New free layout design software

[Mixy]

The new SCARM v. 0.9.33 is ready and published, coming with several new features and updated track libraries. Read more details here:

SCARM Model Railroad Track Planning Software 0.9.33 Released

Hope you will like it

Mixy

[Mixy]

And here are the SCARM railroad modeler blog posts for May.

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here is explained How to Recover a Project File After Crash or Power Failure and to restore your SCARM track plan to the last autosave state. I hope you do not have to use that feature, but... just in case

And here are the SCARM model railroading blog posts for June.

Mixy

[TrainNut]

Allright. I did it. I downloaded SCARM and started messing around with it. I'm an AutoCAD user so while there was a short learning curve, it wasn't too bad. Still some things I'm trying to figure out. You may have it but I could not find it, a simple set of videos listed as to what to do when you first start. I found a whole bunch of videos that are somewhat organized. After a while, I found the "Online help and FAQ's" page and that was an immense help. I've designed a fairly large layout in AutoCAD and I took that as a screenshot and used it as an underlay in SCARM to lay my trackwork out on top of. I was really looking forward to the 3D aspect. VERY COOL! First thing it told me is that a section of my layout that had some pretty healthy elevation changes was not going to work. Back to the drawing board!

[TrainNut]

Okay, I've got 90% of the track laid out and it seems the 3D effect is really cool with the simple parts but when you start getting multiple tracks crossing over each other in the same area, it gets really confused and does some very strange things. It seems to want to keep the terrain above tunnels, lowered to just above the tunnel. So much so that when another track crosses over(also inside a tunnel), it pulls the terrain down and exposes the track above. Clear as mud? Luckily, last night, I started messing with making the terrain do what I want... rivers, valleys and mountains. That seems to cover up the awkwardness of what the automatic 3D is trying to do. Still learning...

[Mixy]

The strange terrain in 3D appears, because at the moment, SCARM does not sort the tracks automatically, but just accepts that all of them are laid from bottom to the top. That will be fixed in some of the next versions of the program.

And here are listed the SCARM Railroad Hobby Blog posts for July.

Don't miss the last QuickTip about how to perform Fast Selection of Sequential Tracks in 2D editing mode.

Mixy

[TrainNut]

Is there a way to move the center pivot point when rotating in 3D mode? There are some parts of my layout I'd like to see a little closer but due to the angles and the restricton of the center point, I can not see them.

[Mixy]

Is there a way to move the center pivot point when rotating in 3D mode? There are some parts of my layout I'd like to see a little closer but due to the angles and the restricton of the center point, I can not see them.

Yes, you can move the camera in 3D mode with the middle mouse button hold down or with the arrow keys.

Mixy

[Mixy]

And here is the new SCARM v. 0.9.34, coming with new and updated track libraries and also with a new extension - the brand new Model Trains Simulator.
Read more details here:

Model Railroad Layout Designer SCARM 0.9.34 Released



The Starter Edition of the simulator is intended for simple 2D and 3D simulations of various operations on the track plans, designed in SCARM. It will show you how the model rolling stock can be operated on a real layout, before buying even a single track.



In this way, you can check the concept of your plan and to discover potential design issues before start the construction of a real layout. And like SCARM, this edition of the simulator is completely free

Please note: the simulator is not directly bundled into SCARM installer. If you want to test it, you must install the latest version of SCARM first and then to use "Extensions" > "Browse for Extensions" menu command in the program in order to download and install the required files.

The simulator opens a whole new world in SCARM universe and I really hope that you will like it

Hope you will like it

Mixy

[TrainNut]

...you can move the camera in 3D mode with the middle mouse button hold down or with the arrow keys.

Thank you! That's a huge help.

[Mixy]

Here is the only one SCARM railroad modeling blog post for August.

And something important - if someone is faced with the "Out of memory" error message in SCARM when editing very large and/or complex layout, here is how to cope with that: Cause and Solution for Out of Memory Error Message.

Mixy

[Mixy]

And here are the SCARM model trains blog posts for September.

See also the recently published gallery in the blog from one of the largest modular layout meetings in Europe:

35 Years Anniversary FREMO Meeting in Riesa, Germany

Overall meeting hall view:



The track plan, situated on more than 6000 m2 (64500 square feet):



That is designed probably in AutoCAD or other similar general purpose CAD software, not in SCARM. However, I am considering adding of features for creating of modular layouts also in SCARM for some of the next versions of the program

Mixy

[Mixy]

For those, who want to use the Model Train Simulator with narrow gauge track layouts: the current library with virtual rolling stock in the bundle is representing standard gauge prototypes and cannot be directly scaled to the narrow gauge model tracks. If you try that, you will get the "Gauge mismatch" stop message and nothing will happen.

However, with a little trick, the tracks in the SCARM layout can be re-scaled without changing of the dimensions and geometry, so the virtual trains to be able to be placed and moved on a narrow gauge route. See how below:

Playing with Narrow Gauge Track Layouts in Model Trains Simulator

Re-scaling of the track route in the layout as shown in the blog post helps to test the track plan with the current Demo Start Set rolling stock library in MTS.

Mixy

[Mixy]

Here are the SCARM model railroad blog posts for October.

For those of you, who plan in O scale, check the post and solution about the Potential Problems With Lionel O FasTrack O31 switches (SOLVED).

Mixy

[Mixy]

And here are the SCARM train layout blog posts for November.

Note the QuickTip about Fixing SCARM with Missing Window on Startup in case that you observed such issue:



Mixy