Hand Drawing Track Elements


F

fotoflojoe

Member
After playing with XtrackCad and SCARM, I've decided that until I have a much more complete and solid idea for a track plan, I'm going to draw them by hand. The above programs are excellent, however, my low skill level doesn't allow me to experiment with a design by "doodling" in them yet.

Seems much quicker to ink in my bench work on graph paper, then scribble away as ideas come to me.

For hand drawing, I'll work in 3/4" to the foot scale.

I've got a firm grasp on straight track (ruler) and curves (compass), but I'm not completely sure about turnouts.

When drawing a "#X" turnout, is it really as straight-forward as: measure X units along the straight from point A to point B, measure over one unit from point B (either right or left as appropriate) to point C, then draw the diverging leg as a line between points A and C?

That seems logical to me, but I'd like to be sure - I don't want my drawings going off into fantasy land. :rolleyes:

How might one draw other elements, such as a wye or curved turn-out?

Can anyone point me toward a link that would have this information?
When I googled for it, the only results that came back were for full-size track templates, and track plans that the user had hand-drawn.
My search-fu has failed me... :(

Thanks for reading!
 
Found using using 10x10 grid paper (X&Y lines at 0.1" spacing) great for doing freehand & drafted drawings. Use it w/ an Engineer ruler using either the 10 or 20 scales.
 
I think you're mostly correct with the ratios, but I think there's more to it than that. The curvature of the rails can cause the outcome to be a little different than simply a ratio. And unless you're hand laying turnouts you'll need to have more specific dimensions of the manufacturers' products in order to have a reliable drawing.

All these things are exactly why I gave up doing 'doodling' on paper. It is quick and simple, but I found that anything I doodled was impossible to transpose to a CAD program.

I do have several years experience with XTrakCAD and various other software packages (SketchUp, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop/InDesign, Microsoft Visio, etc etc) and I'm fairly proficient with each of them. I can now 'doodle' more accurately in XTrak and have a good time doing so. It's worth spending time in the program, I think.

I've also found it fairly easy to make sections of track, like a siding, the way I want and then slide it into the area of the layout it needs to be. That's pretty hard to do with pencil and paper.

To your point about penning in the benchwork and then drawing the layout on top, I do the same thing (digitally) but wonder if it's better to just draw the areas that are acceptable for layout, then the tracks on top, then go back and design benchwork underneath.
 
All #6s are not created equal

Hand-drawing track plans can work fine. But general rules-of-thumb for drawing turnouts may not be accurate enough in areas where many turnouts are joined.

turnouts_build-up.gif


In this example, three #6 turnouts are combined in an arrangement like a pinwheel ladder yard throat. As can be seen, the dimensions of the combined turnouts differ significantly by brand. So it's important to use templates accurately-sized to the brand of turnouts you plan to use in tight areas. Note that there is even variability in the Fast Tracks turnouts (designed from the NMRA HO #6 pattern), depending on whether one builds them to the minimum size possible on the jig (for tight areas) or the typical size on the jig.
 
There should be a stencil for turn outs and diamonds etc. I know my old man bought one a while back from the hobby shop and used that to hand draw our layout (his now cuz I hardly use it). That seems to be effective and easy of drawing is easier for you


Sent from the past
 
TwrOpr 87 said:
There should be a stencil for turn outs and diamonds etc. I know my old man bought one a while back from the hobby shop and used that to hand draw our layout (his now cuz I hardly use it). That seems to be effective and easy of drawing is easier for you


Sent from the past
Click to expand...

I remember those! Never used one. Now I can't remember who made them. The slots for the turnouts always looked wrong to me.

IIRC they were a greenish colored plastic.

As to Xtrackcad. It does have a steep learning curve, but if you follow the demos in the help section, and if necessary use the online tutorials, you'll be drawing in no time. I've been using since version 1.2.
 
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I started out using graph paper and ended up frustrated at the amount of time I was spending with a straight edge, compass, pencil, and ERASER, only to find I was off, in the end. I discovered AnyRail a couple years ago. I highly recommend it. It is user friendly and highly intuitive in application. The free demo version allows you to play with fifty pieces. The fifty bucks I paid for the full version was well worth it. Updates are free and the software designers are fairly receptive to suggestions.

Jason in Colorado.
 
TwrOpr 87 said:
There should be a stencil for turn outs and diamonds etc. I know my old man bought one a while back from the hobby shop and used that to hand draw our layout (his now cuz I hardly use it). That seems to be effective and easy of drawing is easier for you


Sent from the past
Click to expand...

I saw one of those today too. Well, almost... I was at the Greenberg show today in Wilmington, ma, and a couple vendors had them for O scale, but I didn't see any for HO. CJCrescent: You're right, they're greenish plastic colored.

Thanks for the help all!
 
Use grid paper to layout your design. a #6 switch is about 12" long. Just be generous with switch space. Don't try to put too much in a small space. If you have a tight area or a yard throat it is best to draw what you want then lay out that area in a cad program or full scale on the floor to check fit.

Steve
 
fotoflojoe said:
I saw one of those today too. Well, almost... I was at the Greenberg show today in Wilmington, ma, and a couple vendors had them for O scale, but I didn't see any for HO. CJCrescent: You're right, they're greenish plastic colored.

Thanks for the help all!
Click to expand...

Wow, with the advent of all the trackplanning software, free or a payfor, I'm surprised that those things are still available. If so I bet they are in the Walthers catalog somewhere.
 
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