SCARM track planning software - Hello from the author

Ha! That was it! It was a very very small window and I thought it was a control widget . Thanks.

You're welcome.

Here is explained How to Recover a Project File After Crash or Power Failure and to restore your SCARM track plan to the last autosave state. I hope you do not have to use that feature, but... just in case

And here are the SCARM model railroading blog posts for June.

Mixy

Here are listed the SCARM railroad hobby blog posts for July.

Don't miss the last QuickTip about how to perform Fast Selection of Sequential Tracks in 2D editing mode.

Mixy

Mixy posted:

Here are listed the SCARM railroad hobby blog posts for July.

Don't miss the last QuickTip about how to perform Fast Selection of Sequential Tracks in 2D editing mode.

Mixy

That's a useful trick.   Thanks, Mixy !

First, I'd like to say well done on the design of the software. It is very intuitive for someone with a CAD background. I picked it up and was able to use it immediately without fumbling too much. There are a few suggestions (hopefully these were not already rejected) I would like to make:

1. Grid Ruler: Add a control for changing the interval of the grid/ruler. It would be easier to see it in feet instead of 10 inches. Possibly add a major/minor grid option.

2. Size Area: The area in square-feet seems to be more logical than square-yards. Size would be helpful if reported in both feet and inches. For example 4ft-6in (54in).

3. Track Toolbar: The track toolbar on the left is a bit tall to find your track or if you are switching between the top end and bottom end. It would be nice to have the track tile into more columns and un-dock so that you could move it to a second screen.

4. New tool or update to the tape measure. Snap two end points and report back:

   a. When parallel: length of gap between, offset, and angle of deflection.

   b. When not parallel: maximum radius to connect and accompanying straight segment length. Could include smaller radii scenarios.

5. Add minimum radius option to filter out (remove from list) tracks that are too tight or shown in gray (but still available). When below minimum is used, highlight that track in bright yellow.

6. When selecting from left to right, include only the elements inside the box (no change). When selecting from right to left, include elements inside the box and elements touching the box.

7. Ctrl+click shouldn't reset the selection set when you miss the element.

Thanks!

-Ed

Thanks for the suggestions, Ed,

I cannot promise whether and when some or all of these will be implemented, but I will add this to my To-do list for the next versions of SCARM.

Mixy

I know that SCARM is free but how is different from RR Track?

TrainHead posted:

I know that SCARM is free but how is different from RR Track?

IMNSHO, in most cases, SCARM has the better 3D view, it's updated more frequently, the author is more receptive to suggestions as well as more active here, it doesn't cost extra to get track libraries, etc. To be sure, there are advantages and disadvantages to both programs, that's why I generally do my designs using both. I started with the included RR-Track, upgraded to the paid version, and then learned SCARM to be able to help others, but I'm now using SCARM more for my own layout planning and I'm looking forward to the next update. For me, the biggest advantage to RRT has been the simulation feature, as crude as it is. Some things are easier to do in RRT for me because I use a touchpad on my laptop.

There's another too called Anyrail. Very simple to use, but lacking some features last I tried it. They have or had (?) a free version, but it was limited to 50 items on the screen.

Some cool news here

The new SCARM v. 0.9.34 is ready and published, coming with new and updated track libraries and also with a new extension - the long awaited Model Trains Simulator.

Read more details here:

Model Railroad Layout Designer SCARM 0.9.34 Released


The Starter Edition of the simulator is intended for simple 2D and 3D simulations of various operations on the track plans, designed in SCARM. It will show you how the model rolling stock can be operated on a real layout, before buying even a single track.



In this way, you can check the concept of your plan and to discover potential design issues before start the construction of a real layout. And like SCARM, this edition of the simulator is completely free

Please note: the simulator is not directly bundled into SCARM installer. If you want to test it, you must install the latest version of SCARM first and then to use "Extensions" > "Browse for Extensions" menu command in the program in order to download and install the required files.

The simulator opens a whole new world in SCARM universe and if some of you are interested in that field, we can discuss various operating possibilities, the realism options, performing of the simulation sessions, etc., probably in a new, dedicated topic.

Hope you will like the new version

Mixy

AWESOME Mixy!!!!....Ur the best!!!!

I'm just getting started with SCARM, Mixy.  I'll have to give this a try once I have a design made.

many Thanks!!

