Layouts and Visio

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I was wondering if anyone has put together or has Visio Templates for model RR Layout Design. If so please point me in the right direction or email me at
sgtsaboo@yahoo.com

Thanks
Mike G.

2

Someone (you?) was asking the same question a while back on some forum, and as I recall did not get much of a reply.
I’ve used Visio quite a lot for making diagrams of one kind or another, and played around with trying to use it for layout design. To me it just didn’t seem to be the right tool for the job. There are lots of software packages available that, IMHO, are more suited, ranging from Atlas’s Right Track freeware to MRR-specific CAD packages to generic CAD packages.
Anyway, good luck using Visio if you decide to pursue it, I’m interested on how it turns out!
Bill

3

Be forewarned, though: if you use a Mac (like I do), you won’t be able to use the Atlas software. It runs only on a PC/Wintel machine. I called Atlas about this some time back. They informed me that they had no plans to publish a Mac version of their software, which was too bad, considering that they were charging for the software at that time and that there are a lot of Mac users out there, including the MR staff.

4

Oh, well. About all I can say about Right Track is that it’s worth what you pay for it!

5

Bill:

I think that you are being a little hard on Right Track. I used it several years ago for a mall layout and found it quire helpful. I wouldn’t use it for a room sized layout, but then as far as the other more sophisiticated products are concerned, I tried them and found that the learning curve was just too steep. I ending up designing my latest layout the old fashioned way with paper, pencil and track planning templates.

6

The Right Track software would be useful if you are using sectional track. However, for flexible track, I found it pretty poor. Among other things a decent CAD program (I got one for <$30) will do that Right Track does not (or at least not well):

  • Draw a straight line tangent to one, or between two, curves.
  • Draw a circle that is tangent to two straight lines.
  • Easily end a line at its tangent point.
  • Add auto-labeled dimensions.
  • Make lines with various widths, colors, or patterns
  • Fill areas with various patterns
  • Use for making plans for buildings, trestles, etc.
    But to each his own, right?