Finally starting the design and building of a permant working layout. A friend suggested using a design program to help lay everything out properly. Are there any free versions out there that I can use to design my complete layout?
I downloaded and played around with the trial versions of all the model railroad design software (CadRail, 3rd PlanIt, etc), but when it finally came around to doing the track plan, I just used Microsoft Visio. It is a drawing/charting/mapping program I already owned and have used extensively at home and work for years. While it does not have specific drawing objects for model railroad elements, it has plenty of flexibility to do what I want to do. If you want to see samples of the track plan I have so far, you can click the link in my signature below to go to my website. The track plan images on my site came from Visio.
If you don’t already own Visio, I would recommend looking at one of the packages designed specifically for model railroad design. But if you already have Visio, try it out and see if it works for you.
Jamie
http://www.anyrail.com/index_en.html
Zero learning curve…
How did you draw easement curves in Visio?
Using Visio, I do not actually draw easements onto my track plan. Really all I am drawing is the track centerline (and all of the buildings, roads, etc.). However, there are all kinds of templates for doing spirals and things like that; I just have never used them. In my case, I will use the “old fashioned” techniques for doing easements, such as slightly offsetting the curves when I actually lay the track. Of course, I am mostly using spline roadbed, so that will take care of most of my easements except in flat areas where I have foam or plywood roadbed. Jamie
That looks interesting. I might give it a spin…
QUESTION: is that for sectional track only, or can it use flex-track as well?
It has a very easy to use flex track tool. It comes with a huge track library so you don’t have to search some forum looking for user made components. I’m NOT good with cad software and I thought this was a breeze to use. They have a free demo download on their site.
I’ve always liked the Atlas RTS program. It’s a freebee and it is easy to use, but it’s limited. You can still do good stuff with it though: http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/4X8NSCALEOLDWEST-3.jpg
That Anyrail looks pretty cool too. I might give that a spin around the block.
mb,
Have you tried XTrkCad?
It’s free(!), comprehensive, fairly easy to learn (hey, it’s a - specialized - CAD program), fairly intiutive, and widely used. It’s open source and well supported. It doesn’t do 3D rendering, but does allow you to simulate operating the layout you designed to check out clearances, etc.
Good value for the money, I’d say![:)]