Layout Planning Tools

[Gizmogle]

Is there anything (on the internet or for purchase) you can use to easily plan your track layout?
I'm aware of the little red plastic track things you can get, but is there anything else? Something free would be nice

 

[Dennis]

I have used the WinRail demo software ( http://www.winrail.com ) - fiddly, but free.

 

[Gizmogle]

Yeah, my dad just found that. He can't figure it out at all lol

 

[960012]

I was guan say Hornby Virtual Railway, but its not all that good, ive got a copy, u can have a play when i come up??

 

[Gizmogle]

Hmmm....can you copy it for me? We used to have it, I don't remember it being any good...but I'll give it a go.

After my dad complaining about not being able to use winrail, I gave it a go...installed the track and it was sorted Muppet

 

[960012]

Hmmm....can you copy it for me? We used to have it, I don't remember it being any good...but I'll give it a go.

After my dad complaining about not being able to use winrail, I gave it a go...installed the track and it was sorted Muppet

Ill have a go, if uve got winrail workng then thats probably better, HVR is very basic!

 

[Nick]

I used XtrkCad (freeware) to do mine.

 

[tramboy]

I've always used the Hornby red plastic track planners for OO...and sometimes never used them, just put things down and seen what I can come up with!

N is also guesswork...at the moment without a permanent layout it's more fun to get a different thing every time and then see how you might power it!

Cheers

Dave

 

[kettlefan]

Hmmm....can you copy it for me? We used to have it, I don't remember it being any good...but I'll give it a go.

After my dad complaining about not being able to use winrail, I gave it a go...installed the track and it was sorted Muppet

it limits you to trainset size baseboards

 

[Craig]

Dunno if it's any good for planning layouts, but I quite like the old version of Rail3D. It's fairly basic compared to the likes of MSTS and BVE, but it's good for modelling big systems with complicated movements. It's quite easy to get carried away though, one of my layouts models most of the railways around Glasgow

 

[Beaker]

stuff the software whats wrong with a pencil , ruler , paper and imagniation?

 

[Nathan]

stuff the software whats wrong with a pencil , ruler , paper and imagniation?

It can be time consuming. Why have a paper model when you can have a digital image?

 

[Beaker]

i would of thought of thinking of an idea takes the same tie if you do it using a computer or paper,
and you can have a paper template over the baseboard

 

[Gizmogle]

You can make mistakes too easily on paper. WinRail for example (which I'm using at the moment) shows the track numbers and fits all the track together so you know it's all going to fit together when you come to do it with the real track.
If you do it on paper then the image of your layout can easily become distorted. Measurements can be miscalulated and everything just goes to s**t

 

[960012]

You can make mistakes too easily on paper. WinRail for example (which I'm using at the moment) shows the track numbers and fits all the track together so you know it's all going to fit together when you come to do it with the real track.
If you do it on paper then the image of your layout can easily become distorted. Measurements can be miscalulated and everything just goes to s**t

I found that with my new layout, have since used HVR to and done it in sections and put it in paint and it all fit together!

Can we see the final plan onces youve finished?

 

[Nathan]

I found that with my new layout, have since used HVR to and done it in sections and put it in paint and it all fit together!

Can we see the final plan onces youve finished?

So where are your plans then? All i've seen is paper too I did my plans on HVR.

 

[960012]

So where are your plans then? All i've seen is paper too I did my plans on HVR.

I have my plans right here, on this very computer!

 

[Craig]

You can make mistakes too easily on paper. WinRail for example (which I'm using at the moment) shows the track numbers and fits all the track together so you know it's all going to fit together when you come to do it with the real track.

Hmm, you could probably do something like that with AutoCAD. You'd just need to draw some blocks for the various bits of track, then join them all together. I might have a play next time I get a spare 5 minutes at work

 

[Nathan]

I have my plans right here, on this very computer!

Thats ok then, its good to know that your ideas are being recorded.