Templot templates and laying track

[MikeH_83]

Hi all,

 

I am wondering what is the best way to deal with templot templates with the making of up of functional chaired track and then moving it into place without all the sleepers moving?  At the moment I am printing onto thin card and then cutting them out, gluing them onto cork and cutting around that.  I can then make up a section and then give it a basic weathering before moving it and gluing the ready made section onto the baseboard.  I have tried using double sided tape and then lifting it off that but as soon as I do all the sleepers end up moving all over the place which makes it difficult to lay properly 

 

I was just wondering if there is any better/easier methods?

[Poor Old Bruce]

Build the track in situ?

[hayfield]

Mike

 

If its a section of plain track, why not make a card comb to hold the sleepers whilst laying one length of rail on to the sleepers, the solvent if run along the rail, when dry will be strong enough to hold the sleepers in place during the move to the baseboard. stick the sleepers to the track bed, once set fit the other rail

[MikeH_83]

Mike

 

If its a section of plain track, why not make a card comb to hold the sleepers whilst laying one length of rail on to the sleepers, the solvent if run along the rail, when dry will be strong enough to hold the sleepers in place during the move to the baseboard. stick the sleepers to the track bed, once set fit the other rail

 

That might work, although most of mine will be on some sort of curve it could work out ok and then all I'd have to do is work out the points

[hayfield]

That might work, although most of mine will be on some sort of curve it could work out ok and then all I'd have to do is work out the points

Mike

 

With straight track you can lay both rails, the method I have explained we used on a club 7 mm scale layout

 

Turnouts are similar, I tape a piece of tracing paper to the plan, then cut strips of double sided tape about 3 mm wide and have 2 lines of tape to hold the timbers. Most chairs will hold the timbers in place. The exception being the slide chairs, super glue the slide chairs to the stock rails. When removing the tracing paper just wet the double sided tape with white spirit and it will come off very easy. carefully glue the timbers in place. The odd one may need adjusting 

[Dungrange]

Well, the approach that I plan to take is to simply leave the template in place. That is, glue the sleepers to the template and then glue the template to closed cell foam.  If leaving the template in place is good enough for Iain Rice, it's good enough for me.

[MikeH_83]

Mike

 

With straight track you can lay both rails, the method I have explained we used on a club 7 mm scale layout

 

Turnouts are similar, I tape a piece of tracing paper to the plan, then cut strips of double sided tape about 3 mm wide and have 2 lines of tape to hold the timbers. Most chairs will hold the timbers in place. The exception being the slide chairs, super glue the slide chairs to the stock rails. When removing the tracing paper just wet the double sided tape with white spirit and it will come off very easy. carefully glue the timbers in place. The odd one may need adjusting 

Brilliant that should work just nicely.  I shall give that a go.  Thanks

 

Well, the approach that I plan to take is to simply leave the template in place. That is, glue the sleepers to the template and then glue the template to closed cell foam.  If leaving the template in place is good enough for Iain Rice, it's good enough for me.

I did think about that but I was a little worried about the card peeling up over the years and making things look a little tacky 

[Izzy]

I paint the sides of the rails and chairs - both inside/outside -  with Rowney poster paint these days before removing the construction from the paper template, using white spirit as per Hayfield's suggestion. This ensures the chairs key to the rail in their correct position. Still needs handling with care but then becomes a bit like laying set track. Quite useful if like me you like to lay the track into a thin screed of pva and ballast it at the same time. I have thought at times of trying the method used by Peter Denny for all his track, built onto sub-boards of thin ply ( I think it was ply), ballasted after laying the sleepers and before the rivets/chairs/rail were added. Then laid down and the joints between the sub-bases blended in with pva/ballast after wiring up and known to work okay.

 

Izzy

[hayfield]

Well, the approach that I plan to take is to simply leave the template in place. That is, glue the sleepers to the template and then glue the template to closed cell foam.  If leaving the template in place is good enough for Iain Rice, it's good enough for me.

 

 

This is fine providing you get a good bond between the paper template and the track bed. Or as I think on at least one of Iain's layouts the paper template was stuck to the baseboard at the edges allowing the track to float.

 

Just ensure all areas that have been glued have bonded well and the correct type of glue has been used. (Avoid PVA if sound reduction is desired) 

[Poor Old Bruce]

For gentle curves and transitions, I have used nylon curtain rail. Find a rail section which doesn't have any kinks in it (some shops like to bend it double for you to get it home) and which will bend easily to the shape you require. Hold the curtain rail to shape with pins or an extra pair of hands and draw along it. It will make its own transition. Circular curves (say four feet or less, for roundy-roundy type layouts etc.) can be drawn using a length of beading with a nail through one end and a pencil through the other, use more bits of beading to support the pivot point if necessary then use the curtain rail for the transition. Your coach bogies should then pass smoothly round any curves, if the bogies are doing a dance when curving, you've got it wrong!

[Junctionmad]

For gentle curves and transitions, I have used nylon curtain rail. Find a rail section which doesn't have any kinks in it (some shops like to bend it double for you to get it home) and which will bend easily to the shape you require. Hold the curtain rail to shape with pins or an extra pair of hands and draw along it. It will make its own transition. Circular curves (say four feet or less, for roundy-roundy type layouts etc.) can be drawn using a length of beading with a nail through one end and a pencil through the other, use more bits of beading to support the pivot point if necessary then use the curtain rail for the transition. Your coach bogies should then pass smoothly round any curves, if the bogies are doing a dance when curving, you've got it wrong!

Seriously old school ,

[Poor Old Bruce]

Seriously old school ,

 

Maybe but it works and you don't need to use a computer program! Also, it may be so old that some folks have never heard of it.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Poor Old Bruce

[dasatcopthorne]

Guys.

 

I print the templates and glue them together.

 

I then glue the sleepers down. I then 'stain' the sleepers.

 

Before threading the necessary chairs on to the lengths of rails I use Casey Super Blue on them. Finally I clean the rails where they are to be soldered.

 

Once built I trim the templates back to the sleepers ends and glue the whole templates down on the underlay.

 

Dave.