Update - 06-19-08
Joe,
I've been using AutoCAD since 1994 and have worked professionally for a civil engineer, a structural engineer and an architect. AutoCAD is so ingrained in my life that at times I find myself trying to use it for real life stuff... especially the undo command!!!:mrgreen:
To address your scale question, I drew the design 1:1 in the real world... for example, I drew the walls of my dining room first at 1:1 and then drew the layout inside that.... a complicated answer for a simple question. Blocks - I actually did not make any blocks. I had to draw the first switch from scratch. Once I had that accomplished, I just copied it, mirrored it and/or rotated it every time I needed another. I guess I could have created 4 seperate blocks to accomplish the same thing but for some reason I never did. Also, most of my switches are #6's so I just fudged the number 2 #4's and the 2 #8's. As far as the straights and curves, my whole layout is built with flex track and there are very few straight sections to be found. Most of the big curves are fixed radius (10", 11", 12"etc.) but when my track just meanders from one point to the next, I used splines. I found that drawing my track plan used a lot of the same concepts that I used to draw property boundaries for site plans.
I have to admit that having so many comments on this thread in the last couple of days inspired me to make some more progress.
I've had this area towards the front of my layout that's been Blue Flats for a while now. Yesterday, I got tired of staring at it and threw something together. Last time you saw it, it looked like this...
Now, it looks like this...
I was kind of lazy about it as all three vehicles came straight out of a box as well as both buildings. They're not glued down so maybe a little later, I'll pick 'em back up and apply some weathering.
In this shot, the local freight's obeying the 25mph speed limit as it takes it easy around the corner past Sunnyvale just before crossing Deep Creek. Yes, I know... there's one major thing I have not done yet in these pictures. Maybe if I don't point it out, you won't notice it.
Same shot, different angle...
This shot was kind of a goof but it turned out kinda neat so I'm including it...