I am in the process of redesigning my first outdoor "G" scale railroad to correct all the mistakes I made. I would like to use a software program for the design work as laying it out on paper does not get me the level of detail I want. Has anyone used any of the available railroad design software programs and what are your thoughts. I have no CAD experience. Thanks for any help given.
Hi, And welcome to the forum, Have you thought of using a garden hose and kicking it around to give curves and straights it is a cheap way of strating a new layout. Or you can use track turnouts set a differant points around the layoutand just peg straihts by using twine or thin wire to give a rough idea as to what it would look like. May I surjest in your bio as to where you are as you can see I live in England, you never know who is near you and would offer help. Hope this helps
Age is only a state of mind, keep the mind active and enjoy life
I used RR-Track and like it very much. It's fast, easy, and has sectional track libraries, besides the ability to do flex track, and many more features. You are not forced to learn all the features to use it though.
Regards, Greg
Visit my site: http://www.elmassian.com - lots of tips on locos, rolling stock and more.
Click here for Greg's web site
Greg,
How does the RR-Track work for non standard curves? I use a rail bender a lot, so a lot of my curves do not match a particular Aristo model number.From what you said about Flex track, my guess is that it handles them just fine.
I've been thinking about doing up a layout drawing for a few years now to document everything, and this package might be what I'm looking for.
Mark
M. Gilger - President and Chief Engineer MM&G web
Web Site: http://mmg-garden-rr.webs.com/
Mark, I have not used that feature much at all. It seems you can make curves "to fit", and you can "tweak" them. Just changed computers and have not reinstalled it yet.
Thanks for you comments. Guess all I have to do now is figure out which of the 4 'G' gauge packages I want, or need. Can't see much difference in them.
Makr
Do you have any sectional track, or intend to buy some? I have the Aristo package, since my layout is 100% Aristo SS sectional track.
Yes, about 80% is sectional Aristo, the rest is 5 foot aristo strait track that was bent using the rail bender.
I'd go with the RR special, it has Aristo euro and usa and lgb... and it's $80... I did not have those options and paid $99 for the whole bundle...
I don't remember if I thanked you or not Greg? I went ahead and got the RR-Track and after 2 days I had my layout down on paper. I still have a lot of work to go, but I feel much better now as the major parts has been put to bed.
Next operation will be a new layer for new additions.
Regards,
That's great Mark, glad it worked out for you. I found it very helpful to do "what if", and a lot faster than any other method.
I did R.J. DeBerg's so when we talk about the layout, I know exactly where he is talking about:
Get the Garden Railways newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month