TheRailwire
General Discussion => N and Z Scales => Topic started by: nickelplate759 on December 21, 2012, 02:30:54 PM
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Atlas has dropped RTS (it was their free layout planning software). So, I'm looking for something else that doesn't cost a lot. Suggestions please?
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AnyRail is easy to use and free to try. Many modelers have liked it enough to pay the $60 fee for the unlocked version.
http://www.anyrail.com/index_en.html
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AnyRail is easy to use and free to try. Many modelers have liked it enough to pay the $60 fee for the unlocked version.
http://www.anyrail.com/index_en.html
+1
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Xtrackcad - it's free
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtrkcad-fork/
Jim
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it was open source, right? well, here you go! :ashat:
http://sopacincg.com/rts.zip
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I downloaded the AnyRail trial. Not bad (I like it better than RTS already), but I can't figure out how to make ladders, etc. and maintain the spacing between tracks. Any ideas?
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Atlas killed off RTS? What happened?
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If you hook a bunch of #5's or #7's together, and then hook straight tracks off the diverging routes,
they all come out straight and even spaced automatically. If you want more spacing between the tracks,
you can insert a little 1" straight between the turnouts. I just tried this and it worked well.
And a BIG +1 for Anyrail. It was the one, of several that I tried, that was completely intuitive and let me start
drawing my plan almost as easily as if I were doing it on a piece of graph paper (only without having to erase,
and keeping perfect scale and tangents!)
Well worth the $59 cost.
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Atlas killed off RTS? What happened?
Wasn't RTS a branded version of a very early AnyRail? I would not be surprised if RTS died in the same thought process which killed the forum. My edu-guess is somebody at Atlas finally verbalized "uhh... we're not a software company", realizing that support for a "free" RTS and the "free" forum had a real bottom-line cost with no directly offsetting income.
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Atlas killed off RTS? What happened?
their agreement ran out
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I've used Cadrail for years. I would not design any module without it. I also design and build my benchwork from my Cadrail drawings. I also design and manufacture tactical night vision and tactical weapons mountable surveillance gear using Cadrail. I also use it for any machining or woodworking project I deem "complex" or to see if something will fit into a specific space, such as modules in my trainroom, or a modular setup at a show, or woodworking tools in my garage.
It isn't free, but, it has served me well through two iterations, and I can run my trains on it, look at a 3D view of my proposed setup or module design, and run trains in 3D.
Learning curve was not particularly steep, but I am computer literate. And what the hell does "intuitive" mean anyway? Since I've used Cadrail for decades, I can attest that nowadays it is "intuitive" for me.
However, it may not be for you...but it serves me well.
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Props for AnyRail
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Right Track Software was based on a German program called WinRail. The full version of WinRail is still available from the developer.
http://www.blumert.de/winraild.htm
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Pencil and graph paper -
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or you can click on the link that I posted above for a zip file of RTS