MiNi Mod-U-Trak Page 2
It was about that time that we welcomed Keith Kohlmann, who has written a bunch of freight car detailing articles in the magazines. He saw the layout at Naperville, and was inspired enough to want to build a module. His Berryville, WI on the C&NW was a result of that. It was built to the old, heavy module design like the transition module, and we were a little lax with overall module dimesions and theme. Berryville is wider, as you probably noticed, and it has the M-R-K interurban line on the front that abruptly dies at the module joints. Someday, hopefully Keith can build transition modules into and out of Berryville so the scenic elements flow through to MiNi standard modules. Again, just keeping the individual Ntrak module look away from the MiNi layout.
C&NW station at Berryville, WI on Keith Kohlman's first module (Bob Kosic Photo)
At one of the Harper College shows, we met Vince Kotnik, as Keith told him where to find us. Vince's "golden ticket" was an amazing C&NW passnger depot that he scratch built (and put the rest of us to shame with). It was obvious that he was a like-minded modeler, and he was interested in joining in on a high quality N scale modular layout. Vince has an interest in the C&NW around Sheboygan, WI. This line was single track, so he asked if he could build a 90 degree curve module, single track, depicting the C&NW bridge in Sheboygan Falls, WI. This module has a perfect home on the single track line extending north from Bill's New Lisbon modules, and bends the mainline such that the Wausau yard modules can be set up parallel to the rest of the layout.
We've also had interest from other N scalers in the area and hope to share their modules in the future. Jamie Vondruska is one that is currently working on a 20' module set depicting the Milwaukee Road's Tower A68 at Caledonia and Franskville, WI. Jamie found us online, and first saw the layout in person at Harper in 2007. He has been going gangbusters ever since, and will be debuting a few modules at Trainfest 2007 in Milwaukee.
At Naperville last year, 2006, Bob Kosic of Midwest Mod-U-Trak shared a brain fart with Mike Skibbe about modular design. They had been going back and forth on lightweight modules and trimming set-up and tear down time. Bob had an idea for doing articulated module legs, and by the end of Naperville Mike already had a basic design in 3D in Solidworks. Mike was inspired to build some test subjects (Bob refers to him as the Crash Test Pilot) and was able to refine the module design into something workable and buildable for MiNi modules. With Keith's help and use of his wood shop, the group has been knocking together module frames. The first lightweight modules debuted at Harper 2007, with two of them being on the new leg system. Mod-U-Trak is on to something, and after a few more crash tests, hopes to have a convenient and lightweight modular system to share.
Here's a few links to let you browse some of the modules under construction:
MiNi SUBPAGES
Bill Denton's New Lisbon Module Build
Mike Skibbe's Transition Module Build
Keith Kohlmann's Berryville Module Build
Mike Skibbe's Wausau Module Rebuild
Vince Kotnik's Sheboygan Falls Module Build
Jamie Vondruska's Caledonia / Franksville Module Build
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