martin_wynne

Are you asking about Templot plug track? The deeper timbers make it possible to have a dummy slider working below the ballast level. This is the currently intended design: The pin is retained in the slider with a soldered collar (not strictly necessary, but it makes assembly easier) which might be a small washer or a wrap of copper wire. The top of the pin is bent over and soldered to the foot of the switch blade in the usual way. If suitable pins are hard to find, the pin could be replaced with 1mm brass wire, bent over at 90 degrees below the slider. The ribs are angled at 45 degrees to enable the rib to be FDM printed more accurately. The short slot in the slider (rather than a plain hole) allows for the curving action of the open switch blade. (On a curved turnout the two timbers are not exactly parallel, although this is barely noticeable at any normal model radius.) The whole gubbins is hidden below a thin card or thick paper cover which can have some ballast sprinkled on it and/or be covered in the usual track gunge, having a couple of openings for the pins. If made from paper, the openings can be simple knife slits, which would close round the pin very effectively. Dummy model stretcher bars can then be added, which can be resin-printed and fully detailed. This drive design also maintains full daylight below the rails between the timbers, not relying on the underside of the rail to hold the switch blades down on the slide chairs -- the slider does that. On the prototype the stretcher bars do that, and can be modelled with dummy extensions. (And full dummy rodding added, if wanted.) The actual sequence of assembly is still to be determined. If built on the bench it can be fitted from below quite easily. If built in-situ, it might be necessary to insert the slider and pins before adding the rails. So far the timbering bases include the ribs for the slider, but the 3D file for the slider itself is not yet done: Notice also the seldom-modelled steel soleplate on the toe timber. (The smaller ribs alongside the other timbers are retaining ridges for self-contained dropper wires.) More info on the Templot web site as it becomes available. Martin.

@hayfield Hi John, If your resin arrives today and you are planning to try your first prints on the Alkaid, a couple of important points: 1. thoroughly clean the build plate with solvent or water/detergent before you start. It will likely still have some traces of factory dirt/grease/fingerprints on it as supplied. This is often the reason a beginner's first print fails. Ask Steve. 2. if using the ABS-Like resin, do not use the print settings contained in the Alkaid manual, which are for the standard Geeetech resin. The ABS-Like resin rafts needs a longer bottom exposure time. I will be posting my suggested settings on the Templot Club forum. Martin.

Obviously spending money has to be planned according to needs. That doesn't make "spending" a bad thing, which was my objection to the original post. Martin.

hi, In 2018 I released Templot open-source as it then was -- https://github.com/openTemplot/openTemplot When/if I get the 3D stuff to a stage where it can be regarded as stable and fully-functional, I shall do the same again. What happens to it after that will be up to others, but the code will be out there if anyone wants to take it on. Martin.

Why does spending sound like a bad thing? How do we expect to get anything worth having if we don't pay for it? Martin.

I can see your problem. But my position with Templot is that I'm 75 years old. I grew up with bullhead. I know about bullhead. As it is it's going to take me a long time to complete a full range of bullhead options in the 3D plug track. I know very little about flat-bottom, and I doubt I have enough lifetime left to find out and develop a plug track range for FB. Even a cursory glance at the subject shows a minefield of different prototypes and periods, compared with the comparative simplicity of BH where the present-day designs have been essentially unchanged for 100 years. We need a youngster with a good knowledge of present-day track to come along with a replacement program for Templot to take the whole thing forward. How about you? p.s. you can't necessarily expect a return on investment in 3D printers from track alone. Once you have the printers, a whole range of other model-making options opens up. Martin.

hi john, there was no need for the rectangular slab -- it will be blocking in the sockets no time to write more martin,

hi, if modelling Woofferton, you may be interested in this video: https://85a.uk/templot/companion/get_map_from_the_web.php martin.

hi, a) The usual way to introduce superelevation into model trackwork is to angle the baseboard risers, something like this: These can be adjusted on each cross-member to create the required cant gradients (twisting transitions) in the trackbed material at each end of the curve. n.b. these twists will cause derailments on a model unless you are modelling radii and lengths to exact scale, i.e. you are building a layout in a barn. general advice is to understate model superelevation unless you can model the cant gradients to exact scale. even then it requires models having suitable suspension. b) the two tracks would be level. the underlying trackbed is level. superelevation is done with the ballast. but to model it, split the tracks in two, as a) above. putting packing under model track makes it difficult to get a constant top and smooth cant gradient at each end. c) probably yes. but done empirically by the p.w. gang to minimise track maintenance, rather than to specific engineering drawings. martin.