Mark, don't wait. Just download someone's file and play with it. The sim is so much better than the one in RR-Track. I can sit all day and play with trains.

DoubleDAZ posted:

Mark, don't wait. Just download someone's file and play with it. The sim is so much better than the one in RR-Track. I can sit all day and play with trains.

Hey Dave!  That's a great idea!!

The newlyweds are in the process of emptying the art studio to be train room.  I actually felt safe going in and getting dimensions the other day.  :-)

As usual, Mixy has a done a great job. The download and install went smoothly. Some notes:

SCARM will probably still be open when you install the modules, so you might need to close/reopen to get the modules to appear in the menu.

If you're running a sim in 2D and then switch to 3D, you will need to turn train power on again.

Train is limited to the engine plus 5 cars of each type.

You can zoom and rotate in 3D while the train is running. It's pretty neat to have a full-screen close-up of a tunnel with the train coming out.

Train will stall a bit when turnouts are switched.

I hope everyone plays with it and offer comments to give Mixy the push he needs to continue development, like more cars, multiple trains, etc. IMHO, this is want a simulation feature should look like.

Mark Boyce posted:

Hey Dave!  That's a great idea!!

The newlyweds are in the process of emptying the art studio to be train room.  I actually felt safe going in and getting dimensions the other day.  :-)

I had to laugh at that Mark, I can picture your hesitation.

I sent you an email with my garage design in case you want to play with it.

DoubleDAZ posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

Hey Dave!  That's a great idea!!

The newlyweds are in the process of emptying the art studio to be train room.  I actually felt safe going in and getting dimensions the other day.  :-)

I had to laugh at that Mark, I can picture your hesitation.

I sent you an email with my garage design in case you want to play with it.

Yes, before I did not enter that room unless she called me in!  Lots of breakables!  Thank you Dave!  I'll take a look this weekend!!

This is really a lot of fun!!!!.....I can see myself spending hours playing with this 'train simulator'....thanks again!!!!

Very Cool

Thanks Mixy, this is a great new addition!  I found it easy to install and had the simulator running in short order. SCARM is getting better all the time!

WOW!  Thanks, Mixy!  This is fantastic.

Only one train at a time?  Or did I miss something?

How can we help you develop a larger locomotive library? I can't wait to see a train on every track and a mix of steam, diesel, electric, trolly....

Your work is so much appreciated!!!

Only one train at a time John and limited to 5 of each car type. At this point, he's trying to gauge interest and see how much work it will take to support, especially if he adds multiple trains and more engines/cars. Personally, I would love the option to run multiple trains with more cars, but am somewhat ambivalent about the specific engine/car designs. For me, multiple trains in different colors would suffice for checking out a layout design though I wouldn't complain if I could throw a smoking Big Boy on just for kicks.

EDIT: And I should add that I'd be willing to pay for them if the price was reasonable and it helped keep the basic program freeware.

DoubleDAZ posted:

Only one train at a time John and limited to 5 of each car type. At this point, he's trying to gauge interest and see how much work it will take to support, especially if he adds multiple trains and more engines/cars. Personally, I would love the option to run multiple trains with more cars, but am somewhat ambivalent about the specific engine/car designs. For me, multiple trains in different colors would suffice for checking out a layout design though I wouldn't complain if I could throw a smoking Big Boy on just for kicks.

EDIT: And I should add that I'd be willing to pay for them if the price was reasonable and it helped keep the basic program freeware.

Smoking Big Boy...oh to dream!

Agreed.  I'd be willing to pay.  Maybe you buy each loco?  Maybe you buy a "steam upgrade" pack with a few steamers.  Depends on the price, of course.  I love SCARM because it is simple and free.

OK, how many of you have tried out the SCARM train simulator? It works! It's easy to install! It's free! You can run a train on your own layout and take screen shots! It's fun! But it's in an early stage of development so it doesn't have all the features you might want - yet. Let's remember that Mixy has done a lot of work to progressively enhance SCARM and he is very generous to make it available for free.

I find that the simulator is real choppy in 3-D view. Apparently it uses a lot of memory and my computer is a few years old (Windows 7 and 4GB RAM). Any suggestions on how I might improve the performance?

