Mesmerized by the idea, I think that the idea of combining C-Track by Märklin (and Trix) with LACK furniture by IKEA launched by forum member EB421 deserves its own topic. It all started here with his presentation of the CLACK module standard:


https://www.marklin-user...Modules-in-UK#post687714

Edited by user 16 November 2025 10:12:27(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

As one with a liking for all things IKEA, is this the thing that you are referring to?

https://www.ikea.com/au/...ll-shelf-white-70282181/

Image captured as IKEA frequently refresh their website,



It seems to come in different lengths.

Indeed I do.

Lack shelf sizes in Germany are:
30x26 cm
59x26 cm
110x26 cm
190x26cm

Besides shelfs, there is an assortment of 45 cm high tables which could serve as bonsai supports for the fellow who does not wants to drill holes into the wall. When placed sideways, the tables are also suitable for setting up a reversing loop module. Relevant Lack table sizes in Germany are:
55x55x45 cm
90x26x45 cm
90x55x45 cm
118x78x45 cm

Right on.

Haha, wow - this took off. Thanks for making it a thread of it's own! I'll point again to the official "standards document" over on JNSF for "standards-compliant" CLACK boards - which must be a single track that exits the board at 10mm from the edge. :P

I can't take credit for "Track on LACK" as many have done it before, including Alan Monk from the British H0 society. Only the calculations for making it modular are mine. As for why single-track-on-exit there's two reasons; it cuts the cost of a board basically in half (the point of this was to be cheap enough to just play around with) and gives a bit more space for modelling. :D

But the point is this is stupid and cheap so there's no real problem to mess around. I will challenge you to make the top track on your Minories aligns and exits 10mm from the wall-edge of your outer boards though so that the group of modules becomes 'as a whole' standards-compliant. :P

Here's a couple of my own ideas for boards - obviously as Alsterstreek has shown you can be more creative (especially when you're not trying to include the road) - this is just a few basic ones for more inspiration. CLACK1100 and CLACK1900 respectively.



The top one is a simple 11-wagon (maximum size; there's math behind it) Inglenook that also uses the mainline as part of the puzzle space. The bottom is a silly idea for a rural tramway that had to dodge behind a modest mansion (and also give them a private halt for the use of his land). I was 3D printing a J70 steam tram body last night, in case you wonder the inspiration. ;)



The stand-out one here is obviously the more complex shunting yard which adds a runaround loop and a short loading dock to the 11w Inglenook from the CLACK1100. There's also the very boring straight-through station where I was exploring making something that was more a driving challenge than a railway challenge - a car park that's full of cars is tricky to navigate at 1/87 RC! And then the top one was a simple example of combining the two systems in a more integrated way by having some kind of parcel or mail dock where vans could drive all the way up to the wagons. :)

Oh - ignore the specific track pieces on this; they're old designs before I fully optimised them!

Lastly here's a CLACK1900 done a little differently -



Here's a version of the shunting yard that mostly uses PECO track; in my case with a plan to use 3D printed trackbed to align the rail surface of the Code 100 with the TRIX Code 83. For the same reason if you were working in 3-rail, there's no reason you couldn't mix K or M track into your modules - just as long as both exits are properly-aligned C-Track; and you take responsibility if your module is the one in an assembly that doesn't work. ;)

Oh, and as I imply above with MINDERÅRIGA - it's perfectly valid to create a "set" of boards that are internally "not-standards-compliant" but have a compliant outer edge. ;) again, the only real "rules" for CLACK is that you have that 10mm-spaced-from-wall-edge exit C-TRACK and that there's at least one "safe" through road that's Code 83+ and R2+.

Oh I forgot to mention another advantage of the 55x55 tables - they're also functional network cabinets. ;)

So you can have a complex model town on top; and underneath mount a router, NVR, Z21 and PoE switch. ;)

Jimmy, I look forward to seeing it!

The inspiration was

#3 Hatfield House - which is too big for a standard CLACK and there is no model of (a. k. a Croft Manor!)

Wait what do you MEAN Germany also has CLACK590! Why don't I get that!?

