... topic: 287 OT-Mac Computers posted: 17 Dec 2007 23:50 from: Raymond Gibson Hi Martin, I am still (after six months) pondering on upgrading from my existing computer& having done various costings, long term projections& looked at working examples have decided that the large Mac computers are the best for my future requirements. Am I correct in believing that Templot will not directly work on this range of computers, but that it would need Windows XP installing as a secondary system? (It would be nice to dispense with Windows altogether!!). Many thanks. posted: 18 Dec 2007 14:29 from: roger_laishley Raymond I too am a Mac user, and can happily confirm that Templot runs very well indeed (and very fast) on the new iMac computers. You can do this in two ways: Either you install the latest Mac OSX, which is 10.5 (and called Leopard), which has an optional installer for a programme called BootCamp. This OS will be pre-loaded with any new ...

... topic: 2805 File names appearing on screen and on prints posted: 12 Dec 2015 09:01 from: Gordon S When I am designing a layout, I will save variants each time as I develop the plan, so I can always go back to an earlier version if the latest changes don't work. Once I have finished work, I may not return to Templot for several days or weeks and then can always pick up where I finished in the start up programme. Returning to the last images on screen is not an issue, but when I get there I may not be able to recall which version I was working on. I've searched high and low, but can't find a place where the file name appears on screen or within the menu items. I'm guessing it is there somewhere but blowed if I can find it. This then continues into printed items where I may end up with several templates taped together of various versions and it would be really useful if the file name appeared somewhere on the printed sheets. Apologies again, ...

... topic: 2720 About the docs yet again posted: 3 Jul 2015 20:36 from: Martin Wynne Dear all, Long-standing members will sigh to see yet another post in which Martin agonises about the Templot documentation. We have been here before with numerous false starts and second thoughts, and we are no further forward. Today I have been surveying all through the Templot web site, and really it is an awful mess, having developed piecemeal over 15 years or more. There is no overall structure or plan at all, and great swathes of it are out of date. It is not surprising that beginners find it so difficult to find information. For me creating the Templot program itself is a piece of cake compared with the task of writing and maintaining the documentation for it, and I have to concede that I have failed miserably in that regard. My only consolation is that nowadays no-one is paying me for any of it. Here is a run through the present state of affairs: 1. First there is the ...

... topic: 3102 Irregular double slip diamond crossing. posted: 10 Oct 2017 06:49 from: Damien Morris As being new to templot, found the video showing how to convert intersection into diamond. Can you then convert the diamond into a double slip? posted: 10 Oct 2017 07:05 from: Stephen Freeman Yes but depends on the angles being sensible of course. posted: 10 Oct 2017 07:10 from: Damien Morris 43e042e20647a2d60012e447214bc442.p ng I'm trying it with the left one, and the angles are really shallow, but I think the one on the right will be tight. But it's only a single slip the 2nd. Last edited on 10 Oct 2017 07:11 by Damien Morris posted: 10 Oct 2017 07:35 from: Damien Morris Here is some more info. 7834a39fc13dc2e3abb41f2a4115d582.p ng 73bce865bedcce572c99c7f5c4661f08.p ng I am learning how to do the elements I need to design the layout, as there are other things I've yet to figure out how to get right. Like line up 2 different radius, so they meet without a flat ...

... topic: 2956 Coding for beginners posted: 25 Dec 2016 14:28 from: Martin Wynne As I've mentioned in the past, Templot is written in Delphi, which is a visual version of Pascal. Nowadays it is expensive to buy Delphi -- gone are days of free cut-down versions on computer magazine cover disks. But Lazarus is an open-source clone of Delphi, works well, and is entirely free: http://www.lazarus-ide.org If anyone is looking to try program coding, Lazarus is an excellent choice and easy to use. Martin. posted: 26 Dec 2016 09:14 from: Jim Guthrie Well worth a look for anyone interested in programming, especially since it's free. I used Delphi to write software to run the core of my business and it was so much easier to use than the competition- C++ at the time- and so much faster to compile. I could do almost interactive coding by writing a few lines, then compile and debug to see if they worked. With other compilers ...

