railandsail The trick is going to be how to get the paper pattern out from under the track after all things have been located.
The trick is going to be how to get the paper pattern out from under the track after all things have been located.
Why do you think you should remove the pattern? I see no reason, except to exercise your boxer. Or chihuahua.
Ed
railandsailThe trick is going to be how to get the paper pattern out from under the track after all things have been located.
I have seen examples where people have used the type of pinwheels that are used for marking fabric or leather to mark the track centerlines, something like this:
https://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrC3HyrFR9ceiQA.CAXFwx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=pinwheel+tool&fr=yhs-rogers-rogers_001&hspart=rogers&hsimp=yhs-rogers_001#id=0&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chelseadeals.co.uk%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Fpm-4976%2Fimage01.jpg&action=click
You would need a clean surface on the benchwork so that you could see the pin pricks. One option might be to use a plain wallpaper with as little pattern as possible or no pattern at all. Home Depot in Canada offers a product from Wall Doctor that is completely smooth. It is designed for repairing walls with rough surfaces.
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.lining-paper-paintable-white-wallpaper.1000763009.html
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
My boxer dog will rip it out for free. He likes to rip up paper.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
Yes Paul I am using almost exclusively Peco turnouts, and I have made the printouts of those templates right off of their site that gives you a scale ruler on the printout sheet of paper that allows you to confirm that your printed template is an exact replica of the actual turnout. Plus I have measured this up against the actual turnouts themselves.
So I feel very confidant that my full size drawings are exact relicas of the track I will be laying over them. The trick is going to be how to get the paper pattern out from under the track after all things have been located.
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
Brian,
Don't cheat when puting the pieces together. It is very easy to twist a piece of paper a bit to make everything fit the way you want it. Also, are you confortable that the paper image really matches the real track? Testing some real track as an overlay can verify. Also, make sure the paper track matches the brand turnouts you plan to use.
I offer these comments because I got bit many years ago trying to do a similar paper layout and discovered the paper was "close" but not to the same tolerances as a real turnout.
Somehow I'm not sure that's what Yes meant when they wrote "close to the edge, down by the corner" but I'll take it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Medina1128My only concern is how close the track on the left are to the edge....
If I didn't have track "close to the edge", there wouldn't be many places to run trains...
In the photo above, the caboose is about 5' above the floor, but any risk will be halved when I get around to adding some landforms (mostly higher than the track) in the centre of this loop.
In the photos below, it's only 3' to the floor....
...and about 40" here...
...almost 5' here...
...and a little bit higher here...
Brian, if you're enjoying using templates and testing layout component variations, then that's a good system for you to use.I built my layout without a plan, and basically imagining what would work and look reasonably good. For the most part, I am very satisfied with the results.
As for close-to-the-edge mishaps, only one, and it was operator error...a track, no where near the operator, powered, but shouldn't have been.
Obviously, no mystery as to who the operator was.
Wayne
Some sort of edge barrier is likely. I already have some plexi.
railandsail Retreat to Indoors We then had some rather windy and cold days, so I cleared off a temp shelf (again 4x8 piece of plywood) I had put up in the train shed. Then proceeded to lay out my staging tracks,...at least the ladder entrance end (bottom end coming up soon).
Retreat to Indoors
We then had some rather windy and cold days, so I cleared off a temp shelf (again 4x8 piece of plywood) I had put up in the train shed. Then proceeded to lay out my staging tracks,...at least the ladder entrance end (bottom end coming up soon).
My only concern is how close the track on the left are to the edge. Are you planning on putting a Lexan or plexiglass barrier on the edge?
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
This looks like a great idea if it helps you do the job.
Downside is that it's kinda big and clumsy. And mating each switch in "exact" alignment could be a problem--solved, I think, with the use of straightedges and maybe protractors.
A BIG upside is the visualizing part. Will it REALLY fit? And will it look the way I think it will? And, come to think of it, the testing part, where, for example, you can really see if a loco consist will fit on the track you think it will. And check various clearances, too.
Looks great!
Initial Creations
For reference,..overall trackplan first..
The ones that follow were created up on that table, but subsequently laid out on the carport concrete so they could be joined together
To begin with I am not a computer geek who has ever learned how to manipulate computer track plan softwares. And to tell the truth I never thought it was an idea worthy of extensive study to learn just to singularly design my new layout. I really thought (hoped) that someone would come along and do that computer designing/visualizing for me,....someone who enjoyed doing that sort of thing.
Long story short I had to resort to scale drawings / sketches. These can be a little tricky to get 'exactly' to scale, particularly with the variety of turnout brands, and subtle variations in their exact profiles.
Paper templates of the turnouts was suggested (these were full size). I also had a good number of the actual turnouts themselves, and some fixed pieces of Atlas sectional track I could use to double check that I was getting a good close fit, and the proper angles.
I had a 4x8 sheet of plywood set up as a work table out in my carport. I thought why not lay some drawing paper out on the sheet of plywood and draw up some of the various areas of my trackplan. A contractor friend had an old roll of brown paper that is used to protect new flooring etc during building construction. And it happened to be 4 foot wide.
I now lay 4x8 foot pieces of that paper out on my BIG drawing table, and do an exact full size plans of my trackplan for various areas and corners of my layout. I plan on using these patterns to lay down the track on my double decks of the actual layout. Additionally I can simply roll these paper plans up and put them inside during windy or inclement weather,
I am actually having FUN creating these full size plans, and I am learning somethings about planning concentric curves, fitting in structures, tight tolerances etc, etc.