... I have a layout plan that was put together primarily using peco track geometry to "save time", it has ended up as anything but, but I still feel that the track plan is solid. The throat of the station on my layout looks like below: aYx2cxc.png My thoughts (as you can see above) are now to hand-lay rather than use ready-to-plonk components for the asymmetric threeway and the diamond- and generally I'm fairly comfortable with how this would work. The lack of a Peco bullhead-double slip has made me realise however, that if I'm going to hand lay that too- then the whole area indicated by the pink line above can be laid almost however is required. The only restriction, is that on the adjacent baseboard there is an expectation that the track will flow nicely into the platform roads. Here's a picture showing the two roughly mated (and the peco double-slip in-situ) to give an idea: EkcxXLw.png The two exits of the double slip go either side of an ...

... -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --- [size=] Information about this template: [size=]( all dimensions in millimetres) [size=] template generated at 21:46:37 on 09/03/2008 using Templot v:0.91.c scale= 4.0 mm/ft scale ratio= 1:76.2 track gauge= 21.0 flangeway gap= 0.73 template: curved (constant radius) rail head only (bullhead): rails vertical -- -- -- -- -- -- LH turnout: GWR 14 ft. heel switch (curved) left-hand switch (joggled) 1 in 7.88 RAM regular crossing( 1 in 7.91 CLM) equalized-incremental timbering -- -- -- -- -- -- track centre-line radius=[ -6670.33] (constant radius) resultant switch radius (centre-line)= 8774 approx. resultant turnout radius (centre-line)= 3845 ...

... intend to machine them on the mill. The splice rail C is as B, and the point rail D is the same again but of the opposite hand. It is notched down to the web to make a soldered joint at s. In view of the solder fill and jig assembly, a filed notch is good enough, although you can of course machine a proper prototypical spliced recess if you wish. The final tasks are to blunt off the nose as shown, to a scale width of 3/4" (bullhead) or 5/8" (flat-bottom), and to re-instate the rail-head corner radius on the machined areas. A few strokes with a fine file and a final polish with abrasive paper will do that. It's also a good idea to take a few thou off the top of the vee nose so that it dips down slightly below the wing rails. This allows for the coning angle on the wheels as they run off the wing rail onto the nose, producing smoother running. As ...

... I need to know exactly what you want. 1. crossing angle? Common sizes for outside slips are 1:4.5 or 1:5. 2. track gauge? 16.2mm for 4-SF/ 00-SF, or 16.5mm for 00-BF. For diamonds and slips you can't use the same template for both. 3. radius in the crossing roads if not straight? 4. timbering scale? 3.5mm/ft as C&L 00 templates, or 4mm/ft as 00/EM. 5. bullhead or flat-bottom rail? Or alternatively if you attach your .box file here, I will see what fits. cheers, Martin. posted: 25 Apr 2020 20:36 from: Paul Boyd Hi Martin The "old" C&L, under Brian Lewis did supply one, but I only have an EM version. Paul105_251536_160000000.jpg posted: 25 Apr 2020 21:01 from: Martin Wynne Thanks Paul. What is the angle of the diamond in that? Scrub that, I have just noticed 1:4.5 ...

... topic: 3805 Operating model turnouts with stretcher bars posted: 31 Oct 2020 18:03 from: Julian Roberts Hello Templotters I wonder what the current general state of play is regarding operating model turnouts through something resembling the stretcher bars. Searching for some pictures of the real thing, I had a look at topic 2040 which shows some prototype new bullhead turnouts. I know there are various other sorts of stretcher bars too. These look quite flexible as they attach to the blades through several nuts and bolts. I thought stretcher bars just pulled the blades the correct distance apart, but it looks as though in one direction these bars push to close the blade. On the model, Masokits seem to offer a very reasonable representation, and are surprisingly strong. My concern is whether they are too strong!- and not very flexible. My previous experience so far has been to use a moving plastic false sleeper with Peco pins inserted from below, one for each blade, each one cut short, curved round and soldered to the blade. Thus the ...