hi keith, the colour doesn't much matter, but for the timbering bricks you do need the toughened PLA-PLUS filament: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FQ75QG2 what john didn't mention is that in cura you need to create a custom printer and download the curaprofile settings file which i posted. you might need to download a full version of cura rather than the cut-down bundled version supplied with printers. john did it live on a zoom meeting a couple of days ago. it's all in the zoom recordings online on templot club. i don't think you will get such good results using a standard profile supplied with a printer. john, i posted an updated profile reduced from 190 to 180degs. did you try it? works fine here, i'm interested to know your results. martin.

hi keith john is using the bricks profile for timbering, as intended. however the dimensions are optimised for 4mm/ft and i think we could have a separate profile for 7mm/ft which would print faster. this whole thing is still right at the beginning, it's about 2 years since i last did any 7mm stuff myself. martin.

the jigs last well. they just need a bit more TLC than metal jigs, see: https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?threads/using-the-templot-rail-filing-jigs.728/ martin.

@hayfield hi john they are available now: see: https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?threads/using-the-templot-rail-filing-jigs.728/ martin.

Hi John, Whoah! You have made a mistake! You have sliced a timbering base with the profile settings intended for filing jigs. It will print much faster than the first A switch part, and the quality will be very poor. Change to the bricks profile and slice again. So much to think about! martin.

@polybear hi brian, the default thickness in 4mm/ft scale is 3.2mm (1/8"). you can set whatever you want, but if less than 3mm the loose jaws option doesn't work, and the plugs will not clip into place. the suggested bottom ballast layer is crumbled/broken cork (pet shops - reptile bedding). with a thin top layer of crushed walnut shell ballast. you can set whatever you want -- this applies to everything in plug track. just like the rest of templot, it is a workshop tool for folks who know what they want. martin.

which explains why the rail in templot plug track is all vertical and we are not touching canted rail with a bargepole, ever. if you want canted rail (no-one can see the difference) plug track is not for you. on the prototype all check rails are vertical, and from 1970 to 2000 all pointwork renewals were vertical. martin.

hi. the prototype switch opening is 4.1/4" = 1.42mm for P4 for EM and 00-SF the recommended opening is 1.75mm which can be set using a 20p coin as a spacer. for standard 00 the recommended opening is 2.0 mm. martin.

thanks for all the comments on plug track. apologies for my one-finger lower case typing. i have severely injured my left arm and it's the best i can do at present. why rectangular plugs? the default recommended option at least for 4mm and above is that you DON'T slide the chairs on the rail. the chairs are fitted in the timbers FIRST, which means the rail isn't there to align them. the rail is then dropped onto them, and the loose jaw part is inserted to clip the rail into place. round plugs would not be large enough to contain the deep slots needed for the loose jaw pins. the chairs clip into the timbers with a click, and this is much easier to design with rectangular plugs. no glue is needed. plug track is just one man's idea. a lot of folks seem to like it. but now that 3d printing of track is taking off i'm sure others will be coming up with different ideas. there is a lot more information about plug track on the templot club forum. martin.

Thanks John. Here is James's video: Martin.

Hi John, "A" switches have a sharper 1:24 deflection angle, which makes them unsuitable for running lines. An A-6 is far more prototypical than a B-6, but is found only in yards and sidings. A B-6 is rare on the prototype, but is a good modeller's compromise. It's the shortest turnout which can be used in running lines and look the part, and the gentler 1:32 "B" deflection means a B-6 turnout can be curved within reason if necessary. An A-6 turnout can't be curved much, if at all, except in the contraflexure direction. If you wanted to make the shortest practical curved crossover in running lines for example, it would have a B-6 turnout on the outside, and an A-6 turnout on the inside. I think Wayne has made the right decision for 00/EM, given that if you want a short turnout he already does an A-5. A B-6 will be more useful as an in-between size from the B-7. No doubt the Scalefour Society have chosen A-6 because they don't yet have an A-5 in P4, and might have chosen either of them. cheers, Martin.

Are we even sure it will be a railway? It would make a fine dedicated fast trolleybus way, with hybrid battery buses diverting off to serve local towns. No need then to go anywhere near Euston. Instead of taking the through traffic off WCML, why not take the local traffic off instead? It's already been announced that some of the mythical "saved" money will be spent on buses. Martin.

That's making more work for the moderators than if you were left free to correct it yourself. I've been running a web forum for over 20 years and I have never locked anything yet. Very occasionally remove or edit stuff. Martin.

How does locking it in place prevent that? Unwanted content should be removed, not locked in place. There is no reason why Warners should have any material hosted on their servers which they don't want there. Just delete it. Locking a topic prevents those who have contributed to it from updating or amending it with new or corrected information. The internet is awash with utter rubbish and if you own an internet server it's important to make some effort to prevent Google indexing the rubbish for 100 years. Martin.

If it was thought young folk would affect the result, there would be sensible choices. They have all grown up with brains undamaged by tetraethyl lead. They are not as daft as they sometimes look. Martin.