Computer program for layout design.

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hey guys.

Any suggestions on a good computer program for designing a layout?

I’m having some trouble getting my drawings on graph paper of yards and turnouts to the right angles and the spaces required for them and so on.

Thanks

Sheldon

2

Thee are quite a few track planning programs on the market. CADRail, WinTrack, AnyRail - just to mention a few of those commercially marketed.

There are also two freebies - XTrkCad and SCARM. Just click on the name to move to their download pages.

All of these programs will assist you drawing the track plan, but won´t do the design work for you. There is quite a learning curve to all of them, as well.

Before cashing out your $$$, try one of those freebies - they may already meet your needs.

3

Sheldon,

You didn’t mention MAC or PC. So we’ll assume PC for right now. I like AnyRail. You can try it for free before plunking down the $60 US to purchase

Ulrich has already pointed you to some great free programs as well. He also points out that they won’t do the work for you. I would suggest John Armstrong’s book on design. Quite simply, this is the bible on design. You can find it here

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12148.html

4

There are numerous threads that discuss the options in detail, one fairly recent, I believe, that’ll give you the pluses and minuses of various options. I use RailModeller for the Mac and am very pleased with it. Whichever one you use, you’re right to recognize they keep you honest as to geometry and space.

Rick Krall

5

I’ve got a PC.

6

I liked the XtrackCAD free software (for HO), for code 83 libraries using Walthers Shinohara turnouts, Atlas flextrack and crossings, but had three winters to tinker with it while deciding whether to dive in. It met my needs well. Use the tutorial if you try it. There’s a Yahoo user group to get any quirky questions answered.

Check out these recent threads, perhaps useful:

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/214733.aspx

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/214129.aspx

Another issue is how to translate a software plan to actual layout, which the first thread also addresses.

Also, I found many of the layout and track planning booklets and databases on the MR site (directly or to order) an important part of the planning. And, post a plan for folks comments and you will be aware of improvements or “watch-outs” that you may miss on your own.

I found the planning part rather interesting. Good luck.

7

I used XtrackCAD also and liked working with it. I even printed at 1:1 some areas to see how it looked before committing to track.

Wayne

8

Thanks for the info guys, I tried a few of the suggestions and decided on the free trial of AnyRail. It’s just what I needed to get my yard the right dimentions.

Thanks

Sheldon

9

Great Sheldon,

Make sure you post some pics as you build or if you take many opinions post your track plan when you are close to building.

But I always love to see layouts in progress.

10

I’m also a user of AnyRail and think it’s a very capable program. Attached is a layout I planned for a friend. He had a carpenter build the benchwork and we installed the first layer of 1" foam two weeks ago.

Here are the links to the layout and a photo of the benchwork construction:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/DSteckler/KenwithNo7curvedTOand30inchcurveswithtown-variation2a_zpsd167651f.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w204/DSteckler/Ken_zps6ba2eb94.jpg

11

I was just using the free AnyRail to get my yard dimentions right, but I’m thinking of buying the program to do my whole layout plan. Yours looks great!

Sheldon

12

I tried a bunch of cad like ones but found anyrail to be the best choice for me

13

That’s what I found as well Matthew.