SCARM track planning software - Hello from the author

Welcome, Mixy!

Sadly, I'm still an "arm-chair" modeller with limited track acquisitions (mostly old Lionel tubular track), but I have acquired several software planning products to help me dream about / plan for a future layout.  I have found yours to be the easiest to use and appreciate your efforts.  I hope others will see this post and have the info you need to improve your product.

Thanks,

Chuck

Hi Mixy, and welcome,

I use SCARM and I like it alot. I think if you included Ross Custom Switches, that would be a great compliment to the track menu. They are tops when it comes to switch tracks and more. I know many folks like to use Gargraves track with Ross switches to build their layouts with (myself included).  Their website has a link on the top of this page, and I will link it at the bottom of this post as well. Thank you for making a great track planning software program.

http://www.rossswitches.com/

I just looked at your software for the first time and I have to say I'm impressed.  I especially like your left hand column selection paradigm.  It makes it very easy to pick and choose parts.  I would like to second the motion that adding Ross Custom Switches and Gargraves track would make it much more appealing to folks on this forum.  Ross makes full scale PDFs available for their switches.  http://www.rossswitches.com/products/switchfiles.html

One question on MTH.  Are you doing Scaletrax or Realtrax?  Both would be of interest to folks on this forum.  I personally would be very interested in Scaletrax as that is what I intend to use if I ever get going on my new layout. 

Looking forward to future versions.

I just went to look through your documentation and when I clicked on Help, Documentation it brought me to your site and popped up a Blocked Content message.  Any idea what's going on here?  Seems strange that such a simple webpage would want to run a script. I'm using IE 9.

Thank you all for your replies - I am adding Ross to my libraries to-do list About MTH - everything depends of acquiring correct dimensions. I want to add both ScaleTrax and RealTrax, however I will need a help from somebody of you, who have them as real products.

This may be because there is a script in the website, which is used for showing/hiding early part of the Version History and also there are some ads in Links section, displayed using script. I am using the same file for the offline documentation, but with hidden style for the History, Download and Links sections. Because of this, the script calls are found in the hidden content, so IE might consider page suspicious and show this alert. I should probably strip these from offline documentation and re-design online page for better user experience with all browsers

Mixy

It already is. If there is a specific piece you are missing, post it here. Here is a micro layout I came up in Scarm using AtlasO track:

How about RMT's Super Snap track? Ready Made Toy Trains

OK, I will check RMT site and will try to create a library for these tracks in SCARM, if the dimensions are shown.

@Seacoast: you can switch to Atlas O 3-rail tracks in SCARM by right click over the header of tracks selection panel, where the name of currently selected library is displayed - a menu list of all included track producers will appear. Select Atlas sub-menu and then Atlas-O-3 library inside

Mixy

I am playing with SCARM.  So far, it's impressive: easy to learn and use.  The track bar on the left is great!

Thank you, Rob

And here is it - the new SCARM v. 0.9.19 is ready and published. Download it from www.scarm.info

It contains many improvements and updates, together with some bugfixes. See the list with new and updated libraries and the most important changes in the following blog post: www.scarm.info/blog/general/scarm-v-0-9-19-released.

One new key feature is the ability to set user-defined joining tolerances and global minimum radius for all flex-tracks – see the new "Edit" tab in the Settings window. Also, all placed flex-tracks now are showing the dimensions of their sections and can be modified and divided after laying. I need to update the documentation about this, but in short, just select the flex, right click over it and use "Reshape" or "Split" commands from the context menu.

I hope that you will like the new release I already started to work over the next one

Mixy

P.S. If "Check for Updates" feature in SCARM 0.9.18 reports that there is no newer version of the program, download the installer directly from the website. The old version info file may be cached on your PC and it will need some time that cache to expire. If the website also shows v. 0.9.18, press F5 key to refresh it.

The new bug-fix update SCARM v. 0.9.20 was released today. Download it from http://www.scarm.info and install it to patch the old version of the program.

The latest version fixes two critical bugs, found in v.0.9.19. See more about them and the full list with all changes and fixes in the following SCARM Blog post – http://www.scarm.info/blog/gen...eased-bug-fix-update.

