SCARM - Simple Computer Aided Railway Modeller

[Mixy]

Here are the SCARM blog posts for September and October.

The N gauge was on focus for the last month in the blog.

See the post about L-shaped Minitrix Layout in N-scale From Germany and do not miss the article and movie for the already builded Full-Featured N-scale Layout With Kato Unitrack Tracks, designed in SCARM by Didier Watson

Mixy

[Mixy]

IMPORTANT!

If you are upgrading to Windows 8.1 and then SCARM starts with error and missing libraries, read the following blog post:

What To Do If SCARM Does Not Start Properly on Windows 8.1

The problem will be solved in the next update of SCARM.

Mixy

[Mixy]

The new SCARM v. 0.9.23 is ready – download it from www.scarm.info :)

It comes with several new features, many updated libraries, some bugfixes and improved functionality. The most important new features are Background image, the Ballast roadbed in 2D and Track Heights numeric input.

See about the new features and more about this update in the SCARM Blog post SCARM v. 0.9.23 Released.

I hope that you will like the new version of SCARM and also hope that next one will come soon ;)

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here is the list with blog posts for November: www.scarm.info/blog/2013/11.

Don’t miss the series of video tutorials for beginners (starts with Create a Model Railway Layout with SCARM), even if you’re already an experienced SCARM user ;)

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here is a nice collection of articles in the blog with Information and advices about baseboards in SCARM.

The list includes posts about how to create baseboard with holes and openings, how to represent the support structures and frames, how to split the workbench in several modules, how to create baseboard shapes with rounded corners and more.

And here is the list with blog articles for December: http://www.scarm.info/blog/2013/12.

I hope that the info will be useful ;)

Mixy

[CTValleyRR]

Boy, when you decide it's time to shill your product, you sure do spam the forums!

[Mixy]

CTValleyRR

Boy, when you decide it's time to shill your product, you sure do spam the forums!

 

I don't think that posting of relevant information once in a month on the forum is spam.

Mixy

[cmrproducts]

Mixy

CTValleyRR

Boy, when you decide it's time to shill your product, you sure do spam the forums!

 

 

 

I don't think that posting of relevant information once in a month on the forum is spam.

Mixy

Mixy

I agree - just because theyhave noting to contribute - they throw that type of statement out!

Keep up the good work!

BOB H - Clarion, PA

[CTValleyRR]

Against my better judgement, I will address this. First of all, yeah, I think three different threads, all acive at the same time, all promoting the same product / website, and from someone who does nothing (that I can find) on the forums BUT promote this product, is pushing it. If I suspected Mixy was doing this out of any motivation other than a pure love of the hobby and a sincere desire to help others, I would have a serious problem with it. If I saw one sign of an ad on his site whereby he could be making money, I would have a serious problem with it. As it was, it was a lighthearted dig. Get over it and yourselves.

[Conrail2436]

i really love scarm,  i love it so much i can play on it all day long but i was wondering if there is a way for me to get the streets on it? can u help me mixy?

[Mixy]

Hi Conrail,

The roads in SCARM can be reproduced using the figures. See one example layout with streets here: US Urban Layout in N-scale. All roads inside are created with Polygon figures. The markings are created mostly with Rectangle figures, which are a little bit higher than the road surface. Read more about the figures in SCARM here: How to work with the figures in SCARM. Note that there is no possibility for sloped roads with the figures, but I am working over a dedicated feature which will solve this problem.

Mixy

[bigpianoguy]

Couldn't you just use a variation on the ballast bed to create sloped road surfaces? (If that's what you mean, & not hills.)

[Mixy]

Actually, I am now doing this for the next version :)

The problem is that the real roads have much much more variations in types, markings, intersections, lanes and so on than the rail tracks and it is difficult to represent all of them just by replacing the look of the tracks, currently implemented in SCARM. But I am trying... ;)

And here is the list with articles in the blog for January 2014: www.scarm.info/blog/2014/01.

Not so much, but this month there will be more ;)

Mixy

[Mixy]

Two small bugs in SCARM were reported last month so far:

- "Integer Overflow" error message may appear in some situations when modelling flex-tracks
- Arrow keys in the 2D editor stop working after pressing of Esc key

All these will be corrected in the upcoming release of SCARM. If you encounter another problems, drop a line about them in this thread.

Here is a nice collection of Quick tips, that may be useful in your work with SCARM: Quick Tips in SCARM Software

And here is the list with blog posts for February: www.scarm.info/blog/2014/02.

