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 CAD plans level 1 |
CAD plans level 2 |
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After drawing the track plan with the CAD software Raily4, I print it to scale 1 / 10th, showing only the axis of the tracks and the 1cm x 1cm grid. Then, I have to check that the printed gridlines are quite pecise because some printers may distort the subject. Therefore it is necessary avoid printing at too large scale. 1 / 10th seems to me a good compromise. To transfer accurately the CAD plan on the kraft paper, I first have to draw a grid of 10 cm x 10 cm, which corresponds to the grid Raily 1 cm x 1 cm at scale 1 / 10th. |
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After this exciting operation, I
draw the track plan on the Kraft. Therefor, I use the Raily 1/10th plan as a guide and multiply all mesures from the Raily plan by 10. For the curves, I built myself a « Homemade » compass with all the radii used on the layout. For the turnouts I also made templates with calc paper, I just have to transfer them on the Kraft paper with carbon paper. The compass and the Templates are described in the Tools/Template page. You can see on the left of the plan the 1/5th scale model of the layout. It's construction is described in the Conception / Layout Model page. This model helps me, for example, to draw the landscape at the same time that I'm drawing the track plan. |
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You can see the Raily 1/10th scale plan on the left of the Kraft. To print the Raily plan at 1/10th scale with an A4 printer, just define the printing scale on 1/10th and the printing will be made on 4 A4 sheets. You'll have then to glue together to recompose the plan. |
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When the 1/1 scale plan is finished, I just have to put it on the plywood panel that will host that part of the layout. With use of carbon paper, I simply copy down the track plan. In this case, it's the panel that will host the Coke plant area. Dimentions of the area : +/- 3,5 m x 1 m. |
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Here, the Kraft plans helps me to prepare the 8 mm plywood planks that will support the tracks of the Hidden Yard and those of the exit of the Coke Plant. That's facilitate the cutting while offering a great precision in the work process. This technique allows me to draw great length of tracks with a complex shape while keeping a precision down to the millimeter... |
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On this picture, a second Kraft paper sheet is laid down on the plan to draw the shape of the profiles that will hold the tracks and form the shape of the layout. When juxtaposing this sheet to the plan and getting inspiration from the layout scale model, I can then draw the future profile with the greatest precision possible. |
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Here are examples of profiles (H1-H2-H3-H4) made using this technique. Those profiles will support 4 different track beds at different levels. Above, the alpine station. Below, the Mine area. Through them , the tracks leading to the mine and the narrow gauge railroad by wich the wagons will come out of the mine. Moreover, they'll also support the landscape structure. This part of the layout is located above the Helix, where the mine will be. |
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This webpage has been translated by
the author and corrected by Eric Sainte |