I am planning on expanding my existing layout and I came across an Atlas wiring how to book that has a website from Atlas that is advertised as “Free” planning software. The web site is www.atlas-rr.com Has anyone used this ? Is it worth the time to down load and use for design purpose ? I know there are other software packages but I really dont want to spend the money on software design I would rather buy model building supplies etc. . I thought this might be a solution. ??? Your thoughts please.
I used it to design my layout. It’s not fancy, and the sectional track only includes Atlas products. However, it’s fairly easy to use, and the price is right. Right now, I’m still learning to use XtrakCad from www.sillub.com, which is a bit more powerful, a bit more complex and the same price.
Atlas RTS is OK, though. It’s not going to give you a fancy, suitable-for-framing layout design diagram, but it works quite well as a planning tool. In the early stages of my layout, I found it very helpful.
Like all of these programs, though, it does lure you into “analysis paralysis,” that state of mind where you just keep designing and re-designing. At some point, you need to go buy some wood and make your benchwork, and then put down some track.
I’m a big fan of the Atlas Freeware. It is much more than a pick-and-paste menu of sectional track components, you can:
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pre-shape flex-track curves of any radius
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place, then reshape sections of flex-track to suit your desire,
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design your track plan in different “layers”, and view them separately or in combinations as needed.
Limitations are:
- There are no curved turnouts, but you can make your own by super-imposing one radius over another.
*Double crossovers have to be “fabricated” by a combination of crossings and turnouts.
*Adjusting the shape of short or nearly straight pieces of flex can be frustrating, but zooming in helps a lot.
- It will calculate grades, but its easier to do that manually.
Overall - its a basic MRR CAD system, so while you can choose between different formats of track appearance, there is no 3-D look or animated train running capability. However, you can copy and paste the track plan into Windows Paint, and color in scenery and structures. I have designed several 12’ x 20’ size layouts with it and have found it to be all I needed.
I created my masterpiece using it. You can design with sectional track, then build with flex. It’s very easy to use and it’s free.
I used the Atlas planning tool back in the mid-1990’s before it became freeware (still cheap though), and I was quite satisfied with it. Of course as a few others have said, it doesn’t have templates for curved turnouts, but I didn’t need any back then.
Recently I downloaded and installed XTrkCAD, which is much more powerful and also free. It takes a bit of practice to learn though, so you’re probably better off if you have an experienced friend who can guide you thru it.
I use the Atlas RTS tool all the time. I’ve tried the XtrakCad and found it to be too difficult to really have fun with. I figure that if it takes longer to learn how to use the program then it does to actually plan the layout, then forget it. The Atlas program does have it’s quirks, but it’s a good program. I planned my double decked, with staging undernieth, N scale layout with it.
Here’s the staging level.
Here’s the lower sceniced level, complete with a functioning interhange.
And here’s the upper level that leads down to the docks.
I’ve done lots of other plans with RTS too. Here’s just a couple (some I’ve run through Microsoft Paint).
