Monday 15 April 2013

Playing with SCARM


The last time I tried using SCARM I didn't get very far with it - I found it hard to understand, unusual for me as I consider myself to be reasonably computer-savvy. Just couldn't get to grips with it so gave up pretty quickly and went back to designing in my head.

Having seen so many positive reviews from different people I decided to take another look and downloaded a newer version. Reason being is that I think my idea for the loft layout is a bit boring and doesn't make sufficient use of all the available space.

This was my first attempt this evening using SCARM, nice to see that it not only has all the 3 rail Dublo track system, it also had the Marklin turntable.

Admittedly the tracks don't line up properly in places but I can overcome this in real, this is what I have in mind, this is based roughly on the dimensions of the loft. I'll need to measure it again before I start ripping up tracks...



The current design (which I haven't drawn on SCARM) is basically a square layout with a terminus in the centre, which is accessed via a triangular junction. This proposed design gives me an additional track through the centre of the loft, I can add a narrow board along the centre joist support to provide this and this will give me a longer route than I currently have. Down side is that this design doesn't give me a terminus, unless I can figure out a way of adding a raised section and mount this above the existing track work. 

The one thing I really like with SCARM is that once you've finished designing, it will generate a list of the items needed to construct the layout.

It's still early days but I'm slowly getting the hang of this!


No comments:

Post a Comment