Hi all,
It's been a while. ::) ::) Haven't done any planning in quite some time since I'm officially retired. That and having "a few hobbies" means something has to give, eh! Modelling in the garden (2m) means lots of time for XC skiing in the winter (Mid November to early April) and since it took me way to long to get up to speed last Winter — I want to ski with the middle of the back in the Keeners group, never mind my age. So I rekindled my cycling habit in a big way e.g. new MTB with really good gearing, modified the road bike to handle the climbs without swearing and cursing. So yes, I'm still kicking.
Now to the matter at hand, buddy of mine with a large H0 layout wants to add a streetcar (tram) section) since he already has three of the modern Zürich Trams. His layout if fully DCC (Zimo) this will be interesting on auto operation with stops to load and unload etc.
Of course I suggested that he needs a Tram Depot (shed) ....... so here goes planning with the LUNA track library.
Cheers
HJ
PS On that cycling bit ..... so far 1000+ km (11 weeks) and summer has only just started. ;D ;D
Good to hear you're doing well!
Do you like the LUNA products? It looks good, but I would really like some sort of flex rail so I could model a more European style town with its curved roads.
For instance, I now live in this city:
https://www.google.nl/maps/@51.9810472,5.9097457,16.25z
that used to have trams a long time ago.
And I studied in this city:
https://www.google.nl/maps/@53.2172613,6.5684964,15.5z
that had a tram in a far away past as well.
Neither of these cities has a straight street plan, and I love the view of a tram coming around wide curve:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Amsterdam_Haarlemmermeerstation_EMA_tram_144%2B731_%2848787927076%29.jpg/2560px-Amsterdam_Haarlemmermeerstation_EMA_tram_144%2B731_%2848787927076%29.jpg (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Amsterdam_Haarlemmermeerstation_EMA_tram_144%2B731_%2848787927076%29.jpg/2560px-Amsterdam_Haarlemmermeerstation_EMA_tram_144%2B731_%2848787927076%29.jpg)
Hi David,
I fully agree with your take. Much too rigid!
My recommendation to my friend will be: Buy the required turnout segments and use some flextrack — I have about nine meters of surplus H0m stuff — to get a less regimented look.
BTW the streetcar lines in Switzerland are not that straight either. Can't be helped if the streets were there long before the streetcars appeared and climbing grades in that environment was also a challenge.
There are also some possible "glitches", but those are for a different forum section.
How's the cycling going this Summer?
So far 1700km with a "few more" in the tank.
With the temps being somewhere in the 30º C range — haven't hit 40 yet and the rattle snakes haven't be looking for cooler spots either — all the good stuff, garden railway and cycling, happens early in the morning or in the evening.
Well, here in The Netherlands, we normally just use the bike as a means of transportation to get to the city, go for groceries, bring the children to day care, and so on.
The HO scale cyclists (Magnorail) were sold about 1.5 years ago to Maketis, a friendly model railroading business near Paris in France.