Philip C

About Me or What I Like Most About T-Trak

I'm originally from Australia, lived in the Washington DC area from 2001-2016 and 2018-2021, and I'm currently in Taiwan.

I've been modelling in N scale since I was 14. Like many Australian N scalers, I started out modelling American railroads, mainly Union Pacific since there was plenty of ready-to-run equipment available. I began modelling Japanese railways in 1995 after my first visit there, and this has since become my main modelling interest. I've also started to do some Australian modelling in the last few years.

My first encounter with T-Trak was through an article in the Japanese magazine RM Models, describing the first publicly shown T-Trak layout at the 2001 JAM Convention. I thought it looked like a great idea, but would probably never take off outside Japan. Happily, that proved not to be the case.

I joined Northern Virginia N-Trak not long after I moved to Washington, and the club hosted the Capitol Convention in 2004. A delegation from Japan was at the convention, and they brought a loop of T-Trak modules to show as a demonstration. Japan Rail Modellers of Washington DC was formed about the same time, and the first club outing was to attend the convention.

I started building T-Trak modules in 2008, and in Washington, I had enough Japanese-themed modules to make a stand-alone layout that included a loop and two branches with terminal stations.

What I most like about T-Trak is that the modules are highly portable and easy to work on, can be completed in a short amount of time, and the flexibility of layout designs resulting from the use of modules.

My Modules

The following modules were built by me:

Module Type
Kawanaga Single
Nishi Kawanaga Single
Rice Farm Single Crossover
Bus Depot Single
Hospital Single
Shrine Festival Single
Service Station Corner Corner
Temple Corner Corner
Substation Junction Corner Junction
Onsen Junction Corner Junction
Kibuneguchi T1-Trak Single
Kurama Double Terminus
Kitano Station Single Terminus
Kitano Crossover Single Crossover
Tokei Dai Single Tramway
Rice Farm Corner Corner
Cherry Blossom Park Corner
Sake Brewery Corner
Tsunohama/Beach Corner Corner
Airport Underpass Double
TV Factory Double
Altstadt Double
Russian Village Double
Frampton Single
Akashijima Station Double
Akashijima Crossing Single
Small Freight Yard Left Single
Small Freight Yard Right Double
Okada Endcap
Roundhouse Endcap
Staging Yard Left Triple
Staging Yard Right Triple
Shomyoji Station Quad

My Trains

Below are some trains that I run on T-Trak layouts:

Japan

E3s.jpg
E3 Toreiyu and Tsubasa Mini Shinkansens. The real trains run on a conventional line converted to standard gauge, as well as on dedicated high speed lines. The models are small enough to run well on T-Trak.
721-701.jpg
721 and 701 Sendai area commuter trains
E259.jpg
E259 Narita Airport Express
Nankai.JPG
Nankai Railway 20000 and 21000.

Australia

48101.JPG
NSW State Rail Authority 48 Class diesels (Goodwin-Alco DL531s). These are produced by Gopher Models, and are the first ready to run N scale plastic models of a specifically Australian locomotive.
TClass.JPG
V/Line T Class Series 3 (Clyde-EMD G8). This is a ready to run model produced by Aust-N-Rail. The body shell is resin with brass handrails, window frames and cab roof, running on a Kato NW2 mechanism.

Taiwan

Taiwan.jpg
TRA R100 and DR2700.
CK124.jpg
CK124
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