Looking for a LEGO Train CAD Program

[spanks_4]

I played with blue brick and train designer a little and didn't really care for either to be honest!

Anyone know of a cad like program that allows you to set the size of your entire layout and then lay it out? I would like to be able to make the table first*one color* and then start adding the track on top of it.

[WesternOutlaw]

Spanks: I changed the name of your topic title to make it a little more descriptive. Perhaps some of our LDD fans may be aware of another program.

[spanks_4]

Spanks: I changed the name of your topic title to make it a little more descriptive. Perhaps some of our LDD fans may be aware of another program.

Thanks Brick! I played with the one that most people use, but trying to judge without dimensions is slightly difficult!

[kyphur]

I use BlueBrick and while it took me a while to warm-up to the program I like it.

For dimensions you can easily lay down a layer of baseplates or tables to give you size referneces, that's what I do.

[Alban Nanty]

@spanks_4: in BlueBrick you can layout your tables first in a brick layer, then add another brick layer on top of it and lay down your baseplates and tracks. In the next major version (1.8) I will add a new functionality to also setup the dimension of your room (in feet or meter) before doing the layout.

[Duq]

It's no longer being maintained or updated but I still use TrackDraw for planning layouts.

I'm still hoping someone will pick up that project some day. If I had the time and the programming skills I'd give it a go...

You can still get the last version (13 from 2005) here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/trackdraw/files/*Latest%20Release*/

[alainneke]

I usually use RailModeller (shareware, OS X). While not specifically made for drawing LEGO tracks, it includes the LEGO 9V, 12V and monorail track sets. When drawing a layout, you can use layers to separate table, tracks and buildings. It also includes a track designer, so whenever Big Ben, ME or LEGO comes out with wider curves or narrow gauge tracks, you can easily add them to the program.

Here's my current layout, drawn in RailModeller:

Layout by alainneke, on Flickr

Regards,

Alain

Edited October 22, 2012 by alainneke

[DuploLayoutsOnMac]

Hi there -

thanks for the shout-out!

It's been a while and these days we not only include multiple LEGO track systems in our app (complete list is provided here) but we also offer a free version of our app for planning small track plans, RailModeller Express

We list all the details for the Express-Edition at https://www.railmodeller.com/express-edition-en.html

 
Hope this helps,

Jan from Isle of the Kakapo
https://www.isleofthekakapo.com/