martin_wynne

3 hours ago, Philou said:

Hats off! I have to take my hat off to those that construct their own track. I spent about three hours threading some bridge chairs onto some bullhead rail that @lezz01 kindly sent me. How do you do it? Despite having still nimble fingers and longish nails, the chairs had a bad habit of refusing to sit the right way up or would 'ping' off onto the floor

Just to mention that if you go the plug track route you never need to thread chairs onto rail. Or to chamfer the end of the rail. The rail drops into the chair, and is clipped in place by inserting the loose jaw:

Martin.

On 25/04/2024 at 09:21, MikuMatt81 said:

In an ideal world, I would like to slowly replace the main track with Peco or C&L Code 75 (OO gauge) bullhead track, but I know given the tight constraints of my layout, Im stuck within the geomtry of those 1st radius insultfrog points.

 

Now Im sure this idea I have in my head is pie in the sky, but would it be at all feasable to hand build a sort of "faux bullhead" style code 75 point using say parts from a C&L kit? obviously it wont be prototypical geometry, but it really doesnt have to be... I just want something that looks a bit finer with the correct sleeper spacing, and nothing more.

 

So is there any hope here for something better? or have I finally lost the plot? 😂

@MikuMatt81

Hi,

You haven't lost the plot, and all is not lost. 🙂

You just need to think in terms of industrial turnouts, and get into Templot.

Industrial turnouts are very often flat-bottom, but not always. You can find plenty of very short bullhead turnouts in old industrial sidings. The Peco Set-Track turnouts are very close to a 9ft-1:3.75 bullhead turnout, having a model radius of 18 inches in 00 gauge. Here I have overlaid one in Templot on the Peco plan which you posted:

If you get into 3D printing that would be very easy to build.

Templot can create all the files you need to create this on 3D printers, and the filing jigs needed to make the rail parts:

See about Plug Track at: https://85a.uk/templot/club/

Martin.

3 hours ago, Philou said:

the Templot programme together with the British Finetrax pointwork (from the two Wynnes),

@Wayne Kinney

Hi Philip,

Just to clarify that there is no connection between Wayne Kinney and myself. We are not two of anything.

Wayne is trading as the proprietor of BritishFinescale and supplier of the Finetrax kits.

Templot software is my hobby project available for use by anyone free of charge. I am not trading commercially.

Martin.

10 hours ago, melmerby said:

Like this

 

Bus is actually in the garage!☹️

 

It's worth changing the base map to "Bright":

2 hours ago, Nick C said:

The one our bus company offers is utterly useless as it always wants to tell you the next bus - from the start of the route. Not much use if you're waiting for the one that's due at your stop in 5 minutes, and so started it's journey half an hour ago...

Try: https://bustimes.org/map

Covers all bus companies with GPS trackers. Tracks buses moving -- and the colour of each one. Updates about every 60 seconds. Click on a bus to see a picture of it, registration number, where it has been all day, the date of the last oil change, ...

Martin.

16 minutes ago, BWsTrains said:

Now I'm confused.

 

I thought the A and B in A5 B7 of these Turnouts and Slips referred to switch size as per this table:

 

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

 

If you change the Switch Size in Templot using "Template" then "Switch Settings" an A5 is extended when you change it to B5. Isn't that what The Fatadder is asking about? What am I missing here?

Hi,

That is referring to turnouts.

The present discussion is about slips.

For diamond-crossings and slips, the overall size is controlled by just 2 things -- the crossing angle and the track gauge. The type of switch used within a slip does not change its overall size. It changes the internal radius of the slip road, and the space available for the K-crossing check rails, but it does not change the overall size of the slip.

That becomes obvious when you remember that a slip is simply a modified diamond-crossing. A diamond-crossing does not have a switch of any type or size.

cheers,

Martin.

17 minutes ago, Dominion said:

I believe in Templot t for a double slip the blade tips start one further timber towards the centre to allow space and clearance

This is an OPTION in Templot. You can set it to whatever you want:

I get a bit irritated when folks say Templot does this, or Templot does that. Templot is a workshop TOOL -- it does whatever you set it to do.

cheers,

Martin.

1 hour ago, The Fatadder said:

I should really have checked this already, can anyone confirm if the double slip is an A or B switch?  My templot plan has it drawn as an A7 slip but I have a feeling I should have drawn it as a B7... (or does it not make any difference with a slip?)

 

From what I can see on the website it just describes it as a 1:7 slip  

Hi Rich,

The switch size doesn't make any difference to the overall size of the slip which is governed only by the crossing angle and the track gauge.

If you used the make slip function in Templot, a 1:7 slip will have B-type switches. It doesn't matter whether you start from an A-7 turnout or a B-7 turnout, the 1:7 slip will have B-type switches.

I believe Wayne uses the same Templot designs for the Finetrax kits. The kits are supplied with suitable machined switch blades, so there is no actual need to be concerned with the size of the switch.

The only way to create a 1:7 slip with A-type switches would be to create it yourself in Templot using multiple partial templates, instead of using the make slip function. It would still fit in the same overall size footprint as a 1:7 slip with B-type blades.

cheers,

Martin.

1 hour ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

Surely no one would argue that this wasn't a dam.

Well there's me. I would call it a retaining wall.

It's definitely not enough to block the flow of this topic. 🙂

Martin.

1 hour ago, Stray said:

If the base of a raised earth embankment is below the normal water level of a reservoir, it's a dam. If the base of a raised earth embankment is above the normal water level of a reservoir,  it's a Bund. 

