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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 Some of the earlier pages of this topic are now out-of-date.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.

Very minor problem, but... ... Irish S double track spacings

Quick reply >
@Simon Dunkley

Hi Simon,

Thanks for spotting that. Fixed in the next program update soon.

Set to 55.76mm = 140.5" = 6ft way at 5ft-3in gauge and BS-95R rails.

I have also ensured that all the Irish settings now change the default timbering to 9ft sleepers. I should have done that when I changed the overall default from 9ft to 8ft-6in sometime in the last century. :( No-one has ever mentioned it.

n.b. note that if changing back from Irish to say standard EM, the sleepers will remain on 9ft, until you change them.

Now all we need to know is how many folks are actually modelling Irish railways in S scale? You might be the only one. :)

cheers,

Martin.
 
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message ref: 1491
Two States in Australia had their first railways built by Irish engineers, Jim, and so adopted 5’3” gauge.
In hindsight, that was a more suitable gauge for a worldwide standard: an extra 3” available for the diameter of inside cylinders, greater stability, and the chance of a bigger loading gauge.
...but as the old saw goes, “If it’s there you want to get to, I wouldn’t start from here.”
 
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message ref: 1495
Fairly early on at the beginning of the NSWGR after the Government took over the
Sydney Railway Company and when John Whitton had been appointed Engineer-in-Chief,
Mr Whitton, looking ahead top the connection of NSW railways with the Victoria colony's Railways,
had suggested re-gauging from standard to 5'3". After all the fighting over the gauge used initially
no one was interested so it didn't happen. If it had there would have been a good chance that the
Australian National Railways would have been built to the same standard.

Matt M.
 
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message ref: 1496
I am working on a layout design for a friend, and things still are not working properly. The six foot settings are still coming out at 11’2” centres, despite the wider gauge, and the sleepers are 9’6” long.

On top of that, pdf file output is coming out oversize: the gauge is 26.6mm instead of 25mm, and the sleepers are also oversized (on top of them being 6” longer than they should be!) by a similar 6.4%.

Might it be easier to start with standard S, and simply adjust the gauge to 25mm?
 
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message ref: 5377
@Simon Dunkley

Hi Simon,

1. PDF

Did you remember to change the PDF print settings to Actual Size / 100% / No Scaling ? This is not the default setting on most PDF reader programs. If not, all bets are off. :(

If you did change it, which program are you using to print the PDF? If it's Firefox, I just got exactly the same results as you! (On Windows 11.) This is serious -- it means the Firefox PDF reader is not working properly and lots of folks may be using Templot templates which are wrong. I need to do some more testing on this and shout about it. Other PDF programs may be using the same code.

So I used a different PDF reader program, set 100% Actual Size -- and it worked perfectly and printed the correct sizes, including 9ft sleepers (42.9mm). Huge sigh of relief that there isn't a major flaw suddenly appeared in Templot!

It's easy to check -- the blue grid lines by default are at 150mm spacing.

2. track centres

You have found a bug. Well not exactly a bug, just something I didn't make clear:

centres_bug.png


This dialog works only for standard gauge tracks and BS-95R rail width. Sorry it doesn't make that clear.

For narrow-gauge, broad gauge, Irish gauge, and any other track gauge or rail section -- do not click the continue button.

Use only the buttons in the red box to set your track centres.

Sorry about that. Many thanks for reporting it.

Tony has already taken me to task about the unclear working of this dialog, and I'm doing something about it for the next program update.

cheers,

Martin.
 
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message ref: 5379
Thanks for that, Martin.

The sleeper length was my error - forgot to allow for the oversize output when measuring them. Should have double checked, but am currently trapped in a Kafka-esque loop with the local planning department and also conveyancing solicitors. Designing track for a friend is but light relief!

Easy to make the amendment to the track centres: I had manually made the adjustment anyway.

Thanks for the tip for the printing out. As it happens, if I go via Adobe, I can choose 100% or just "Exact size" and it is fine, but if I simply send the pdf to the printer directly, it ****s up!

This simply confirms my suspicions/doubts about printer manufacturers, but such language would not be appropriate here...
 
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message ref: 5391
You have found a bug. Well not exactly a bug, just something I didn't make clear:
@Simon Dunkley

Hi Simon,

I have now changed the wording on the track spacing dialog:

spacing_dialog.png


There is no actual change to any of the functions, just a bit more explanation of the dialog.

Will be in the next program update.

cheers,

Martin.
 
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message ref: 5448
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