I've seen the ad for Trainz in Model Railroader and the graphics look very good. Is this program capable of duplicating my HO layout so I might be able to generate and preview possible scenery options for my layout? Or should I try one of the CAD programs such as 3rd PlanIt or CAD Rail?
HO modeler
- Thread starter jrzangger
- Start date
jadebullet
might be back?
It should be able to recreate your HO route.
no problem
you should have no problem recreating any board that you can imagine,
but be forwarned, once you start you can never stop, its the curse that all well made games share
also, unlike model railroading this game will allow you to build anything of any size since there is no buget restraints, most content in this game is free, you just need to find it, having free content that is fairly unregulated is waht makes this game great.
over all its one of the best series
you should have no problem recreating any board that you can imagine,
but be forwarned, once you start you can never stop, its the curse that all well made games share
also, unlike model railroading this game will allow you to build anything of any size since there is no buget restraints, most content in this game is free, you just need to find it, having free content that is fairly unregulated is waht makes this game great.
over all its one of the best series
Well their talking about very, very large layouts. It is easy but you use flex track not sectional track so you have to use rulers (a nice feature available in-game) to get your track right around curves and straightaways. By the way, I'm an O-guager and I've built a number of good layouts on Trainz.
Could I suggest getting trs09? I think it's "5 meter cutting" will make layout scenery a lot easier especially on small HO layouts.
wridenour
Could I suggest getting trs09? I think it's "5 meter cutting" will make layout scenery a lot easier especially on small HO layouts.
wridenour
OK, I'm convinced. For the price it sounds like a pretty complete program that is relatively easy to manipulate. Flex track is what I've used exclusively on my layout. I started building my HO layout over 30 years ago and got stuck on the scenery! Now with this program it should be easier to visualize what will work and what won't for scenery.
Thanks
Thanks
The program comes with a number of built-in items of all sorts including ground textures, vegetation, buildings, industries, track, signals and rolling stock. There are also some built-in layouts and activities.
The program includes facilities for creating your own layouts (also called routes). You can adjust the height of the ground, add ground textures and all the other features. This is done in an option called Surveyor.
A large range of additional items can be downloaded from the publisher's server, or from a range of fansites. Some is free, some is not, some is downloaded faster if you pay.
With enough skill it's possible to make additional items yourself using a 3D modelling program such as gmax. Most people find this quite a difficult challenge to learn though.
It's also possible to create activities of different kinds.
There are various versions of Trainz available and we tend to have very strong and varied opinions as to which is best. Not wishing to reopen that debate here I'll just say take a look at some of the threads on this forum and check very carefully at the product descriptions to make sure you buy a version which will do what you want.
Have fun!
John
The program includes facilities for creating your own layouts (also called routes). You can adjust the height of the ground, add ground textures and all the other features. This is done in an option called Surveyor.
A large range of additional items can be downloaded from the publisher's server, or from a range of fansites. Some is free, some is not, some is downloaded faster if you pay.
With enough skill it's possible to make additional items yourself using a 3D modelling program such as gmax. Most people find this quite a difficult challenge to learn though.
It's also possible to create activities of different kinds.
There are various versions of Trainz available and we tend to have very strong and varied opinions as to which is best. Not wishing to reopen that debate here I'll just say take a look at some of the threads on this forum and check very carefully at the product descriptions to make sure you buy a version which will do what you want.
Have fun!
John
HO scale to Trainz
Something I found with converting HO scale layouts into Trainz was the abrupt compactness of most layouts. A single baseboard side (720m) in Trainz comes out to be about 27 feet (8 1/4m) long, which makes for a "big" layout in terms of a HO scale layout. The standard US 2' (60cm) x 4' (1.2M) modular section turns out to be about 174' (53m) x 388' (106m) in HO scale and whopping 320' (97m) 640' (195m) in N scale. Even thought Trainz (2004) has the ability to use scale measurements, I find it easier to convert the HO layout to the scale measurements and then recreate it that way as opposed to using the scale rulers, as it gives me a better idea how big things are compared to the grid. Above all have fun and good luck with your projects.
