My 13 year old son has decided to try his hand at building his own layout. He gets frustrated waiting for there to be something for him to do on my larger basement layout. At any rate he settled on MR's Turtle Creek from 2003. The track plan is drawn in 7/8 in. to the foot scale, not exactly a common scale. The original track plan shows the curve radii centerpoints for using flex track. How do I convert the scale to something useable so I can locate the center points?
Thanks.
Dan Bowman wrote:How do I convert the scale to something useable so I can locate the center points? Thanks.
How do I convert the scale to something useable so I can locate the center points?
Photocopy with the size set to a percentage of the original. For example 1" to the foot would be a multiple of 8/7 or 114.3 percent (115 might be close enough). 1/2" to the foot would be 4/7 or about 57%. I got these numbers by working with a ratio of how many 1/8ths of an inch each scale is defined by. (1/2 =4/8, 1/1 = 8/8).
alternate, just measure the actual distance and use a calculator to convert it.
I hope this helps.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
I don't know if my old math skills are up to the test, but I'll give it a shot!
The 'scale' is 7/8ths of an inch equals 1 foot. The grid overlaying the layout is in 1 foot increments. Get to an enlarging copier, like at Kinko's or Office Max and enlarge the layout diagram by 14%. That should get you close to 1"=1' scale.
I'm not sure why you need to do this. The layout grids indicate that the layout is 4'x8'. You should be able to estimate the locations of the track radius center points and transfer those estimated dimensions onto your layout table. (Remember, each grid is 12" on a side, so half of that is 6", one-fourth of that is 4" and one sixth of that is 2". An 'actual' measurement taken from the trackplan isn't really necessary.) As you temporarily lay the track, you'll find that the track won't line up as neatly as on the trackplan and some fudging is going to be needed to get all the track to fit properly.
Hope this helps get you started.
Darrell, quiet...for now
That would probably be close enough, loathar.
I divided 1 by .875 to arrive at 14% (1.1428; or 14% larger). It's how I used to calculate photographic enlargements.
Either way, the track still won't go together perfectly. Track plans rarely do! But there's a lot of fudge factor in laying actual track so the final result should closely resemble the track plan.
dgwinup wrote:That would probably be close enough, loathar.I divided 1 by .875 to arrive at 14% (1.1428; or 14% larger). It's how I used to calculate photographic enlargements.Either way, the track still won't go together perfectly. Track plans rarely do! But there's a lot of fudge factor in laying actual track so the final result should closely resemble the track plan.Darrell, quiet...for now
1.1428 is correct; therefore, 1.14 is noticeably more accurate than 1.125.