Hi Modelrailroaders. I been on alot of train layout designer websites and I don’t know which one is the best. Which one do you think is the best.
Sincerely
Ryan LaPlaca
Brain, pencil and sketch pad. Don’t forget to add pencil sharpner and a good eraser.
J.Wimberly has it right on the money.There is no computer program will actually “design” a layout for you by just telling it what you’d like by evaluating angles of climb or clearances,etc.These are fine tools that will help you by drawing the lines you have imagined and let you evaluate the results.You can erase at will and redo parts of your plan without tearing it all and starting all over again.That’s about the extent of their possibilities.
You’ll have to decide what era,location,type of operation and rolling stock you want,then try to visualize in your mind what you’d like the whole thing to look like.Then draw sketches and refine them as ideas come along and you get more familiar with the do’s dont’s of model railroading to finally come up with a final plan that you will likely change along the construction process.
Now you may decide to trust a layout designer,as your question implies.I know there are a few out there,some probably real good,but I can’t honestly recommend one.Sorry.
Realy nothings better then the old fashion way then with pencil and paper but if your talkin about computer wise xtrkcad i think is the bets it gives you the most flexibility
Pencil and paper is a horrible way to design a layout. And yes, I took a couple years of paper drafting in high school and college (it was my original major, in fact). I have also designed a couple layouts (my club and my own, for example) in paper and on the computer. IOW, I know what I’m doing when I’m drafting (and I still have all my old stuff), and I know that paper design of your layout is just not the way to go…unless you’re just sketching it out and you’re gonna actually design the real layout as you build it. Sometimes it is easier to think with pencil and paper, but to actually design a layout? Bad idea.
The best computer program, IMHO, is 3rdPlanIt. It’s so good that I use it to draw and design other, non-railroading projects for around the house. Sure, I could use my AutoCAD, but printing is easier in 3rdPlanIt than in my old AutoCAD program.
It’s got a steep learning curve, but once you “get it”, you’ll wonder why you didn’t buy it earlier.
For example, say you want to design a layout, but you think you can get away with a 24" aisle. But then you realize that 30" would be better. If it was paper, you’d have to erase a lot of lines to get the aisle 6" wider. In 3rdPlanIt, you’d only have to click and drop. Piece of cake.
The major problem of any paper and pencil design is that the switches are total guess work. And transition curves? Forget it. In my experience, you draw something on paper, and it may not (and probably will not) work on the real thing.
However, if you draw it with 3rdPlanIt, it works 99% of the time. I’ve drawn some pretty complicated track work with 3rdPlanIt, and all I had to do to get it on the layout was to draw a 12" grid on my plywood, and plot the poins directly off the print out. I layed out the track, and it all worked, exactly as planned.
The track tolerances are simply too fine to be done on paper unless you draw on a massive scale. A common paper design scale is 3/4" to the f
what is the best train layout designer system?
Your imagination.
Their are a couple of Professionel Mueseum quality designers out there. You give them waht your dream is and for about $50.00 per sq ft they will design it for. For around $250.00 per sq ft of actual table space they will also build it and then you can work on the scenery.
I use 3rd planet and Auto Cad. The problem is that you are desging to a .001 tolerence in AutoCad which is a little over th top for a model railroad!
That’s like asking what brand of hammer is the best for your empty tool box. The entire compliment of tools is more important than the details of each. You need ideas, givens and druthers, all the John Armstrong books, pencils, erasers, paper of all sizes, and participation in a layout design SIG or forum. That being said, I’ll answer the question more as intended - layout design software has two categories, free (good to very good) and purchased (very good to, well, over the top). I tried most of them, and 3rdPlanIt annoyed me the least. CADRail was second and XTrkCAD was third. A lot of people like the Atlas product. It lasted 4:22 on my PC before I chased it away.
Download them all, try each one, and keep (or purchase) the one you like.
