Simple
tools. A
few easy but flexible tools are all you need to do the complete job of
laying track, drawing curves, creating switches and turntables.
Easy straight track.
Just drag and draw. Sections connect automatically, no wiring
required.
Effortless
switch creation. Drop a track end onto another track,
and a working switch is created automatically. Or drag three or
more track ends together in the same spot, or drop a segment onto a
curve.
Easy scale setup.
Drag the grid to align it with the diagram and establish measurements.
Choose any modelling scale. Display dimensions in model or
prototype units, English or metric.
Easy
turntables. Drag a circle, add some connectors -- they
snap to perpendicular -- and you have a working turntable.
Multiple track
selection. Easy moving or styling of entire yards and
sections.
Debugging tools.
Let TrackLayer help check your work.
Use any background.
Apply track on a pencil sketch, scan from a magazine, output from a CAD
program, photo from your ceiling -- if it looks like a railroad, you can
draw track on it.
Or no background.
Start with a blank screen and just doodle with track ideas. Slap
down a yard and push some boxcars around.
Modify your favorite
layout. Start with a Linn Westcott plan, add a siding
to see if you can improve operation.
Easy
curves. Start with a circle, drop two legs, and you
instantly have a smooth curve. TrackLayer automatically keeps
straight sections tangent to curves when drawing and editing.
Perfect loops.
Start with two circles, drop a couple of connectors, and you have a
perfect oval.
Vince Gortner: I
installed the TrackLayer upgrades and had a rough version of my
planned home layout done in one evening. Needs scenery and more
detail, of course, but I had all the digital track laid in under an
hour. I use AutoCAD and several other drafting programs regularly
and I have to say that your circle/tangent tools are the easiest and
simplest I've seen anywhere. Nice job on that.
This is really a very nice way to test out a trackplan for
functionality before you build. The ability to change dimensions on
the cars allowed me to test siding and yard capacity and I found
some problems with my plan that I would not have otherwise caught
until I had built my layout. Quick and easy changes on the digital
layout made now will definitely result in a better real layout
later, and I think that's a feature of your software that you really
don't emphasize enough.
I initially tried the free version and bought the software just for
entertainment value, but the practical (well, practical for a hobby
anyway) side of this software is a big bonus. I know this isn't a
drafting program and isn't primarily intended for layout design, but
it does work very well for design testing.
Frank Weed: It didn't take me long
to figure out how to lay track and get everything lined up. Ten cups
of coffee!!!
David Holliday: I can sketch
a picture of a layout in a very short time; minutes. I can
learn a CAD tool in hundreds of hours; then draw the same picture.
With TrackLayer, I can sketch and test. It bridges the two
approaches. I don’t want to be a CAD designer, I want to run
trains. If I can do it fast, then I’ll worry about “exact.”
Example: I can run trains for
my new railroad room for my wife and other modeling partners. We
can run sessions before any bit of track is built. With CAD
products you have to learn how to build the whole railroad first.
Example: You and I meet for
lunch; I draw a layout on a napkin. Within minutes I can have a
“working model.” Try that in your “competitor’s tool set“, without
hours of training.
See also:
What Users Are Saying
About TrainPlayer