CLACK590 CL590 Price
-2.6mm £24.65
171.7mm £3.20
171.7mm £3.20
171.7mm £3.20
77.5mm £3.55
Per 300mm: £24.65

Regardless, here's an example trackset with the smallest margin I could come up with (because it always has to be slightly longer than the board, never shorter!)

Rather more expensive than the other boards on a per-length basis, but useful to have!

And succeeded!

I knocked this up in TRIX mode so I could see how the numbers worked out - I tweaked it slightly so that the tracks ended short of the edges (and with buffers), and put in some of the scenic elements from the Wikipedia example track plan:





Great design! A board gap of 4.9mm is also perfectly reasonable. I imagined one could easily add platform that went around the ends of the two tracks and along the front edge of the board to hint at a larger station. Or cutting some track flush with the edge of the board could also suggest the platform tracks are much longer than we can show on a single board. I think this is also the first R3+-only CLACK module track plan, which is super cool.

Amazing what you can fit on these boards when innovation is forced by constraint!

Edit: kept tweaking my version slightly...



I've removed two of the 70.8mm spacers in the middle - it makes the points kind of close in the middle section, but shouldn't affect real-world train movements and gives significantly more margin on the front edge for ... among other things, keeping trains away from the edge.

This gives enough clear space to add some more serious barrier objects (like platforms, fences etc) so derailments are less scary. Tragically, it means the cheap Hornby platform no longer fits between the through-line and first short platform track. Oh nooooooooooooo.

Just don't forget my beautifully laid out garden! Carnations, Grape Hyacinths, red roses and marigolds~ Plus the water feature!

I'm afraid that, unfortunately, without these spacers, Märklin won't work (and Trix neither, where 62071 track sections are required at the end of the turnout according to the product description under https://www.trix.de/en/p...ts/details/article/62711 & [i]https://www.trix.de/en/p.../details/article/62712). In your first track plan there was already one 62071 missing at the lower left stub track.

Hey, no risk, no fun.

Yes, indeed.

Hm. Quick lazy googling suggests about 1/40 for the height of a minifig. So if you did this On30/0e/O16.5... that lego model would definitely be completely and unambiguously to scale and NO-ONE NEEDS TO CHECK.

There's also this STL on Thingiverse; which you'd have to heavily detail (before OR after printing) but a bigger issue - how big is the thing? https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5143648

Rough guesstimate looks about 50m, or ballpark 60cm in scale - so if just modelling the front or rear, you could fit this with plenty of room on the CLACK1100 tramway?

And now I'm triple-posting, shame on me. I'm having what could charitably be described as a rough autumn and this week is no exception - so the weekend's activity was very much built around feeling like I achieved something - and most of my lunch break from work today has been spent lining up the pieces.

Speaking of;





Obviously the central feature on this was re-using the old Hornby station building; and there is a lot more to do just on the building. But I decided the Hornby platform was silly; especially when modelling primarily in H0; the height was fine for the models I was running but it was about 3-times wider than I needed (it's a generous OO double-track, not a narrow H0 single-track!) so I decided to make something more appropriately scaled. These are just quick and dirty test-prints to make sure the dimensions fitted the space I had, but it works adequately to give the impression of a small rural station (or; a slice of one - real platforms would be much longer!)

The intent is to back the platforms with a rough stone wall, and have that continue along the station walls with footpaths, steps and ramps down to the road level; which will also nicely disguise the analytical straightness of all these pieces. Then there's a hard plan to make the remaining areas grassy; with a bank down from the road. The fine detail is still a bit nebulous; I'm not 100% sure if I'm looking to make this the garden from a house just off-scene (in which case; woodshed and some vegetables) or more likely just a tiny community garden of the kind often found in small towns and villages; so possibly a picnic bench surrounded by flower beds. Or even a duckpond! TBD on that one, still.

The H0 scale steam tram is just a body print from a cheap PLA printer and put on the track to give a sense of that rural feel that you wouldn't really have if it was a Class 66 or A3 or 37 or something rolling through. ;) All credit on the design to Rue D'Etropal; I will eventually get one properly printed in resin or similar!