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Need to add various Atlas track items to inventory and add to layout
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DadnotGrandad
I just started using XTrackCAD (5.2.0 Beta 2.1 running under Ubuntu 20.10. Much of my HO layout has been built with Atlas sectional track (0.75 to 9-inch strait sections and 24-inch radius curved sections and 1/3 and 1/2 sections of those curves) and Atlas and Walters turnouts. I want to be able to select each of those pieces as needed to document the track I have already laid and plan the remaining track. Yes, I can find all the NMRA turnouts etc., by I need to add the other track sections and turnouts I use, and delete the items I don't use.
How do I do this? Thank you, John
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John,
Not completely clear what you are asking. Do you already have a plan that you are trying to find the elements within, or are you building a plan that documents what you have and you want to locate the parts in the library so you can use them? The second would be done using the Library - you can search for Atlas as a term and all the shipped parm files can then be loaded. File->Parameter Files->Library. The select and Add those parms. The first (finding particular parts in a layout) is a feature that will be included in the next release. Once we know what you are asking we can help more. Adam
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DadnotGrandad
Hello Adam,
I just found the answer to my question (Ctrl T) before I wrote the text shown below. Thank you for your reply. I am both building a plan that that documents the track I have laid and then once all the track has been laid elevate most sections of the layout. I am not very good with flex track unless it is straight sections or very wide radius curves (36-42 inches) as I have on the layout at my other home. In the case of the current layout, all track except for long straightaways is Atlas Code 83 sectional track with a few Walthers Code 83 24/20 and 28/24 curved turnouts. All curved sections are based on Atlas 24-inch radius curved track (4 sections per 90-degree turn). I increase the curve radii, where needed, by adding various short pieces of track (Atlas HO CODE-83 STRAIGHT TRACK ASSORTMENT) between the second and third curved pieces. I also use other pieces from the same track assortment as need to connect turnout and connect sections of curved track where the distance does not fit exactly with 9-inch straight sections. I also have cut the 24-inch radius curved sections in halves and thirds as necessary. I want to document all the track sections as well as the turnouts, and put them in a library so that I can use them in providing an accurate track plan and estimate what will happen when I put in 2% grades using the Woodland Scenics risers. John
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Hello John, I just spotted this part at the bottom of your message: "... estimate what will happen when I put in 2% grades using the Woodland Scenics risers. " I am not sure if you have seen a discussion some months back about Elevations and just how much difference did they make to track lengths? Well let me tell you, John, I got into it in a very detailed way. Spreadsheets. Calculations. Even that old guy, Pythagoras, was brought into the discussion. My module has ginormous grades, mostly 10-12% but one section has greater than 20% but then it is a cog and rack railway. So I calculated every single piece of track and multiplied and added it all together to take account for elevations. End result was I needed to buy 1 more piece of track. That was it. The effect of the grades, even though they are going to be steep, was that minor. So if you are worried about a 2% grade changing your trackage I don't think you will find very much different from the track plan. You could find changes and you might be better off to allow for the chance but I would expect any difference at 2% to be negligible. I think I still have the spreadsheets if you wanted to go through the exercise. Good luck with your designs.
On Wed, 10 Feb 2021 at 01:37, DadnotGrandad via groups.io <dadnotgrandad=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote: Hello Adam, --
-- Ian
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Andy - Arlington TX
At 2% grade, the horizontal span of a given track piece is 0.99980006 of its actual length.
In other words, in 1000" of track length (with a 20" rise), that's less than 1/5 of an inch shorter in horizontal span. If that makes a difference on your layout, then compensate for it. -- Andy - Arlington TX
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James Szinger
On Wed, 10 Feb 2021 01:47:40 +1030
"Ian" <ilox11@gmail.com> wrote: So if you are worried about a 2% grade changing your trackage I don'tI just did the math (hope it is right). For a 2% grade, the ratio between the slope and the horizonal is cos(atan(0.02)) = 0.99980006, a difference of about 0.02%. On a 2 inch rise over 100 inches that works out to about 1/50 inch. In SI units, that’s 50 mm rise over 2500 mm run with a difference of 1/2 mm. I expact that other errors will dominate. Jim
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But if you were modeling a funicular railway instead.... "Funiculi, Funiculà", is ~√2 up AND down. Any errors the young man in the song is making are perhaps going to be even more consequential than that...
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