LAYOUT DESIGN

[SHRUB]

I,M LOOKING FOR ANY INFO ON CAD PROGRAMS, FOR  DESIGNING  A LAYOUT.

[ericboone]

Rather than re-type, see this link to a search of this forum as this topic has come up more times than I can remember.
http://www.trains.com/trccs/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=CAD&f=ODgsMTE=&u=

[gear-jammer]

Shrub,

We used 3rd PlanIt.  Rather than downloading, we waited for snail mail. It came with a decent manual.  When transferred to benchwork, it was right on.

Sue

[whitman500]

I used Cadrail to design a 400 square foot layout and really liked it.  It took a few hours to get the hang of it but with a little bit of practice I mastered most of the features.  Printing the finished plan and transferring it to the layout was pretty straightforward and much easier than doing things freehand.  Unless you are designing a 4 x 8, I would recommend using a software program. 

[Anonymous]

I use graph paper, ruler and a pencil. This might be too slow and imprecise for some but I am currently in the stage of deciding where and how the mainline should go.

 

[ericboone]

I use graph paper, ruler and a pencil. This might be too slow and imprecise for some but I am currently in the stage of deciding where and how the mainline should go.

Paper and pencil is definetly the way to go at the very start.  I bought 11 x 17 graph paper, drew the room accurately, and had photocopies made with settings so the grid lines show up.  I was able to draw just the mainline path accurately with circle templates, a straight edge, and a compass.  After that stage, once I had a mainline and benchwork outline I liked, I moved to CAD.  (I used Pro/ENGINEER as that is what I use at work and am familiar with.  Unless  your relatively familiar with 3D CAD packages, I would just get one of the CAD packages designed for model railroading.)

[Anonymous]

I use Autocad LT and SolidWorks for the work I do, but I have not designed model railroad layouts.  I have used those programs to layout and model rolling stock with the ojbective only being the 3-D cad model.  I would think that Autocad might be suitable for model railroad layouts.  How long would it take an average person to get up to speed using 3rd Planit?  Is the tutorial sufficient to learn the program?

[CSX_road_slug]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned XtrkCAD yet - it's totally free and has an excellent beginner's tutorial! It doesn't have the range of 3-D bells & whistles that commercial packages have, but it does everything I need.

[ChrisNH]

I use XtrkCad.. great program.. free..

Better link to picking it up is the home page of the current open source version:

http://www.xtrkcad.org/Wikka/HomePage

There is also a very active XtrkCad  Yahoo group.

Chris

[Flashwave]

I fudge with the Atlas Program. it doesn;t have the bells and whistles the others do, but the learning curve is practically nil compared to them. I had no luck with the other above, including drawing an almost straight line. I;ve got a recent Atlas I designed up around here

[Packers#1]

Personally, I don't enjoy xtrakcad. that's a WAY to steep learning curve. take a day or two, and you'll have atlas's right track software down pat and mastered like a pro. of course, xtrakcad has many more features, but for just planning a layout, right track software is the way to go:

http://www.atlasrr.com/righttrack.htm

EDIT: here's a bunch of n scale plans I've created over the time I've had RTS:

http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/Packers_1/SEC/optional%20plans/