Hello Everyone,
I am looking for computer software for designing my own n gauge layout. Is there a program that will have me insert the board dimensions then, as I start to “quill” my tracks, will list off what I need as I draw?
I was into 1/32 Carrera slot cars a few years ago and they offered this on their site. As I drew my track circuit, it would list off what I needed as far as track, size etc. and would “fit it” to my board dimensions.
Is there any such thing here??
I am using a 4X8 piece of ply to be simple as it has been almost 40 years since I was into trains. My intentions are to have as many trains running as I can on separate tracks. No structures and very few spur/switch tracks. Is it possible to have 6 or 7 separate lines on a 4X8 board??
Any help would be appreciated!!
Regards,
Larry
XTrkCAD is a free program that allows you to set the benchwork size (board), draw track plans with dimensional accurate representations of commercial track, and provides a parts list of needed components.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtrkcad-fork/
There are other programs that do the same.
You will get other suggestions here on preferred (several free) software. I also used XTrackCAD (HO, in my case). I liked it and strongly suggest follow the tutorial to see if you like it. I ran into a couple of quirks that became obstacles, but got answers here and/or on the yahoo user group. One issue was I could not move track as precisely as I needed to get it to hook up to another segment. I had some box checked wrong that only allowed moving in larger increments.
I use libraries of track from Walthers Shinohara and Atlas, plus flextrack. I would tend to use W-S segments of various radii to get what I wanted, but in some cases draw an arc of an odd radius where I wanted something different.
When done fiddling, I knew the location of key turnouts (on the grid), all the various radii on the layout. Then marked my plywood with a 6" grid and drew the layout (track centers) on the plywood, then did my cookie cutting to create grades and levels.
Some prefer pencil and paper, but I really liked the precision and tinkering ability with software like XTrackCAD.