Ross Custom Switches O 3-rail tracks are already in the libraries list

I hope that you will like the new release and will forgive me for the eventual problems with the previous version of SCARM

Mixy

P.S. If "Check for Updates" feature in SCARM 0.9.19 reports that there is no newer version of the program, download the installer directly from the website. The old version info file may be cached on your PC and it will need some time that cache to expire. If the website also shows v. 0.9.19, press F5 key to refresh it.

Mixy, Thanks Very much for all the work you have done to produce SCARM. It has become my most preferred track planning software! The easy 3-D imaging is great! So far I have been using it mostly for conventional (old-style) 3-rail track planning. The new features that you have added are just exactly what I had been hoping for! Many Thanks again!

I guess with MTH Scaletrax to be added, it will then be possible to do the track plan

in Scaletrax and, as an example, Atlas with Ross switches?  This to compage space

requirements and costs.....

At the moment, SCARM can run natively only in Windows. However, there are users reporting, that it can run smooth under WINE and Parallels, but the second option requires a copy of Windows too.

I used it for planning my 5'x10' FasTrack layout. The biggest issue I came across with FasTrack is that SCARM doesn't model the actual width of the roadbed (3 3/8"/8.5cm) but rather just the rails (1 1/2"/3.8cm). The plastic roadbed on FasTrack sticks out quite a bit. If you're trying to place FasTrack in a narrow area, near the edge of a layout or trying to figure out placement of buildings and accessories you need to know the full width of the track. I had to adjust my layout a bit once I started to lay it out because SCARM didn't account for the width of the roadbed and I had tracks overlapping each other and sitting too close to the edge of my layout. 

My other ask is greater flexibility in place tunnel portals. Right now you can only place them exactly where two pieces of track meet which isn't always desired or ideal.

All that said, it's an amazing product made all the more remarkable given that it's free. Great that you're soliciting feedback from this forum. 

RR-Track is my most preferred track planner but it lacks an essential feature that I dont see in your program either; that is train interferences.

It is one thing to set up tracks that are close together, but spacing is important so that there are no or minimal train interference.   

OK, I will write a note in my to-do list about adding of roadbed drawing capabilities and also checks for loading gauge to be implemented in the future versions of SCARM

Once you know your track dimensions and the spacing that you require, you use the Toolbox (Select tools=>Toolbox=>Startpoint) and set your start point(s) on the X and Y axis of your baseboard to accomplish that spacing.

I use FasTrack and set the first center rail start point at 3.5". This gives me enough spacing from the edge. The next center rail start point is at 9.5".

That spacing provides ample clearance and allows for the roadbeds to clear.

So, follow that process for the track that you use. Flex tracks may pose a challenge.

Examples of FasTrack curves attached. Started at X=45, Y=3.5, next was X=45, Y=9.5 and so on.

Mixy:

I will be happy to measure the MTH Real Trax .  Contact me through my e-mail in my profile and we can go from there. 

Since MTH has not provided me my software from 367 days ago when I joined the their club, and still has it no were ready to issue, I am punting and will go with using your software.

Putting factual info in your program about RealTrax is no way any violation of anything.  You are not using their software or compromising some proprietary secret.  As a matter of fact they out to be glad you are doing this because it might sell more track for them in the long run!  The only thing they might get upset about is the use of the term "RealTrax".  So just call it "MTH Trax" perhaps.

Hello John,

Thank you very much for your wish to help me with MTH tracks - I will send you an email in the weekend

Mixy

A short update here. I noticed that I forgot to tell you about the SCARM Blog (www.scarm.info/blog) in my first post. In the blog I am trying to collect all essential information and updates about SCARM and its features, which is not presented in the manual. Also, there are many tutorials, examples, ideas and more about SCARM and track planning with it, so I hope that the blog will be useful to all of you

Here are the posts in the blog for June: http://www.scarm.info/blog/2013/06

And here is the first O-scale layout, presented in the blog: http://www.scarm.info/blog/rai...l-layout-of-jumpjet

I am continuing to work over the program and next version will come soon with additional features regarding automatic flex-tracks shaping and connecting

@cooperthebeagle: I sent you 2 e-mails, but if you didn't receive them, please contact me on SCARM e-mail to start with MTH

Mixy

I'm yet another Mac user that'd like to use your app natively.

