These are some track laying tools/aids that you can 3D print. The first two are inspired by a tool that use to be quite available. It is a simple block with two grooves for the track. Sliding it back and forth on the block makes it quick and easy to either straighten out a not-so-straight piece of flex track or by twisting it slightly it is easy to put a curve into a piece of flex track. I saw a YouTube of someone using one and tried to get one. Finally found 'one' in a store's stock in Canada and bought it. Not sure if they are easier to find now or not but the 3D printed one seems to work exactly the same. The other items shown here are track locators for two parallel tracks or the second can be used to locate 3 or more tracks. I got the idea for making them after seeing some that Rick on here had printed out and used on the layout he is working on. Not sure if he has the files he used available or not. Take a minute and look at what he is working on and how he used his track locators ( HERE ). I'll let the pictures do the talking for the rest of this page. You can print the track locators in a narrow width (shown above) or a wider width. They both could be weighted if needed to help hold the track in place. The wider ones can hold a can of soup for weight. You can find the print files for the ones shown above ( HERE ). You can find all the files to 3D print this object and others on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ). Here is a link to the info on my web site.... http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/3D-Printer-2/page-37.html Sumner
UPDATES: First I did not have the track spacing right on the 3-Track tools used to locate 3 tracks. Somehow made the second one 1.125” when it should have been 1.250”. Check to see if you downloaded files before 11-20-20 that you don't have the right ones. The corrected ones are up on thingiverse.com about on noon on 11-19-20. Secondly I've now added the track center-line spacing to the tool's surface. I did that as I'm going to also make these tools with a 1.125 center-line spacing for those who maybe want a closer yard spacing or for other tracks. Sumner
