CADD SOFTWARE

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello All,
I am either not searching the forum properly or there is little information on layout software. After ersasing my new hand drawn HO layout for the umteenth time I decided to join the 21st century and get a drawing package. CADRAL & RRTRACK seem to be heavily advertised and in my price range for a one time shot. I’m a retired mechanical designer and have used a gamot of CADD programs so learning new ones should not be a problem. My PC is running Windows XP with a Pentium 4. Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ernie

2

I highly recommend XtrkCad. You’ll love the price: free. It’s not quite as snazzy as the ones you pay for perhaps, but I just finished designing a large section of my layout with it, and found the plans to be flawless as I began laying track. I downloaded demos of all I could find, and actually found this one to be more intuitive to use. One tip if you try it: it uses the word “turnout” to describe all sectional track – that confused me for weeks. http://www.sillub.com

3

I did the same thing trying them all. XtrkCad was the best (free) one I used.WAY easier than the Atlas ver.7

4

Thanks, I’ll give it a try!

5

Ernie,

I am using 3rd PlanIt and having wonderful results with it, it does a bit of a learning curve but it’s easy to use once you get the hang… Seeing as you already have a good deal of experiance with CADD… you can find it at : http://www.trackplanning.com/

Peace.

Coyote

6

Cadrail never bubbles to the surface. Is there any reason or experience level out there with that product.

7

I’m using XtrkCad as well and like it a lot. The only thing that would be really nice is a 3-D view, but its a free program so I’m not going to complain. I think 3rd Planit would be the best one out there after having used the demo, but I just couldn’t pony up the money for it after buying a bunch of unitrack.

8

I’ve used Atlas RR, XtraCAD and 3rd Planit.

Of the three Atals RR is easiest to learn, but least robust. XtraCAD was the most intuitive of the CAD programs I had and I might have stayed with it, but I wanted 3D so I went with 3rd Planit. 3rd Planit had the highest learning curve and and it was full of quirks that are not covered in the tutorials. Eventually I learned them, but it it had not been for the promise of 3D, I would have gone back to XtraCAD.

Example: IN XtraCAD if you want to set the grade of a run of track you selected it and set the grade, or you can set two point and it will automatically set a grade for you between them. Add a point and it recalcualtes. Do that with 3rd Planet and the track falls to the floor and you have reseteach piece.

9

Thanks again for the input. I downloaded XtraCAD and played with it a bit but ran into the following lmitations:

  1. The freebee limits the layout to a 4 x 8 ft section only
  2. I too am very interested in the 3D mode as that was my original frustration with the hand drawing
    I’m going to research the other systems some more and post my findings.
    Ernie
10

Ernie,
I have used 3dPlanit for two years now and wouldn’t think of changing. If you first practice with the tutorials, then you can start and learn more as you go with experimentation. There is a good book included and an excellent help menu in the software. It is as accurate as the dimensions you enter and is very easy to make changes as you progress with your layout designs.

REX

11

Ernie;
To get a full blown functioning Xtrkcad, all you have to do is go to the registration page and follow the directions. Registration is free and opens the full version of the program. If not registered the program will stay in demo mode and the largest layout you can work with is 4X8.

12

I just downloaded XtrkCad and spent the last 2 hours going through the demo. I like it over CadRail8, WinRail7 and RTS7. It is more intuitive. For me, I can do without the 3D view, for now anyway [^]

I note that the program help indicates it can be registered on the WWW via plastic, however, I am at a loss as to where on their web site this is. The only other “registration” process is to print a form and snail mail the $65 to Canada.

13

Tom;
Go back to sillub’s home page. About halfway down under the first screen shot is a link that says “Please see registering XtrkCad” Click on that link and copy the name there and the key. Now open up the program, when it finishes opening, click on file. Next to the last entry in file is register. Click on that, insert the name and key and you have a full version availble for your use.

14

COOL! I didn’t know that. Even better! THANKS!

15

I use 3D Railroad Concept & Design (v 2.02 for Windows) made by Abracadata. It cost about $50 CAD a year ago; and it includes a Mac version. I found it easy to use with tools to make designing some of the trickier parts of a layout simple.

16

Thanks. I saw that. I’ve heard of open source but this beats it [:p]
Thanks again.

17

Wow!!! This is great stuff!! I have sent some intimidating questions to the competition, ( i.e. why is your software better than…) and can’t wait for the response; if there is any.

18

All,
I received some E-mail from CADRAIL and RRTRACK who told me to just look on the web as they cold not comment on competitor software. I guess I’m not too surprised. Thanks again to all with the resonses!
Ernie

19

Ernie, first two programs I got was 3D Railroad Concept and Design and 3rdPlanit, and found 3D user friendly and easy to learn. But something you might want to consider if you want to see you layout live, is to get a copy of Trainz Ulitimate Collection or Railroad Simulator by Auran. This game has a builder program that let you build your layout in virtual 3D and run it like a real layout. If you can get copies of August and September Railroad Model Craftsman, you can see how the program work. Gives you a great look at how your layout would look with everything done. Also a while back in Model Railroader, their was an article on the cad programs for drawing layouts, do not remember the issue, but if you can find it, it might also give you a idea about the programs. Hope this helps

20

Ernie–

[2c] If you are a mechanical engineer with some background in AutoCad, you may want to take a look at Cadrail. Cadrail uses mathematical vector objects (lines, arcs, spirals, tangent lines, etc.) in order to create track plans. I haven’t really used any other software, but if you tend to think in mathematical terms, Cadrail is really great.

From what I’ve seen of some of the other programs, they do a good job of rendering, but may be a little short on the mechanics of connecting tangent straight tracks (or spiral easements) to curves. Then again, I don’t have the latest version of Cadrail, either.

Check them all out. I do know that Cadrail will read and write AutoCad files, though.

Good luck. [8D]