Something I found with converting HO scale layouts into Trainz was the abrupt compactness of most layouts. A single baseboard side (720m) in Trainz comes out to be about 27 feet (8 1/4m) long, which makes for a "big" layout in terms of a HO scale layout. The standard US 2' (60cm) x 4' (1.2M) modular section turns out to be about 174' (53m) x 388' (106m) in HO scale and whopping 320' (97m) 640' (195m) in N scale. Even thought Trainz (2004) has the ability to use scale measurements, I find it easier to convert the HO layout to the scale measurements and then recreate it that way as opposed to using the scale rulers, as it gives me a better idea how big things are compared to the grid. Above all have fun and good luck with your projects.
HO scale to Trainz
Something I found with converting HO scale layouts into Trainz was the abrupt compactness of most layouts. A single baseboard side (720m) in Trainz comes out to be about 27 feet (8 1/4m) long, which makes for a "big" layout in terms of a HO scale layout. The standard US 2' (60cm) x 4' (1.2M) modular section turns out to be about 174' (53m) x 388' (106m) in HO scale and whopping 320' (97m) 640' (195m) in N scale. Even thought Trainz (2004) has the ability to use scale measurements, I find it easier to convert the HO layout to the scale measurements and then recreate it that way as opposed to using the scale rulers, as it gives me a better idea how big things are compared to the grid. Above all have fun and good luck with your projects.
Something I found with converting HO scale layouts into Trainz was the abrupt compactness of most layouts. A single baseboard side (720m) in Trainz comes out to be about 27 feet (8 1/4m) long, which makes for a "big" layout in terms of a HO scale layout. The standard US 2' (60cm) x 4' (1.2M) modular section turns out to be about 174' (53m) x 388' (106m) in HO scale and whopping 320' (97m) 640' (195m) in N scale. Even thought Trainz (2004) has the ability to use scale measurements, I find it easier to convert the HO layout to the scale measurements and then recreate it that way as opposed to using the scale rulers, as it gives me a better idea how big things are compared to the grid. Above all have fun and good luck with your projects.
duplicating HO layout
Hi,
I have duplicated a HO layout in trainz and found the best way to do this is multiply all HO dimentions by 87. Since HO scale is 1 in 87 this gives an actual size for the layout in Trainz. I think this is what TSwenson meant wen talking about the relative size of a HO layout.
Cheers,
Bill69
Hi,
I have duplicated a HO layout in trainz and found the best way to do this is multiply all HO dimentions by 87. Since HO scale is 1 in 87 this gives an actual size for the layout in Trainz. I think this is what TSwenson meant wen talking about the relative size of a HO layout.
Cheers,
Bill69
All right, I'm sure that won't be too hard to do. So if I understand the program then, it was never intended to duplicate scale models but rather full size railroads, but if usisng a factor of 87 my HO layout will then become a full size railroad! Seems interesting and plausible. I'll look forward to experimenting with it.
Thanks for all the comments. I'm sure once I begin using the program I'll be back on the forum with more questions!
Thanks for all the comments. I'm sure once I begin using the program I'll be back on the forum with more questions!
buy the game and prepare to have your mind blow wide open, its amazing what you can do with this small inexpensive disk, and i can almost garentee that you will not limit youself to only one type of rr
the possibilities are limitless, you just need to pick the right one
the possibilities are limitless, you just need to pick the right one
It's a strange mixture. Apparently the original intention was to simulate model railways, then it seems to have gradually evolved into simulating real world ones, some prototypical some fictional. There's even a monorail line which runs between colony domes on Mars.
John
illinoiscentral
SARM Volunteer
Oh, yeah. Its a great program for that use. mcguirel has some awesome Lionel FasTrack on the download station, I believe he also has tunnel and bridges. Check out his rolling stock too.