Proof of concept

Having made bold claims about re-creating the Ffestiniog Railway in 1:305 scale I thought I’d better follow up my words with actions.

Here is a first view of my “proof of concept” model of the Ffestiniog railways first double Fairlie “Little Wonder”. 

Of course, you probably can’t make out too many details as that little white blob circulates the track, so try these tiny photos.

Refresher.

In case you had all forgotten about these tiny trains and their motive power here’s a refresher video I made a week or so ago now. That will give a bit of insight into what I have planned.

Waking up.

Coming back to this section of the internet, more experiments with Small Model Railways and trains powered by linear motors.
According to the blog I've been away for seven years and in that time things have changed. When I first dabbled with the IDL train linear motors there was only pre made ovals of track to be bought, and as much as I enjoyed the challenge of creating the trains. Well, the operation was severely limited.
 Now things are different, through Australian modeller Martin Kaselis and his work creating the Australian "Puffing Billy" line in 1:350 scale I have discovered that teeny trains have a range of sectional track! This means I could build a layout of a larger size and my own design.
 Martin is an extremely talented man who has designed his own sectional track system with the help of IDL motors and his Monbulk Creek Bridge layout is something to behold. When I saw this I was very inspired and immediately started to create schemes in my own head.
I have some plans of my own that I will reveal later as things develop. But for now take an internet stroll over to Martin's website and see what he's been up to, you can find it here 

The amazing Nano video show

IDL motors have their own Youtube channel where product demo films are posted. I thought I'd share some of them with you in case you had missed them.

This first one shows what appear to be HO scale people on bikes, cattle and pedestrians all moving on a teeny trains track .

This second one is very, very interesting it shows some Hallmark Christmas tree decoration Trains "motorised" by adding magnets underneath them.

This is as small as it gets. The track size is 85mm x 55mm (3 1/2" x 2" approx) the moving cars are 5mm long.

All amazing stuff.

Ed tells me that in the three and a half years of product development they have moved objects varying is size from 5mm to 60mm in length.

I can see all kinds of opportunities for this technology in your model railroads. In O scale or G scale you could model the inside of a factory or warehouse and feature working conveyor belts moving products around the model.

I'm sure someone (maybe my wife and I) will try motorising the Hallmark decorations to make a unique Christmas Dinner table centrepiece.

The only thing stopping you is your lack of imagination.*

I'm really fired up right now. I'm going to have to go and so some Nano model making.

*"The only thing stopping you is your lack of imagination." I like that. Don't be surprised if that tagline doesn't appear on this blogs title block soon...

New Product News!

Since buying my Nano train kit of parts I've been corresponding with Ed Lopatinsky the CEO of IDL motors, the producers of these "teeny trains" and yesterday he shared with me these pictures (which he has kindly allowed me to share with you) of their latest product they are labeling "TeenyTrack".

This TeenyTrack set is a bit smaller (120mm x 80mm) than the currently available oval of track in the Nano train parts sets that I have. The big difference is that with this new teenytrack the controller electronics are integrated into the baseboard, so that there is no plugging in of wires from the controller to the track. A task that I actually struggled with for a few minutes when I assembled mine. Ed also tells me that the controller can be pre-programmed in their lab to accommodate any kind of motion, completely random, faster-slower, or stop start etc; The price for this piece of miniaturization? About $50
One last point Ed made sure that I stressed is that this product is "Proudly made in the USA"

Edit: Sunday Aug 21st post updated to show the latest versions of the "TeenyTrack" board

The locomotive project (part 1)

Well, if I'm really serious about this scratchbuilding in 1:1,000 scale malarkey I'd better nail my colours to the mast and come up with a project.

To be honest it wasn't all that difficult.

Here it is, the SD70MAC.

The one thing that drew me to this class of loco is the shape. It's nothing but squares. Square engine compartment hood, Square cab, pretty squareish nose. For a first time project in a ridiculously small scale it couldn't get much simpler.

At 74' long the SD70MAC scales out to 22.5mm long in 1:1,000 scale which is a bit shorter than the 25mm of the body of the Nano train chassis. (The chassis also extends to 29mm long over the necessary buffers.)

