Free trackplanning software?

[steinjr]

I am CAD literate... very. And, the thought of being able to simulate trains on your layout before building it intrigued me. Even though mine is mostly on it's way, I thought there might be some way of getting my current .dwg into Xtrkcad and playing with it.
So I tried to download it right now just to see what everyone was talking about and ended up getting a bunch of error messages. Guess I'll pass.

Fair enough. It would be kinda hard to troubleshoot anyways based on "downloaded, ended up getting a bunch of (unspecified) error messages (doing something unspecified with an unspecified version of the program on a computer running some unspecified operating system)".

As far as I know, there is no way to import a drawing (even if vector based rather than raster based) into XtrkCad and turn lines and curves etc into track objects. A track plan in XtrkCad is a collection of track objects, not a collection of lines and curves.

That would take quite a bit of programming - about on par with being able to import a photo of a column of numbers into e.g. Excel, and have Excel automatically do optical character recognition, and do stuff like adding up the numbers in the picture.

Obviously can be done, but seems like a waste of programming hours.

But if you feel there is significant demand for such a function, take it to the yahoo group mentioned earlier and see if someone feels like trying to write a .drw to XtrkCad converter for a very CAD literate guy.

Smile,
Stein

[TrainNut]

Wowww Stein! I have to admit that my first thought was to recommend you go back to bed and get up on the right side. Sheesh, I got quite the chuckle out of that one. Thanks for the input... I think.

[2-8-2]

I've used several CAD programs during my lifetime, and take to learning new software like a fish to water. In short, I'm one of the most computer literate people I know. That said...XtrkCAD is quirky and cumbersome at best. My guess is, that's why it went totally free, because there just weren't enough people buying it in the first place. I've seen (and used) several track planning programs, and there isn't a lot of difference between them. CADRail also has a free demo, but costs $60-$90 to buy.

In my opinion, 3rd PlanIt is the best one available. There is a free demo, but it cost $125 to buy. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. If you want a good program that's easy to use and has updated support, be prepared to pay for it. If you're not willing to pony up the cash, well, you know what they say: beggars can't be choosers. John Armstrong offers a great pencil and paper track planning tutorials in his books, but those also cost around $20 each. Ultimately, if you're serious about planning, you have to consider it part of your MRR budget and get what you want.

[MountainMan]

It does indeed, but would you spend years learning to play a musical instrument merely to enjoy listening to a symphony?

I have mastered enough difficult skills in my lifetime. My hobby is meant to be relaxation and enjoyment, not frustration caused by my realization that I am "XtrakCad challenged." :?

Well, the fact that you found XtakCad very hard to learn does not mean that most people will be unable to learn to use it, or that most people will need to spend years to learn to use it at a sufficient level to do what you claim to be doing in that other program you use - doing a rough "will it fit" sketch.

For that you only need to learn how to go to the file menu, choose the parameter file for Atlas sectional track (or whatever kind of track you are using) and deselect other parameter files, and then click where on the layout you want the various pieces of sectional track.

Or to use three buttons on the tool menu - as in "circle track tool" - enter desired radius and click where you want it, "straight line tool" - click and drag where you want the track, "parallel track tool" to put a second line next to the first. That will allow you to see if curves will fit and how close together you can fit tracks.

Not exactly brain surgery. But by all means - if it doesn't work for you and you have an alternate way that works for you, then do it the other way.

Smile,
Stein

Ah, yes...the old art of damning someone with faint praise...

I tried all those little "tricks" to "simplify" that you mentioned, but with poor results. I can, after all, read the directions. Now, if I cut open a body in front of you, how many things can you properly identify in the shortest possible time while the patient is bleeding out in front of you? Can you do it and fix it before the patient dies or suffers irreversible brain damage - roughly four minutes? Why not? I find it quite simple to do, even when being shot at. You can easily read a book on medicine and one on surgery and that should tell you all you need to know, shouldn't it?

Or, if you prefer, can you build a cantilevered 1100 square foot wrap-around deck on a fifty-five degree slope, by yourself using only hand tools? I did that after reading a book on building decks.

Do not mistake a particular lack of ability in a certain very limited area such as XtrakCad for a shortage of either skill or intelligence. We do what we do best...all of us.

Smiling...
Mountain Man

[2-8-2]

I can pat my head and rub my belly at the same time!

[TrainNut]

[Sumpter250]

It does indeed, but would you spend years learning to play a musical instrument merely to enjoy listening to a symphony?

:oops:

Sorry 'bout that twisted lol. The reality is, that I did come to enjoy listening to a symphony, by learning to play the alto clarinet, and performing in a symphonic orchestra. So....I guess I would spend years learning, merely to enjoy.

[Sumpter250]

.......Then again, I have never considered enjoyment, a mere pleasure.

[sgtcarl1]

Ah...that I could play a musical instrument!!! What great pleasure I would derive from so doing! But...The fact of the matter is, I can't!!
So I do what I love..listen to music!! Nothing thrills me quite so much as listening to a master musician playing their instrument(s).
I can't read a blueprint, or wire anything using a schematic diagram, and I can't understand how a Cad-anything works. So I use what works best for me: trial and error. I truly do appreciate people who are more talented or skillful than I am! I am happy for them, because of their talents and/or skills!!

[steinjr]

Sorry guys. Got carried away this morning.

Just for the record - I have no doubt that all posters in this thread are intelligent and skilled human beings, and I did not in any way try to imply anything else.

Smile,
Stein

[TrainNut]

Thanks Stein. We all have them kinda days every so often.

[sgtcarl1]

No offense taken, because no offense was meant! And I don't like to take (a fence,) offense, because you gotta dig up all them dad burned fence posts!!!

[Sumpter250]

No offense taken, because no offense was meant! And I don't like to take (a fence,) offense, because you gotta dig up all them dad burned fence posts!!!

Dig up posts, or post up "digs". leave the "fenses" be.

[MountainMan]

Is someone being "de-fensive"? 8-)

[LynnB]

Any way getting the defensive stuff out of the way , I did find another great tool in xtrakcad which when I designed the decline going to the staging yard below the main level via tunnel the program gave be exact measurement for tooling in the wood base for decline that goes all the way around the perimeter of the layout to its leveled off staging tracks.