New Fastrack Modular Club in Hampton Roads, VA

Great idea, congratulations.

I wish you the best of luck......come visit our displays in Metro Richmond whenever you can....

http://www.rivercity3railers.org/

Peter

Nice job. Looks like you're well on your way on the construction. The only hint I would toss out would be to get the module tops painted before putting the track down. We use a dirt-brown interior latex on our modules. As Peter already mentioned, check out our schedule on the website. We'd enjoy seeing you in the Richmond area.

Gilly

Thanks for all the encouragement!  The track you see in the pictures hasn't been secured yet but was just set out to give us an idea how it would look.   We still have sanding, painting, and more to do before we put track down!  We are just excited it has gone from an idea on paper to something real.

If you guys head down to Virginia Beach for the NMRA show in Sep, we should be setup and running.  Please stop by and say hello!

  Did you use the Lionel Fastrack template for modules?

Al

I live in the Tidewater area too!

Al,

   Yes we did.  Actually, we had the template reproduced out of steel to ensure it doesn't break.   By having it made out of steel, it also doubles as a drill guide, not something I wouldn't try with the original template.   We have tried to stay as true as possible to the original design.  There are some places where we have deviated, but nothing that would prevent us from mating our modules with someone else's.   Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks

Russ

Please let me know if you are interested in seeing the layout!   We have been holding weekly work session and you are more then welcome to stop by and check it out.

Thanks,
Russ

As electrical support on this project, I can say without a doubt that this has been the fastest I've ever built a layout in my life. Russ' experience with wood fabrication has been paramount to getting this project rolling.

The electrical arrangement on these modules is a no-brainer. Simple, straightforward, and if done properly, effective.

Best of Luck!! 

It has been a while since the last update, however progress has continued on the modular layout. Since the last update, all the modules have been stained and painted and all the wiring harnesses have been assembled. This week we will be attaching the track and wiring harnesses. Thanks to the support of everyone who has helped this project along, we will have a working layout very soon!!

I'll be there next month to see your layout, I too live in the area (Portsmouth).

Great job on the modules by the way

 It was a late night, but the track is all down and we even got a test run in!

Both MTH DCS an TMCC engines ran like champs!!

Check out the video here: http://youtu.be/bjtQXaQvbm0

Hi Pennsy Man,

I'll bet the kids are excited and you, too, when it comes alive. Great project and milestone!

I used another harness, cut in half, with one end attached to a module terminal block, the other wires connected to the power source(s) following the module wiring color specs.

Then, you can just connect the power with the harness connectors.

I also found that a little shot of WD-40 makes the harnesses easier to connect\disconnect.

What did you use or fabricate for leg brackets? Seems to be the main catch.

Thanks for the tip on how to hook up our power source.

As for the brackets, we were lucky enough to have someone able to fabricate them per the drawings in the Fastrack manual.   They are working great.   We did alter the adjustable feet though went with carriage bolts and t-nuts vice the recommend feet and inserts.   Cost was one factor for this change, but the carriage bolt allows us to adjust them from the side with a wrench without having to pick up the module.

Thanks again for the comments!

I am really interested in the leg bracket fabrication. I was not able to find a cost effective way to do that.

A forum member in the UK fabricated the new style bracket, which is a cost effective, but I don't like that it most the pressure point to the center or corner of the leg.

You can take it off-line @ my email in my profile if you like.

Thanks.

The leg brackets are the majority of the cost in these. They're heavy as crud and could potentially be made of other materials rather than steel. We used Lionel's own design and fabricated from two pieces of angle iron welded together. This eliminated the use of the press.

I am working out some details that could eliminate the use of the corner brackets all together.

We still have yet to attach all of the harnesses to each section, but I'm quite pleased with the effort so far.