Best planning software?

iis612

Member
I have XTRKCAD and the Atlas software too, and I am not a fan of either. I have been using a drafting table and equipment to work on different schemes, but I can't test any of them that way. I have no problem paying for good software, but not without knowing it is good. Any suggestions?
 

BigJim

Member
At first I had a problem with XTrkCAD. When I learned to do more "Joins" between two straight tracks, even for 90 degree corners, and modify/extend to have more track it became easier. Want a curve of the end of a turnout? Extend the turnout leg. Now hold down the shift and curve it (easement=none). Now grab it again with modify and drag a straight track off in the direction you want to go. For precise radii use the "describe" function between these two steps and set the radius.

The other thing I didn't like was deleting track selected in a previous step in error. Found that the "Move to bottom" button works fine to deselect all selected items.

Unless you want 3D I would suggest learning some "tricks" and giving it a chance.
 

iis612

Member
With Xtrk, it is either my computer (which is only 2 months old and very well maintained) or the software needs an update. When I "undo" it removes several items, generally not the item I want removed.
I should delete it and re-install it and searcgh for known updates.
 

YmeBP

Member
There is a thread on modeling software, but i can't seem to locate it :0. There are a few, winrail, right trak etc. I'll keep hunting for the thread w/ the reviews.
 

Nomad

Active Member
iis, when you 'undo', it should only remove your last move, so to speak. Are you using 'select' by mistake?
I was like you, I had both programs, Atlas and Xtrk, I found Atlas was not flexible, especially on the flex track curves. I finally sat down and started using Xtrk only, and found I can do almost any kind of track planning. I really like the fact I can test the track plan by running a train. Plus it is free. More money for cars!

Loren
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
One reasion Americans do not use DRail might have something to do with the fact that WinXP cannot open any of the files.

On a related subject, are there additional structure libraries for XTrkCad? The stuff furnished for HOn3 is almost non-existent.

I also have problems with XTrkCad's scale - in HO a simple wye takes up most of what is supposed to be a 4 x 8 space. Somehow, that cannot be correct.
 

wickman

Member
My entire first and second layout was designed with xtracad I thought it was great. I could run mock sessions and test out the functionality. :wave:
 

nolatron

Member
For the mac folk, I recommend Empire Express:

http://www.haddonsoftware.com/

I used to use Rail Modeller ( http://www.railmodeller.com ), but one thing I love about EE is their Flex Track. You can set a minimum radius to use when laying down track, you can drag one track and make it as long/short as you need and it'll automatically calculate how many pieces are needed, and it'll auto connect flex track and make a smooth transition between track (if the curve is at somewhat the right radius).

I used EE to build the layout plan (which I might be changing thanks to the Model Railroader I got yesterday. See Page 75) here:

http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=25141
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Tried your suggestion re demo of 3dplanit and found it confusing and balky. Specifically, the demo does not often do what the tutorial says it will. Then something unknown happened after two hours of struggling, it announced a "problem and had to close" and, since it doesn't have a "save feature", all was lost.

I don't know what this thing costs, but I am so far unimpressed and I cdefinitely would not buy it on the strength of the demo, which I believe is supposed to convince a buyer that the product is worthy of the money.

Addendum: Tried unsuccessfully to contact these people - only e-mail link that actually works is the one to buy the product, which is not what I expect from any vendor of anything.

So far on a scale of 1 - 10: -1 :curse:
 

Nomad

Active Member
Mountain Man, I agree. I tried there demo and was not impressed. While it might be nice to "see" your layout in 3d, I'd rather see more rolling stock on my layout. I will stick with Xtrk, considering this is not a program you will use all the time.

Loren
 

Torpedo

Member
Mountain Man said:
Addendum: Tried unsuccessfully to contact these people - only e-mail link that actually works is the one to buy the product, which is not what I expect from any vendor of anything.

So far on a scale of 1 - 10: -1 :curse:
There is a gentleman that has a web page devoted to comparing the various layout design software packages. You can find it at http://home.earthlink.net/~mrsvc/id14.html.

Regarding 3rd Planit, he makes the following somewhat ominous statement:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]"As of October, 2005, the publisher of 3rd PlanIt has been unresponsive to requests for information, which is concerning. While the future of the program is in some question, the currently released version is a solid product that I find quite useful."

The aforementioned web page indicates there is a Yahoo group for 3rd Planit. I would ask some hard questions of those folks before buying the product.
[/FONT]
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Torpedo

Member
Ugly, Ugly, Ugly!

Following up on my last post:

I just cruised one of the the Yahoo 3rd Planit groups. It seems there are three of them, and they apparently don't get along. Neither do the members of the group I looked at. Talk about vitriol.

From what I could gather, the owner (and apparently sole functioning employee) of El Dorado Software, the maker(s) of 3rd Planit, is either hated, loved, or merely tolerated by the group's members. And those that aren't on the same team seem to spend a lot of time hurling barbs at the people on the other teams.

Apparently the owner, Randy something or other, has not been attending to business in a manner that suits everyone for several years, and a lot of people aren't buying his explanations. Others defend him rigorously. It is all quite sordid and very depressing.

Personally, I had been trying to decide whether to put an effort into learning 3rd Planit or Cadrail. I was undecided which way to go until I looked at the 3rd Planit Yahoo group. I now know. I just downloaded the latest Cadrail demo.
 

Squidbait

Recovering ALCO-holic
Torpedo,

I'd give Xtrcad a try. For the price (free!) I don't think you can do better. There's a Yahoo support group for it as well. The latest version (3.1.4) lets you run trains, does elevations, but doesn't offer a 3D view.
 

Torpedo

Member
Thanks, Squidbait.

I am aware of Xtrcad, but I prefer 3D vizualization CAD for the extra clarity it can bring to the design process, and I am used to using that kind of application for other purposes. If Cadrail doesn't work out for some odd reason, Xtrcad will be my fallback.
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Torpedo said:
There is a gentleman that has a web page devoted to comparing the various layout design software packages. You can find it at http://home.earthlink.net/~mrsvc/id14.html.

Regarding 3rd Planit, he makes the following somewhat ominous statement:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]"As of October, 2005, the publisher of 3rd PlanIt has been unresponsive to requests for information, which is concerning. While the future of the program is in some question, the currently released version is a solid product that I find quite useful."

The aforementioned web page indicates there is a Yahoo group for 3rd Planit. I would ask some hard questions of those folks before buying the product.
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Thanks for the link. what puts me off 3DPlanit the most is the cost, somewhere around $125.00 IIRC. If I'm going to lay out that kind of money just for planning software, the demo has to virtually sell the program singehandedly...and it didn't.
 
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