Mixy

[Mixy]

And here is the new SCARM v. 0.9.24, ready and published, coming with the long-awaited feature for true roads with grades and various surface markings! See more about it here:

SCARM Layout Software v. 0.9.24 Released

Hope you will like it ;)

Please note that the new version has many parts with rewritten code due to the new roads feature and this may also introduce some new bugs. If you see some problems, write about them here and explain the steps that will allow me to reproduce and check what could be wrong.

Mixy

[santafe5000]

Mixy, i am using 0.9.24 and i am having trouble with two pieces of flex track. I am trying to connect two switches which form a part of a siding. The ends of the  two pieces of flex track, between the switches overlap approx 1/2 inch, but i can't get the two pieces to connect. I have trieed starting at one switch and working to the other and also starting at each switch and working to the middle. The ends never turn Green/Red. I tried magnifying the area to get perfect alignment but they will never quite matchup. Any suggestions??

Excellent program, i think it is much easier to use than XtraCad. Thanks for pointing us in the right direction.

James in Texas

[Mixy]

Hello James,

Not sure why this is happening, but if you send me your layout (.scarm project file) to  I will check it. Just put some fugure or text inside, near the place where you cannot obtain a join.

Mixy

[Mixy]

The problem of James is solved

Here is the list with articles in the blog for March: www.scarm.info/blog/2014/03.

And here is the first tutorial in the blog about using of the new road feature:

The Roads in SCARM – Part 1 – Basic Usage



More tutorials about the roadways in SCARM will come soon ;)

Mixy

[Mixy]

Many users are asking about custom or double tunnel portals in SCARM track plans, so I prepared the following article:

Custom Tunnel Portals in SCARM



Hope it will be useful ;)

Mixy

[WVWoodman]

You have done a great job - I spent 6 months designing and redesigning my layout - changed the table 3 times and changed rooms once.  SCARM was a valuable tool. 

[Mixy]

Thank you, WVWoodman :)

And here are the blog posts for April: www.scarm.info/blog/2014/04.

Mixy

[Mixy]

The feedback from the users shows that some wants to have a roundhouse in their layouts and a few other are experiencing a performance hits when working over a very large projects in SCARM. So here are two new interesting articles in the blog. The first is How To Make a Roundhouse in SCARM track plan. One typical roundhouse is shown below.

And if the 2D edtor or 3D viewer becomes slower, see How To Speed-Up SCARM.

Hope you will like these :)

Mixy

[Mixy]

The SCARM blog posts for May: www.scarm.info/blog/2014/05.

Mixy

[Mixy]

There is only one post in the blog for June, but it could be very useful:

How To Make Nearly Perfect Circles / Cylinders in SCARM

With these you can make pillars, water tanks, silos and other like that in the SCARM track plan and 3D viewer.

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here are the two blog posts for July: www.scarm.info/blog/2014/07.

One is for the user-defined exact roadway pieces and the other is showing how to simulate Bring to Front and Send to Back commands in SCARM.

Mixy

[Mixy]

And one more recent post in the blog. It describes the fast and easy way of making railroad crossings with the new roadway feature in SCARM:

The Roads in SCARM – Part 6 – Railroad Crossing

Hope this will be of help :)

Mixy

[Mixy]

After a long delay, the new SCARM v. 0.9.25 is ready and published. It is coming with new figures and many new and updated track libraries. Read more about it here:

SCARM Track Planning Software 0.9.25 Released

The new figures are horizontal and vertical cylinders and will allow drawing of objects and rolling stock, like the small engine showed below:



Hope you will like the new version ;)

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here is one nice gallery with very detailed SCARM images, containing scenes from Indian Railways:

Scenes From Indian Railways in SCARM

Here are just 3 of them:







These were created with the old versions prior to 0.9.24 without the new cylinder figures. The new v. 0.9.25 will be able to produce even more realistic landscapes for those, who are interested to create rich virtual layouts in SCARM.

Mixy

[Mixy]

IMPORTANT

Several users reported for a problem with the new SCARM 0.9.25 after update. This is probably due to corrupted download of the installation package. It seems that sometimes installer is able to run even if it is not downloaded correctly, but after that, the program crashes on startup. If you also experience such problems, follow the steps described in the link below:

Resolving SCARM Installation Issues

This should help for fixing of bad setup package downloads :)

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here are the posts in the SCARM Blog for August and September.

One is about Printing of the Whole Layout in 1:1 Scale (updated with new information).

See also the The N-scale Layout of Tony Relos.

Hope all these will be useful :)

Mixy