Where you start with TrackLayer depends on what you have to start with. If you have a picture of a track plan -- from a book or magazine, web site, CAD program, or a sketch on a piece of paper -- then you're the user TrackLayer was designed to accommodate. Most of the features of the program are aimed at tracing over a diagram, applying track where lines are already laid out.
If you don't have a diagram, you can draw a plan by hand on a blank tabletop. If a rectangular space will do, choose the size and scale you want and you're ready to lay track. If you are designing for an L- or odd-shaped space, you might consider using a drawing program to make a scale drawing of the space outline, as background for sketching track.
Starting the Program
Layout and Image Files
The Overall Process
What's Next
Try your hand at creating a small layout, the Rockport & Oyster Bay, in the tutorial.