The little spacer piece you put in between the grade crossing pieces will put you perfectly at 33mm on centers.
Thanks guys. It may be a while before getting more involved but the information is very helpful even for now. I didn't dream about that. Yesterday was probably my last day to ride my electric throttled bike. So many ignore clearing snow from sidewalks it's gotten dangerous. So I dreamed about many years of motorcycling. Little ones to the Honda Goldwing Aspencades with a trailer full of camping gear. And a sweet friend.
When I worked the drawings for my benchwork, I wanted my fascia to be high enough to deter derailed equipment from plummeting to the floor, yet not so tall as to obscure the equipment for photos or get in the way of my fingers. At 3/8" to 7/16" above the foam surface, cars sit on Unitrack with the center of the journal boxes at the top of the fascia lip. (My photo below was shot at an angle, so doesn't accurately reflect that, but it gives an idea.) Plus, the open area between the outer edge of the roadbed and the fascia provides additional insurance against anything falling off the table. I'm pretty happy with it all.
My two cents on this is for the most part is that Kato is good track. It has its issues but all have that. I went with Kato as Mike Fifer uses that track for his own layout. He also uses Digitrax for his dcc system. I went with it too. I like there turnouts best because of there look. On the side of the layout edge I am going to be using clear plexiglass that will keep anything from falling off the track and hitting the floor. I am using the glass about 1 inch above track level. Keep up the good work!
Many years ago I found this Keuffel & Esser Map Measure in my late father's stuff and I'm finding it handy to estimate track lengths as I lay out my railroad. It's especially useful on curves. It gives me a general notion of what I need to buy and helps with calculating gradients as well. I use track planning software, but this old skool analog solution is much more satisfying.
You zero the measurer by pressing down on the stem, then place the exposed roller at the bottom on the surface you wish to measure. With the stem up, you roll it along your route and when done, you lift it and read the dials. It's made for measuring route distances maps of course, but it adapts well to model railroading.
That map measure is sweet! The navigators of old used dividers (like a drafting compass, but with points on both legs) to step off distances on their charts. You can also set a pair of dividers to either a scale or real distance, and "walk" the dividers along the route. The smaller the steps, the more accurate the measure on a curved route (but the more steps too), but if you're stepping off an inch or two per step, it won't make a big enough difference to matter for something like setting grades. (I'm talking about cutting graded subroadbeds into a foam base.) In fact, dividers work out really well if you pick a step in elevation you want to use, and set the dividers to the distance required for that step, at the grade you want. This works even better in curves, since the actual distance along the curve is longer than the total straight line distances stepped off by the divider, thus reducing the actual grade along the curve (which is a good thing.)
I didn't notice the little Roller, how cool! Like those big Orange things they use? I think they are Orange The big things survey people use, but you have a mini version. How old is it, or did you say? Even the way you measure, is top notch!
I love the old stuff, too. I have a complete set of Dietzgen compasses, dividers, and other drafting instruments and a set of chalks my dad used in college. I have used the drafting set to plan layouts and some of the chalks for weathering buildings. Doug
I still have my drafting equipment from Tech College as well. My drafting table got trashed in a move though. But now computers are used instead. Rich
That's so cool that you still have your Dad's items. One of my brothers is a semi-retired architect/builder and he's sent me some nice things of his, including a Dietzgen thee-side ruler (with six scales), Alvin and Staedtler erasers ("an architect's best friends" he said ) and workshop drawing pads with 1/4" x 1/4" squares by Veritas (from Lee Valley tools). I find these so enjoyable to use -- simple, classic, and intuitive.
That's a very neat tip @BigJake -- thank you. I've got an old pair of dividers around here somewhere I now need to locate!
I still have the Dietzgen three-side rulers. One for architecture and one for mechanical drafting. And my former sister-in-law loved my mechanical pencils and sharpener. As well as the erasers (my best friend) but left the erasing guide. So they went with her. Ah! The memories. Rich
My brother also sent me an erasing guide. I'd seen one before but had no clue as to what they were for. Very clever.
Thanks! I have small and large pairs of spring dividers that I use in woodworking (laying out dovetail spacing), but I put a large wing divider (opens wider than spring dividers do for the same leg length) on my Christmas list that I can use for laying out larger sweeping decorative curves, etc. They are faster to make gross changes in radius than spring dividers, which are better at making minute radius/distance changes. You can also use trammel points on a straight beam (or yard stick) in lieu of really large dividers. I think my brother has my Dad's old drafting set. I purchased one for my Engineering Graphics course in college, but I've no idea where it is. I still have and use the lead holder (coarse mechanical pencil) though. It comes in handy marking rough lumber.
