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Race track (slot car racing)

Started by David, April 01, 2008, 10:33:25 AM

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David

In the Netherlands, we sometimes get requests to support slot car race track in AnyRail.

However, I've got no idea whether that branch of hobbies is very popular in the rest of the world.
Also, I don't know much about that in general, about the brands, problems, and such.

Would there be any interest in developments in that direction from any of you?

Thanks in advance for your reactions.

Regards,

David
David Hoogvorst. Founder and Owner of DRail Software. Creator of AnyRail.

TonyV5

Hi David,
in the UK the most well known system is SCALEXTRIC    http://www.scalextric.com/ nearly all Hornby stockists, stock & service it.

tonyV5

kimbo

Along those lines, there's also the Faller car system, and the Tillig tram track system which might be useful to consider integrating in future AnyRail developments.
Kim
Living in: Brussels, Belgium
AnyRail user since: 26/12/2007
Dream layout: HO freelance layout set in an imaginary European country bordering to Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands
Personal site: http://kimmetje.rpgnewworlds.net

mikaelb

Carrera Digital 124 support had been nice, then I could combine two hobbies in one program  8)

- Mikael

kdwykleingeld

Hi, i also use anayrail for marklin but it would be great if you would add support for carrera "track" libraries to anyrail... at least the 124/132 track format.. 
So i fully support this request. Btw i also mentioned it some time ago to drail support.
It must be pretty straight forward for you to add these kind of track formats.. the geometry is pretty simple compared to some model railroad formats

Thanks Koen

Dragonfly

#5
I suppose as there is Triang (00) track then Minic roadways could be included (made by Triang and have crossover parts).

kdwykleingeld

not sure what you mean here .. but i seems that are several slot racing tracks that can be included

carrera 124/132
scalectrix
fleishmann ?

cinoaz

Scalextric is already supported in Anyrail, I know because I kept bugging David to add it in (and I'm using currently for a new slot car layout as I type this). 

So, from a bias perspective, keep supporting Scalextric please !!!

Bob Bryce

Since the question was is there any interest in developing slot cars in Anyrail, I will sheepishly ask "WHY"?

I have always said that people should not discourage asking questions or oppose the issue just because it does not do what they want, but forgive me if I break my own policy.

Anyrail is a really great Model Railroad program.  I have seen many really good improvements over many years, some which I benefited from and a lot that did not apply to me.  I have seen MANY really good suggestions being made, that for some reason, seem to get shelved and never implemented. 

Now the program seems to want to head into slot cars which somehow interface with Anyrail.  There may be those who do this, but in all the years I have been in Model Railroading, all the train shows I have attended which sell items and display layouts, all the train clubs I have visited, a couple of National Conventions I have had the ability to attend and all the people I know who have model railroads, I have never seen a single one that incorporated both model railroads and slotcars.  Now, I only do HO scale myself, and most of the train clubs I have visited generally only have HO and N scale, but again never have I seen slot cars.  Not saying or implying that they do not exist, just that I have not seen them at the events I have been to.  Perhaps O scale and even S scale do, and I will admit that I do not visit many displays or clubs in these categories.

Where will it ultimately be headed?  First incorporate the slot car concept.  Next incorporate every manufacturer's slot car tracks on the planet. Then incorporate every slot car library in the galaxy.  Then find a way to have the slot car tracks interact with railroad crossings.  Then incorporate elevations for slot car tracks that go over and under railroad tracks.  Then there is 3D.  Then there will be exporting into other programs like TrainPlayer or others.

My point is, and it is my view even though it may not be shared by others, I am discouraged to see Anyrail branch off into an extremely time consuming and totally new direction when so many really good requests have still not been implemented.

If there was nothing of interest left to add to Anyrail it may be different, but I personally would rather see the program implement many of these previously requested features related to model railroads instead of starting this new adventure.

Just my input, as I said, because it was a question that was asked.

OK, my flak jacket is on, go ahead and "fire away"!  ;D

Bob Bryce

Quote from: Bob Bryce on November 30, 2018, 03:06:49 PM
Since the question was is there any interest in developing slot cars in Anyrail, I will sheepishly ask "WHY"?

I have always said that people should not discourage asking questions or oppose the issue just because it does not do what they want, but forgive me if I break my own policy.

Anyrail is a really great Model Railroad program.  I have seen many really good improvements over many years, some which I benefited from and a lot that did not apply to me.  I have seen MANY really good suggestions being made, that for some reason, seem to get shelved and never implemented. 

Now the program seems to want to head into slot cars which somehow interface with Anyrail.  There may be those who do this, but in all the years I have been in Model Railroading, all the train shows I have attended which sell items and display layouts, all the train clubs I have visited, a couple of National Conventions I have had the ability to attend and all the people I know who have model railroads, I have never seen a single one that incorporated both model railroads and slotcars.  Now, I only do HO scale myself, and most of the train clubs I have visited generally only have HO and N scale, but again never have I seen slot cars.  Not saying or implying that they do not exist, just that I have not seen them at the events I have been to.  Perhaps O scale and even S scale do, and I will admit that I do not visit many displays or clubs in these categories.

Where will it ultimately be headed?  First incorporate the slot car concept.  Next incorporate every manufacturer's slot car tracks on the planet. Then incorporate every slot car library in the galaxy.  Then find a way to have the slot car tracks interact with railroad crossings.  Then incorporate elevations for slot car tracks that go over and under railroad tracks.  Then there is 3D.  Then there will be exporting into other programs like TrainPlayer or others.  Then comes product labeling, inventory and part lists.

My point is, and it is my view even though it may not be shared by others, I am discouraged to see Anyrail branch off into an extremely time consuming and totally new direction when so many really good requests have still not been implemented.