Add me to the Mac ranks that are hoping for a compatible version

OK, the list of users, who wants to work with SCARM on Mac is growing and I will take a note

However, porting of SCARM to the Mac platform is a hard and expensive work and I cannot promise anything. But there is always a chance to make native Mac version in the future, when SCARM reaches v. 1.0 state

Mixy

Even if it's not as fully featured as the Windows version, I'd like to see it on the Mac.  I'm mainly interested in a simple to use layout package for Lionel FasTrack with accurate models of the track.  I'm not interested in running the trains virtually.  Right now I'm going over board and using SolidWorks to do mine, but I've had to create the track models myself, and that's limited to what I have on hand.  Which means if I want to see if a piece I don't have fits, I have to buy one, which isn't going to happen, and this is very limiting in my work.

MAC users: Why don't you run Boot Camp with a Windows installation? You only need XP to run SCARM or other Windows based software. You can get legit copies of XP pretty cheap. Boot Camp is included in OS X Leopard or newer and is available for older versions. 

Because that involves buying Windows.  And where can you still get legal copies of XP for cheap?  Plus many new Macs don't support XP, nor do current versions of Boot Camp.  Plus what a pain to have to reboot your computer anytime you want to work on the layout, then again to do everything else we use our computers for.  Would you be willing to reboot your computer just to use one piece of software?

Well, yes, I have a Hackintosh and a triple OS Win and a Win with virtual machines.

Some for older desktop apps, some for testing, some for referencing nuances of various versions.

Anyway, a quick trip to the auction site shows Vista cheaper than XP. Your point is taken on that one.

I only offered a workaround for the limited selection of train related software for the Apple operating systems. A reboot takes less than a minute to utilize a utility that saves hours.

Whatever works for you.

There is another solution for Mac users, which is freeware as SCARM is. No need of buying Windows, no restarting and no based on virtual machine.

I am talking about WINE project.

However, I do not have a Mac computer and I am not able to test it, so the help of Mac users will be needed to try this.

I created dedicated article in the blog with descriptions about what is needed to try Running SCARM on Apple Mac. Read it, try it and then comment - is it working and what is happening. If this method fails, I can try to make a special build of SCARM with stripped some of the heavy features like 3D rendering engine. There is no guarantee that such approach will be successful, but why not try? I know from other users that SCARM is able to run under Linux with the help of WINE, so there is always a chance for success also on Mac platform

If anybody Mac user wants to go in deep with this, let me know here, in the blog or by SCARM e-mail.

Mixy

Mixy,

Just started using your software, very nice thank you

It took me maybe 2-3 tries before I got the hang of the basics, but now I'm running into a couple of things I need help with.

I'm using Gargraves track, I couldn't locate the instructions on how to make a half section of 072 curved track, or how to make a piece shorter than a 14" straight.

How do you fill a gap shorter than the standard lengths?

Bob,

Is this it?...072w and o72p from the library? I believe there are some tips in the blog for working with flex track-is that what your using?

Yep, flex-tracks can do the job

See the following article in the blog: Custom/Cutout Track Pieces in SCARM Layout Plan.

Note, that flex-tracks cutouts will appear in a single row in Parts list, but you can see each flex-track piece dimensions directly on the plan.

Mixy

I'm in the process of moving, and then will be out of town the rest of the month, but once we are back and settled in, I'll look into getting WINE going and see if this works and report back.

Moonman and Mixy...THANKS!!!  I'm going to try it out now

I guess I am forever amazed that ANYTHING along these lines is offered "free" to users, if for no other reason than ongoing development/support for Windows environments must be expensive enough -- not to mention porting to another popular platform like the Mac. 

Stuff like this takes time, effort and resources.  And while I freely admit that I'm a dinosaur with respect to the tendency of today's younger generation to offer "apps for free" because they LIKE to do it, I can't help but wonder why users don't just pony up the $$$ for a well-established application like RR-Track that has been around for years.  Why re-create it, and then offer the resulting re-creation for free?    Unless the developer(s) have a HUGE sponsor (or sponsors) paying for things behind the scenes, I can't imagine HOW you can continue to develop/support a program like this for free.  I must be missing something.

OTOH, I completely understand that folks WANT as much as they can get for FREE.  But that's a whole other topic for an entirely separate thread. 

David

Not everything is $$$, David

And I do not expect you or anybody else to "understand" me and why I am working over SCARM and sharing it for free, but I will try - because I like to do this

It is the same as model trains hobby - many others just don't understand why and how somebody can spend so much time and money for "stupid toys like these trains", but all forum members here just like to do this.

