I will admit that I am no drafter, but I wanted to draw the most accurate set of plans that I could before I started building my new layout. I bought an N scale template and went to work on graph paper. The plans looked good, but now that I am drawing the trackplan onto the layout I am learning that my plan is quite inaccurate. In most areas I am able to actually fit more track on the layout than the plan showed (turnouts take less space) while my curves are taking more space than planned. Share your proven techniques for drawing accurate track plans for your layout.
It will work in both HO and N-scale and lets you piece together a layout using Atlas sectional and flex-track. It’s a bit quirky but it does come with a tutorial. Once you have something you like, you can save it as a file and/or print it out. I like it because I can try out ideas BEFORE putting them down and rearrangement if I don’t like it for some reason.
XTrkCad is another one track planning CAD pacage that some of the fellas use here on the forum. It’s also FREE and does more than Atlas RTS.
The 7.0 is a bit friendlier than 5.0 - especially using the flex-track option. 5.0 had the two “lines” that you moved back and forth to manipulate the arc. 7.0 will actually figure out the optimal angle for you. Pretty handy.
I was good at drafting in high school but I can’t make a track plan work when track meets the wood.
The measurments of obstructions in the basment are difficult, if not impossible, to place it in the plan that is accurate in scale dimensions. Nothing is square in my house.
The scale track planner template is better than sketching and it helps with working out your vision of what you want. So it has its place in design.
One of the tricks I’ve learned was to make full size templates of curves. I made a compass or trammel to draw different radi on posterboard. A piece of plywood was used as a table top and I taped the posterboard in place. I made a small divit or hole for the piviot of the compass. Then I swung my arcs giving me several center lines. The templates gives me two center lines two inches apart (30r & 32r). You can make them any size you want. Full size templates of turnouts were also made by tracing the real thing.
If you go to the flooring department of a big box home improvement store or flooring store, you should be able to buy a big sheet of paper used for making templates for laying sheet vinyl. Lay the paper down on the floor where the layout will go. Cut out places where there are obstructions like walls or support post. Mark where other thing are like water or gas meters or anything else that may affect the plan. You can cut and tape other pieces of the paper together to follow the basic shape of the benchwork. You can roll the paper up and work where ever you like.
Once you have a basic idea of what you want, start by drawing lightly the curves then the tangent or straight lines. To include easments on the curves simply move the tangent line outward of the curve centerline (You can do the calculation for the measurment, but I don’t make a big deal about it, I just move the tangent line out about a half inch for HO). If yo
I’ve used track planning software and pencil and paper and have found that no matter how careful you are when you draw up your plan, you will always have to make adjustments when you start laying track. Something will not fit right or look right or sometimes you will get a better idea once you see the layout in 3-D. I think that’s part of the fun of it.
I, too, took a couple years of hand drafting in high school and college, and I can’t hand draw an accurate layout to save my life. There’s just too much room for error at the scale you have to draw it in. The width of a pencil line can be something like a 1/2" wide on the layout plan, and that’s just too much variance.
So, either you have to draw the layout on a huge scale, or you have to go with CAD.
The most accurate and useful CAD program I’ve found for model railroading is 3rdPlanIt. It costs around $100, but it’s such a useful CAD program that I use it for almost all of my around the house CAD needs. For example, I recently designed a spray booth table on 3rdPlanIt rather than AutoCAD, and it came out just as I wanted it.
Isn’t it funny how what you’re looking for often comes along just when you need it. I got my advance copy of Model Railroad Planning in the mail today when I went home for lunch. In it is a booklet on the very subject of drawing good track plans. I havn’t had time to read it yet, but I will tonight and I’ll let y’all know if I learn anything really helpful.
Atcually, I find that the best way to come up with a track plan is one of the oldest: lay some track.
I’m bemused by all the time and effort that goes into people learning a cad program just to build a layout; as if the design and benchwork will need to pass an OSHA inspection or will have to pass inspection for Federal grant mony. All that time wasted clicking a mouse and drawing arcs on a 17" monitor, when you could actually be BUILDING a model RR…
orsonroy,
“Wasted”??? Surely, you must be kidding. I’m glad the providers of these programs didn’t have your philosophy, because if they did, my layout wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is now. The time I “wasted” on drawing and planning my layout was balanced by all the time I didn’t “waste” on trying to get curves and switches to line up.
Sure, if I was only going to build some little 4x8’, that’s one thing. However, my layout is 25’ x 50’, with a minimum radius of 30", minimum switch a #6, minimum siding length of 14’, with three freight yards, two passenger terminals, and double track throughout. I drew my entire plan with 3rdPlanIt, and I never ran into a problem trying to convert the drawing into reality. The switches fit exactly, the curves matched without kinks, etc. In short, everything worked exactly to plan. If it worked on the computer program, then it would work on the layout. If it didn’t work, it wouldn’t fit.
There aren’t too many people out there that think planning ahead of time is a bad thing. I wonder why that is?
I was reading Tony Koester’s editorial at the beginning of the new MRP last night and he stated there that even the best plans are a compass at best and will certainly be adjusted as actual building takes place. That is not to say that planning is unimportant–the more planning one does the more opportunities one has to look at all of the possiblities of a space and track arrangements. The point is to strike a balance–plan your heart out, then adjust it to make it work best as you build. That is exactly what I am trying to do.
BTW, I downloaded the new Atlas RTS software and tried it. I looked up my old version that I didn’t like. It was version 3.0–very old. Anyway, the new version is working fairly well. I will share my plan on here when I get the track arrangement input.
I must be one in the few that hos track plan made it from paper to wood without a problem. I made sure I used the appropriate scale graph paper which I noticed some dont (this would be locally). But all I did was drew it onto my paper transfered to the foam and added where there would be low lands, rivers etc and it came out. The one part that didnt work out for me was the yard two small for all the buildings I have hence the upper level to come now thats gonna be fun more track planning, thus level will have switching at industries so it will be fun…
I usually dont know what I am talking about or doing but somehow it works out in the end - A qoute from my father
I am surprised that no one has mentioned CadRail. I have used it since its inception and bought every upgrade since. It has a complete library of track if you work that way, with templates of all major switches, crossings, etc. But since I design using flex track or hand laid I prefer to draw my own curves to my own radiii. Parallel tracks are just a click away, just specify spacing. Yards are done with a click in the yard maker. Spiral easments are a cinch. You can desgn your own switches. If you specify elevations you get a 3 d view. You can run trains to test rail alignments and siding lengths. You can “frame” a whole complicated section and move it else where. Erasure is a click of the mouse. A complicated layout can be done in a fraction of the time it takes to work with a pencil, compass, and eraser. Plans can be printed to ANY size, and they WORK. I design the room with TurboCad, but Cad programs wern’t meant to design model railroads, and THEY CAN’T. Not with the ease of CadRail.
If you have a large open space with irregular confines try this tip from the floor tile folks: Take your longest wall and snap a chalk line from the center of it, perpendicular to it. Measure the exact distance across. At the halfway point of that line, layout and snap a chalk line exactly perpendicular to the cross line. Now you can measure any point of the room in two dimensions, so it doesn’t matter if the outer walls and jogs are square. Finally make your scale drawing (hint 3/4"=1’0" is a good scale because 1/16" = 1" so you can visually estimate 1/2" or 1/4" to scale)using those two baselines to locate all the offsets in your outer walls, columns, heaters, water heaters, pipes, etc. Go to a copy store and have a bunch of copies made of your scale drawing to do layout planning on.
Have fun and learn! jc5729