Pieces, stretches and sections

AnyRail thinks of your track as being made up of pieces, stretches and sections.

Pieces and stretches #

A piece of track is just that – any one of the components you select from the Track Libraries. A stretch of track is a piece and all pieces connected to it. Many AnyRail options apply to stretches rather than pieces. A section of track is something that you create, and requires more explanation.

Pieces and stretches

Sections #

A section is a stretch of track with a specific function or purpose, as defined by you. You can turn any stretch – that is a connected group of pieces - into a section, as long as both ends have an isolator.

Sections are useful in both conventional and digital operation:

  • In conventional (analog) operation, you need to feed stretches of track individually to control trains independently of each other. This enables you, e.g., to switch off a section’s power to stop a train for a red signal.

  • In digital operation, especially with a PC, it is often handy to know where trains are so that the software can control them. Usually, the layout is divided into sections of track, each with its own occupancy detector. The shorter the sections, the more accurate the positional information.

NOTE: Once you’ve created a section, you can change its properties such as color, name and usage. You can also see a list of sections. This is helpful when calculating how many occupancy detectors you need.