Mixy

David,

Your arguments are generally right. Nobody can directly gain or make profit from a free stuff. But there is always another side.

Take a look on the Go-Giver concept for example: www.thegogiver.com/book. It is working perfectly for me and may help you understand why I am doing this for free now.

I have a good primary job that has no connection with the model trains. Moreover, nowhere is stated that I will do this forever for free. But for now, I have enough time and will continue to develop and share SCARM with others at no cost. You may be surprised, but there are people who contact me, wishing to donate to the project. And they do it

Most people are using track planning programs once or twice just to figure out how their layout should look. When ready, they just starts with a real building of the layout and running the trains on it and forgets for the software. You are saying “why you people are trying to use sometning for free, when you can just buy it”. But I will oppose - why to buy something, when you can get it legally for free? And especially for SCARM, even now, uncompleted and in beta, it is better and powerful than some other paid programs. Sometimes, re-inventing the wheel may give better, faster and cheaper cars

Mixy

Mixy, thanks again for what you've done by offering this program.  I can't imagine what this hobby/forum would be like without folks freely giving up their knowledge, advice, and even parts to help others.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make a shorter than normal length of track, but sooner or later it'll click in.

By the way, I read the first two chapters of the Go-Giver book and it really does look interesting.  I think I am beginning to see where Mixy is coming from.

Mixy,

"I have a good primary job that has no connection with the model trains"

To me, this is the key.  I'm retired, do some software design and consulting, and have thought about designing a good train inventory program.  As soon as it is "up for sale", my business intrudes on my hobby.  I don't want that to happen!

I tried SCARM a while back, and I like it a lot.  I've recommended it to a few friends at our local train club, and have even done an informal "training session" at one of our meetings.  The 3D feature is spectacular!

On my wish list is a "line drawing tool" for SCARM.  Sometimes I want to draw a color line to indicate a seam, or dividing line that would help in the build stage. 

Keep up the great work!

Ed

I have been playing with SCARM over the last couple of days.  Coming up to speed fairly quick.

 I too would like more drawing tools. For example, we need a tool for room walls separate from the baseboard one. Additional lines could also be used to denote modules.

 Also, show foot marks so I don't have to constantly convert inches to feet. It's easier to visualize the space.

Thanks for your effort.

Dan

Dan,

The SCARM Blog has many tips. One of them is using objects (thin & colored) to indicate a module break. Check here

If you select help at the top, then SCARM Blog, it will take you the Blog for more tips and examples

More drawing tools will come with the next versions of SCARM.

However, even now you can do a lot of things with the figures. See the following article: Baseboard/Workbench Support Structure For Your SCARM Layout.

It is showing how to do drawings like this:

Any support structures, walls, furniture and so on may be created in this way. There are still some limitations, but I will work to solve them in the next releases of the program

Mixy

I downloaded and used it. It took me all of 5 minutes to figure out how to map out my simple layout.

I also own RR Track, but am a version back. There are similarities and differences. 

I too have been using SCARM and it helped me to figure out why a new routing I was trying wouldn't fit when to my eye and tape measure it looked like it would. For the most part it is very intuitive which I like since I hate reading instructions. I also think what RR Track charges for their software is ridiculous unless you're in the business of building or designing model railroads for people. SCARM is perfect for those of us with a single layout and and only need to use something like this occasionally.

I think it's an excellent tool and like some others have said I'm trying to understand how to shorten a piece of flex-track and have it "click" into position on both ends of the track. I looked at a You-Tube demo and thought I had it figured out but sometimes it seems to and sometimes it doesn't. Any helpful hints would be appreciated.

Hi Xrayvizhen,

You cannot directly cut sectional pieces in SCARM, but you can use flex-tracks in order to make custom pieces. See more here: Custom/Cutout Track Pieces in SCARM Layout Plan. You can make exact cutouts and represent them with flex-tracks by use of the Toolbox flex rails modeling feature. For the straight pieces, you can enter exact length and for the curved sections you need to enter the radius of the standard track and the new, smaller angle. I will consider adding of some new functionality to make cutting of the standard tracks ease and more intuitive in some of the next versions of SCARM.

