Has anyone tried to recreate this track plan from the Gateway Central NMRA Project Layouts? It is listed as Atlas code 83 with two curved Walther's turnouts. I have tried for months to recreate this in several track planning software and can't for the life of me get it to work out! Even taking in account the "fudge factor" afforded in real life I can't even get close to making it work.
to the forum! I'm certainly no expert, but maybe I can get the ball rolling here. I went to the original source and from what I can see, it is all based on sectional track. Unfortunately, the author does not indicate the radius of the curves, but I'm betting that it's 18" radius given the size of the table. I'm a pen and paper guy, but I would say that for the software to be effective, it needs to have the same type of track and switches in its internal system. It might not be the case.
Given the high quality of the pictures on the site, why don't you go ahead and order some 18"curves, some straight track and some curved switches and try it out? By the way, code 83 track, while more prototypical, is more expensive than the regular code 100 track. Some say that once ballasted, the differences are not that noticeable... Anyway, if you are new at this, and if cash does not grow in your backyard, you might want to experiment with code 100 track. I did a pike with a very similar track plan in the past. It was a lot of fun.
Anyway, let's see what the others say.
Simon
EDIT: I had a second look at the plan, and I see that the builder had to cut some sectional track to make things fit. Your planning software might not be able to accomodate that. I know that some don't as they are based on standard curve lengths.