Triplex on the move

Well, I finally get the Triplex 2-8-8-8-2 rolling! A friend from work had an MTH power supply and controller tucked under his layout and passed it over to me when he found out I was dragging my feet on getting this baby rolling. He said that I'd really love seeing this big guy rolling and he was right - it's a really fantastic machine.

Funny - I wasn't familiar with the system, so I spent a while banging my head against the wall trying to get this guy to just...move. hehehe  I wasn't aware of the "NEUTRAL"  mode and having to switch out of it to get it going. But, once we got it down a bit, it was a lot of fun.

The big thing right now is just getting the track and curves. The radius curve for this is HUGE and I'm not 100% sure where I'll be able to set up for running. For now, I have 18 feet of track I can play with this one and I have to say...it's still a load of fun.

My 5 year old had a fantastic time running it as well. Once I get more track and I can let her loose a bit more (I won't have to worry about the thing flying headlong into the wall!) I'll feel a bit better about letting her go on the controls. :)

What I need to find is some estate sale where they are trying to unload a bunch of Lionel track! hehe

2-8-8-8-2 Triplex in O scale from Malcolm Johnson on Vimeo.


I found this info on http://www.trainz.com/t-fastrack_guide.aspx

O72--16 sections to a circle (#12041).  One section makes a 22.5 degree turn.  Each half section (#12055) make a 11.25 degree turn.

Note that O36, O60, O72 and O84 track sections are made where multiples of 8 make a full circle, which makes it easy to make these circles symmetrical and work together on a layout.  This is because the curved sections are all made to where they are either 1/8 of a circle (45 degrees), 1/16 of a circle (22.5 degrees), or 1/32 of a circle (11.25 degrees).  However, O48 is made where it takes 12 sections to make a circle (30 degrees). This makes it a bit of a challenge to make O48 work in a layout using multiple curve diameters, because the angle of the curves does not match the other curve sections when making partial turns.

Tokyo Monorail Type 1000 Four Car Formation

I've been giving thought to trying to wedge this nugget into my layout somewhere. It wouldn't be too hard to do and I think it might add an interesting element.

The Tokyo Monorail Type 1000 Four Car Formation might be fun to see poised in my city section of Shizuka.




The model is static and very detailed. It would take me a while to put together, but it would also provide a nice little project to work on inside the house instead of having to go out to the studio. I think a lot of it would be in the painting and decal application. It would be a lot of fun for sure.

These diagrams remind me of my old GUNDAM building days. Another zen experience. You just need to relax, "measure twice, cut once" and enjoy the process. Can't rush it.

And....I'd need passengers for sure. I'd go with unpainted and just paint them myself. Theyare inside, so I wouldn't have to be TOO spot on with things. :)

Hmmmm....yeah...i might have to make this happen. :)