Meanwhile, SCARM reached v. 0.9.22. See more about the latest and 0.9.21 versions in the recent posts about them in General section of the SCARM blog. There is also a short video demonstrating the new flex auto-connect-and-shape feature. I hope you will like it

Mixy

Mixy, Many Thanks again for making available this fabulous free software. It is excellent not just for track planning, but for brainstorming ideas and general creative fun !

These are some examples of my own work with SCARM.

wow ace, is that what you have been up to in your absence?

Great things you are building, Ace! I like them

If you wish, you can send some of your plans to me and I will publish them also in the SCARM Blog

Mixy

Mixy:

i have a question, are we going to see the rest of the O27 profile track (meaning the large radius curves and stuff) any time in the near future?

Let me know which O27 tracks and stuff do you mean (preferable with part numbers or catalog links) and I will search for them to be added in SCARM

Mixy

i have a bunch of i think 72" radius O27, im trying to find the part #

Mixy, one feature I would like to see added to SCARM is the flex-track tool directly accessible from each track library. I also do O27 track plans with the wider radius curves, and I use the SCARM flex-tracks tool to build individual pieces of less-common varieties of sectional track that are not in the track libraries. I have a stockpile of O27 track including O42, O54 and old Marx O34 curved sections which I like to use for easements and compound curves.

I also use the flex-tracks tool to specify custom-cut pieces of sectional track for other types of track. If we could build a reference base for the specs on different types of less-common sectional track, people can use that information with the flex-tracks tool to build their own pieces of track. In time, it would be good to see the track libraries expanded to include more varieties of track, but if people know how to use the flex-tracks tool they can create whatever they want with the specs. After creating one custom piece it is easy to make duplicates with copy and paste.

I would like to suggest that the curved track pieces would be easier to identify by their generic O27-O42-O54 designations in SCARM, instead of manufacturers' part numbers.

Here are some of the specs I use to build wide-radius pieces of O27 track. I have noticed that some K-Line track is a bit different from Lionel track; for example, their O27 curve pieces are slightly longer and create a slightly wider curve. However the conventional track is somewhat flexible and I often create actual track arrangements which wouldn't line up with the software.

use 12.4 radius for O27 curves
use 20.3 radius for O42 (O27 track)
use 25.8 radius for O54 (O27 track)
use 15.8 radius for O34 Marx

8 sections per circle are 45° per section

12 sections per circle are 30° per section

16 sections per circle are 22.5° per section

Halve the numbers for half-sections

Thank you both for the comments on my images created with SCARM. I will contribute some of my track plans to the SCARM web site.

This is my SCARM version of a CTT FastTrack 4x8 plan ... 

Here is an interesting trick with SCARM: you can zoom through the scenery to see hidden track underneath!  

I have an older version of RR-Track and Scarm is very similar in some ways and very different in others. My one complaint is moving a track or a section of track. You have to right click select move. It's a small nitpick, but the method is tedious to me.

or you can push control and left click

oops, i mean 72" diameter

Badhorse, you could use the O72 curved track pieces out of the Lionel O-scale track system library. They are going to be about the same track geometry and SCARM will connect them up to O27. You can also create other wide radius curves for O27 this way:

Select - Tools/Toolbox/Flex-tracks modelling
Use Atlas 3-rail track library (or others) to select a flex-track section.
Use Toolbox to specify radius and angle of the curve, then click "fix" to cut it off.
Copy and paste to make duplicate pieces.

If you want another piece of flex-track without having to go back to a different track library, copy an existing piece of flex-track, then right-click on it and select "reshape" if you want to create a different custom piece.

If you get the message "no active flex-track for modelling" when trying to use the Toolbox feature for flex-track, that's because you have to first select a new piece of flex-track, or right-click on an existing piece and select "reshape". It took me a while to figure that out.

I suspect that no matter how many track library additions Mixy adds to SCARM, someone will always want something else, some of which may be obsolete pieces no longer made. So it's handy to be able to create custom pieces with the flex-tracks and Toolbox features.

With SCARM I hold the <Control> button to move pieces of track. It took me a while to adjust to that after using AnyRail, where you can just click and drag pieces around unless you have glued them down, but with AnyRail you need another step with right-click to disconnect pieces of track.

