Track Plan transfer techniques

[Capt. Grimek]

I absolutely recommend, with no reservations whatsoever, to get a copy of your plan blown up to 12" to the foot and pin it down on your bench tops. I paid more than I should by having it done by a blueprint company ($80) but ya know, it was still the BEST thing I ever spent money on. Sped work up tremendously, with careful handling can be saved in case you ever need to rebuild it (after a fire, a move, whatever) and for a flex track rookie and beginning yard ladder guy, it just made things so obvious. Of course due to the blowing up of the original drawing, things move to the side a bit sometimes (if your plan was hand drawn) but with a computer program print out, it should be pretty right on. It can be done cheaper by taping together a kazillion 8.5"X11" sheets but I recommend the 3' wide, 17' long strips (3 total) I used. I hammer small brads through the track lines and then lay my roadbed pulling them up as I go. I pull the template up gently, letting the brads pop through the paper. If they're widely enough spaced or you scotch tape over them, the pattern will stay in good shape. You'll save a ton of time and aggravation. If you're an old hand and can do this stuff with one hand behind your back, it might not be necessary. For me? SO glad I went this route. My club buddies have been impressed with how much progress I've made (as a beginner) in a year's time. I owe it to the full sized template and the help of friends.

[rrinker]

 WHat I did on my last layout was print the CAD plan up 1:1 and tape it down over the foam. Then I ran a pounce wheel along the tracks to make marks, after which I pullup up the now full og holes paper and drew the lines in over the punch marks with a marker.

 After which I decided I will NEVER EVER EVER do that again. I still draw the plan using CAD, but I am not goign to print it at 1:1 and trace it. At least not the entire layout. I might do this for tricky tight areas where there isn't much room for error, and critical turnout junctions, but the rest will simply approximate the track plan as closely as possible without following a traced line. So here's my main line meandering through a scene with a station and a team track siding - does it matter that it's positioned to the 10th of an inch of where I drew it? Of course not.

                                        --Randy

 

[Graffen]

I usually do a standard grid-enlargement. I draw up a grid 1´by 1´ on the layout and then make a scaled grid on the plans, after that it is so easy to lay out the tracks.

[Anonymous]

 I guess that everyone of us has his/her own proven method. I do a 1:1 print of my trackplan, tack it down on the roadbed, mark the position of the turnouts, take away the papaer, position the turnouts according to the marks, do a lot of adjustments, tack down the turnputs and draw connecting centerlines for the track. Works fine with me.

[mcfunkeymonkey]

So I've been playing around with flextrack, fastracks turnout templates & a grid to angle in the trackplan:

 

 

It's fun to size & line rails up, adjust here or there, & get a sense of the space.
Also knowing I can adjust to fit reality a wee bit better than a cad plan.
I have 1.5" distance between track center:

(the far pins mark the far distance of the yard tracks)

The drawbacks of not using the cad plans include a lot of fudgefactor, assumptions that when I do built the turnouts, I'll be able to adjust them a wee bit, etc.  Of course I'll be checking the radii before caulking anything down.  Going without the "plan" taped down & playing around has resulted in a longer yard by 1 car each track.  Hmmm...

I'm just wondering if printing out the AnyRail plans 1:1 scale is better (for no-prob tracklaying)?

 

Print out all 30+ pages, cut & past & lay it down & trace / mark through?

Some part of me feels like Luke Skywalker, when Obi-Wan tells him to turn off the guidance computer and use the force.  Another part of me knows I am not Luke Skywalker, that I knew Luke Skywalker, & you (me), sir, are no Luke Skywalker.

Just wondering what leads to the fewest kinks / multiplication of issues as you lay.

Cheers!
--Mark