So... I need to redesign part of my layout to lose 6" of width.
I have never been good a drawing track plans. Is AnyRail easy to use?
I can't build it in 1:1 scale again.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I have always drawn my proposed layouts on quadrille paper with pencil and eraser at hand.
Rich
Alton Junction
A highly skilled CAD operator among our group here transfomed my hand drawings into something I could post here, but despite some training in that area, I have never personally gotten comfortable with any kind of digital drawing format.
Starting two new design projects for customers, still hand drawn.
Sheldon
I got pretty good at drawing up house plans with CAD when we thought we would build our own custom house. I do, however, like the old pencil and paper method for MRR. I bought this giant pad of graph paper that has 1-inch squares for $7.00 at Staples, each 1" square represented a sqft it was perfect.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
SeeYou190 So... I need to redesign part of my layout to lose 6" of width. I have never been good a drawing track plans. Is AnyRail easy to use? I can't build it in 1:1 scale again. -Kevin
Easy is relative - all drawing software has a learning curve, some steeper than others.
Some people do seem to find it intuitive, others not so much.
Just like smart phones, I do OK with my Android, my grand kids have had Apple phones for years, and no matter how much I play with their phones, I don't get it.
It is also one of my problems with DCC, the ergonomics of the controllers, even after many hours running trains on other peoples layouts.
When we decided to build the house in which we now live, I did labelled sketches of the floor plans for both the ground floor and the second story, then forwarded them to a person who claimed to be a capable draughtsman.
When I presented the blueprints to the town clerk, he seemed to be impressed, but the more I looked at the blueprints, the more I started to worry that a mistake had been made. I decided to visit the lumber yard where I was planning to purchase the materials, and asked one of the salesman to look at the blueprints, without pointing-out the flaw that I had noticed. It took him less than a minute to spot the error, which, on the blueprint was two 24' long 2"x10" joists that supposedly would support an 8' high wall of the same length. He must've look at it two or three times, incredulous.
That's when I butted-in, and suggested that a truss would be a better solution. His reply was yes, I think you're correct, and I will drive down tomorrow to take a look.
When he showed-up, it took only a few minutes until he remarked..."Yes, a truss, and not just one truss, but three, and I will have them made-up and delivered, along with instructions on how they're to be installed.
When the trusses arrived, all three were the same 24' length, and a full 9' high, with instructions to put all three up, fastened together with 8" Ardox nails (from both sides, and clinched-over).I was surpised that I could lift those trusses (one-at-a-time, of course) by myself, and got them properly held together following the nailing instructions, all finished on the same day.We later returned to the "draughtsman", and managed to get at least a partial refund for the carelessly-done blueprints....I could have done a better job myself.
I'm glad that I didn't have to return to the so-called draughtsman to make a blueprint for my model railroad layout plan, and since I already had it pretty-well figured-out in my head, I didn't even have to make a sketch.
Wayne
Wayne,
And that is the difference between a draftsman and a residential designer/architect/structural engineer.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Wayne, And that is the difference between a draftsman and a residential designer/architect/structural engineer. Sheldon
I have built a couple of structures for my kids, a second story deck and an attic platform over a 2nd floor trey ceiling. In both cases, we consulted a structural engineer to get things right before beginning the build.
Years ago, we hired a contractor to build a one story addition in the back end of our two story home. He failed to dig the foundation deep enough on non-virgin soil. Gradually, the addition sunk into the soil and we had to tear it down.
kasskaboose I swear by the freeeware Atlas tool. While not perfect, it doesn't have too large a learning curve.
I swear by the freeeware Atlas tool. While not perfect, it doesn't have too large a learning curve.
Another vote for the Atlas Freeware!
Jim
hardcoalcase kasskaboose I swear by the freeeware Atlas tool. While not perfect, it doesn't have too large a learning curve. Another vote for the Atlas Freeware! Jim
The Atlas software switched to a paid version years ago.
ATLANTIC CENTRALAnd that is the difference between a draftsman and a residential designer/architect/structural engineer.
I designed my Dream House while I was in High School during 1984. My Drafting/Design II project was a "complete" set of drawings for the house construction, including roof trusses.
When I actually had the chance to build the house in 1989 I found out that my drawing set was not quite complete.
There was a company in Cape Coral that I believe was called Woodson Design And Engineering that produced two more drawings, and then the design was approved by the county for construction. They did not need to redraw any of my originals.
.
AEP528 The Atlas software switched to a paid version years ago.
I believe it is still available for free download here:
http://trainweb.org/seaboard/layouts.htm
To my recollection, there was a Yahoo site (now .io?) for this too, which recommended V 8.0 as being the best version, balancing ease of use with capability.
I tried out every model railroad CAD program mentioned in this thread and decided on AnyRail. It's the easiest to learn when it comes to simply connecting track and turnouts together and controlling the radii of flex and curves. It includes easements (at least a simplified version), which is important to me. Plus, the AnyRail forum is much mire active than other model rr CAD forums. You can get questions answered fast.
Another great resource is Steam-Powered Radio on youtube. That guy has made dozens of videos that walk you through every single feature and bug of AnyRail.
The ease of use (and very low price) is a double-edged sword, however. It is wanting in some more complicated features, especially if you're used to MicroStation or AutoCAD. I don't regret picking it, though. I'll drop back to AutoCAD if I have to for benchwork and other details.
The biggest thing that AnyRail has is an extensive worldwide track library. A few times I considered drawing up track and turnouts in AutoCAD and quickly dismissed the idea. Maybe if my ambition was to become a layout designer, but it's not: I just want to build a layout.