# layout software?



## Power guy (Apr 24, 2017)

anyone ever use a layout software program? If so which one did you use?


----------



## Guest (Aug 8, 2017)

I have a MAC Book Pro so I use Railmodeller Pro. I had a windows computer a few years ago and used SCARM. SCARM is free and fairly easy to learn but it's for windows only. If you download it also download and print the FAQ page. It explains how to use the program and make learning it much easier. Railmodeller Pro is not free but is a very good and very easy to use program.

Both programs come with very large track libraries covering all scales and pretty much all track manufacturers. They also both are regularly updated to fix and bugs, make using them easier and to add features and tracks that may be new.


----------



## Power guy (Apr 24, 2017)

Thank you. Iwill look into it


----------



## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

I'm using AnyRail. It's only on Windows, but I have Windows emulation software on my Mac so I can run it that way. It's not free, but is reasonably priced. It also has track libraries for all the major manufactures. I found it easy to use and I like its ability to warn me about curves that are tighter than I want or grades that are steeper than I want. It's good at making nice flowing curves with flex track. I'm not sure about the latest version, but when I was using it, it didn't have the ability to render a 3D view. I understand you can import its files into other rendering software for actually simulating the layout.

Mark


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

No, no one has EVER used layout planning software.... . Sorry, couldn't resist that one.

I have tried several, both free and paid for. Like Mark, I have settled on AnyRail. It has a huge library, DLC, reasonable learning curve, and very powerful. At $59, it's definitely worth the price.

The latest version does 3D rendering (although I confess that I don't find a 3D render very useful, no matter what the software), and it can be exported to Trainplayer to test layout design on a virtual layout. In another thread, it was mentioned that the demo version of Trainplayer works fine for that; I haven't confirmed this independently.


----------



## Deane Johnson (Sep 19, 2016)

Another happy user here of AnyRail.


----------



## Viperjim1 (Mar 19, 2015)

I use railmodeler pro and very nice program with a lot of track manufacturers lists and such.


----------