If there was nothing of interest left to add to Anyrail it may be different, but I personally would rather see the program implement many of these previously requested features related to model railroads instead of starting this new adventure.

Just my input, as I said, because it was a question that was asked.

OK, my flak jacket is on, go ahead and "fire away"!  ;D

cinoaz

Alrighty Bob...here we go...

First, we're all avid hobbyists and we all agree AnyRail is pretty awesome, so, from there we have more common ground than not.  AnyRail, under the hood, is actually a pretty dang good CAD design tool.  I have used it for planning out Lionel O scale tracks, Lionel SuperStreets, Disney Monorail, and Scalextric Digital Slot Cars.  I also used it to plan out my Wood Floors, tile floors, furniture layout as well as planning out the Clothes Closests in my house using Ikea Besta furniture.  It's a great entry CAD program for beginners and intermediate users.

Now, while on the Slot Car Forums, I've constantly being asked what layout tool I use when I show layouts or explain racing terms, i.e. what a chicane looks like, and I always point them to AnyRail.  I hope many of them have become customers as well.  That's all good, because, the more people that buy AnyRail the better, period.  Yes, I understand your concern, bug fixes and feature enhancements are important, but I pray AnyRail never reverts to micro-transactions model (if not familiar with that, just google it, it's a popular revenue generating schema right now).

As far as you point about mixing rails.  Every year I design track layout around my Christmas Tree.  In the past I have integrated Lionel O scale, Lionel SuperStreets, Disney Monorail and Scalextric ALL into one layout.  I'm currently working on a crossover piece between Lionel O scale fasttrack and scalextric for my next layout.  Luckily Lionel already had O scale and SuperStreets crossovers which made it easier.

In the end Bob I think you will be surprised to just ALL the different ways people are using AnyRail and all those different ways results in more paid users which makes AnyRail more money which then gives David and the rest of his staff more options on what to work on next.

Bob Bryce

#11
Wow, I didn't even need my flak jacket for that response!  ;D

I completely agree with everything you brought up.  As I said, I am not aware of anyone using Anyrail for other things than model railroading, but as you point out, there apparently are, and as you also point out, mostly in O scale (Lionel).

I was not really "opposed" to the development of the slot car theme, just was not totally comfortable with the direction it could be steering Anyrail.  Again, my understanding was it was primarily a railroad program, not a generic CAD program, although it has to work the same way based on vectors and not pixels.  I have used VersaCAD, AutoCAD, Solidworks, CadKey, Personal Designer, DesignCAD, Softplan and a few others for over 30 years, so I don't really consider Anyrail to be a CAD program, but I can see how others may do so.

It may sound humorous, but I had already written my own railroad layout program using VersaCAD based on Bachmann EZ Track a number of years ago.  When I decided Bachmann track was not the best track system for me on my larger layout plans, I looked at the work it would take to convert to the program over to flex track, then found Anyrail, and it was a no brainer which direction to go.

I agree the more people buying Anyrail, the better for the program and for David and his group.  I do not oppose the development of Anyrail into the Slotcar hobby as long as it's primary function, model railroading, does not take a backstage to this and that more unincorporated wish list requests are visited than system add-ons.  It would most certainly be great if both can happen. 

That is what I was trying to say.  Do I need to put my Flak Jacket back on ???

Mileage712

Wow, guys. I got on the AnyRail forums to see if there were any other users creating Scalextric slot car track designs that I could download. I am not a railroad guy (though I have a Bachman HO scale and a couple N Scale trains put away somewhere in my storage room in the basement).

I saw a couple tracks somewhere over on slotforum.com that were done on AnyRail, I then did a search, downloaded and purchased a license.

I think it would be great to see more slot car features, to where the drail has to hire more programmers to help AnyRail grow to a point where we never have to wonder if there will be talent/resources to continue developing and improving the software well into the future.

I suppose I'm just concurring with cinoaz and emphasizing that so many hobbie shops have gone by the way we need to have very strong products to keep them viable to pass to our younger enthusiasts.

Future-Digital

In another thread I suggested that it might be a good idea to run separate, parallel development for different program modules that would automatically integrate into AnyRail.

First, establish (already done?) that AnyRail is the base program. Keep it on track (pun intended) and develop it steadily, as you are doing. Then, offer separate modules at separate expense as automatically self-integrating ADD-ONS to AnyRail.

Each customer could then buy and use whatever module they wanted. If you want 3D, and it was good enough, buy and add that to the basic AnyRail railroad program. If you want slot cars, buy and add that to the basic AnyRail railroad program. And so on.

Such would accommodate everyone who had a need for and was willing to pay for the development of said individual modules. It would also show David a very important statistic: The number of people willing to pay for any particular module would indicate where he should spend his time and money. It would show NEED.

Of course, to be fair, he could only judge if each module were on a par with AnyRail. If, say the 3D module were pathetic (only as an example, David), no one would buy it even if they desperately wanted 3D. So, care would have to be taken in looking at what people bought.

If 60 percent of the AnyRail users were willing to pay extra for any particular module it would be foolish to not at least entertain the idea that the development of said module was worthwhile for David. The money would show the need.

Let the money fall on the table and thus decide for us where David should spend his time and money.

Best wishes, David. This is a toughie.


Bill
"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." - Groucho Marx

Vic A

Hello all,

This may belong in the Wishlist but did want to add another vote for adding the Carrera 132/124 track library.  Seems to have some international popularity.
I have put together a few basic Carrera plans by using Piko G and widening the trace to 200mm and displaying only the centerline.  I believe you could use almost any RR library with flex track. This works for now but there are many components to this track system that are more complex.


Thank you -
Seasons Greetings,
Vic
Slot 07.any