Gary: At least for live steam I think the key to success with a modular layout is to leave the scenery off and have just track. ;-)
In general it seems to me that every portable layout I've ever seen has been made out of wood. It's big, heavy and comes with all the difficulty of storing moving and setup. The different one is Bob Star's portable but, with all due respect to Bob and the crew that built it, and even more to Bob for transporting it, that amount of steel just doesn't seem all that friendly either. Which is why Walt's aluminum design is so appealing to me. Of course, I'm not the one who would be transporting it. And from a transportation standpoint I suppose transport logistics are still logistics. Chris Scott Sonoma, CA | ------------------------------ | | Message: 3 | Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2006 15:53:04 -0800 | From: "Gary" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | Subject: [SSLiveSteam] Modular - transport | To: "'Small-scale live steam discussions'" | <[email protected]> | Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" | | Our EEGRS club had a modular track. Three major problems | caused the club to | sell the modules for a small amount: | 1. Transporting the modules. EEGRS had a member who | borrowed a flat | bed truck and we tossed the modules on the truck. Obviously | lots of damage | to scenery and track occurred. | 2. Storage took more space than anyone had in a garage. | We found a | barn then another barn to store the modules. Lots of clean | up required to | get bird and insect evidence off the modules for each show. | 3. Aluminum track was installed to save money. That particular | aluminum track oxidized so fast we had to clean hourly or | more often during | shows to keep trains running. Part of the problem was poor | rail joiners and | until I joined then used rubbing alcohol to clean rails, | which built up an | insulating layer. | | Salem's http://www.pcmrc.com/ club is using a large trailer | to store and | haul the modules. The O Scale group in Portland also uses a | trailer for | storage and transport. Their system includes rails inside | the trailer that | allow the modules to slide into position protecting rail and scenery. | | GHeoff wrote, "I would like to have a portable track one of | these days, too, | and the criteria there depends on one's means of transport, | as much as one's | construction and engineering abilities or one's ability to | hire someone | else's skills." | | ~ Gary - Steaming over Terror Trestle | http://community.webshots.com/user/raltzenthor | http://www.angelfire.com/or/trainguy/ | | | | ------------------------------ | | _______________________________________________ | SSLiveSteam mailing list | [email protected] | http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam | | | End of SSLiveSteam Digest, Vol 5, Issue 13 | ****************************************** | _______________________________________________ SSLiveSteam mailing list Send messages: [email protected] Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html
