After drawing part of my layout to scale (1"=1") I downloaded and printed out easement templates from MRR. After figuring them out, I realized I would have to redraw the track as my tangents needed to be offset to make the easements work (I need to redraw it anyways as the cat puked on it).
This brought up the question: is is easier to draw the tangent then fill in the curves or vice versa?
Rob Carignan
Portland, Maine
Draw a curve, the main curve that you want… say a 24" radius curve on the paper.
Now.
Step about an inch to the outside of the curve’s center line.
Now.
Take a peice of flexible material that makes it’s own curve when bent.
Now.
Put one end about 9 inches back along the straight track before you get to the curve. That is one end.
Now.
Take the other end and bend the peice until you get to about 9 inches INSIDE the 24" radius curve and stop at that point.
Those two points should be about 18" apart starting before the curve and ending inside the meat of the curve.
I personally like to make the curves first because they are pretty important. The straight track comes later. But… when that straight track DOES come it needs to be about 1 inch to the “Outside” of the curved track it is approaching…
The thing about easements is you are trying to generate a curve that will start at the straight track and gradually tighten up until you arrive at the actual radius of the main curve.
At some point that curve will end and you will be back on a straight track. There is where you need a easement AGAIN.
I like my easements 18" long, longer than any of my engines although one or two of them like the Duplex will go “Hmm… what’s this?” and be on the actual 24" before it know’s what’s happening.
If it went straight to a 24" from a pure straight track like sectional track, it will have this horrible jerk to the side and not perform well.
I had the same question recently. Check this. . .