Here is an example of an O27 plan made with different wide radius curves and some custom-cut sections, which I have actually assembled on a trial basis.  

thanx Ace, i just went in the garage and checked my track and son of a gun, that big radius stuff is k-line! lol,,,,,,ive got butt loads of this stuff

OK

It seems that there are many different tracks and systems in O-scale, some of them old and not produced anymore. And I am just unable to cover all of them, especially these for which there are no online details and dimensions published. However, you can add these to SCARM by simple editing of the library files. Libraries in SCARM are simple text files, that can be opened and edited with Notepad. They are located in Lib folder of the SCARM installation folder. There is a sample library with descriptions of all parameters – download it form here: www.scarm.info/temp/BTTB-TT.lib. If you wish to experiment, it is a good idea to copy one of the default O-scale libraries under a different name and to work with it.

I.e. if Ace wants a flex-track in a library where there is no flex, he can just copy the lib and add the corresponding statement in it. Please note, that if you edit the original libraries, it is possible they to be updated in some new release and to be overwritten without prompt by SCARM installer. That’s why I am advising to work with copies of the original libraries. If Windows prevents you to make changes in the Program Files folder where SCARM is installed by default, you can uninstall it and reinstall on a different location. Or just edit your copies in another folder and then move the files back to the Lib folder of SCARM. I know that editing of data files is not for everybody, but this is just an option if you wish to experiment with SCARM

All this is because I am very careful when it comes to new additions or new track libraries in official SCARM installation package. If something goes wrong (i.e. wrong track dimensions and geometry) the frustration of the users and negative impact over SCARM may be huge. And I don’t want this. The problem with O-scale and the markings such as “O-72” for curves, is that 72” is not always the center-to-center diameter as it should be. Some producers are using this label for tracks that are close to 72” diameter but are not exactly 72”. And this can lead to errors and problems with joining of the real tracks when the layout building starts. Sometimes even catalog data may be wrong – try to switch to Atlas-HO-100 lib in SCARM 0.9.22 and see what will happen. That’s why there are still no libraries for MTH in SCARM – because I don’t know their true dimensions.

If somebody wish to donate, my PayPal account is same as my SCARM e-mail You can treat me with a beer or something better, but do it only if you really like SCARM and if you are 101% satisfied with it

Mixy

Thanks Mixy, that is very interesting information. If I get ambitious enough I may try experimenting with that!

In the meantime I would encourage other folks to continue providing feedback on SCARM and possibly volunteer to compile information that will help build additional track libraries for whatever they are interested in. It is unfortunate that MTH does not co-operate in this respect.

count me in! i would love the opportunity to help improve whats already great software 

ive been foolin around with a 4x8 O27 track plan for a buddy in norway, and ive been getting good with the SCARM. ive only been using it for like two weeks anf thought i would show off a noobs efforts

Looks really good for just 2 weeks playing

One quick hint about the two signals: you can rotate them along the railway lines in 2D mode - select one of them and then use "Objects" > "Rotate..." menu. Adjust the slider to obtain the necessary angle along the track and then do the same for the other signal. When ready, see them in 3D and they should be oriented according to the track direction

Mixy

cool! i'll try that mixy!

well that worked great!

Nice work BadHorse!  Did you know, in 3-D view you can toggle the red markers for track sections on and off with "S" key. And you can draw roads with the polygon function. All kinds of creative possibilities ...

Here are some of my experiments with contouring hills ... I happened to use N gauge track in this example. Also I was looking at the relative sizes of the trees.

*****en, i plan on trying some contours and such here soon, that and elevated track with bridges. im also going to push my self a bit on super detailing buildings

Fun with SCARM, O27 curves and continuous 8% grade in 35" x 66" space. Could be used to connect two shelf layouts with 32" vertical separation.

SCARM file attached. The 3-D views are fun to look at; you can rotate them and zoom in and out to look at many different angles.

wow i get dizzy looking at that

Open "Tools/Toolbox/Flex-Tracks Modelling"

Open a track library that has Flex-Track, like Atlas 3-rail

Select a piece of flex-track

Use the Toolbox window to specify length of straight section

Then "Fix" to cut it off

Or you can position the flex-track to fit between ends of existing track, to fill an odd length.

It took me a while to figure out but it works great when you get the hang of it.

Ace im havin issues with that box that pops up dont seem to be able to have an active piece of track

That is a great helix layout Ace, M.C. Escher would be proud. Reminds me of this 3 rail helix setup on Craig's list I saw a week or so ago.

