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New to the hobby.  Got here as fast as I could.  Is there software out there that a person could use to not only design a layout but also provide a list of materials that I could use to price out the project??  And even detailed enough to give to my local train store guy.  Im sticker shock sensitive.   Im looking at a 20 x 20 space.  Either a folded dogbone or maybe an around the room shelf type.
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Heh, Sticker Shock is automatic for entry to O gauge.

Welcome to the madness !!!

Buy a piece at a time, save up for what you really want.

 

It really helps to define a road name you prefer and stick to it.

 

Many different track systems exist, grab a couple pieces of the ones you like and look at them with a engine sitting on them.

Then connect and disconnect them, see how hard it is.

 

I prefer Scaletrax from MTH but it's not starter track by a long stretch.

I't's relatively fragile compared to starter system track but it's also much closer to scale.

I love SCARM it covers most O gauge track (MTH Scaletrax being the one exception) and it's free. It will print out a list of parts for your layout and you can easily plug that into Excel, add in price info and quickly calculate your costs.

 

It is a bit jaw dropping how expensive things can get, especially when you start adding switches. I'm designing my next layout and am being careful to design it so that I can build it up in stages as the budget allows. 

 

Which track to chose is probably a source of endless debate. I run FasTrack and have mostly been happy with it. It's quick to install, easy to wire, the switches are supposed to be the most reliable and with a wash of color and dust it can't look surprisingly realistic. The two things I don't like about is the noise and the inability to easily create custom lengths. Layouts can get very expensive if you need to buy a bunch of small fitter pieces. You can custom cut FasTrack but it's a time consuming process. My next layout will likely be Atlas though I'll have a below surface storage yard made from my existing FasTrack. 

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