SCARM - Simple Computer Aided Railway Modeller

[Mixy]

Hello dear friends,

I want to introduce my freeware layout design program, called SCARM, which you can download and test from www.scarm.info.

I will appreciate any comments concerning SCARM here or by email – scarm at scarm dot info. Thank you

Mixy
from Bulgaria

[dman-lewis]

Looks very good, I've had trouble with other programmes before. but It doesn't have 00. or does it?
im going to be modeling in 00 so doesn't really help me.

[Mixy]

Yes, there is no 00 scale library at the moment. But if you provide me with some links of catalogues with 00 scale track systems or websites of companies that producing 00 tracks, I will try to make 00 scale library as soon as possible

Mixy
from Bulgaria

[dman-lewis]

Well theres hornby:
http://static.hornby.com/files/track-ge ... 08-425.pdf
http://www.hornby.com/track-91/

Peco:
http://www.peco-uk.com/page.asp?id=c100
Click on the parts for each information on the parts.


Thanks, looking good for what it is.

[Mixy]

Thank you very much for the links. Tomorrow I will start with Hornby

Mixy
from Bulgaria

[dman-lewis]

OOOo thanks for being so quick.

[Mixy]

Today is nonworking day in Bulgaria, so basic Hornby OO geometry is ready . Download the library from http://www.scarm.info, extract it and place Hornby-OO.lib file in Lib folder of the program. Then start SCARM and try it. There are two known problems so far - 1) missing info for express points – lead and deviation lengths, so I assumed some values and 2) the curved points are with complex geometry and it is difficult to be represented with 100% accuracy.

Mixy
from Bulgaria

EDIT: Library link removed, because the installer already contains it.

[dman-lewis]

Wow im just impressed that you did it so quickly, thanks.

[Mixy]

Well, most of the work is to collect all the information about given track system. In case of Hornby, the geometry file was quite clear. But with Peco it will be much more difficult, because there is no precise info about radiuses and angles of the curves. So I am still searching.

Mixy
from Bulgaria

[dman-lewis]

I did have a quick go last night, not bad to be honest. did get confused on which raidus the curves were but I was like that on the other design modellers

[Bufferstop]

Hi Mixy
The Peco an Hornby ranges are interchangeable in most cases, but they sometimes name the parts differently, have a look here for converting

http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/tr ... ersion.htm

[Mixy]

Thank you guys

@dman-lewis: The tracks are structured in the following way: first are flex and straight tracks, then curves from smallest to the largest radii, then straight and curved points and finally are crossings. You can check the current track details by watching the hint. All dimensions are in millimeters for now. Anyway, I will take a note about this and how to make track libraries more convenient to use. Also, if you find that something else in the program is not useful or intuitive, please let me know. I will try to fix it as soon as possible, but most important now is the work on Save and Print functions.

@Bufferstop: This link is very useful – I will check it and will use it for Peco library creation. But I still cannot understand why almost all of the producers are “hiding” this info from us. May be the most complex drawings and info are in Tillig HO and TT catalogues – they have all dimensions of all possible tracks and points.

Mixy
from Bulgaria

[cavemanx]

Hi Mixy,
Looks a lot like WinRail, but I'm going to have a play around with it later and let you know how I get on.

Cheers

[Mixy]

Thank you cavemanx

Actually, all railway planning programs are much or less similar. But when I tried to start planning with WinTrack9 several months ago, I found that it is not intuitive for me. For example, I have habit to use mouse scroll wheel for zooming and moving. Also I expect from a railway editor to automatically handle connections of track ends, when they overlap at the same point. So I decided to make my own modeling software with intuitive interface and to share it with others in the Internet. But something that is intuitive for me, may be is not so intuitive for other. So I will collect every opinion and will try to make SCARM the easiest and most convenient software for track design and share it for free

Mixy
from Bulgaria

[noel]

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In case of Hornby, the geometry file was quite clear. But with Peco
it will be much more difficult, because there is no precise info
about radiuses and angles of the curves. So I am still searching.

Mixy
from Bulgaria

Peco produce their turnouts in actual size - it should be possible
to work out the geometry of curved turnouts, crossovers and slips.
For a comprehensive specs try:-
http://www.rmcq.mixedpk.com/worksheets/ ... nsions.pdf

For old senile guys like me, how about duplicating the Hornby.lib as a Peco.lib
where there is an exact comparison. You would save us a lot of extra work
on our worn out brains!

Part numbers on the plan are great, but in the library optionsit would be useful
to adopt the naming Small, Medium, and Long radius for the UK OO. The metric
you give is an accomodation for the original Imperial. Both Hornby and Peco are
pre-metrication! And for the US makers, the NMRA naming in No2 to No.8 radii
would provide a direct relationship for users.

I like the facility of a screen shot being available straight into Photo Shop Pro.
A nice option would be to save in common file formats like JPG. for manipulation in
popular photo and graphics editors. This would save you complication in your print
options.

Another attraction is that the zip file is only 700K. As a software developer in my
youth, I would pass on the lesson of keeping it simple.

Most users will want to get quickly to a situation of scaling a full size print-out
to "fit" their tables. Too many bells and whistles will spoil what it is all about.

+