... wrote: Not really a problem from a build point of view, but probably something that shouldn't happen, or I've done something strange! Hi Paul, Yes, you have done something strange! You have set the rail-section to flat-bottom, but then set the rail foot width to be the same as the head width. See real> rails> rail section data... That may be intentional to represent some odd Festiniog rail section (? ), but since you have set the middle crossing to bullhead I suspect it's an error. What you are seeing in the print is the intersection of the rail foot lines -- for the vee nose Templot blunts the rail head only. The foot lines are not visible elsewhere because you have set vertical rail and the rail head lines are drawn directly over them. Foot lines are never drawn on the screen, it would make the diagrams too cluttered, they appear in the output only (and only for background templates, not the control template). The foot lines are not ...

... topic: 217 Plain track? posted: 1 Nov 2007 16:43 from: Phil O Hi All I was browsing through this months edition of Heritage Railway and my eyes lit upon the track work, where it would appear (at least to my myopic eyes) there are a couple of panels of track with Bullhead rail on one side and flat bottom rail on the other. If someone could put me out of my misery I would be obliged.? I attach a scan of the relevant portion of the photo. The location is Mallaig Junction, Fort William. Cheers Phil: Attachment: attach_123_Mallaig_Junc.jpg 464 posted: 1 Nov 2007 18:39 from: Brian Lewis Hi Phil, 4-5 years years ago I walked part of this line. The variety of track was fascinating.... There was almost every variant you could think of- including 1944 era Dowmac concrete sleepers with two bolt chairs. Regards Brian Lewis Parts of Templot Club may not function unless you enable JavaScript (also called Active Scripting) in your browser. ...

... 2020 12:20 from: Martin Wynne Mike Kynaston wrote: The above photo link, shows a single slip to the left of the DMU. How would be the best way to recreate it, given that the said single slip appears to have movable blades on the area that is normally a diamond, and that it is on a awkward curve? Can anyone point us in the right direction please? Hi Mike, It's a switch-diamond single-slip. Quite common in flat-bottom, not so much in bullhead. Here's a close-up of the K-crossings (this is a double-slip): fb_movablek_dslip.jpg thanks to Mick Nicholson They are used when the crossing angle is flatter than 1:8. As one blade closes the other opens. Are you asking how to build it, or how to do it in Templot? Just start with a turnout flatter than 1:8 on the required curve, say a C-10, and then tools> make slip: 2_120717_440000000.png Being on a curve makes no difference ...

... Templot Club and thanks for the kind words. Which version of Templot are you using? To perform detailed adjustments of rail joints you need to upgrade to the latest versions, at least version 082d. I'm sorry to be a bit dense, but could you explain what you want to do in greater detail? If you switch on the timber numbering for your screenshots, you can refer to the timbers by number. You can also use marker colours to show each template in a different colour. Some general points: For UK bullhead track, chairs cannot be closer than about 24" centres for standard 4-hole fishplates. Chairs can be offset slightly from the timber centre-line if necessary to achieve this. If it is unavoidable that a joint occurs between closer chairs, 2-hole fishplates may have to be used. On the other hand, rail joints should be supported as close as possible, so if the chair spacing is much greater than about 28" at a joint, additional timbers may be needed, and/or other timbers ...

... them for you. If you are entering data measured from the model( in mm ), just prefix it with the letter s (for scale).( provided you have set your model scale first, e.g. 1:45) i.e. if the heel offset measures 5.3mm, just enter s5.3 This works anywhere in Templot when asked for full-size data in inches, not only for custom switches. I'm handicapped by not having one of your turnouts to hand. However I do have a Peco 1:43.5 bullhead turnout, which I suspect may be very similar in dimensions. I shall try creating a matching custom switch, and compare with your settings. I will post again shortly with some results. But I can only repeat that this is an extremely daft thing to do. There is no rhyme or reason to try to copy a Peco switch if you are building from scratch. It would be much, much, better to use a prototype-based switch for model building. There are several already set up in Templot, ...