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 Some of the earlier pages of this topic are now out-of-date.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.
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.
So on my layout i have a largeish portion of harbour side - we are talking about 4 turnouts and approx 10m of track.
It has been planned and I have all the templates stuck down ready to start track laying.
I want to fill in between the running rails and each side to make the effect of inlaid tramway track that you might see on a dock side. Timeframe is 1960s so I am assuming a concrete/tarmac infill rather than cobbles.
I am modelling in 4mm, 16.5mm gauge.
I am thinking about cutting the infills from card and wondered if templot can help. Assuming a flangeway gap of 1.5mm (is that enough?) i would need it to (in effect) draw out railheads that are 1.5mm wider than normal on the inside (so a gauge of 13.5mm). If i then stick these templates to my card, i can cut them out and they should fit the track exactly leaving a suitable flangeway.
There might be another way of doing it plotting out checkrails on the plain track..
Are either of these realistic options or is there a better templot way?
PS - i havent yet discarded the polyfilla solution, but it does sound messy......
ok, so ive done some more digging. Assuming a flangeway gap of 1.5mm. That is 4.5". Add a railhead width if 2.75" would give a distance from outer edge of rail to inside edge of flangeway of 7.25". I can see that I can modify the railhead to be that size and then alter the track gauge to 13.5mm.
Is that going to do the job?
Changing the track gauge won't give you an accurate result, because of the way the lead length is calculated.
I suggest using the flat-bottom rails option, and setting the foot-width to the required offset. For example if you want the gap to be 1.5mm, the foot-width needs to be 3mm wider than the head-width. i.e. set the foot-width to 9" more than the head width (to 11.75"). Leave the head-width unchanged at 2.75".
Ignore the outer rail-foot edges, use the inside edges to cut your infill pieces.
Use the modify group to match menu item above to change all your inlaid templates in one go.
n.b. the rail-foot appears only on the output (printed templates, not on the screen), and only for background templates (not the control template).
Martin, thank you. This all depends on building the track precisely to the template and then cutting the infills precisely too. I will give it a go and see what happens.
Thanks again
Ian
Hi Ian,
Make sure the card infill sections are well glued down. If they lift up due to not being glued down properly you can have problems.
Is the track in the harbour area being laid with copperclad sleepers and soldered joints ? If so and you are neat with the solder you get more width between the rails to make a decent glue joint.
Hi Ian.
Be wary of the Polyfiller method. I used this many years ago to represent concrete infills on a P4 layout utilising steel rivets.
The first problem I encountered was that damp Polyfiller is conductive and my first attempt to run anything, even though the filler had set, caused the controller overload to trip. It took several weeks for the resistance to fall to a usable level. The second problem was that the steel rivets rusted causing dark brown stains to appear at the surface above every rivet.
Regards
Tony.
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