We’ve nearly finished our tour of XTrkCads features, but the last thing to mention is also the most powerful: Curved felexible track.
XTrkCad offers no less than four methods of creating curves. I’ve described them all below, but you’ll probably find one or two that you prefer and stick to them. Don’t worry too much about making your curves perfect first time. Later I’ll show you how to edit them, a technique which is useful for fine tuning them.
The Create Curve button is on the button bar to the right of the Create Straight button. The icon changes to represent which of the four methods is currently selected. To change the method, click the down arrow to the right of the button and select from the list. As with the Create Straight button, click the Create Curve button to select it.
Create Curved Track From End-Point: Click on the track end from which you want to start, and drag the mouse as though you where continuing in a straight line as shown.
Release the mouse and two red arrows will appear at the end point. Click and drag on the arrows to adjust the length and angle of the curve. Release the mouse to fix the curve.
Create Curved Track From Tangent: Click on the track end point and drag the mouse at a right angle to it.
The distance of the mouse from the track represents the radius of the curve you are creating. Release the mouse and you will see a line with two red arrows. Click and drag the red arrows to adjust the length of the track.
Create Curved Track From Center: This is effectively the opposite of the previous method. Click and drag from the centre point of the curve to where you want the end to be. Release the mouse.
Click on the red arrows, and drag to adjust the length of the curve. This method would be useful for, for example, creating curves at the end of the baseboard from the front of the layout to a hidden siding behind. Just use the midpoint of the baseboard as the starting point.
Create Curved Track From Chord: Click on an end point, drag to were you want the other end point and release the mouse.
Two arrows are shown in the centre of the track, click on them and drag to adjust the angle of the curve.
Once the curve is created you can join it to neighbouring tracks using Connect Two Tracks as we did in part one.
Editing Curves
Now that you have created your curves you may find that they need a bit of ‘nudging’ into position.
This can be done it one of two ways. The first is to select the Modify button , then click an endpoint and drag it around.
The other is to click on the curve to bring up the ‘Describe Curve’ window. If neither end of the curve isconnected to another track, you will have options at the bottom to select the Pivot - which point will remain fixed. If one end is connected, the pivot will be at that end. (If both ends are connected you can’t edit the curve - you will have to break one or both of the connections first).
Most of the options in the window are fairly obvious. There are options to adjust the position and radius. If the track has an Angular length of 90 degrees, then it is a 90 degree bend, 45 degrees is a 45 degree bend and so on. I’ll admit to having no idea what the CW and CCW options do. Their behaviour seems non obvious and I can’t find anything about them in the documentation. As far as I can tell they relate to creating easements.
You can also make adjustments using the mouse as shown previously for straight track. Select the track, right click and choose Modify, then click and drag to adjust the radius and length.
Parallel Tracks
A useful feature for creating double track lines, as well as parallel lines in stations and sidings is Create a Parallel Track. With it selected click beside an existing track section and a parallel piece of flexitrack will be created to that side of it.
To create a longer length of parallel track,just keep alternernately clicking the parallel track button and next to a piece of flexible track. The new tracks will be automatically joined together.
Note however, that you can only create parallel tracks next to pieces of flexible track, but you can use ‘join tracks’ to link section together.
Here’s an example of how to use it too create a passing loop. Start with two turnouts, connected by a piece of straight track.
Select Create a Parallel Track and click just below the straight track.
The new track will be the same length at the original, and impossible to connect the them so we need to shorten it.
Click Select and click the new parallel piece of track to turn it red. Right click on the track and select Modify. Now click on one end and drag it shorter such that a curve to the turnout will fit in nicely. Repeat this for the other end.
Now to join the track to the points. Select Join Two Tracks, click on one end of the new track. Click and hold on the neighbouring turnout and drag the mouse until the joining track shows black. Again repeat this for the other end.
This technique can obviously be used for sidings by just connecting one end.
Summary
I’ve now covered just about all the basic track laying and editing features. There are a couple of advanced features which I haven’t had time to cover. These include:
Easements (also called transition curves). Use these to create gentle lead ins to curves, as used on the real railways.
Layers. You can use layers to divide your layout into separate sections. XtrkCad can then hide or show individual layers. This is particularly useful for layouts with gradients and multiple levels.
Gradients and levels. This feature is pretty much self explanatory. Use it where, for example, one track passes over another.
Run Trains. XTrkCad includes the option to add locomotives and cars to the layout and run them as if you where using a physical layout. You can use this to test out the design, or simply as a way to ‘play trains’ without having to build a real layout.
All these features and more can be found in the online help, which is installed with the software.
I’ll leave them for you to experiment with, and maybe post some further articles on these features.
But for now I’ll leave you to dream up you fantasy layouts in XTrkCad.
So far I’ve shown how to use XTrkCad to design a layout using set track, but using flexible track offers a much wider scope in layout design.
