Quick Templot Question

[BigAndy]

Hi all,

          

        I hope this question finds a fairly straight forward reply, if not I apologise in advance!

 

A good friend of mine drew my trackplan out in Templot and therefore my working knowldege of it is pretty much zero. The issue I have at the moment is the plan was drawn out in EM with Bullhead rail chosen as the required medium, however, I now want Templot to convert the plan into Code 82 Flatbottom format.

 

Could someone please inform me how I can alter it? Bear in mind that I don't really know what I'm doing, so it would have to be in a ' guide for dummies' instruction.

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Andy

[backofanenvelope]

A good place to start to start would be over on Templot Club as there are loads of examples, videos and people in the know to help.

 

Hth

[martin_wynne]

Hi Andy,

 

Can you explain what you mean by "Code 82 Flatbottom" format?

 

Do you mean you want to use the same plan, but to print the rails showing the rail foot on the construction templates? That would be just a few clicks.

 

Or do you want to redesign the plan to represent prototype flat-bottom trackwork? That requires you to say the model period, and could potentially be a minefield -- there has been much more change in flat-bottom designs over the years than for bullhead. At the most basic level for example, it requires changing check rails from having bent ends to being straight rails with machined (chamfered) ends.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[BigAndy]

Thanks for the speedy replies fellas.

 

Martin, the period being modelled is the late 1980's and Code 82 flatbottomed rail is the code used by the manufacturer ( Peco ) - 82 being the overall height of the rail, compared to Bullhead which is Code 75 - the lower the number, the finer the rail. Looking at Photos from the late 80's, and I can only go from what I can see, the turnouts in flatbottom were pretty much the same construction as Bullhead compared with modern flatbottom turnouts, which as you correctly say, are a vastly different creature from their 1980's relatives.

 

I'm kind of hoping that it'll be just a few clicks to change............

 

cheers

 

Andy

[martin_wynne]

the period being modelled is the late 1980s

 

Hi Andy,

 

The vertical 1432mm gauge flat-bottom turnouts were introduced about 1970, so by the late 1980s many main-line turnouts would have been renewed. But not all, and not secondary lines, yards and sidings, which would still mostly have the earlier inclined 1435mm designs, and still a lot of bullhead.

 

The vertical 1432mm double-curved switches are not yet directly supported in Templot, and would need to be created as custom switches. The earlier inclined designs are fully supported. However the BS-113A versions tended to have the fully curved switches, whereas the original FB-109 turnouts from the 1950s had semi-curved switches making them effectively drop-in replacements for REA bullhead turnouts. So that would be the easiest option for converting an existing bullhead track plan.

 

So it's your decision. How big is this plan? How many turnouts? If you post again on the Templot Club forum and attach your .box file, someone may volunteer to do the conversion for you, maybe me.

 

p.s. Who is going to be building this track? Bullhead track is very much easier to build that flat-bottom, and can be well represented with model chairs. Flat-bottom is more work, and representing Pandrol clips and the earlier fixings is tricky. The late 1980s was over 25 years ago, there was still a lot of bullhead around. Unless you are modelling a main line, you could easily justify doing it all in bullhead.

 

regards,

 

Martin.