Sarge427

Just amazing! Simon, please consider a coffee-table book when you're done; too good to not have a permanent, high-quality, record.

No worries, just thinking aloud!

I've enjoyed reading this thread, and it's triggered a question. My feeling is that all the current design software packages are fairly similar in nature - basically a CAD concept tailored to the model railway space. The popular ones are excellent, and I have a lot of admiration for their authors. However, by the very nature of their envisaged usage, they tend to converge in terms of functionality. So my question is; what could a computer-aided package achieve that would make a step-change in the layout design phase of a project? For instance, what about moving away from a mouse to a pen or, preferably, a touch interface that allows a completely freehand input … and then automatically convert the squiggles to achievable geometry. Alternatively, how about defining the baseboard dimensions and an AI algorithm designs you a choice of layouts based on your preferences (such as minimum radius) and a set of heuristics. I'm retiring soon, and I've joined the Forum to learn about model railways with a view to a relaxing hobby - no experience with trains per se, just some modelling and dioramas in my youth. But I am a scientific programmer, and have long thought about software as a retirement hobby.