RTS alternative (inexpensive)?

[nickelplate759]

Atlas has dropped RTS (it was their free layout planning software).    So, I'm looking for something else that doesn't cost a lot.  Suggestions please?

[DKS]

AnyRail is easy to use and free to try. Many modelers have liked it enough to pay the $60 fee for the unlocked version.

http://www.anyrail.com/index_en.html

[GimpLizard]

AnyRail is easy to use and free to try. Many modelers have liked it enough to pay the $60 fee for the unlocked version.

http://www.anyrail.com/index_en.html

+1

[jprince46]

Xtrackcad - it's free

http://sourceforge.net/projects/xtrkcad-fork/

Jim

[Bremner]

it was open source, right? well, here you go! 
http://sopacincg.com/rts.zip

[nickelplate759]

I downloaded the AnyRail trial.  Not bad (I like it better than RTS already), but I can't figure out how to make ladders, etc. and maintain the spacing between tracks.  Any ideas?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Atlas killed off RTS? What happened?

[mmagliaro]

If you hook a bunch of #5's or #7's together, and then hook straight tracks off the diverging routes,
they all come out straight and even spaced automatically.  If you want more spacing between the tracks,
you can insert a little 1" straight between the turnouts.  I just tried this and it worked well.

And a BIG +1 for Anyrail.  It was the one, of several that I tried, that was completely intuitive and let me start
drawing my plan almost as easily as if I were doing it on a piece of graph paper (only without having to erase,
and keeping perfect scale and tangents!)

Well worth the $59 cost.

[C855B]

Atlas killed off RTS? What happened?

Wasn't RTS a branded version of a very early AnyRail? I would not be surprised if RTS died in the same thought process which killed the forum. My edu-guess is somebody at Atlas finally verbalized "uhh... we're not a software company", realizing that support for a "free" RTS and the "free" forum had a real bottom-line cost with no directly offsetting income.

[Bremner]

Atlas killed off RTS? What happened?

their agreement ran out

[robert3985]

I've used Cadrail for years.  I would not design any module without it.  I also design and build my benchwork from my Cadrail drawings.  I also design and manufacture tactical night vision and tactical weapons mountable surveillance gear using Cadrail.  I also use it for any machining or woodworking project I deem "complex" or to see if something will fit into a specific space, such as modules in my trainroom, or a modular setup at a show, or woodworking tools in my garage.

It isn't free, but, it has served me well through two iterations, and I can run my trains on it, look at a 3D view of my proposed setup or module design, and run trains in 3D. 

Learning curve was not particularly steep, but I am computer literate.  And what the hell does "intuitive" mean anyway?  Since I've used Cadrail for decades, I can attest that nowadays it is "intuitive" for me.

However, it may not be for you...but it serves me well.

[LN2800]

Props for AnyRail

[Atlas Paul]

Right Track Software was based on a German program called WinRail.  The full version of WinRail is still available from the developer.

http://www.blumert.de/winraild.htm

[John]

Pencil and graph paper -

[Bremner]

or you can click on the link that I posted above for a zip file of RTS