Thanks for the info. The Helix is not critical since I’ve already purchased one because I didn’t trust my benchwork skills to create one from scratch. I just want to incorporate it into the layout.
I use 3rd Planit. I like it, has everything you asked for except a list of lumber bill of materials. I would recommend though that you do a general plan by hand in terms of towns, overall runs, etc.
CAD tools end up focusing you on small things and that is best when you have the big picture worked out.
Unless you are quite familiar with CAD system, there is quite a learning curve to xtrackCAD.
I find SCARM (also a freebie) a lot easier to use and there are a number of video tutorials around. Unfortunately, SCARM does not support the design of a the benchwork, nor multideck layouts - yet!
I found it a little non-intuitive at first, but after an hour or so I got the hang of it. Unlike Ulrich, I think my previous experience with CAD programs actually made it more difficult to learn - not easier.
Great info to know. Being that this is my first layout, I don’t want to have to respend money redo-ing part of the layout when I could better spend it on trains.
I have tinkered with CAD packages over the year, being that I’m in the computer field. I wasn’t sure though how detail oriented they were though comparing it to something like Auto-CAD.
AutoCad is a class if flexibility and accuracy of its own. But the typical MRR CAD tools are good enough accuracy fir what you are doing. The bigger challenge is to translate the design into physical … IE laying out a curve on the table itself.
Again though, a conceptual plan with the John Armstrong’s “squares” method on a piece of paper is really important to do beforehand. A bit of CAD maybe to work out switch dimensions (CAD tools have most stock switches in their library) … But really suggest you do the basic concept on paper.
Armstrong’s book is essential. It should be a permanent sticky on the Layout forum. I never read it until this spring, because it had “realistic operation” in the title. No offense to the operations folks here, but that’s just not my thing so I never gave the book any thought. I might have a Pennsy GG1 next to an SP cab forward in my engine yard. I understand that it is an absurd situation, but it looks cool. Armstrong’s book is more about effective planning and maximizing space–which probably translates very well to operations in our hobby, but it works equally well for those of us who are more into building our own thing, haphazard as it may be. As soon as the weather gets cooler, I’m tearing out the bench work and track I laid last winter, and starting over with a plan using many of Armstrong’s techniques.
You can draw out the benchwork in SCARM. Kinda. Just use negative numbers for the legs and grid. It’s not what the OP desires with material lists and such, but you can see if anything will be in the way of switch motors or rivers, etc.
I’m struggling to insert a pic but if you go through the tutorials and youtube videos you will see how it’s done.
The “Kinda” is what is worrying me! SCARM let´s you draw the benchwork, but it is rather a graphics function than a design function. I did that for my little layout resting on a small cabinet:
I still think SCARM is a marvelous tool! It´s creator, Milen from Sofia, is constantly updating it and adding functions to it. Given that it is a freebie, it´s an enormously powerful tool. I wouldn´t spent any $$ on buying a track planning program.
Layout planning has become a hobby within the hobby for me, so I use this tool quite often. I like planning small (very small) layouts - just for the fun of it.
This is my latest creation:
It´s a Marklin Nostalgia layout, like they were built as demo loayouts by the company in the 1950´s and 1960´s.
All objects (buildings, locos, cars) are drawn with SCARM, which was some job!
