of 'diverting' one of my baseboards to a T project. I can build another board and resurect the N idea in the future.
Martink- That is just incredible to see your T gauge running, it looks great, and all that on such a tiny board, amazing! I can only guess that it was not cheap to do though, and I really don't think I would have the patience or eyesight to be able to even put the stock on the track :-[ Seriously though, that is dedication, and inspiration, very well done!
Love the video :thumbsup: - given me some ideas too for my T layout
My little T gauge experiment had its first public showing on the weekend at Caulfield (Melbourne, Australia). Other than some minor fixes and improvements for further shows, it is now basically complete, so I can start looking at doing some N gauge again!
http://youtu.be/O_5s75-t01A (http://youtu.be/O_5s75-t01A)
Wow...that seriously looks the part! Either some very clever editing has taken place, or you have done a really good job in keeping those 4-wheelers on the track!
Moving T Gauge cars as well! :goggleeyes:
A very impressive peice of modelling... :thumbsup:
Lovely little layout - really like the cars, thats neat.
8minutes in Claude.. thats where the "bloopers" start
No points I notice - I've still not seen any sane points in T
Duzzy 'ell I can only just see well enough to work on N Gauge :smiley-laughing:
Ok, been trying to decide how to describe this, think I will stick to 'AWESOME!!'
I am well impressed, this is one of the first real 'Model Railways' I have seen in T and proves that as a modelling scale, it is a serious option not a gimmick!!
best wishes
Simon
That is truly impressive.
Matrink:Any chance of some photos showing us how it's done?
I'm interested in how the wagons were built, the road system and he crossing gates specifically, but any more info on your build would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Kirky
Quote from: kirky on August 28, 2014, 09:08:04 AM
Matrink:Any chance of some photos showing us how it's done?
I'm interested in how the wagons were built, the road system and he crossing gates specifically, but any more info on your build would be greatly appreciated.
Martin - This is astonishing work. I too would be interested in a "how it's done" specifically the cars!
Cheers Jon :)
OK, here are a few details...
For the cars, I used a linear motor product from IDL Motors (www.idlmotors.com (http://www.idlmotors.com) and www.teenytrains.com (http://www.teenytrains.com)). These have one or two oval tracks which are actually just double sided printed circuit boards with around 230 small coils/electromagnets along the road. These are wired in series as three strings of 76 coils, interleaved in a repeating pattern. IDL's control box drives these so that there is a repeating pattern of magnets all along the track: North, South, OFF, etc. Each vehicle has at least two magnets underneath, a South and a North, so the vehicle attaches itself to a North/South pair on the track. The controller then advances the magnet pattern about ten times a second, so the vehicles all leap forwards to the next slot. This gives a (slightly jerky) movement rate of about two inches per second. Think of it as a sort of magnetic conveyor belt.
The basic system is just one or two tracks, with the vehicles moving round and round at constant speed in a constant formation. I overlaid the tracks to form a figure-8 and added some external electronics to switch vehicles between the tracks (just turning each track on and off with relays). I also put some old relay coils under the hidden section to grab and hold up to 3 vehicles in place out of sight (a fiddle yard!). I also placed an optical detector just before the intersection. This detects arriving vehicles, and the system then keeps track by dead reckoning - counting the drive pulses and therefore how many coil steps the vehicle has traveled. The control computer then randomly holds vehicles, lets them loose again, randomly diverts some off the main (bridge) track into the village, and handles collision avoidance, bus stops, etc.
The scheme was a first attempt (a prototype in the engineering sense), and isn't totally reliable. I get a pileup every ten minutes or so during operations, but these are easy to clear and at exhibitions give the operator something to do other than talk to the visitors. If I did it again, I'd use a more sophisticated technique and get better results. 20/20 hindsight. Sigh.
Each track draws about 0.3 amps at 6V, and might just be powerful enough to move very lightweight N gauge cars (NOT diecast models), but I haven't tried this. Yet.
I dismantled some of the cars supplied with the track (they were way overscale for T) and fitted the magnets under standard T gauge cars (omitting the wheels completely). The supplied buses are about the right size for T, so I simply repainted those.
(http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t508/mrmusings/road1_zps06083e81.jpg)
(http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t508/mrmusings/road2_zps6bc7b154.jpg)
The crossing gates use a technique that would work just as well in larger scales. I mounted four el-cheapo ($3) servos under the board and drive them directly from another small microcontroller (about $10 worth of electronics). For sensors, I tie in to my main block control/signalling system, but it would be easy to wire up a few optical detectors directly to the same micro to make a self-contained unit. A servo driver project such as this is one of the simplest small computer model railway applications, and should be well within the reach of anyone who has encountered an Arduino or similar.
Alternatively, this is exactly the sort of thing the new Peco servo controller should be able to handle right out of the box, though you would probably need to rig up reed switches or something similar as sensors if you wanted to avoid doing any electronics.
(http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t508/mrmusings/DSCI0003_zpsca121853.jpg)
(http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t508/mrmusings/DSCI0002_zpsc7810ec6.jpg)
The wagons and locos (everything except the HST) are just 3D printed body shells designed by other modellers and bought from Shapeways. Clean, paint, then add chassis or wheels and couplers. In effect, they are like Peco N wagon kits, only simpler. Their small size means that basic brush-painting looks fine - a tiny blob of white for a blurred wagon number, etc. The dieseasels use the smallest available N gauge BR double arrows from the NGS range (added after this photo).
(http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t508/mrmusings/DSCI0063a_zpsf21f2c36.jpg)
Phenomenal!
Cheers
Kirky
Martin,
Thanks so much for taking the time and trouble to explain all this. Very much appreciated.
I have been wondering about a magnetic system for N gauge cars - my thinking was rather more mechanical (maybe rare earth magnets on some sort of a pulley - not nearly as sophisticated as yours.
Thansk again
Jon :)
Certainly food for thought, especially the crossing gates, thanks for posting Martin. :thumbsup:
I wonder if an O gauge modeller has used T gauge as a garden model railway ON a model railway? "Big fleas have little fleas..."
Truly fantastic work MartinK. Out of interest, how big is the layout? (I just know if I guess it would be way bigger than it really is!!)
The layout size is 4'8.5" x 1'8" (1.5m x 0.5m) - a large coffee table. Of course, that would equate to 14'x5' in N.
You can actually get models of a garden railway ride-on diesel and coaches for it. The scale roughly works out to being able to model G in G. Also, take a look back to the beginning of this thread where Michael Shillabeer showed an excellent model of an indoor model railway.
Great stuff, Martin, you're a genius. Done here in Australia, as well!
We're proud of you, mate!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
George
Quote from: MattJ on August 28, 2014, 06:33:35 PM
I wonder if an O gauge modeller has used T gauge as a garden model railway ON a model railway? "Big fleas have little fleas..."
That was actually one of the released T gauge products.
Back in the 1950s P. D. Hancock had a clockwork garden railway on his famous Craig & Mertonford railway (4mm scale).
Sorry... off topic (slightly). 8)