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TEMPLOT 3D PLUG TRACK - To get up to speed with this experimental project click here.   To watch an introductory video click here.   See the User Guide at Bexhill West.

  • The Plug Track functions are experimental and still being developed. Some of the earlier pages of this topic are now out-of-date.

    For an updated overview of this project see this topic.   For some practical modelling aspects of using Plug Track see Building 3D Track.

    The assumption is that you have your own machines on which to experiment, or helpful friends with machines. Please do not send Templot files to commercial laser cutting or 3D printing firms while this project is still experimental, because the results are unpredictable and possibly wasteful.

    Some pages of this and other topics include contributions from members who are creating and posting their own CAD designs for 3D printing and laser-cutting. Do not confuse them with Templot's own exported CAD files. All files derived from Templot are © Martin Wynne.
  • The Plug Track functions are experimental and still being developed.

    For an updated overview of this project see this topic.   For some practical modelling aspects of using Plug Track see Building 3D Track.

    The assumption is that you have your own machines on which to experiment, or helpful friends with machines. Please do not send Templot files to commercial laser cutting or 3D printing firms while this project is still experimental, because the results are unpredictable and possibly wasteful.

    Some pages of this and other topics include contributions from members who are creating and posting their own CAD designs for 3D printing and laser-cutting. Do not confuse them with Templot's own exported CAD files. All files derived from Templot are © Martin Wynne.

New Series on YouTube

Quick reply >
The first series shows some very accomplished modelling, only skipped through two items as James contacted me a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea about him making a video about Templot, I will have a chat with him over the next few days.

I have watched the first 14 mins and the presentation style is very good, perhaps some of his assumptions will alter over time as he gets used to Templot and finds more features. However clearly dispels some myths on how hard it is to use
 
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@James Walters

Thanks for finding that video Richard.

One thing I've noticed James is that you were dragging the mouse with the button down when using the mouse actions. That's fine if you prefer to do that, but it's generally more comfortable to do click-move-click-again when you want to make careful and precise adjustments. That's similar to many CAD programs.

I can see you were dragging because Templot puts a bullet dot on the mouse action panel when it detects you are doing that:

drag_bullet.png


p.s. When you were adjusting the transition curve, you could have swapped quickly between adjusting the 1st or 2nd radius by clicking the triangle icon on that panel. The same applies for swapping between adjusting the transition start position and transition zone length. And for many similar linked adjustments in Templot.

Something which always puzzles me in all software demos on YouTube, not just Templot, is that folks use a font for the menus which is so small it's impossible to read after YouTube's smudgy MP4 video encoding. If you look at my own videos at:

https://85a.uk/templot/companion/online_video_list.php

you can see that I use a much larger font for the menus, which is readable.

There is nothing Templot can do to control the menu font size, it's a Windows setting and up to you. The easy way to change it, and lots of other Windows annoyances, is to use Sergey Tkachenko's Winaero-Tweaker program (free) from:

https://winaero.com/winaero-tweaker/

Sergey is also the author of the formatted text editor which is used on the Templot sketchboard.

cheers,

Martin.
 
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Thank you Martin for your very clear and helpful suggestions.

As will have been very clear from the video I am still a novice 'Templotter', but the learning curve has been steep and thoroughly enjoyable. My trackwork thus far has been PECO OO (I know - I'm sorry), and I just couldn't live with it any longer. This was prompted by a visit to the Rother Valley Railway a couple of months back where I was shown what is reputed to be the longest curved turnout on a preserved railway. I looked at it awestruck, it was quite remarkable. At that point I realised that the trackwork was as much a model as the structures and rolling stock which I have been building and that I really ought to do something about it.
Just today I picked up a Trackwork Engineering Handbook, which is full of prototype data. So with that, guidance from this site and lots of helpful advice from Hayfield I am slowly making progress.

I shall look into Winareo-Tweaker - that sounds like a great solution.

Best wishes,
James

ps. I attach a photo of my inspiration :)

Curved Points.jpg
 
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Hi James,

Completely off topic but I noticed you are in Bexhill. My late father-in-law was raised by three maiden aunts in Bexhill and they were all characters (straight out of an Ealing Comedy.) Latterly one of them managed to prang her Morris 1100 and because of her age they took away her driving license, but that didn't stop her. "What are they going to do? Throw me in jail?"

She was around 90 by then.

Andy (in darkest Idaho)
 
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Hi Andy, that sounds about right. It is often said that the retired move to Eastbourne, from where they visit their parents in Bexhill.
Or as Spike Milligan called it 'a cemetery above ground' :)
 
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I happened to take a photo of that very long curved turnout a few years ago, just after it was laid. I'm sure the pic is on here somewhere! I understand it was built by LUL trainees to see what could actually be done. Time will tell.
 
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