Hello, yes...I have another question lol. I finally got my track plan printed out and laid out on my benchwork but i have a question....How do you guys go about transferring the paper templates to the benchwork? Do you trace them or??? This is the first time i have ever went this route and i must say....It is sooooo much simplier than when i used to get a pile of track and just start laying, pinning and glueing. This takes the guess work out of it and i am so glad that i purchased AnyRail. Anyways, if anyone has any pointers or advice im all ears....Thanks again guys!
Trainzman2435...I finally got my track plan printed out and laid out on my benchwork but i have a question....How do you guys go about transferring the paper templates to the benchwork? Do you trace them or???...
It sounds a little too organised for my tastes, but if your printout is done full-size for your scale, you should be able to cut out the track portion and then place it on the layout's surface, jockeying it around as necessary. Once it meets your approval, glue it in place and then add your roadbed and/or track atop it.
I never bothered with a trackplan for my current layout. I had an oddly-shaped room, so built open-grid framework in various depths which would allow adequate aisle-space around the entire room.The next step was to cut-up a few sheets of 3/4" plywood into curves of varying radii, starting at 30", and increasing in 2" increments. After splicing similar radii together, I tested their fit at each of the room's 10 corners, choosing the widest radii that would fit.The hardest part was figuring out elevations, as I had plans, after the initial layout was built, to add a partial second level, and needed to keep the grades manageable.
Once the elevations were calculated, it was a simple matter to connect the curves with some straight-ish track, and the layout of track then suggested where industries, passing tracks, and scenic features should be placed.
Pretty simple when your choices are limited.
Wayne
i printed my templates out full size and taped them down to the subroadbed (1/2" 7 ply plywood) and used an awl to poke holes about 3 inches apart through the template into the plywood, I poked holes every inch for switches marking each end of the switch. I then used a pen and a straight edge connecting the dots. this is the centerline of the track. I then glued my roadbed down on top of the center line.
Here is the trackwork before I installed the scenery at the refinery.
I used a product called Flexxbed for roadbed (vinyl based product) and used door shims to ramp down from roadbed to sub-road bed for spurs.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/