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Wheee!!! Its here, Aristo's new 20" circle of track!

8K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  Ted_Roy 
RE: Wheee!!! Its here, Aristo's new 20" circle of track!

Keep us posted on how other small locomotives perform on this track. Sounds like something I may want to play with a bit. I have Hartland's track (36") and have used it on a whiskey cask layout for several years before Hartland ever offered their own whiskey cask rig (which I also have, but which is still boxed up aside from the Mack and cars).
 
RE: Wheee!!! Its here, Aristo's new 20" circle of track!

I placed my order with Wholesale Trains for the circle of track and yet another Mack (I like those little workhorses). I'm a big fan of those micro-layouts inspired by Carl's superb website, and we even have a short feature on an On30 pizza layout--a true pizza box layout--coming up in our Oct. issue of O Gauge Railroading magazine. I'll do something similar with the 20-inch Large Scale circle, and see if I can incorporate it in a detailed scene of some sort.
 
RE: Wheee!!! Its here, Aristo's new 20" circle of track!

I see it as more of an attention-getting device that is easily transportable and which lends itself to some novel and creative scenic treatment (as is the case with most micro-layouts). I imagine the tight-radius track would even have applications on more "serious" layouts where one might want to add a trolley line or an on-site industrial operation of some type.

Since I've had and used Hartland's 36" diameter track for a long time, I just have to see for myself what can be done with this 20" stuff. I would never have believed that you could run even short-wheelbase LS locomotives on a 20" diameter circle of track, but the videos here made me a believer.
 
RE: Wheee!!! Its here, Aristo's new 20" circle of track!

My 20-inch track and yet another Mack is due to arrive at the office on Monday morning (shipped from Wholesale Trains on the 17th). I already have a "board" to place it on (an unfinished 24" or so round table-top) and will mount that table on an plastic, upside-down, imitation half of a whiskey cask (from Lowes). It will reside in my living room or perhaps even in my office after I decide how I want to scenic the thing.
 
RE: Wheee!!! Its here, Aristo's new 20" circle of track!

Got my little--very little--circle of track up and running today, and there's a Hartland 0-4-0 running chasing itself around at the present time. Runs very smoothly. Next up will be an Aristo "Eggliner" which will likely be the primary object to operate on this 20-inch circular layout. I have everything mounted on a 24-inch diameter tabletop board at the present time, but I found that the outside of the track ties is just about even with he edge of this board so I may see if I can find a similar 30-inch or 36-inch diameter board to give me a bit of space for scenery outside the track.

I did manage to break the a tie on one section of the track while putting things together for the first time. I was putting the sections together one by one; tightening down the clamps with the rails tightly together; and then found that on the last of the four sections I ended-up with a fairly wide gap between the two outer rails. Impatient fellow that I am, I attempted to force the two sections together more tightly, and in the process ripped a tie off one section of the track. I later found that the best way to avoid any problem is to first join all four sections together without tightening down the screws. Then slide the sections around just a bit so there's a small gap between each section on the outside rails (the inner rails will fit tightly). The small gaps--and they are small--more evenly distribute the wider gap that results if you try to put everything together too snugly one section at a time. At least that is what worked in my experience.

Since the only Eggliner I have available is the ACL version, I'm thinking of making this tiny layout into a kind of "beach resort" scene. I have a good number of sunbathing figures in Large Scale, and thought it might be kind of fun to do something with them. I believe they were gifts from friends some years ago when I lived in Hawaii because I know they're not something I would have bought. Now I just need to figure out how to make or buy a few Large Scale palm trees!
 
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