BUT (and here's the joy of striking out on your own in a new direction with new materials at your disposal.)

If I was to model the loco at 1:900 scale it then works out to be 25mm long! That is such an incredible co-incidence I don't think it should be passed over lightly.

1:900 scale would make things a tiny bit bigger, perhaps easier to work with. It would also be half the size of T scale, to give people a frame of reference.
But then I'd loose the 1:1,000 novelty.

Whatever I do its still going to be blooming small.

Perhaps I'll test my skills out in both sizes.

Now to work out how to actually make the thing.

The Excitement of the new

I've spent a very pleasant night tonight Googling 1:1,000 modelling. I must say it's been very exciting and enlightening. I've added quite a few useful and inspirational links over there on the right.

As you probably know 1:1,000 is an architectural model making scale. Huge grand buildings fit in the palm of your hand. Architectural modelling has its own styles and construction methods which I'm still researching and looking forward to incorporating in a model. The discovery of Balsa foam opens up some interesting ideas for my structure modelling. I'll be trying to get hold of some in the near future.

The links to some of the models is overloading my brain with ideas for a layout right now. I think I need to go and lay down in a darkened room to let it all sink in.

G'night all...

What I'm up against.

Here we are then, some close up photos of the nano train stock as bought. Complete with a US penny in the background. It's blurred because everything kept shaking as cars went past on the road during the 25 second, f18 exposure. I got fed up of re-taking the shot, due to the vibration. this is the best one... You get the idea.

Lets for sake of argument call this the Coors light train, because that is kind of what I'm put in mind of looking at it. It comes as a loco and 3 passenger cars all based around the same 29mm long plastic chassis. The silver plastic bodies are 25mm long as near as makes no difference and are just a simple push fit on the body. Inside the chassis are 4 tiny magnets, two about 1mm in diameter and the other two about 2mm. I'll delve into the interior workings (!) later in another post, when the roads aren't so busy and I can produce shake free photo for you. These are tiny things. Just how tiny you can judge from the picture below.
Above: Left to right - Z scale boxcar, T scale KiHa 40 railcar, Nano train.

This size is both scary and inspiring. Scary because of the tiny size but it inspires me so much my brain is flowing with ideas on how to build new bodies for these things. But I'll start a whole new post for that soon. For now just take in the size. If you want to buy one go ahead. Here's the link to the site.

Click on these links.

To see the basic Nano train kit of parts running

To see a Nano kit of parts converted make moving automobiles in T Scale

Tell me you aren't just a teeny bit amazed...

You DO have room for another model railroad!

Three and a half years in the making. These "Teeny Trains" are the latest thing in small model railways. An oval of track supplied in the train set is about 6" x 5".

While undoubtedly toy like at the moment, to see one of these tiny sets run is nothing but amazing.

Why would I try and devote some time with model railroading with such a toy? Well T scale was seen as a toy a few short years ago. Yet now, many successful entertaining layouts have been built and exhibited at train shows amazing the viewing public. I've had a whale of a time with T.

Using RP (rapid prototyping) technology small manufacturers have built up lines of products covering US, UK, Australian, and Finnish prototypes. A variety of stock that rivals Z scale.

So why could this not happen with these "Teeny Trains" or "Nano Model Railroading" as I like to call it?

The mechanics of the how the train works can be discussed at a later date. But for the moment there are two projects that I/we are working on. I say we because my wife took one look at the pictures of the "Christmas train" sets on the Teeny Trains website and said.

"We could do that." So we intend to make our own personalised "train under the Christmas tree" set. While I also have plans to create some modern US outline locos and stock and build some kind of layout for them.

Like some kind of persistant child. I can still hear folks asking "Why"

It's all a question of testing oneself, developing new skills. Working in T scale was probably the most rewarding thing I did. I built a working lighthouse, a T scale petrol (gas) station, and very probably the worlds first items of US outline rolling stock. Things I would never have considered having the skill set to do. But I did them and quite well too. So who's to say I can't do the same with these Nano trains and develop a whole new skill set that might serve we well in other model making fields.

I've no idea how to approach these problems but I'm going to have a go.

So follow this blog and see what happens.