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New with AnyRail

Started by gnegual, January 14, 2022, 05:37:38 PM

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gnegual

Hello, my name is George and I've been in the hobby for 15 years in HO scale. This is my first time using any layout software, so any help, tips, and advice  would be greatly appreciated.

Attached is my latest project I've been working on for 5 years (I know I'm slow) Woodland Grand Valley. I'm hoping to modified this layout to reduce the number of mountains at some point. I'm hoping AnyRail with help me out with a new layout.


poppy2201

Charles J.

gnegual

Let me try uploading attachments again.


magnus

#3
Hi George, welcome to the forum. One initial tip is to read the manual as you start using the software. Although AnyRail is pretty easy to ease, there is a lot of useful features not obvious.

Also, as we all have AnyRail software, it is better if you upload the .any file in addition to any .jpg file. That way we can review your layout in more detail and give you better feedback.

Good Luck with your layout!

gnegual

Thank you Magnus, I will definitely take your advice. I still have a lot to learn using the software.

gnegual

Here's a basic layout of Woodland Grand Valley in Any Rail. One piece of track is not connected properly at the bottom of the layout.

magnus

Since this is Woodland's track plan, I'm not going to critique it. Just to say that it just goes round and round, and only one destination. Where are trains going to and coming from? I think this is an old style layout; today layouts tend to have more purpose built in. What is your story for your layout?

The reason the piece of track does not connect is that the angle is too sharp. AnyRail warns you and won't let you connect. If you go to Settings>Tolerances, you see that the allowed angle is set to 3 degrees. And the violating angle is more than that. If you still want it, you can change the Angle tolerance; I was able to Connect it when I changed the Tolerance Angle to 6 degrees. If you type in 6 in the Angle box, and then go to connection and right click, now you will see Connect is enabled. This is a good example of the deeper features in AnyRail not obvious right away, but the manual describes this. 6 degrees might be too much; you will need to use the wiggle room in the sectional track. It is better to spread out the mis-angling across several track pieces. If you put a 6 degree angle in one place, you will risk derailments. But if you spread out say 2 degrees across 3 connections, the risk for derailment goes down.

Note that you can manually rotate a track piece. Disconnect it and then you can Rotate by right clicking on the track.