The new 9.34 version of SCARM has this feature added:  New Memory page in the settings with option for reducing of the Undo steps

I reduced the default setting from 100 steps to 20 steps, wondering if that would free up some memory, but I don't know if it makes a difference for running the train simulator?

Many Thanks to Mixy for this great new feature !!!

FWIW, I run SCARM on a laptop with an i7 processor and 12 Gb of memory, so the only time I get any chop is when I switch a turnout.

Thank you all for your feedback

The simulation "smoothness" depends on the layout complexity and size and also from the CPU and GPU capabilities and speed. Some options that may help are described here: How to increase the frame rate during simulation. However, for good results in 3D, a really fast CPU and graphics card are required.

I need some time to collect more user feedback and to see whether I will be able to continue to develop and support the whole SCARM project for free. The small revenue from the ads on the site and the rare and even smaller donations does not cover all the resources and the time that I spend on this. It converted from a small hobby project since v. 0.9.0 was released 5 years ago to one really complex and powerful software now. So in the next couple of months I will decide how to continue. Probably, I will release another, more powerful edition of the simulator, with more rolling stock libraries, but at some cost. If there is real interest in this field, I may keep the main program free and without any restrictions when v.1.0 is released. If not... well, we will see...

Big Boy is possible, but it is a really complex and hard to create project. I will focus on some diesels (actually, I already have some ready), some not-so-complex steamers and various cars, European and US. Here is one US example:

I am still researching what is the situation with railroad trademarks in US and is it possible to make virtual models with true coloring and branding like prototypes, without violating the trademark protection laws. I don't want any licensing or trademark violating issues.

And last but not least, there is a lot more work over the simulation engine as it needs to be optimized for better performance and lower memory requirements, as it is quite hungry for resources now.

So let see how the Starter edition of the sim will perform and to clear the bugs first, then will see what will come next

Mixy

Mixy,

Thanks for the simulator. A very nice edition. I have tried it on many of the layout designs that I have and it runs without a hitch.

I really don't think that I need all kinds of trains. The usefulness of the tool for me is in observing the flow and the operational aspects of a train running a track plan.

A US engine and rolling stock would be on my wishlist. Primarily for size.

Cars (baage) of 15", 18" and 21" would be helpful, also.   The size of the cars and how they operate and clear on a layout plan would be helpful. Watching a long car on a small diameter curve or snaking through esses and switch combo's would visually demonstrate that for those that prefer seeing than visualizing.

Up to 3 trains running simultaneously would be a bonus.

A must have in the train controller, is an elapsed time counter.(Power on to Power off).  I appreciate that feature in another software. It permits me to demonstrate the actual play time to run all of the routes on a layout. It is also useful in demonstrating the play time for any yard operations, whether it is changing staged complete trains (multiple trains needed) or cutting, classifying and building a train in an operational yard. 

Yes, the U.S. railroads will be a pain for rights use and licensing of color schemes, names and logos. The paperwork is annoying even if they seek no payment. Most have a public relations department that would advise of the process. Do we really need that...I don't think so.

A fast processor and a separate display adapter provide the best performance. My train stuff is on a Core 2 Duo (E8400) and a business grade Nvidia NVS300. Nice power for 2008, not even close to a 6th gen I7 and display adapter of today. It's good to hear that it runs on built-in hardware with minor issues.

So, the elapsed timer would be first on my wish list.

Does Atlas like it?

Thanks again for this feature and the over the top effort and time to provide it.

Thank you, Carl

The timer is there, just hidden in the default settings - see here: How to check the elapsed time during simulation session.

I haven't yet talked about the sim with Atlas, but will in the next couple of weeks. I want to be sure, that there are no major bugs in this version, before releasing appropriate ATPS version. They may like to have the sim too, or may not want it - we will see soon.

I will try to contact some of the major US railroads and to see if somebody will reply about the trademarks and logo licensing. If they want fees for each loco or car design and color scheme, I will just not make real colored US virtual models. Instead, I will prepare my own SCARM virtual railroad company and will paint the virtual models with my color schemes . It is much easier with the European rolling stock as most railway administrations here are government owned subsidiaries and does not care for real or virtual train models with their logos. Most of them even support the model train manufacturers with all the information that is needed for creating of realistic models.

