I was using XTrkCad on my Mac for this, but the newer versions won't run due to library incompatibility. Now I see there is a new version released last November. There's no OS X installer, however, leaving me to possibly build on my own.

I'm going to try XTrkCad again, if I can get it built and running. But I'm interested to see what alternatives people have used.

Two I found are Railmodeller, which is $34.99 via iTunes.

http://www.railmodeller.com/

In the august 2013 number of Modelrailroad Magazine there was a description of scratchbuilding a branchline watertank from stripwood. It seemed to be a perfect fit for my scenic’d timesaver layout. I made a short description of building the watertank.

So last night I decided to spend an hour or two building the housing for our under layout lighting.

Because the underneath portion of the layout will be used for storage and eventually some staging I wanted to install some LED's under it so that as I'm wiring and installing the signals & detection its already in and running.

If you are interested in civil war railroad operations I posted a good amount of data showing a typical day on the USMRR Aquia Line on my blog. http://www.usmrr.blogspot.com/…/a-day-of-operation-on-usmrr…

I was given a Quantum sound decoder because it would not respond to the 4 digit address.  I installed it in an Atlas FP7 and it worked fine for some time using address 905, the loco number.  Then it stopped responding.  I use te reset code to reset to factory specs and it responded to 0003 as expected.  I reset the number to 905 and it did not work (Sound on, Headlight on, but not controlled by F0 and the loco would not run, no functions working.)  Reset to 003 and all worked.  Reset to 906, and now everything worked as expected, as has continued to work so far

I received a Cricut Expression model for free.  I have the machine and the power supply, but no instructions or other information.  All the blogs use the other cutter and I would like to know if this one can cut out  structures and signs etc. and if so, what I need to make it workable.  Also, are the instructions sheets available? All I saw on the Cricut web site was a download  "Cricut Craft Room"   I would appreciate any help  Thanks.

Bill

I’ve scratchbuilt and kitbashed some rolling stock and a couple of locos, as well as a scratchbuilt boxing ring and punching bag, but, so far, all of the structures I’ve built have been pretty much right out of the box (or Woodland Scenics modulars—same thing, more or less.)

At Hancock, Iowa, the Iowa Interstate's main passes over Hwy. 59 and the remains of the former RI Oakland branch.  The purpose of this post is to document construction of my model of this ex-RI bridge, warts and all.

Put up some more Flexible 1/4" drywall. It's been awhile since I did any work on the layout. I've been busy at work!

Hello again, it's been so very very long since I've been here, things have been rough for me. High school begun, new forms of stress, and personal matters are keeping me far busier than ever before. I even find it hard to set aside time for my art. However, recently, I found myself thinking about new equipment for my O gauge collection. Then, I started thinking about EMD BL-2s. Unfortunately, BL-2s in O gauge tend to be rather...    Ehh....