I like XtrkCad very much. It’s free and if you spend some time with the included tutorial, it becomes very easy to use. I certainly agree with Paul that using a pencil and eraser is no way to design a layout. I love being able to move things around, change a radius (with precision), try different scenarios (and even run a little train along the design). I’d hate to think about getting out the eraser everytime I wanted to make a change.
The best route for a newcomer would be to check out publsihed layout plans in books and magazines, and choose one that has the features you are interested in. You can combine features from several to get what you’re looking for. By choosing such a pre-designed layout, you will have the knowledge and thought that has been put into it by experienced designers. Design one yourself and you won’t find out until later the ways you could have done things better. Learn from the pros!
Check out MR’s online listing of their publications, they have many there. I’m particularly impressed with the book by Iain Rice, his layouts are always interesting.
Bob Boudreau
If I didn’t already have access to Autocad I would buy 3rdPlanit. I found out I could translate all the details from the atlas cad program to autocad and proceeed to design my shelf layout.
3planit is a very fine program. The downside to it is not the software, but the soap opera that surrounds it. Join up on the yahoo groups that discuss the program to see what I mean. E.g., right now there is controversy over whether ver. 8 will ever actually come out.
[#ditto] What Paul3 said on 3rd PlanIt software. It is the best layout design application I have used. I have been using it for just over 18 months now and have been very pleased with the results. You can view images of my track plan created with 3rd PlanIt by clicking the link below:
http://elvistie.googlepages.com/home
Cheers,
Ryan
I designed my current layout with Cadrail. It took a few hours to learn the program but it is very flexible and far superior to pencil and paper. However, it is $90. I’ve laid about 50% of the track for the layout and so far it’s been pretty easy to transfer the design from Cadrail to the table.
Folks - keep in mind the original poster is a teenage model railroader and all of these fancy and expensive CAD programs might not suit his needs and abilities.
Bob Boudreau
Try finding out what you like to do first. Eample. I like making scenery so that’s high on my list. Second I like narrow gauge so that’s next.
Try going to some train shows. Go to hobby shops and bug, I mean talk to people. Maybe see some layouts. Once you know what era, what kind of loco’s you want, and maybe even what you like to do [operation, scenery, buildings etc] then all you need to know is where the layout goes and how much room you have.
I spent 2 years just on designing one layout I made. And for me it was worth it and tons of fun.
You will find when you have the basics then the layout almost makes itself.
I have always only used a pad and pencil myself. Although I hve printed out my room size, shape etc.
Mostly though, have fun and enjoy it yourself.
Stephen
I’d recommend you read this article on how to analyze layout designs:
http://siskiyou-railfan.net/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.32
Then get yourself some published layout plans, a calculator and a ruler, and start analyzing some plans. You will learn a lot about what makes a good layout design and then you can try designing a few plans of your own and analyzing them.
You’ll end up with a workable layout plan that you will understand pretty well before you ever build it. [swg]
Yes, but he did ask for what was the best. After we pelt him with all of our ideas and opinions, he’ll pick the one best suited for him and his circumstances.
I’m surprised at how few fans of Cadrail there are on this thread. It is the only track planning software I have used and I totally and unabashedly swear by it. It is scarily precise, so that when you go to lay actual track you will have no ugly surprises.*** It is not real easy to learn to use, and it takes a fair amount of practice, but that is true of ANY CAD program, model railroad or other. The user manual has a pretty good tutorial, which, if you practice it a few times, will get you off to a running start.
I have even successfully done what the producers of the program themselves recommend against: printing out a full-size plan on many pieces of paper, then pasting the sheets end to end on your layout boards (like a mad paperhanger!) That activity too takes some practice, and you will throw away your first version or two, but the practice is more than worth it. When I laid roadbed and track the results were flawless!!!
*** Common example of an “ugly surprise:” you’re laying out a curve that worked fine on your paper plan, but when you plot it physically on your layout boards the curve hits a wall. Touche’!!!
Yeah, I was going to say that. He may be a teenager but he also may have parents who would be willing to buy such a program.