I’ve seen several different types of Cad programs for creating layouts. Does anyone have an opinion or a preference on any brand? I’m just starting out and thought that a Cad program might help in creating one or at least help in putting my ideas on paper to see if it would even work. Any thoughts?
Ron
I’ve actually tried a couple of different ones. Cadrail by Scandia, and 3D Railroad Concept and Design by Abracadata. Its been a long time since I’ve used either one. There wasn’t really anything wrong with either program, I just found it easier to take pencil to paper. Call me old fashioned. I guess there was one issue that i didn’t want to deal with. My train room is so large, that it would have been difficult to print my plan out, and piece it back together.
Although I dislike questions that ask which one is best (CAD, DCC, etc.) as they usually lead to flame wars, my advice would be to try everyone. I believe all of them offer free demo downloads. All have a learning curve. Another deciding factor would be how many bells and whistles you want. Good luck.
I’ve played around with 3rd Planit and CADRAIL ,and many years ago the program that the Atlas program is evolved from, but never got beyond the track layout stage with any of them. Still I found them useful when I used them. I now sketch out a plan in pencil then go to the CAD to see if it will work. You can really tell what will fit and what won’t.
I have used CADRAIL extensively for designing my own layout. I am VERY pleased with it. You can actually use it for many other design projects - design new building for DPM wall sections, trace over scanned pictures or scanned copies of building kit wall sections to develop plans for kitbashing a structure, redesign your house (did remodelling plans for kitchen and three bathrooms). However, I will note that I am an engineer and was familiar with CAD programs before I got CADRAIL. There IS a learning curve but once you start using the program, the curve climbs pretty steeply.
John
I’ve tried several as well including the Atlas freeby. I keep returning to graph paper and a pencil. I do have a good compass and a track template in my scale.
Since different brands of track have different geometry , a CAD with a good track libraries is very useful for determining what to buy. Mixing brands of switches and crossing can sometimes let you do something that would otherwise require hand laid track.
I’ve used Cadrail and been very happy with it. It took some time to learn but I believe it was definatley worth it for me. I could tinker as much as I pleased with it and keep all my changes until I was satisfied.
Mark
If you want to use Atlas track and do HO or N, the RTS Freeware is very handy in getting an idea of what will fit a limited space. I’ve been using it with N scale ideas, thoughts, trying to determine what else would fit. One thing I would like is a way to add other curve sizes, cause 9.75, 11, 19" curves are the N scale sizes. Want to use larger than 11", plan to build with Flex.
I like to redraw HO plans for 4x8 into N scale 3x6 or thereabouts.
You might take a look at www.layoutdepot.com and see what designs are available for what. RTS is pretty good for anything that can fit a bedroom or master bedroom.
I used 3D Railroad Concept and Design to design my layout . I would say it is pretty easy to use. The best thing about 3D Railroad is that it is very easy to change things, also 3D Railroad keeps mateial lists of track, building, etc. There are a few things I would recommend doing before you design a layout on any CAD program