Large Scale Central

Your help needed with trestle drawings

General Discussion
#1

Hello to all, I haven’t been on for a couple of years due to some health issues but we are back and ready to work.

I have created drawings of the trestle I built for several years and need someone to help test them and let me know what I need to do to make them a usable item. The drawings will be available in G, O and HO scale and will be sold on my web site. The plan is to make them available in hard copy form, printed to scale and shipped in a tube and also by download from the web site.

The problem I am having is that the files (PDF), that will be downloaded, must be printed on a wide format plotting device. Most areas have these available nearby. I have two locally and they both print differently. Both are not accurate enough at 100% scale. This is a problem with the plotters and the people doing the printing. To be useful these files need to be printed to scale exactly. The problem is only with the G scale print, it prints on a 34"x44" sheet, and for some reason the printers have a problem with that large a format.

I would like to send copies of these files to a couple of you that will have them printed and use them to let me know if there is going to be a problem. Any other suggestions you might have will be helpful also.

The trestle is 24" long with 3, 5 and 7" bents. I make them from cedar but they can be made from any scale lumber. If this test is successful I will be making many of my bridges available in this format.

Thanks for your help

#2

Bob,

Do your drawings include a scale line along one edge or on the bottom? By including a simple line clearly marked at say 3" or so you can instruct the printer operator to make that line exactly 3" and the rest of the drawing will be correct.

#3

Thanks, Richard for your response. The drawing does have a 6" scale at the bottom. Although in one case the printer made the long side to long and the short side to scale. That tells me that the printers machine needs to be calibrated at that size. The operator didn’t even know how to calibrate it… I just am looking for the problems up front so my customers in the future don’t have any.

Thanks

#4

Bob,

The problem you are finding is that Microsoft has removed the ability to ‘adjust’ most devices for specific scales. In order to really get the quality you are looking for, you need to find someone with an engineering plotter. It took us 6 months to get a technician to my office to calibrate the HP we have. For the most part, PDFs are not considered scalable in engineering circles. My advice would be to put sufficient dimensions on the print to make it buildable, or at least interpretable.

Good luck.

Bob C.

#5

I plan to build a trestle bridge soon but it will need to be 5 to 6 feet long. Don’t know if you plans are adaptable to that but if they are, I would be willing to give them a try.

#6

Hi Jim, thanks for your help. I will gladly send you a set of prints if you will send me your e mail address. The plan is for a 24" long trestle with 3, 5 and 7" bents to be used as required. The deck can be made in sections and joined to any length.

Thanks

#7

I have a large format printer that can print 24" wide and any length. Id be willing to give it a try.

#8

Bob, I have a 42" printer, and routinely print to 18 feet long, and I believe I can scale them to about any size. I’m in the process of building several trestles for the NM Northern RR expansion. I would like to give it a try, and will help you work out the problems if I can.

Dave Taylor