computer aided desing for R.R.

[steamengine060]

Has anyone out there used one of the computer programs to actualy design there rail road and is one prefered over the other I have had one semester of cad drawing in college

[mbshaw]

I am currently using AutoCAD to design mine. I have tried some of the trial versions of the programs you see in MR, i.e. CADRail and such. I found myself reverting back to AutoCAD everytime. I feel more comfortable in AutoCAD and find it has more features that I like. For those who don't have access to AutoCAD or feel its too much "engineering" I would then recommend the other programs.

The drawback to AutoCAD is that you have to draw everything. I haven't seen any "blocks" for turnouts and such for AutoCAD like the others offer. But if you are into engineering I think this is more fun anyway. Kind of like protoype design. I am using USGS maps and aerial photos to aid in the design. The biggest problem I have right now is drawing the easement curves.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

MS

[jwfoise]

I used RR-Track (rrtrack.com) - any no I don't get a percentage. I'm a good computer user but not a designer or a user of AutoCAD. It was not too expensive, and very easy to use. It has lots of track already in there (turnouts, sectional track) - in fact I believe it was orginally designed for sectional track. You can even do CAD things like layers. The version I have is pretty primitive for scenery and you can't do anything like 3D or virtual trains. But I found it very useful for planning out my track design and making sure things fit. The layout I did was HO, 4x8 foot, using Code80 flex-track and Walthers turnouts.

[Anonymous]

I recommend you download the free version of the Atlas RightTrack software and mess about with it for a while. You can get it from the Atlas website. It only does 2D stuff but it is great for a free program. And did I mention it is free?

I have used Microstation at work to draw stuff but I am an engineer and I know how to make the program do what I want it to do. If you have about $5000, I think you will like it too.

For home, I decided to buy 3rd Planit. I think it costs about $80 but I may be wrong. It is a very good program but The documentation could be better. It is very powerful and has a tremendous number of features but you will have to go to a chat room to find out how to use these fancy features. I am glad I bought it but I am an engineer and others may find it a bit tough to learn.

Good Luck and Happy Planning. - Ed

BTW, If you don't already have it, get John Armstrong's book Track Planning for Realistic Operation. You can thank me later.