General Discussion (Model Railroader)

What's the easiest track planning software to learn and use?

I'm not looking for all the bells and whistles, don't need benchwork, scenery, buildings (maybe), elevation change or any of that stuff.  All I'm looking for is software that I can use to draw a trackplan and post here for comments.

 Key word here is EASY.

You had to know this was coming......

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dpaper%2Band%2Bpencil%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Datt-portal&w=375&h=500&imgurl=static.flickr.com%2F2307%2F1812039900_00e850877d.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fartforpeace%2F1812039900%2F&size=77k&name=Pencil+and+paper&p=paper+and+pencil&oid=46a1b3ea20338ff2&fr2=&fusr=ArtForPeace&no=1&tt=317748&sigr=11k27gjdd&sigi=11g0psv9r&sigb=12m49go0o 

ratled

Ha-ha-ha that gave me a good chuckle.  Excellent ratled.  As I was waiting for the link to come up I was actually thinking,"all right, this ought to be good".  Love it, thankfully I have learned but, not necessarily mastered, this one all ready.

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

 hi Spearo,

Trackplanning is the work of your brains only, and some good old fashioned doodling by the squares is all you need. It keeps you from being overly optimistic. The squares were invented by the late John Armstrong a 50 years ago, in 102 Realistic Track Plans Andy Sperandeo is telling "newbies" how to apply them.

Only when this is done you are ready to use a CAD drawing program; the Atlas database only provides its own switches and only part of it, the curved turnouts are not present.

The program is free and has some things to learn, every program has. Questions were always answered, I found out some time ago , alas learning always is going a wee bit slower then expected.

Paul

 EASY is just another for LIMITED.  Any package you find will have some kind of learning curve.  The EASIER the program, the more LIMITED what you'll be able to do with it. 

 For really easy to use, try these.  Just use a 'soft' pencil!

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/150-361

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/233-5003

Thanks all, the Atlas right track is exactly what I was looking for.

spearo:

Thanks all, the Atlas right track is exactly what I was looking for.

 RTS is limited to Atlas track only. If you are planning to actually use Atlas track only, then it will work OK. If not, then that is a pretty strong limitation.

 This subject has been debated dozens and dozens of times. "What is the easiest track planning program" is like "what is the best car" ? A matter of opionion. 

 Write e.g. "software" in the search box in the right side and click "search" to get more details on programs available and the advantages and disadvantages of the various programs.

 Smile,
 Stein

spearo:

What's the easiest track planning software to learn and use?

I'm not looking for all the bells and whistles, don't need benchwork, scenery, buildings (maybe), elevation change or any of that stuff.  All I'm looking for is software that I can use to draw a trackplan and post here for comments.

 Key word here is EASY.

EASY and software should not be allowed in the same paragraph. All software has a learning curve, some people learn that sort of thing faster than others.

Even after learning full blown CADD, I prefer pencil and paper (mechanical pencil and mylar actually).

Sheldon