# playing with anyrail trial



## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

so while i'm working on my bench and anxiously await my new train stuff i'm playing with the layout software. as i said before my area is 4x7 which actually kinda strange size - prevents several popular 4*8 layouts while offering not that much over 4*6 (as i see it). 

here is what i came up with: any ideas, comments, suggestion are welcome 

base - crossing double loop (or how wold you call this)








big radius is 22, inner is 18, the 2 left radiuses are flex track at radius ~20. they the shorter loop passing above.

evolved - self explanatory










pluggin on - adding crossove in upper right area. 








turnouts are atlas 4, 25 degree crossover, 2.5 sections of straight.

attempt at yard












trial ver of Anyrail is limited to 50 pieces , got in a away several times. ...


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## tworail (Apr 13, 2006)

Buy the full version. It's much cheaper than the other solutions out there and you will spend many hours using it.

Here is a masterpiece I created in Anyrail - multi-level Marklin HO layout:


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## tworail (Apr 13, 2006)

Actually, I lied a bit - it's based on a Marklin Magazine layout but I changed a number of things to my liking


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

thats some layout. very nicley designed as far as my inexperience can tell. i guess just any layout does not make it into a magazine.

software in it self is good, was comfortable enough to work with it but i'm missing several features. it looks like grid view and measurments are present on some example layouts so that's probably trial limitation. would be nice to be able to place geometrica figures (circles mostly  ) and just draw lines so kind to have general idea of whats happening. zoom and small navigation map is another. smaller thing would be nice to adjust flex without unlocking both ends of flex track, but that's a minor annoyance.
perhaps its learning curve but i had hard time with elevation. it is 2d only and that is actually very good thing IMHO, but i still wish they could find better way to give perception of elevation. perhaps i should continue to RTFM ...

although i usually try to go for free/open source software when possible, i might end up purchasing Anyrail...


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## tworail (Apr 13, 2006)

Most of those features Anyrail does have. I don't believe it does the 3d/elevation stuff, which is a feature of the higher priced software. But I never really dug into it much so I am not 100% sure.

I thought the only limitation for the trial was the 50 piece max, but everything else should be present. Zoom is there, but small navigation map is not. You may need to enable certain toolbars to do the drawing.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

tworail said:


> Most of those features Anyrail does have. I don't believe it does the 3d/elevation stuff, which is a feature of the higher priced software. But I never really dug into it much so I am not 100% sure.
> 
> I thought the only limitation for the trial was the 50 piece max, but everything else should be present. Zoom is there, but small navigation map is not. You may need to enable certain toolbars to do the drawing.


i'm not looking for 3d, on the contrary. 2d is good and clean and simple - big plus IMO. i'm asking for some kind of visual cue to express elevation though. dashed lines, sectioning and such are helping but it not quite there. after all the elevation parameter for joiner is there for a reason. i guess i can get used to this but work with flex-track is not completely thought out to my comprehension of things.
if trial is full then i'm missing some palettes/toolbars for some reason. namley the measurments and that general one that allows to draw top projection of landscape and buildings. or perhaps those were added to exported picture in different software... 
or i should RTFM some more again...


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## tworail (Apr 13, 2006)

Oh I see what you mean. There is a section to assign elevations in inches or whatever unit. I did it with a couple of my plans. The way it works is you assign a particular section of track a name, color, height, etc. I think you need to right click on track sections?


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

nvm, just found how these things work.
overall almost perfect software.


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## tworail (Apr 13, 2006)

tankist said:


> nvm, just found how these things work.
> overall almost perfect software.



Cool


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

ok, so Anyrail or any other software aside, for continuous running would you say that double loop with some bypasses and storage siding pretty much depletes the possibilities for 4x7? or is there another topology that i'm missing?


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## tworail (Apr 13, 2006)

Track planning is tricky to satisfy one's desires for a railway.

What I would recommend is to look at as many plans as possible, and although you are somewhat short on space (you could use an extra foot) there are still tons of ways to do it.

More complicated setups also involving grades require that you are realistic about what types of trains you will be running. Some trains just won't take more than a couple cars up a steep(er) grade, so you need to experiment to see what works.

Also depending on your space situation you might add a L shape to your layout for an industry or yard, which greatly increases the operational situations.

Think of having oval on the bottom, oval on top, with a link to a yard or industry somewhere. Your first plan is a good starting point though.


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

yeah, that extra foot would really made a difference. unfortunately i can't have it, the 7 was ambitious as it is, i can barely squize by, should have made it a 6 really. when it comes time to extend it will probably be a "T" more then "L". i will need to come up with some setup that will allow me to run just the 4x7 in continuous and both together continuosly when attached. but i still have time till that can happen.

looked at nice HO layout collection. i will start by laying simple oval with a bypass tonight and finally running some of the cars, and trust me, i'll be super happy with just that for starters.
but i'm asking because for some reason i have this feeling that more can be done even with such space and i'm missing something... some other topology perhaps...


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

anybody used worlbuilder of auran Trainz game to design their layout?
reportedly it has mode to work with scale model parts. it s somewhat cheaper then Anyrail, full 3d, and on top of everything the layout is drivable afterwards, seems awesome on paper.

EDIT , NVM that. not really suitable for planning


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