Tram Building Tips

[MetroiD]

I am planning on building a Duewag GT6 and have been busy surfing the net for photos of the model itself. After stocking up on those, I decided that my lack of experience in tram (and generally train) MOCcing will need some serious boosting so I've been going over tram models built by other MOCcers in order to gain some insight as to how things should be done.

Unfortunately, I must admit that sometimes just looking at things doesn't quite do the trick, so I thought it might be useful for other enthusiasts who find themselves in my position to have some place where they could share info and sample other builders' experience. For example, what particularly bugs me about the Duewag I'm going to build is the flexible connection between cars which should remain as "hidden" as possible. I've been looking at duq's brilliant Amsterdam Tram for inspiration, but would be extremely grateful if anyone else could share any ideas regarding that.

[Matt Dawson]

you could always try having a tapered connection:

[tram]

[body]

./----\

.[----]

.\----/

[tram]

[body]

Edited March 30, 2010 by Matt Dawson

[Duq]

I've been looking at duq's brilliant Amsterdam Tram for inspiration

Thanks for the compliment!

Did you check out the ILTCO Library? In particular you might find the Close coupling and Advanced train building articles useful.

[MetroiD]

you could always try having a tapered connection

Thanks Matt, that's one of the ideas I've been toying around with, but I'm not quite sure how it'll end up looking. I'll surely give it a try with real bricks though!

Thanks for the compliment!

...In particular you might find the Close coupling and Advanced train building articles useful.

Anytime, I really loved your tram :] As to those documents - curiously enough, I'd bookmarked the entire Library and labeled it accordingly, yet for some reason I couldn't find it... Thanks ever so much for posting those links. God bless ILTCO

After doing some Brickshelf surfing I've stumbled upon a few fine examples of trams using a close coupling system:

Zanzer's Yellow Tram

Tim (Gambort)'s GT6N

Holger Matthes' Stuttgart Tram

Thanks to all of you for sharing your tips on building those connections... They're all very much appreciated

[gambort]

I can't remember who invented the close-coupling technique in this (it's by a Canadian who made a red Toronto or Vancouver LR vehicle on a private site) but it's probably my favourite cc trick for a shared wheelset. I think the MPD has full details of it.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=229249

Tim

Edited March 30, 2010 by gambort

[AwesomeStar]

While I've built a merry few trams, mine tend to be more cartoonish or Classic-Town, so I don't think I can help with what you are wanting to build. However, like you said, Duq and also Captain Green Hair have built some rather amazing trams, so maybe you could ask them?

Good luck, and I hope to see it!

~A.S.

[gambort]

I can't remember who invented the close-coupling technique in this (it's by a Canadian who made a red Toronto or Vancouver LR vehicle on a private site) but it's probably my favourite cc trick for a shared wheelset. I think the MPD has full details of it.

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=229249

Tim

Haha! Took me ages to find but I got there eventually :D

http://www.truedimensions.com/lego/customs/5302/index.htm

Jason Allemann's O-Train has fantastic close-coupling. By far my favourite design.

Tim

[lightningtiger]

Now this is what is called a tram down under.....

This is usually put on display at Myer's in Melbourne - and that's comming from a South Aussie !

I'm a conformist! !

[MetroiD]

However, like you said, Duq and also Captain Green Hair have built some rather amazing trams, so maybe you could ask them?

Yep, Rick's Amsterdam Tram is truly a beauty, but the problem we were really focusing on here was close-coupling, and his tram only has one car :/ In any case, it's a brilliant and very highly detailed model :)

Haha! Took me ages to find but I got there eventually :D

Thanks a mill for providing that link Tim! I also remembered I'd seen that design explained somewhere, but couldn't really find the link.

[Freddie]

Can I suggest the tapered connection as well? Using panels and SNOT'ed tiles (or perhaps curved slopes?), you can make a hinge-section that is slightly narrower than the rest of the body, but is still faithful to the real deal, if the Duewags in Oslo are an indicator.

[ZeeK]

Hello,

we're planning a small town layout with 9V tram (the tram itself is simple) and simple oval track.

We're going to put tiles to make the tram tracks look like the real ones - the same level, as the road.

As far as I understand it's easy task for straight segments and catchy one for curved segments...

Could you please give some tips how to build this or links to see how other people have managed to cover the track?

many thanks in advance!

[gambort]

Hello,

we're planning a small town layout with 9V tram (the tram itself is simple) and simple oval track.

We're going to put tiles to make the tram tracks look like the real ones - the same level, as the road.

As far as I understand it's easy task for straight segments and catchy one for curved segments...

Could you please give some tips how to build this or links to see how other people have managed to cover the track?

many thanks in advance!

Some ideas in here http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=321789

The big trick is to use a 1x4 brick, 1x2 plate and 1x2 tile resting on studs to fill the gaps between the ties.

Tim

Tim

[HoMa]

I found another piece of tram track over on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougidle/2946866050/

HoMa

[MetroiD]

I'm taking the liberty of dusting off this old topic and bringing it back from the dead with a view to further discussion considering the recent introduction of ME Models' rails. Seeing as those do not require sleepers to be placed underneath them, seamless integration of rails in Town layouts should become a bit easier, although it's still not exactly the most simple task.

Using ME's rails on baseplates without placing sleepers underneath them would eliminate one plate of height between the baseplate and the tiles on top (due to losing the sleepers). 1 plate + 1 tile would then look quite appropriate as the height for a pavement - if you consider having the tram lines going along the studded section of the current street baseplates. That does not, however, solve the problem with curves, which as mentioned by Zeek remain the tricky part.

Have any one of you considered tram layouts with integrated rail for your cities using the ME Models rail pieces? Would you still stick to the old SNOT roads + tiled sections solution or would you try the rails-on-baseplate option - and if so, how would you apply that?