Yesterday I had planned to put together another loco break-in article using Rokuhan track, but ran in to a small snag when using AnyRail software for the graphics. Track bits weren’t quite matching up as they should. I shot off emails to both Rokuhan and AnyRail last night and received emails back from both companies this morning. I’m writing a follow-up article today that will include the manufacturer’s responses and solutions. Here’s the initial article from yesterday. http://www.ztrains.com/blog/inaccuracy-in-track-planning/ Enjoy! John Cubbin Ztrains.com | Z scale (1:220) Model Railroading J.Cubbin.com | Scale Model Railroad Accessories US|ZSCALE.com | Featuring American Z Line
Rokuhan shows their 90 crossing and what is required to build a figure 8 using any of their curved track and of the four that I have tried all have workd from the smallest to the largest and I have found with several of the software track programs the more complicated the layout the more trouble there is getting it all to fit correctly in the software. try a layout in which you mix the long 110 mm 13 degree turnouts with the shorter 55 mm 26 degree turnouts and while it works in real life working with the Rokuhan track it does not work in the software program. I have frequently fudged it using an expandable track or a flex track in the software. regards Garth
It's not the track, it's the software. Had this same problem with a layout designed with MTL track. I think it's a rounding error in the program. I put together the same config as you did and it came out wrong, no matter what order of assembly I tried.
It is neither the track nor the software. Its a math problem. You have 195 mm radius curves. You have 195mm of distance that you need to connect. The 90* crossing is 25 mm across, and only half of it (12.5 mm) counts towards the distance you are trying to connect. The straight sections used are 110 mm, 55 mm, 25 mm and 12.5 mm (half of the 90* crossing) for a total of 202.5 mm. You overshot the needed length by 7.5mm. In order to make it just perfect, you would need 182.5 mm of straight track to connect the crossing to the curves, however Rokuhan doesn't make any track that will add up to that length. The shown combination works in real life because of play in the roadbed track. To help with the software not accounting for play in the track, try building everything out from the 90* crossing, and let the place where the track doesn't match up be at the center of the curves.
Some great input here on this Figure-8 business. I have just posted a follow-up article with material from Rokuhan. They were very helpful on this today. Have a look and see what you think. http://www.ztrains.com/blog/the-figure-8-plan-resolved/ John Cubbin Ztrains.com | Z scale (1:220) Model Railroading J.Cubbin.com | Scale Model Railroad Accessories US|ZSCALE.com | Featuring American Z Line
You'd get a closer fit using two 25mm instead of the 55mm. Since the 45 degree angles require a factor of square root of 2 in the calculations it would be impossible to get the exact length without an adjustable track segment. From my calculations, substituting multiples of 25mm for 55mm & 110mm you should be able to get within 3mm of the desired length. I'm not familiar with AnyRail, but if its like most CAD programs, a round off error is possible but on the order of 0.1 mm. For a real good time, take a page from my old American Flyer layout book: wrap the other loop of the "8" back round the first loop: more or less concentric ovals. Then try it with the 13 degree crossing. Mark