... topic: 3109 What is this formation called? posted: 13 Oct 2017 17:05 from: Ian Bunch 1815_131204_200000000.jpg posted: 13 Oct 2017 17:09 from: Ian Bunch This is Stretford Bridge junction at Craven Arms where the BCR diverged from the Shrewsbury Hereford line. I've been trying to design something similar but with the inside curve on a more consistent radius. posted: 13 Oct 2017 17:23 from: Rob Manchester Hi Ian, It is a double track mainline with a double lead junction to the branch that soon becomes single track. It doesn't offer any real advantage over a single lead junction except that it can protect a train coming off the branch from a head-on collision with a train that overruns a signal (SPAD)travelling from the bottom of the picture. Rob posted: 13 Oct 2017 17:49 from: Martin Wynne Hi Ian, I don't know a specific name, but it needs one. It's not an ordinary double-junction because the branch tracks are converging and do not need to maintain a ...

... topic: 117 Fremington North Yard posted: 29 Jul 2007 05:44 from: Rextanka Hello, This is my first post in the new forum, and very nice the forum is too. I'm much preferring the denizens of such places to those that lurk on lists, I think perhaps it's because actual modelling is being done on the fora I started this topic to discuss the challenges of going from a layout sketch to a workable plan, and I have a specific plan in mind. Martin has very kindly offered to help with this so I created the topic so we can talk about it, hopefully this will be of great utility to other members. The layout in question is a P4/Demu challenge layout. For those not familiar I have a thread on a different forum discussing the construction of the layout, I'll keep this thread mainly for the specific topic of the track work. The challenge is described in some detail in the first post of the topic, together with a wonderful link to a youtube film that has a signalman from ...

... topic: 1074 To Vee or not to Vee, that is the question posted: 11 Mar 2010 14:25 from: Dellboy Hello I am about to start some point building, initally using copperclad sleepers (a first for me) for the hidden storage sidings and then using riveted sleepers for the rest of the trackwork. Code 75 rail with C&L flexitrack for the plain track. In the dim distant past I built points using rail soldered onto tacks driven in sleepers and then progressed onto the 'new' system of rivet/sleeper construction with whitemetal cosmetic chairs. That dates me a bit! My sequence used to be to set up the main stock rail as one continuous rail for the full length of the point followed by the Vee, then the turnout stock rail, then the wing rails through to the switches with the check rails going in last. For three -way points all the vees would be installed after the first stock rail (starting with the Vee furthest from the switches). Similar approach for diamonds, slips and ...

... topic: 1367 System crashes when zooming and manipulating with large background file size posted: 10 Feb 2011 22:10 from: Brian Nicholls Hi Martin, Sorry to say I think I have found a fault that crashes my system. The crash occurs when I use one of my large size bitmap files of Birmingham New Street as background in Templot, (with, I might add, no other application running on my PC). The bitmap file loads perfectly OK and provided I do not zoom in too much I can carry on working ad-infinitum (as far as I can estimate). However, when I zoom in very close for alignment purposes, and try to manipulate the control template, it crashes the system. Without the large background file loaded, Templot works fine right up to, and including the largest zoom factors, it is only when I have the large file version of background on the workpad does the problem occur. Please note, if I use smaller background files, these do not seem to give rise to the ...

... topic: 3810 Track planning over a map- Oxenholme posted: 7 Nov 2020 21:00 from: Paul Kirkwood Martin, Having slowly worked my way to getting maps downloaded from web and cropped together (a real boon in my book!). I've made a start on overlaying a design making good use of the various video clips you put together showing how things can be done, It's certainly helped me avoid going the long way round and making educated guesses through the process! But, I've run into a small problem that I think might be resolved by clip D (which has yet to appear!). In a similar situation to the end of clip C, I have a four track crossover where the first double junction is completed with a length of plain line leading to where the turnout of other double junction will be. Not having risked "having a dabble" at the menu's, is there a method to move that length of plain line across the third line and create a turnout? I know pictures would speak a thousand ...