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About NTRAK.
NTRAK has its origins back in the mid 70s when the first modules were displayed in California by one of its founders Jim FitzGerald. The specifications for NTRAK modules were designed so that any builder, anywhere in the world, could build a module, bring it to a train show, and know it would operate with others.
N scale was chosen due in part to its small size but also for the ability to run long trains through big sweeping curves and provide a more prototypical-looking scene. N scale takes up less space than HO, however more space can be used to provide a better overall appearance by what we call "scenery to track ratio".
In NTRAK's first ten years, well over 400 modules were built to NTRAK specifications across the United States and Canada. There are now active NTRAK clubs right across the world including Australia.
MelbNTrak's display layout contains modules belonging to several members, along with those owned by the club. Each module must conform to several criteria with regards track centres, length, width and layout height. Scenery is left up to the modeller, and can represent whatever they choose. Some make modules with similar scenes to give a wider overall effect, whilst others will construct modules that will be entirely different from one another. We are often asked at exhibitions how fast a train is going. We measure the time it takes a train to travel a fixed distance then use the this spreadsheet to calculate the train's scale speed. (Excel spreadsheet 16KB) It is important that trains run well either at exhibitions or on home layouts. One improvement is to weight each car to the NRMA standard. See below
To view the following photos of our NTRAK layout in their full size, just click on a thumbnail.
There are more NTRAK photos on the Photos pages. Car WeightingFor cars to run well with minimal derailments, especially on bends, it is important that they are correctly weighted. The NMRA standard for N scale car weights is half an ounce plus 0.15 ounces for each inch of length of the car body.
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