I had that same issue and it took me some time to figure out. You need to first open "Tools/Toolbox/Flex-Tracks Modelling", then select a piece of flex-track, then go directly to the Toolbox window to set the specs. Then click "Fix" to cut off your custom-made piece of track from the full length piece of flex-track.

Or if you have a piece of flex-track already put down, left-click on the track, then right-click and select "reshape" and go directly to the already-open Toolbox window.

Hope that helps.

Ace is a true SCARM expert here And also proposes very nice plans and layouts

One of them is featured in the last post (first in the list) of blog articles for August: www.scarm.info/blog/2013/08.

Mixy

Saturday 9/7 AM - Can't access scarm.info with Firefox or Internet Explorer.

Pete

Edit: Found the problem.  Emsisoft Anti-Malware, a great program BTW, blocked scarm.info, called the site "suspicious."  I unblocked it; I got other junkyard dogs guarding the perimeter.

I am glad to see that the site is working for you now

If somebody experiences such problems, check SCARM website address against VirusTotal service - it will show you what is the page status in all major antivirus scanners.

Mixy

Mixy,

After using Scarm for a while now, I see one minor flaw, at least in the O scale area. A lot of track plans I help work on and view on the forum require custom cut pieces. If I am designing a track plan using Lionel tubular track, in order to create a custom cut section, I have to go to the AtlasO 3r and select the 40" flex track piece to fill the gap.

Could a new piece of track be created for other manufacturer's track that has the properties of the AtlasO 3r 40" Flex, maybe called Custom Cut?

I think this would be a convenient feature. I've been doing the exact same thing as Stewart; I change track libraries to get AtlasO 3r 40" Flex to create Custom Cut pieces of tubular track. I made some related comments back on page 2:

Mixy, one feature I would like to see added to SCARM is the flex-track tool directly accessible from each track library ... I use the SCARM flex-tracks tool to build individual pieces of less-common varieties of sectional track that are not in the track libraries ...

I also use the flex-tracks tool to specify custom-cut pieces of sectional track for other types of track ... if people know how to use the flex-tracks tool they can create whatever they want with the specs. After creating one custom piece it is easy to make duplicates with copy and paste.

Meanwhile, I just change track libraries to get a piece of flex track, then cut and paste if I need more after changing to a track library without flex-track. I like Stewart's idea for a "Custom Cut" option in track libraries that don't include flex-track. It would be convenient if the tool-box feature automatically opens with it.

Many Thanks again to Mixy for making available this great free software with the 3-D features!

OK

It seems that track cutouts are important in O-scale, so I will consider adding of a dedicated feature for cutting sectional tracks in SCARM track plan and such function may appear in some of the next versions of the program.

Track libraries are created to represent the real products, manufactured by the track producers. So adding of helper flex tracks in libraries where the producers does not provide such may lead to confusion in some users.

Changing of the libraries just to place another flex on the plan may be annoying. To avoid this, just place one dummy flex-track on the drawing plot and copy and paste it each time when a cutout is needed, as Ace do. If you do not want dummy tracks on the plan, you can just copy and paste some ready flex cutout and then reshape it. To reshape flex-track, select it, right click over it and then select “Reshape” from the context menu. Reshaping also works with Toolbox flex-track modeling tool.

Mixy

MTH RealTrax

I would be interested in working on the addition of RealTrax to your libraries.

I use RealTrax.

Good news for MTH fans

Pro Hobby sent me the first dimensions for RealTrax track pieces and now I am able to start creating the MTH RealTrax library for SCARM. I hope that the preliminary library version will be ready and publish for downloading and testing very soon

Mixy

The preliminary RealTrax library for SCARM is ready

Read more about it here - MTH RealTrax Library For SCARM.

In the post is descried how to download and add the new library to the SCARM installation on your PC. Please, test the library and comment here or in the blog how it is performing with the real "RealTrax" tracks

Mixy

Just tried the program to get the geometry right for an S curve I'm doing on our club layout.  I'm too old to do it the old fashioned way with chord lengths, cosecants or whatever I might have used.  The gray matter isn't what it used to be.  The program works great.  It didn't take too long to get the hang of it and Ace's posts on how to make "fitters" was excellent.  Yes it is somewhat of an inconvenience to switch from O tubular to Atlas 3 rail but I consider that a small inconvenience for such a great program.

Thanks Mixy for the great work!

