Flat Dog said:
Good stuff.
My book includes a photo of a train going around a small radius turn and it looks awful.
Do you guys use software to come up with layouts or the old pencil on graph paper method?
I DLed the free Atlas software, but it seems faster to just draw it out. So maybe its best to conceptualize on paper and then draft on the computer?
There is a difference between modeling and just setting up something to run trains on.
Screwy Squirrel said it best in his reply in this thread.
It takes time to get used to any cad software. I'm trying to get used to xtrkcad. Before I put money down on it.
I don't run Windows so I can't talk about the Atlas software.
I do a rough on graph paper, sometimes I resort to the kitchen table to try a fit of a small section.
All the paper planing seems to go out the window once the track hits the roadbed. So while the overall layout might survive the process, a number of details change. Things that look ok on paper turn out not to really fit when placed on the wood, hence trying small sections on the table.
I've been away from the hobby for 14 years and now have the time to actually put something together. I started with O27 back in the '50s and switched to HO in the early '70s, and N in the early '80s. All of the layouts got taken apart because of moving. I still have a pile of O27 stuff in boxes, I gave away all my HO stuff, I'm recovering my N scale stuff (BTW, stuff is a highly technical term).
Making things fit, operate, and look good are what it is about.
Unfortunately it takes; room, time, room, money, room, patience, and room.
I did say room didn't I?
I am currently trying new things out on a small switching puzzle layout that measures 9" by 48" it is on a piece of wall board (easy to stick holes into, draw on, a bit of mud fills the holes, then a bit of latex makes the lines go bye, bye ... I don't recommend this for a real layout, easy to break and moisture problems unless properly sealed).
I just recieved two new decoder equiped locomotives and a DCC system. So I had to get used to the new way of doing things, but my old code 80 Atlas sectional track is fine.
This will be my first major modeling effort, however I have built many a layout.