Computer Design Programs?

porkypine52 Sep 18, 2019

  1. porkypine52

    porkypine52 TrainBoard Member

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    I'm in the process of tearing down the INDIANA RAILWAY. I'm planning on rebuilding the layout. Want to design a new layout using a CAD program. Would like to design with nice big curves and large turnouts.
    Have downloaded SCARM and ANYRAIL to try out. Want to get an idea what I'm dealing with in the Model Railroad CAD market. Anybody got any druthers on SCARM or ANYRAIL? Which is easier to use? Better for the 1st time CAD user? Any other Model Railroad CAD programs out there that user friendly? Want nothing fancy. I know just enough "COMPUTEREASE" to be dangerous.
     
  2. wvgca

    wvgca TrainBoard Member

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    i use scarm, an older version.. but pretty well much the same ..
    it works well ..
     
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  3. jdetray

    jdetray TrainBoard Member

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    Don't overlook XTtrackCAD. It's free and has a good set of tutorials. I had never used any sort of CAD program before, but I was able to use XTrackCAD to design my trackplan.

    http://www.xtrkcad.org/Wikka/HomePage

    - Jeff
     
  4. RCMan

    RCMan TrainBoard Member

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    AnyRail is one of the easiest to learn.
     
  5. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    personally for me scarm was and is very easy to use.. i tried xtrackcad and never got the hang of it. it has a very strong learning curve that my simple brain could never get it to work. but scarm does good fer me. i suggest to pay for the paid program . you get all the bells and whistles. any rail was ok . i was able to figger it out ok but i liked scarm much better fer my simple brain hahahahahahahahah plus it has most all the tracks kato, ect . Mixy can and will answer any questions or problems you have with the software too.
     
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  6. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I'm a SCARM user too for the same reason as you. My N Scale road will use Kato Unitrack.
     
  7. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    Do these programs work with Windows 10? 2 3/4 years ago when Windows 10 took over Windows 7 on my 10 year old computer it eliminated all of them and there files. Along with many other programs and links. 3 months ago Windows 10 destroyed my 12 year old computer and now I have a newer one and am interested in getting back into modeling after 10 years of relaxation.
     
  8. jdetray

    jdetray TrainBoard Member

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    I can only speak about XTrackCAD, which I have installed on a Windows 10 computer. It seems to work fine.

    - Jeff
     
  9. Vanvlak

    Vanvlak New Member

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    Scarm (or at least the current version of it) works fine on Windows 10, and I echo the sentiment it's easy to use.
     
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  10. RBrodzinsky

    RBrodzinsky November 18, 2022 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    AnyRail 4 and XTrackCAD both work fine on my Win10 PC
     
  11. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    I haven't tried yet on my newer computer. The failures were on my 11 year old that got confiscated by 10 and on there many things failed to be renewable.
     
  12. RCMan

    RCMan TrainBoard Member

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    Older computer will have problems with some of the new updates to software packages. One is if you have a computer and using a software update that has to use specific video drivers and your computer cannot or does not have the updated drivers available. I know this is a problem on one of my computers. It is hard to keep up with technology sometimes.

    Dennis
     
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  13. jimh009

    jimh009 New Member

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    I'm a beginner modeler and designed my first plan with Scarm. It works fine on Windows 10 (which runs on a partition on my Macbook). Very easy to use after a bit of initial frustration as you figure things out.
     
  14. EsK

    EsK TrainBoard Member

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    Hello,

    On XTrackCAD, if I have a track plan in HO scale & if it's to be converted to N scale plan, what's the simplest way to do it? In other words, how to use the HO plan as a template for a similar N scale plan.
    Thanks, EsK

    PS: Could you please help advise how to wade through the forums to search for a topic such as this and how to start a new thread...
     
  15. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for all the advice. Now to decide which to look for. I've used XTrack the most in the past for N scale but now I need to up to HO and being in an apartment it must be simple.
     

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