Model railroad layout software freeware

There is even a version for iPad! Microsoft Train Simulator - another simulator program with lots of bells and whistles. Multiple add-ons are available for running many types of trains through different locales and scenery.

Running a Steam Locomotive gets rave reviews for learning how steam engines work and how to operate some of the most popular and classic locomotives ever made. Most of these programs have demo versions that you can download and practice with before you buy. I would highly recommend doing this. You may find out that pencil and paper are more to your liking albeit less technologically advanced. If you decide to purchase one of these high-end programs like Trainz Simulator , Engineers Edition Deluxe, be sure your computer has the strength for it.

Make sure you look at the system requirements for the particular program you wish to purchase and be sure your computer has all of those requirements and preferably more. I know Railmodeler and Trainz are available for the Mac. All of them have PC versions. Cadrail is PC only. Keep in mind that many of the above-mentioned programs that are for "PC only" can be installed and used on a Mac computer if you use Winebottler , Crossover , Bootcamp or Parallels to run Windows within the Mac.

Similarly, they can often be run on Linux if you have Wine or Crossover installed. Check the specific requirements for each program before you buy it. This is another type of model railroad software that you will almost certainly find useful for your train layout not so much for planning purposes, but more for creation of signs, decals, old classic advertisements for your buildings or billboards, simulation of brick or stone walls, stained glass, window treatments, wallpaper, etc.

Most of these are produced by Evans Designs. If you are looking for a prototypical railroad upon which to base your layout design, you may want to consider using a combination of two resources. The first is to locate the railroad network in which you are interested at openrailwaymap. There you can see the entire network of your railroad. After that you can choose particular points along that network and then find them on Google Earth , so you can zoom in on specific hubs, yards and surrounding buildings.

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Download Now. Developer's Description By Milen Peev. The program has lightweight and intuitive user interface, instant 3D view and many other useful functions and features. Full Specifications. What's new in version 0. Version 0. Release June 26, Date Added June 26, Operating Systems.

The free version of this software comes with only 10 track systems. If you want, you can buy more track systems from its official website. AnyRail is a featured track designer software for Windows. The library of this freeware comes with a large number of tracks and objects. Hence, you can create different track designs. The method to design a track is very simple. Open a library, select any part of the track from the list, and place it on the workspace by drag and drop method.

AnyRail also features the 3 Dimensional View of the design. In the 3D view, you can apply different textures to roadbed, sleepers, tracks, ground, underside, and tunnels. After completing the track design, you can save it in AnyRail file format. In addition to this, you will get the following export options:. Train Depot Track Designer is another free track planning software for Windows. Some pre-designed track models are available in its library. You open and edit them or design your own tracks.

This free track designer software also lets you insert other objects into your design. Some of these objects include green baseplate, blue baseplate, large baseplate, train station, and crane railway, city terminal, airport terminal, bridge , and many more. Carrera Layout Track Planner is a free track planning software for Windows which lets you design race tracks , especially for Formula F1.

It comes with some pre-designed race tracks which can be edited by the user as per requirements. It also lets you design a new track from scratch. In order to create a new track, enter the name of the track and click on Add button. Race tracks with a minimum of 2 lanes to a maximum of 8 lanes can be designed in Carrera Track Layout Planner.

You can select the number of lanes from the drop-down menu on the toolbar. Designing a race track with this free track designer software is a two-step process. Start by selecting the type of track section straight, curved, changeover, bridge , etc. You can flip the entire track design horizontally or vertically and reverse the track direction.

After designing the track, you can save it. Railroad-Professional is the software for your model railway and has been successfully on the market for over 20 years. Initially available as freeware, the track layout software Railroad-Professional quickly made a name for itself. Its intuitive, very easy operation, technically precise planning and the possibility to design your own track systems with the integrated library manager and track editor quickly made it one of the most popular track planning software for model railways.

In the course of development, many features have been integrated in Railroad-Professional that were inspired by users of the previous versions. Thus, the current Railroad-Professional covers even better the needs of track planners who need no frills, but concrete support in their planning work and that despite technically precise accuracy combined with the proven, intuitive and child-friendly operation: components are simply pushed to the desired location by mouse, whereby tracks automatically snap into others if this is desired i.

Another outstanding feature on the market is the unique, extremely fast flex track system, which has been integrated into Railroad-Professional and which allows any! In addition, while a flex track is being bent, the resulting total length is displayed simultaneously - a professional feature that makes all the difference Of course, any flexibly switched track can also be converted back into a rigid track.

Even more: even parts of a track so-called segments can be switched flexibly, while other parts of the same track remain rigid. A simple mouse click in the context menu of each track in the track plan is all that is required.

This results in possibilities of correction, if it should "pinch" in the track plan once which in reality you usually simply adjust to. However, the resulting possibilities for own track constructions should be particularly interesting. With the help of this innovative flexible track system from Railroad-Professional, it is finally possible to reproduce any desired track shape in the track plan.

The following is an example of a three-way turnout, the lower branch of which was flexibly switched and then moved to the correct position with the mouse exaggerated here : Three-way turnout before deformation by flex system: Three-way turnout during deformation by flex system. The length of the segment is displayed during deformation: Three-way turnout after deformation by flex system: A real delicacy when deforming flex tracks is that it can also be combined with the automatic snap-in by Railroad-Professional.

If the flexibly deformed end is approached with the mouse to an open end of another track, the flexible track snaps into place. The special thing about this is that the flex track deforms automatically so that everything fits and a "soft swing" results.