If the base is above the water level, it seems not to serve much purpose?

Or maybe this is an "add a caption" competition?  This is the Whacky Signs topic. 🙂

"Hilly footpath to lake."

"Cut strawberries in half and place on top of Weetabix."

Martin.

1 hour ago, melmerby said:

You are talking rubbish. The Elan Valley reservoirs have dams across the end, whether they block a watercourse or not is irrelevant, it's still a dam.

Bartley reservoir has a dam at the NE end that's what they call the earth mound across the end.

If the dams didn't block a watercourse the Elan Valley reservoirs would take a very long time to fill up!

The correct term for an earth mound or embankment to retain water in a storage reservoir, as at Bartley, is a bund, not a dam:

 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bund

The word dam means to block or stop something. There was nothing to be blocked or stopped at Bartley when they built the reservoir. If that's what they call the earth mound, they are the ones talking rubbish. 🙂

Here's the bund around the reservoir at Trimpley, well-known to passengers on the Severn Valley Railway, which runs alongside it.

With not a whacky sign in sight. This topic drift needs damming up. 🙂

cheers,

Martin.

34 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Frankley might not have a dam but there's one right next door at Bartley:

Bartley is a reservoir, not a dam. Its inflow is from the Elan Aqueduct, not by blocking a watercourse:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartley_Reservoir

It's Bill Oddie country.

Martin.

11 minutes ago, Chris M said:

There is actually a dam at Frankley

 

No there isn't. The dams are 70 miles away in the middle of Wales:

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elan_aqueduct

Martin.

A more likely candidate might be the North & West line, which runs right past the Woofferton transmitter site. It's known to affect the railway, see:

 https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11054498.bbc-radio-transmitter-disrupts-trains-between-leominster-and-ludlow/

At one time it was broadcasting Voice Of America on short-wave to Europe. Over the years there have been local mutterings about strange foreign language interference with radio and tv reception, conspiracy theories about what is really going on there, dangers to health from mobile phones, etc.

Martin.

1 hour ago, Mallard60022 said:

Check the date of the Video?

P

First thing I did.

Posted yesterday (5th April). Contains screenshots of radio signal dated yesterday (5th April).

Martin.

Using the rails this is a bit silly. But an extra cable in the cable ducts?

1 hour ago, airnimal said:

Stephen,  I have the timetable here and the route doesn't change at all. It runs every 30 minutes and is the same Monday through till Friday. Why would they put Friday only and not Friday on the same line both showing the same time ?

Maybe, see: https://tfgm.com/public-transport/bus/routes/42b-woodford

42B Woodford to Piccadilly Gardens bus route
On Friday and Saturday evenings, from 8pm to 1am, bus services will divert around the Curry Mile in Rusholme. Services will divert from Wilmslow Rd onto Platt Lane, turn right along Lloyd St to Moss Lane East to resume their normal route.

On this map you can watch the buses running:

https://bustimes.org/services/42-piccadilly-gardens-heaton-lane-bus-station-stan#map

If you click on a bus, you can see where it has been all day, or if you click on the Flickr link you can see pictures of the actual bus. This is so you can recognise it when it arrives, and not mistake it for a milk float or a fire engine:

https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=SK23CSF or "SK23 CSF" or Stagecoach 11730&sort=date-taken-desc

Martin.

linked from https://img.radioparadise.com/slideshow/720/74912.jpg

36 minutes ago, jcredfer said:

Within a mile of here are three tiny roads, not really even single track, basic farm tracks and yes, they are on sat-navs.

Many of the sat-navs use the data from OpenStreetMap because unlike Google it's free: https://www.openstreetmap.org

Anyone can edit OpenStreetMap, you just need to register an account on there.

If you say where these narrow lanes are, I will edit OSM accordingly. If there is an actual sign saying No Through Road it will be legitimate to put a break in the road. Or if they look like farm tracks from the aerial images it will be legitimate to change them from roads to tracks. It might take a month or two before the sat-navs update their maps from the OSM database, but they will do so eventually.

Martin.

37 minutes ago, Ramblin Rich said:

"Vehicles must be parked within bays" feels better. Fewer words too.

But that means you must park your vehicle, whether you want to or not.

"No parking outside of bays" would be the usual wording.

Better would be "Please park within the marked bays only. Thank you."

39 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Totally agree. It’s this near obsession with the ‘6 foot way’ that’s the root cause of the problem. Far too much emphasis on this nominal figure in modelling circles rather than the standard structure gauge minimum figures. Doubt it will ever change though.

 

Bob

Templot sorts it out for you. Select the required prototype WAY dimension and Templot will calculate and use the required model track CENTRES.

For 00 etc. the distance between the rails is increased accordingly.

On sharp curves increase the WAY setting to ensure adequate running clearance. Or you can use the dummy vehicle function to find out and set the required increased track centres.

Martin.

Just now, Wayne Kinney said:

Patrick started the thread, however martin has been editing and changing the thread title through the years as he is a mod...

@Wayne Kinney

Hi Wayne,

I have limited moderator privileges on this section of RMweb only, because it specifically references Templot.

I have updated the title to refer to the Scalefour Society for the P4 kits. Are you planning to add them to your own web site?

cheers,

Martin.

@Wayne Kinney

Hi Wayne,

Just a heads-up that the template download link on your website for the 00-SF A5 is actually for the Standard 00 A5.

cheers,

Martin.