3.3 Modules
Modules are segments of a model railroad that can be put together to make one large model railroad. What makes them special is that they have a standardized properties that allows for the module be connected to a module using the same standards. World wide there are numerous different standards. Well known standards are from NMRA, FREMO, TTrack and NTrack.
TRAX supports modules as independant parts of a layout, allowing you to design modules to a choosen standard and arrange your modules in different ways.
Creating a module
- Go to the room tab
- Locate the modules group
- Choose your module from the dropdown list.
- Click the add button to create the new module.
Working with your module
Now you have module like this one:
As you can see, it is a table but with a small difference. On both sides you see that the line is wider and there are three dots. This is what we call the profile. It is the standardized interface to connect this module to other modules. The three dots are where the track should start and end. And they behave just like the dots at open track ends, with one exception: they do not move. So when you connect your track to them, you know it is at exactly the right position the standards describe.
For smaller scales, the dots will often be very close to eachother, making it difficult to connect to a specific dot. You can zoom in to make things easier.
Now you can put module on the table, and scenery objects, and you can paint and sculpt the landscape. To ensure everything is fastened to the module when you start moving and rotating it, use the glue function described in the previous chapter.