Asking for ideas to go from track plan (Anyrail) to getting it on plywood! What are best practices to do that? Thanks in advance.
Going from paper to layout was something I was concerned about how to achieve. What I found is it's easier making a grid on the foam sub-roadbed in one color. Afterward, use a different color to draw the track. This line corresponds to the approxmate middle of the track.
Regardless of approach, ensure you keep to your plan.
I measured quite a bit, drew a lot of lines, crossed off a lot of lines, etc.
I had some trial and error when certain things looked OK on paper, but when I got the track on the table, it didn't work or it didn't look right.
I guess my suggestion would be to jump in and try it. There is a problem with trying to be so perfect it's difficult to start.
York1 John
Hi cluter8,
Does Anyrail allow you to print your layout at a scale of 1 : 1 (in other words, full size). I did this with my 3rd PlanIt program and then glued the sheets to the subroadbed using walpaper paste. If you are careful when aligning the sheets, you can get a pretty accurate full size drawing that you can simply put your roadbed and track right on top of.
There are a couple of cautions. One is that you have to make sure your printer is printing at 1 : 1. Lots of printers don't make exact size copies. If the copies aren't the right size, the track won't fit. The easiest way to check is to simply photocopy a ruler and then compare the printout to the actual ruler.
Another possible problem is that the turnouts in the program library don't match the real thing. You can check this by printing out a copy of a turnout and then comparing that to the real thing.
There is another slightly more labour intensive method. That is to measure the coordinates of the ends of turnouts and sections of track and then transfer the coordinates to your layout. Then all you have to do is connect the dots using appropriate curves. If you want a more detailed explanation of this method, just ask.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I printed the plan full sized and positioned it over the plywood.
There are more pictures and an explanation of the approach including some tricks and tips at https://nscale4by8.github.io/nscale4x8/benchwork/benchwork.html
https://nscale4by8.github.io/nscale4x8/
I found I didn't need to print a lot of paper out in full size, rather I just took may scale plan and built benchwork to fit the scale and then the track on top of that. But I wasn't using sectional track, but rather flex track.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
cluter8 Asking for ideas to go from track plan (Anyrail) to getting it on plywood! What are best practices to do that? Thanks in advance.
Anchor Point(s)!
With any drawing, ya gotta have anchor points. With these, and accurate reading of ruler, protractor, and level.... you shouldnt have a problem getting track right where you want it.
If you keep to your anchor point on the layout, as you did in your drawing, everything should lay out as you intend. When it doesn't, YOU, not the ruler, YOU, made an error somewhere.
Measure 3 times - cut once, Im sure youve heard. But its true, alot of double checking measurements on both your drawing AND your layout space will be immensely beneficial.
As some have said above, mock ups help. This yields a 3d perspective ya just cant get visualizing from from a drawing.
Happy Building!
PMR
I made my layout 12' x5.5' i put it in 1:1 scale but it calls for 864 pages thats not right. what am i doing wrong?
Sorry for the late reply.
I used pdf files as an intermediary between software and printer.
Plot a simple 1 or 2 page section to pdf file and print those files to see if they are truly 1:1. (Helps to put some ruler images on the pages to test the scaling.)
Once you know you have that working plot the entire layout (or sections you are interested in) as pdf specifying size D paper (24"x36"). Take those pdf files to Staples and have them plotted on a 24" or 36" printer. (Again put some ruler images in to test scaling.)
You still need to piece the pages together but there will be way fewer parts.
D
da29. the artist formerly known as da1.