Don

I just re-kindled my childhood love affair with o-gauge trains a few weeks ago.  I found SCARM two weeks ago and instantly fell in love.  I'm a Mechanical Engineer with lots of CAD experience, so the "cockpit" of SCARM was very comfortable to me.

I like the suggestion made on another SCARM thread to be able to use "shift" to select all tracks between two points.  That would be helpful in layouts where I have a bunch of smaller sections.

Also, I would love it if there were some building libraries. I know that adds complexity, so for starters, could we just have a collection available to download?  My dad has already started modelling some of the popular Lionel pieces (Gateman and Station).  Could there be a section on the blog for folks to submit those files?

Mixy,

I just stumbled across this thread (and thus SCARM).  Your work looks amazing, congrats and thanks. I am a not-very-happy user of RRtrack, so I am looking forward to giving SCARM a try.   Two things:

1) Please add my vote to the "would love a Mac version" list.

2) Would you consider adding support for us Super-O users?  Both of us would appreciate it.   (Actually, the Yahoo Super-O group has almost 700 users). I would be glad to work with you to specify and verify the dimensions.   Here are the basics:

Diameter:  36" on centers

Curve radius: 30 degrees (12 sections/circle)

Straight length: 9"

There are other bits and pieces (half-straight, half-curve, lockon and uncoupling sections, etc) that I would have to measure, but it is easy enough.  Let me know if you are interested. 

Thanks again.  You seem to be attracting a vibrant user community, which is exciting.

Thank you, guys

I am writing your suggestions in my To-Do list. Some of them may appear soon, but others will need more time to be added in SCARM.

About buildings – there are several projects in SCARM blog where various buildings and structures can be seen and used, but in O-scale there are only two for now: http://www.scarm.info/blog/tag/o/. Perhaps, I should consider adding of re-scale feature for user-created objects with the figures.

No problem for adding Super-O tracks, but I need a detailed description and dimensions of each track piece in order to be able to create correct library for these in SCARM.

Last but not least – MTH O RealTrax library was updated with adding of 45-degree crossing.

Mixy

Looks like I'll have to give SCARM another try even though I plan on using ScaleTrax. I think RealTrax and ScaleTrax O-54 produce the same design, though ScaleTrax has #4 and #6 turnouts and RealTrax has O-42 sections.

I have been experimenting with SCARM for about a month, and it is a fabulous program.  I have been using the Atlas track, because that is what I am going to.  I now have realtrax, but it doesn't have the curves I want to use.

It seems to me that the straight section of the O54 turnouts in SCARM is fixed at 10", while the actual length of the straight in the turnout by Atlas is 14.5".  Maybe this has already been addressed and I missed it.  Anyway, the program has been fun to work with and I've learned at lot.

I suggest that you go to the beginning of this thread and click on the URL for the SCARM download.

Bob,

It appears that you have to manually add the extra straight piece that is included with the track. May be a 4.5" straight. This is similar to the FasTrack where you have to manually add the 1/4 curve to the diverging route.

DoubleDaz,
It will take input from us to measure the ScaleTrax pieces and provide that data to the author. That's how the RealTrax library was added. MTH will not provide him with that information.

Just contact him and he will provide the worksheet for the measurements that are required.

Yeah, I know, but I don't have any ScaleTrax yet, so I'm no help. Even after I buy some, it will only be select O-54 pieces. I currently use RR-Track, so I don't really need SCARM, I'd just like to compare.

Yes.  Thanks.  I figured that out after my post.

Dave & Mixy;

I'm moving so everything is packed right now.

When I get some time I'll try to remember to send in the ScaleTrax data.

The only switches I have so far Are O-72's (left & right) but I have O-72 curves, 10" and 30" straights and 30" Flex. It's a start and I'll be getting some of the other pieces over time.

My LHS does not stock it, So I order a full box of whatever I want through him. A box of the short straight parts is going to be excessive. I was planning on getting O-80 curves but I may just use flex there.

Today, John DiMaggio contacted me and showed his New Site With Various SCARM Objects in O-gauge. You will found many useful items there, that can be freely downloaded and used in your own SCARM projects. Read more about it in the blog and go there - www.scarmhirailers.com.

Mixy

Most of the credit goes to my dad, Joe DiMaggio. He's not on this forum (yet), so I'll pat him on the back for all of y'all.  If you'd like to contribute to the library, let me know.  There are several ways to contact us on the page.