I'll be there Friday evening with BRNS (I pull the club trailer) and all day Sunday with both groups.
I just joined an NTRAK group here in Wisconsin and I was looking over all of the guidelines and rules and I am scared to death! I want to have a module, but the wiring and all of that stuff scares me. I am curious if anyone knows anyone that would be able to build the base (wiring, track and woodwork). I want to do the scenery, but the wiring scares me badly. I would be willing to pay for all of the labor and costs. Is there anyone that knows someone that is interested in this or knows a company that does this? Thank you again, Levi
Levi- Don't be afraid. Give yourself a little time. Get to know some of the members in your Group. Ask questions. Look at what those people have done. Attend a few setups, and operations. Perhaps get together with someone there, who is good at carpentry. Start with a Plain Old Four Footer. (Also nicknamed a "POFF.") Then catch someone else, who is good with track, wiring. It's actually not hard. You will pick it up quickly. And the fun you can have, is well worth the effort to reach that desired result. Welcome to TrainBoard! Boxcab E50
Here's a link to a module builder: N Scale Engineers Personally, I'd look to the group for guidance. Most are willing to help each other and there's always someone who is better at a particular aspect that's willing to lend a guiding hand. Figure it this way. The group already has modules, somebody built 'em.
Levi, Good advice to seek help from other members, and for your first time don't jump in the deep end! Start with a POFF, flat and straight through. Wirering is simple and with a little help can be the easiest part!! Once you get more comfortable and used to the water you can jump in with several 6footers with whys and return loops!!
My Ntrak buddies were VERY helpful in getting my module up to speed. I was fine with the carpentry, but had never used t-bolts. No problem once shown, but I was glad to have some veterans help me through. The wiring is pretty straight forward until you get to the connectors. One of our guys is a former phone company manager and he walked me through that piece. If you've got a good club they're happy to help the rookies.
You might get lucky like I did and have a member give you an old module base to start with! Our club has quite a few club-owned modules, some that haven't seen a setup in years. Maybe yours does, too, and needs rebuilding.
Levi, lots of great advice here! As Greg mentioned, check with your club to see if there is a club module that needs rebuilding or refurbishing. Our club started an "adopt a module" program for folks to adopt old club owned modules. If you do this, be sure to clarify if the club maintains ownership of the module or not. A member that started a pair of four footers donated them to the club and I took over ownership and finished them off. Don't be too concerned with the rules and regulations as you will quickly find out which ones are adhered to and which ones aren't. Don't be afraid to ask questions and also ask for help. Since we have had a couple of new members come in this year, we have started giving presentations on modules, starting with last month, which was lightweight module construction. This month is track laying and ballasting (I'm presenting the ballasting part).
You are no different than any number of new Ntrak members. Go to your fellow Ntrakkers . I bet they will be more than happy to help
My club members have been really helpful on some of that, and I learn a lot working on club-owned stuff. I have a tablesaw and woodworking skills, so I have something to contribute, and it has been my experience that everyone has something they know how to do that they can teach others. We have several club-owned modules that need some work, including some formerly owned by now-deceased members of the club who bequeathed them to us. I took over a module that got left in the lurch by another guy who had life intervene in the middle of his plans. I have learned a lot about trackwork just doing some repairs on that one.
I'm realatively new to NTrak (since last october) But I have to say it's been fun. I don't compare it to my home layout...for me it's something totally different , but still involving trains and N scale. For me, my home layout is something I do for myself...usually by myself. NTrak is a group activitey and the setups are done in a public place for public enjoyment. For example a big crowd favorite (especially kids) is watching a train go through a tunnel. They don't care if the train is a bunch of Maxistack IV's being pulled by 2-8-0 ...it's a train and it's going through a tunnel....doesn't have to be prototypically correct for them to enjoy it. We have one member who builds "theme" modules.....his first was a "disaster module" with as many accidents and disasters as he could fit in...everyone loves looking for all the disasters. We put up signs around the layout explaining to people how to compute the speed, or size (prototypical) of cars or whatever. We try to make it something they can participate in , not just watch. Last time we were set up outside a hobby shop in the mall, and we had kids buying cars in the store and bringing them out for us to run. Then they'd chase the trains around so they could keep THEIR train in sight. If you approach NTrak that way , it's a lot of fun. It also gives me a place to run trains I don't or can't run at home. I'm currently working on a plane transport car (the kind Boeing uses to move entire plane fuselages from Kansas to Seattle)...it's an 89' flatcar and the plane hangs about 30' off the back requireing a second 60' flatcar ...needless to say, on tight curves that plane swings quite wide...it won't work on my home layout. Levi......don't know how your club operates, but at our monthly meetings we always encourage members to bring in modules they are working on or need help with. We'll usually have 2 or 3 groups working on modules..one might be laying track for a member who's eyesight makes those little nails hard to see, another might be doing wiring , a third might be laying cork roadbed. Most NTrak clubs are real good in terms of helping out. And there is a company that's supposed to start making frames for NTrak modules ...I just can't remember the name, but it was someone major like WoodLand Scenics.....check around...there may be someone in the club that would build one for you too. Boxcab (or anyone else interested).....I don't remember if I mentioned it on TrainBoard, but there IS a new NTrak club in your area (if you consider Montana "your area") called Montana NTrak. I'm not sure where in NW montana you are, but the club is centered in Bozeman. Still fairly small (18 members) and only formed last october, But at our first setup we put together 10 modules plus the corners ...we were such a hit that we have the mall owner's (not managers...OWNERS) permission to set up whenever we want (with advance notice of course)...we have another set up the end of March ( 29th-30th) in the mall in Bozeman, and it's looking like we may have 18-20 modules . We'll also have a presence at the train fair in Helena at the end of April.....we (and the fair organizers) would like to do a setup, but space is limited to 200 booth spots, so it'll depend on how many unrented spots there are. We'll be there....but it may just be an information booth with a couple of modules on display. Stop by and check us out if you're there. There will also be a website very soon at MTNTRAK.org . And dstuard.....small world in NTrak (excuse the pun) .....The current president of Montana NTrak came from WV NTrak.....Ken Allen.....who built the Kilgour Yard shown on your web site.
Unfortunately, I am nowhere near Bozeman. About a 600 mile round trip away, in Glacier Nat'l Park country. There was one person, in the Missoula area. But he disappeared about 8-9 years ago. Moved to? :tb-sad: Boxcab E50
I ran with Heritage N-trak back in November at the Morris IL library.. That was quite the experience.. Good guys!
I belong to Twin Tiers NTrak in NY/PA. We're having a show at the Arnot Mall in Elmira this coming weekend if anyone would like to stop by.