Even though you are designing with flexitrack you will, of course also want to include points and other fixed trackage elements. These items are added in exactly the same way as the set track elements we used in parts one and two. XTrkCad makes it easy to mix fixed and set track items with flexitrack. Indeed, I usually start a design from a ‘fixed point’, such as a set of points, and work outwards either towards the end of the line, or to another fixed item, such as another set of points.
Extending Tracks
Once you have a piece of track on the layout, it’s easy to join flexible track on to it. Click the Modify button , then click and drag from one of the ends of the track piece. A section of straight track will be drawn. Release the mouse button to fix it. Now click Modify again, and shift-click on the end of the new section and you can drag the mouse around to turn it into a curve.
Straight Track
If you don’t already have any track in place on the layout, start by adding a set of points on which we can build from.
Click the Create Straight Track button, click near where you want the track to start (ie. the exit from the points) and drag the mouse to the other end. Now click Connect Two Tracks and click on the exit from the points and the end of the straight track to join them. (You may need to move or rotate the straight track slightly if you get an error message - see the previous article).
If necessary, you can adjust the length of the straight. Click the Modify button, click on the free end of the track and you can drag it to change the length.
Joining With Curves
Curves can be created in a similar way to the method descibed for straght track above, which we’ll come to in the next part, but it’s often simpler to use the ‘join tracks’ feature. This method can be used where the tracks can be joined by a ‘simple curve’, ie. one which uses a curve in a single direction (as opposed to using reverse curves).
Click the Join Two Tracks button, click on the end of one of the tracks to connect, then click and hold the mouse button down on the other end. A track will be drawn connecting the two end points. If the track is drawn in black (and you are happy with the curve drawn), you can release the mouse button. If the track is drawn in red, XTrkCad can’t find a way draw a track to that point. Move the mouse back toward the other end of the curve and the track should turn black. You can now release the mouse button to keep the new track.
Throughout the above, you can adjust the exact shape of the curve by moving the mouse around while keeping the mouse button held down.
Sometimes, no matter where you move the mouse, the curve stays red. This means that either a reverse curve is needed or the curve needed is too tight. (You can adjust the minimum radius from the Options/Preferences menu item). Also you may find that XTrkCad will not create the curve in the exact shape you want. If this happens you may need to either move one of the end points, draw a partial curve (or straight) and try again, or put some track down (either set track or flexitrack) as a centre point.
Our tour of XTrkCad is nearly over. There’s just one more feature to describe, creating curved flexible track, and I’ll cover that in the next part.
Inserting Track
You can insert a fixed track element (eg a set of points) into a piece of flexitrack (either curved or straight) by just dropping in onto the flexible track. Hold down shift and click to cycle through the different positions the point can be positioned in. When you are happy, press Enter.
In part one we saw how to create a layout using XTrkCad and Set Track track items. We covered adding new items to the layout, but at some point you will almost certainly need to edit what you have already added either to add extra features to the layout or to correct mistakes.
On order to edit items, you first need to know how to select them. To put XTrkCad into select mode, click the Select Tracks button.
To select a piece of track, click on it. It will turn red. Click it again to unselect.
Click other pieces of track to select them also.
To select a piece of track and every piece of track attached to it, hold the Shift key and click on it. All the attached tracks will turn red.
Tip: If you want to select everything except a few pieces of track, it may be quicker to shift-click to select everything and then click on individual pieces to unselect them.
Tip: If you want to edit a large subsection of the layout, eg. a set of sidings, it may be useful to separate them from the main tracks first. Click the Split a Track icon, then click on a joint between two track sections. This breaks the joint and you can now Shift-Click to select the sidings.
The operations described below, operate on all the currently selected pieces of track, even if they are not attached to the current track. They also affect selected tracks which are not even on screen.
To prevent accidental mistakes, it’s often best to make sure everything is unselected before moving to a new area. To do this, right-click and choose Deselect All.
To delete the selected track or tracks, press the Delete key, or right-click with the mouse and select Delete.
Tip: To undo a deletion (or any other change), click the Undo button towards the left of the toolbar.
To move the selected tracks, right-click and select Move, then click and drag the tracks to their new location.
Rotating the tracks is similar. Right-click and select Rotate. Then click-hold on the spot around which you want the track to rotate and drag the mouse to rotate the tracks.
Parts List
Before we move on to flexitrack, I’ll mention one more useful feature, the ability to create a shopping list of parts. Select the parts you want to price (or probably more usefully, Shift-click to select everything) and use the menu item File/Parts List. This shows how many pieces are required, but you can also get it to include prices.
Back out of the Parts List window and go to File/Price List. Scroll down and you can enter the prices from your local modelling emporium. At the bottom of the window is an option the enter the price of a length of flexitrack, where the first box is the length (in inches) of a section of track.
When purchasing just bear in mind that there will be a certain amount of wastage from offcuts of flexi-track, so you may want to buy an extra length or two.
With a little bit of practice you should soon be able to master evrythng we ave covered in parts one and two. Next time I’ll move on to designing layouts with flexible track.
