What is a good Lionel CAD program

[Anonymous]

My trains still sit all boxed up in my parents basement except for a few that I have sitting on shelfs here at home till we move out of our condo in a few years and get a house with a basement and I can build my layout. For now though I want to start designing my dream layout and was thinking of useing a CAD program to do this. I thought about using AutoCAD but I have been told that there is some great programs that I can buy or get free off the net that have tons of accessories and tracks already built into the program. Do any of you use these programs? Where can I get them. I will be using Lionel O track with a mixture of Super O (I have tons of it but only a few switches that work so I do not want to use it for my whole layout). Thank you for any help you can give.

[spankybird]

Hi Jim

Welcome to the CTT Forum,



Here is a link to a thread about track software

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=-1&TOPIC_ID=16011&REPLY_ID=137749#137749

Hope it helps

[Anonymous]

Jim

RR-Track is the way to go... it is the "AUTOCAD" of track design software.

You might want to lose the Super O for Gargraves and Ross Custom switches because Super-O track is very limited in what you can build. However, RR-Track has super-O track libraries as well as Ross Custom libraries and Lionel accessory libraries too.


Alan

[Anonymous]

Dear Jim,
Welcome to the forums [#welcome]!

I agree with Alan. I have RR-Track software, and it works well for me. The website is www.rrtrack.com

I hope I have helped,
Daniel

[Anonymous]

This is a topic about which Alan & I actually agree. You gotta go with RR Track. Lots of track & accessory libraries are available in all scales.

Tony

[Anonymous]

I went to the website for the RRtrack program. It looks pretty good but is there a place you can download a demo. I really dont wanna put down $80 on a program that I can't test out and play with for a bit to see if it is really what I want. The demo page just says its under construction.

[Anonymous]

Call Russ at RRtrack

and see if he still has the no print demo.

but if you were willing to buy Autocad; isn't RR-Track a whole lot LESS


Alan

[Anonymous]

I already own AutoCAD so it wouldn't have cost me a thing.

[Anonymous]

I emailed him. If he can not send me a demo is there any of you that still have a copy of the demo even if its an older version. I just really wanna try this program out before I put down $80

[cnw1995]

As a complete aside, I came across a CD of the old children's computer game of Lionel trains and it's a hoot - especially for youngsters. Anybody else have it? I believe it was called 3D Ultra Lionel Train Town Deluxe - doesn't exactly roll off the lips - it has a layout mode.

[Anonymous]

Doug,
The Easter Bunny got my son this game this year and he still plays it all the time along with the neighbor boy who loves trains too! It's a very good game - it teachs them how to use logic to solve problems. He also likes to design his own layouts in the program.

The boys also like to run the trains that we have in the basement as well.

[Anonymous]

Look into "AtlasO.com", they have freeware RTS5.0, worth trying out when its free.

[spankybird]

Hi Jim,

Maybe you can check at some of the train shows for the MTH RR trackpanner. I have see some of the older ones sell for under $10.00. This would give you a feel of what it is like.

tom

[jimsandman]

Anyone have a source to get the 3D Lionel Train Town from at a reasonable price? I think my son would get a kick out of playing on the computer, some of the same stuff we have on the layout.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Jim,
I found my copy out on E-bay for about $15 including shipping

[Anonymous]

What did you use to search ebay. I didn't find anythign when i searched RR tracks

[Anonymous]

I have an old copy of MTH track software that you can have if you reimberse me for the postage.
Jim B.

[Anonymous]

Jim,
I didn't find any at E-bay right now either by just typing in "Lionel Train Town Deluxe". However I went over to Google and typed it in and found a couple of places that had it for sale.

http://www.cdaccess.com/html/pc/traintwn.htm

http://starvector.com/cgi/lp.cgi?975437824+ca0778.html

Hopefully this helps you out...

[Anonymous]

I tried the RTS5.0 program. It seemed ok but I do not think I will be using Atlas O track. I think I am gonna just stick to lionel O, Super O an dO27 track.

[Anonymous]

The RR track demo version comes in the MTH starter sets. This version is limited in hat it can do. I liked it enough to order the full blown version. It's an easy to use program, and allows you to play with your trains when you are away from your layout. I have it on my lap top and had fun on rainy days while hosting at a campground this summer.

[Anonymous]

What starter set? In like a starter train set?

[spankybird]

Maybe you should visit your local hobby shop and pick up a couple of catalogs to look thru.

Check these out

http://www.mth-railking.com/catalog/list3.asp?cat=Bj&line=RailKing&type=rtr
tom

[Anonymous]

Well I have plenty of trains. I am not looking to buy a train set. I have tons of postwar traiins. Just looking for a good CAD program to design my layout that I will be able to build in a few years

[spankybird]

Gee, I sorry, when you asked

QUOTE: What starter set? In like a starter train set?

that you were now looking into starter sets.

The MTH software is by RR-Track, just with there track in it, which includes 031 track.

Litlepig has made you the following offer,

QUOTE: I have an old copy of MTH track software that you can have if you reimberse me for the postage.
Jim B.

Would not this give you what you are looking for [?]

[Anonymous]

Sorry i didnt mean for it to come out like that. I did get in contact with Jim B and he is sending me a copy.

Thank you Jim

[spankybird]

No problem Jim,

The program that you will be receiving [:D] , will most probably provide what you need for trying your layout.[tup]

tom

[LeRoy Evans]

I enjoy using 3rd Planit for designing layouts in any scale even lionel.
It has track libraries from several different manufaturers. You can
download a free demo from: http://www.trackplanning.com
You are limited in what you can do with the demo but it gives you
an idea what you can accomplish. You can also download layouts,
structures, locos, scenery, etc. for 3rd Planit from http://3pi.info
There is also a wonderful yahoo support group for 3rd Planit.
Almost any situation you may run into with the program can and
will be answered by these guys. They greatly add to and shorten
your learning curve. You can design your own layouts and run
trains in 3D on them too! Really a neat layout design tool and toy!

Hope some of you find this useful

Le Roy
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Hi Jim,
I just purchased RR-Track v4.02. I am very impressed with it. I'm designing a dream HO layout; But, the software can handle any scale with additional add ons.
The other package I looked at was "3rdPlanIt", found at trackplanning.com. It is even more powerful, but is also more expensive and more than I needed. Atlas O gives you a very basic program for use with their track on their website for free.

Todd