What layout software?

[chateauricher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by WaxonWaxov

Personally, I've used 3D Railraod Concept and Design in the past and enjoyed it.
$49.99 Check it out here: http://www.theliquidateher.com/3drrconceptanddesign-windows.html

This is the software I use.

I did try the Atlas RR software; but I found it had a mind of its own and wouldn't leave tracks at the elevations I set. I was forever re-adjusting the elevations because they had changed on their own.

The 3D Rairoad Concept and Design software (made by Abracadata) is excellent. It allows you to...

design and render in 2D;

view in 3D (either fully rendered, or wire-frame);

run test trains;

customize elements; and

print out in any scale you want.

You can also use the extensive parts library to select from a multitude of objects made by most of the major manufacturers. It can handle up to 7 or 8 layers, so designing multi-deck layouts and/or organising your work is easy. There are helix and easement calculators built in. What is also neat about the 3D view is that you can move (or fly) about the layout, litterally following your train along its route

[bn7026]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jdtoronto

As I recall the original AutoSketch was a DOS application back in the days of trying to work out how to put a mouse on DOS! Back when mice were worth $80 or $90 dollars! This must have been in the late 80's. When did Drafix-CAD come out? Maybe when Auto-#$(*& got hold of it they merged it into the already existing Auto-Sketch. Sadly Auto-Sketch seemed to get left behind. One of my clients was using it up until 1999 at least, but it never really seemed to work properly on Windows 2000 and had problems even on Win-95.

John

Hi John,
According to it's help box Drafix dates from 1989 until sometime in the late '90's when it got swallowed by Auto$#@%. The first version of Drafix that I used was a win3.1 version sometime around 94/95. I currently have a windows 95/NT version on my machine (version 4.0). It seems Autosketch was rebirthed about '98 using the Drafix product with a few changes including the removal of the Macro capabilty (it's best feature) - Autosketch 6.0 is very very close to Drafix in it's user interface and can read the same files.

Tim

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by timbowa
--trimmed--
Hi John,
According to it's help box Drafix dates from 1989 until sometime in the late '90's when it got swallowed by Auto$#@%. The first version of Drafix that I used was a win3.1 version sometime around 94/95. I currently have a windows 95/NT version on my machine (version 4.0). It seems Autosketch was rebirthed about '98 using the Drafix product with a few changes including the removal of the Macro capabilty (it's best feature) - Autosketch 6.0 is very very close to Drafix in it's user interface and can read the same files.

Tim

Hi TIm,
That explains a lot. I started with Autosketch back in the DOS days.and used the same version for years. But in 1998 I was working with an old friend who had also been using the DOS version. We 'updated' to Autosketch 5 but had all sorts of trouble. To get it to work on NT you had to fiddle config settings, what a nightmare. We persevered with that version for in house sketches. I left the company in late 1999 and went out on my own. I bought a copy of AutoCad for some insane price, but soon dropped it, sold the PC complete with the A@#$&^%-Cad licence and all to a civil engineer friend and went to TurboCad.

In 2001 one of my clients asked that I prepare everything in SolidWorks - and gave me a fully licenced copy of it! So why look a gift horse in the mouth. I haven't done a huge variety of work with it, mostly simple sheet metalwork.

Cheers!
john
(formerly from Melbourne!)

[Pruitt]

I'm a CadRail kinda person. Being an engineer by inclination and training, the program's technically-oriented interface and features best fits me.

If you have a technical bent like I do, it may be your best choice. If you like to design from a more "artsy" perspective, then a program like 3rd Planit! would be more suitable. I've messed with their demo and used to recommend them for the artsy approach, but based on what Spacemouse has said, I'm not sure I have a recommendation from that direction.

I've messed with the Abracada product a little and found it to be less than adequate. I wouldn't recommend it for anything other than available disk space reduction. I'm not trying to get into an argument about how good or bad it is - for me it was useless. Since WaxonWaxov (great handle, by the way, Danielsan!) and chateauricher no doubt have much more experiece with it than I, their comments about it should be given correspondingly more weight than mine.

I've never used any of the other packages, but overall I've heard that XtrkCad, WinCad and the Atlas products work well within the range of their designers' intent.

Look at your preferred approach and download some of the demo programs and give them a shot. Spend a few hours with each one (maybe a couple extra with CadRail - it has a steep learning curve for those who have not dealt with CAD programs before), then decide which feels most comfortable to use, and go with it.

Choosing a CAD package is a lot like choosing a DCC system - it really all comes down to personal preference (okay, and money). Get a little personal with each one, and you'll find your own preference.

[Anonymous]

Hey fellas...i'm new to the site and must say Thank You for the information. I have enough rail to make a pretty good 4 x 8...but cannot come up with a design of my own...I have some ideas, but i want it to come out RIGHT...

What is this "X-CAD"?

[Anonymous]

It is XtrkCAD, it is free, and it is at http://www.sillub.com/ . The link to get the free registration info is about halfway down the page. It is only 2-D, and takes a little while to learn. It has a good demo/tutorial under the help menu.

[joeh19012]

My 2 cents:

Another vote for Cadrail. I agree with Mark (Brunton) on Cadrail. There's nothing it can't do, especially if you're willing to treat a model railroad plan as a series of geometric shapes--for example, circles (curves) and lines (straight tracks). Throw in tangents (perfectly matched straight tracks to curves), spirals (easements), and figures (turnouts), and you've got a comprehensive and capable design tool. Plus, you can design structures, bridges, custom rail cars, etc. as well.

There's a demo available, along with sample plans, at Sandia Software's website: http://www.sandiasoftware.com/

There have been several threads on this topic. Try searching for the names of the products you're interested in or search for "software" under this forum.