[rreiffer]

Hello all,

I am new to the Large Scale trains (I have an extensive N Gauge setup - 20' X 16' down in my basement). I have acquired a couple of Lionel and AristoCraft trains and I plan on building the set outdoors this coming spring (right now in Michigan it's 4 degrees out and we have 16" of snow on the ground).

What I am looking for is what software are you using to design layouts (if you use any) and what are the pros and cons of each one you have tired.

My grandson absolutely LOVES to watch the train go around in our living room.

Thanks for taking the time to listen.

Rich

 

[sheepdog]

RR-Track.

Drew up the plan. Looked at it from many views. It listed the track sections I would need.


Handed the list to a nice lady at Watt's Train Shop. They pulled the track I needed and it was right on.


After I had it down, I made a small change which required the purchase of one extra 5' straight.


Well worth the money.

Craig

We have 8F and maybe 6" in the Northeast hoosierland.

 

[rreiffer]

Thanks for the reply.

I have already lloked at Cadrail and AnyrailEN. Of the two I believe Cadrail was better. It includes a couple of neat features such as 3-D visualization and running a "model" train on the tracks. It also includes a perspective from the CAB which I found quite interesting .

I will look at RR and see how it compares.

Rich

 

[Engineercub]

Hiya Rich,
I used Railmodeller, I can't really say it was the best as it has no USA Trains track, nor does it incorporate grades into the layout. It does use a semi-3-D overhead and in-color view of the layout, but not a true 3-D model of it and certainly no cab rides. It was one of the only options I had available for the Mac so I used it. For what it was, it was fairly cheap and worked ok and the main thing is that I managed to complete my layout with it. I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5.

-Will