XtrkCad is a useful piece of software for designing model railway designs, whether you are designing the layout you want to build, creating a fantasy layout, or simply experimenting with ideas to see ‘what will fit’. And the software is free, which is great for those on a budget.
This tutorial assumes you have already installed XTrkCad and followed the free registration procedure. If you haven’t, you can download it here.
Setting up the layout
When you start XTrkCad, it shows a blank screen with space for a small layout. This probably isn’t the same size as the layout you want to design, so on the menus select Options/Layout… Here you can specify the size of the layout in inches. If your layout uses an odd shape, or has an operating hole in the middle, enter the maximum dimensions of the layout area. In this window you can enter an optional title for the layout and you’ll also want to specify the scale/gauge you are using.
The screen will now show your layout area at the default scale. You will probably find that the layout area is larger than can be shown on screen. The XTrkCad Map window shows the area which is currently on screen in black. To move around the layout area, click on the black rectangle and drag it to the area you want to view. (If the Map Window isn’t showing, use the Window/Map Window menu item). You can also zoom in and out using the three buttons on the very left of the tool bar.
If your layout is an odd shape, or includes an operating area, you can draw lines and boxes to show where the edges of the baseboard will be. Use the drawing tools on the right hand area of the toolbar. These tools are pretty intuitive to use, just click-hold at one end/corner and drag the mouse to the other end/corner, zooming in and out as necessary.
Adding track sections
XTrkCad is preprogrammed with a large number of trackage systems. To select the one you want to use, right click on the track icon bar and select from the list. You can use the left/right buttons on the track icon bar to select which items are shown and also to scroll between track systems. There are also items on the list for trees and trackside structures. I’ll start this tutorial by selecting Peco SetTrack (’Peco N Scale ST-Track’ ) , since the fixed track pieces of set track are easier to design with when you are new to XTrkCad. I’ll move on to flexitrack in a later article.
Hover the mouse over a track item on the track icon bar and it’s name is displayed. I’ll start with a left hand point. Click the icon to select it, and the icon turns black. Click anywhere within the layout to place it down. Note that at this stage it is not ‘fixed’. If it is in the wrong place, click closer to where you want it and it will move.
You can also rotate it: click and hold the right mouse button at the location on the track item about which you want to rotate it. Move the mouse to rotate it, drag the mouse further from the rotation point to make finer adjustments. Once it has been rotated, you can, if necessary, click and drag the track item about the layout to it’s final position.
When you are finally happy with it’s position, press the Enter key to fix it in position (but bear in mind that it can still be moved later).
To add the next track item, again click on it in the track icon bar. This time, click near one of the ‘exits’ from the first track item, and it will be joined on (but the end of the second piece which attaches appears to be pre-set and can’t be changed).
If the end that is joined by default is wrong, click somewhere else nearby to separate the items, right-click and rotate the new item, then left-click and drag it close to where it will be attached and press the Enter key to fix it.
To join the items, click the ‘Connect Two Tracks’ icon , click the end of one track section, then click the end of the second item. If you get a message about the ends being too far apart, move and/or rotate one of the items and try again (see part two for details).
If you make a mistake connecting tracks, select ‘Split a Track’, and click on the joint to separate them.
The rest of the design is a simple process of moving around the layout one track section at a time until all the track pieces are done. Just remember that you have to press Enter to fix each item in place before moving on to the next one.
In this part we’ve seen how to lay tracks, next time we’ll look at how to edit the pieces we have already laid.
is on the button bar to the right of the Create Straight button. The icon changes to represent which of the four methods is currently selected. To change the method, click the down arrow to the right of the button and select from the list. As with the Create Straight button, click the Create Curve button to select it.
Create Curved Track From End-Point: Click on the track end from which you want to start, and drag the mouse as though you where continuing in a straight line as shown.
Create Curved Track From Tangent: Click on the track end point and drag the mouse at a right angle to it.
Create Curved Track From Center: This is effectively the opposite of the previous method. Click and drag from the centre point of the curve to where you want the end to be. Release the mouse.
Create Curved Track From Chord: Click on an end point, drag to were you want the other end point and release the mouse.
as we did in part one.
, then click an endpoint and drag it around.
With it selected click beside an existing track section and a parallel piece of flexitrack will be created to that side of it.
and click the new parallel piece of track to turn it red. Right click on the track and select Modify. Now click on one end and drag it shorter such that a curve to the turnout will fit in nicely. Repeat this for the other end.
click on one end of the new track. Click and hold on the neighbouring turnout and drag the mouse until the joining track shows black. Again repeat this for the other end.
click near where you want the track to start (ie. the exit from the points) and drag the mouse to the other end. Now click Connect Two Tracks 
then click on a joint between two track sections. This breaks the joint and you can now Shift-Click to select the sidings.
These tools are pretty intuitive to use, just click-hold at one end/corner and drag the mouse to the other end/corner, zooming in and out as necessary.