Mixy

Sweet! The timer is already there.  By the way, Alaska Blue and Alaska Yellow is good looking.

Mixy,

There are some guys on facebook that have ties to some of the US train companies. Would you like me to contact them?  I'm not sure if they are on the forum or not.

Yes, if they can provide some info on that subject, it will be good.

Mixy

Turns out I know someone who used to work at Union Pacific and still has friends there.  I just emailed you some contact information.  He sounded very optimistic. 

Mixy, Thank you for creating this wonderful program for us hobbyists to use free of charge. I have used it off and on for three or four years now. I find it to be very intuitive, and quite easy to use. Although I must admit that I rarely use it to it's full potential. I have never used it in three D mode. I found a long time ago that I could simply create 19" cars to simulate my longest piece of rolling stock and then line them up on concentric curves to make sure that I had enough clearance. This worked fine for me.

 Six or so months ago my wife purchased another product for me that is supposed to provide a benchwork display, but alas I find the program difficult to use, and so I go back to Scarm when I get fed up with the other program. I guess in all fairness I have not spent the same amount of time with the new program. 

You have done an amazing job with this program, and barring your being able to get some sponsors in the train manufacturing business to fund your further developing the simulation program you would certainly be justified in going to the end users for such funding. 

Thanks again for providing us with this wonderful free program.

Rich A.

Moonman posted:

Mixy,

Thanks for the simulator. A very nice edition. I have tried it on many of the layout designs that I have and it runs without a hitch.

I really don't think that I need all kinds of trains. The usefulness of the tool for me is in observing the flow and the operational aspects of a train running a track plan ...

Up to 3 trains running simultaneously would be a bonus ...

Those are good points which I agree with. A modest variety of somewhat generic trains would suit me.

I think I may be due for an upgraded computer soon and would like to hear more input about computer specs that provide good performance to run the SCARM simulator. I'm seeing about 19-FPS for a train on a moderately simple layout in 2-D view and only about 1-FPS in 3-D view, very choppy. I read the SCARM blog about how to speed up the FPS rate and achieved minor improvements with certain adjustments.

My laptop has P6100@2.0 GHz with 4GB RAM (new in 2010) and seems inadequate for good performance of the SCARM simulator. It is not maxing out the RAM (according to Device Manager) and I'm not running numerous other programs simultaneously.

Today, it is all about the processor and memory - get the best processor you can and at least 4MB of Memory or more. Today's systems have so much overhead - firewalls, anti virus running in the background all the time - Chew's up resources. I would look for 6 to 8 Mb of memory and that should be plenty. Hard Drive space - what every they offer - you can always go buy an external 2, 3, 4 terabyte drive to store file. Us the cloud services if you can. If you buy a Dell, MS offers 1 "OneDrive" which allows cloud storage.

K

ACE,

Laptops are tough for performance. Tough on the wallet. A laptop for gaming or business class for CAD with a separate display adapter is what's needed. Even a desktop like mine benefits by having a separate display adapter (graphics card). You just can't add a separate card to a laptop. it must be designed that way.

The other option to explore is a high end unit with an I-7 processor. Then, the onboard graphics have improved, but still not as good as having a separate card.

One other minor issue is that that many laptops today have power saving hard drives. They are slow rotation and read/write. They can be replaced with a solid state drive. That would help overall performance, but still may not handle graphics well.

Contact me offline if you want to discuss further.

From DoubleDaz that uses the software - See post above. I have not purchased SCARM as my CPU can't handle the requirement.

"FWIW, I run SCARM on a laptop with an i7 processor and 12 Mb of memory, so the only time I get any chop is when I switch a turnout"

PSU1980 posted:

From DoubleDaz that uses the software - See post above. I have not purchased SCARM as my CPU can't handle the requirement.

 

"FWIW, I run SCARM on a laptop with an i7 processor and 12 Mb of memory, so the only time I get any chop is when I switch a turnout"

Correct. it doesn't have a separate display adapter so it only has minor issues. That amount of memory would rarely get used unless one was editing video or working on a very large CAD file.

Type resmon in the windows search box and open resource monitor to view what resources are used on your machine.

Obviously, the 12Mb was a typo, it's 12Gb, and there is also another 1Gb for graphics. I'm running Windows 10 and the 1Tb HDD spins at 5400 rpm.