Simple Computer Aided Railroad Modeller [SCARM] impressions of a user

 

SCARM is the acronym for design software Simple Computer Aided Railroad Modeller.  It was created by Milen Peev, and is available for free download.
This plan is the result of less than one week of using the SCARM software for designing a model railroad layout.  The layout is built with Kato Unitrack in n-scale.  All elements shown are included in the library of the software as of March 2015.

The following is a description of my experience in using the software.  It is not intended as a tutorial for new users.  Several YouTube video tutorials are available online.

 

Initially a simple loop of Kato Unitrack was created and a track height of 2 inches was assigned.  This was done to represent 2"  thick extruded polystyrene foam and thus allow for features below track level such as a river, bridges or ravines.

The size of the resulting layout is currently set as 16 feet long, i.e. with two 4 x 8 feet sheets of 2" thick extruded polystyrene foam to which are attached perpendicularly at each end one 4x8 feet sheets of 2" thick extruded polystyrene foam, thus a 12 foot dimension.

 

The second  picture shows the layout with the yard and sidings added and a river placed in the lower right hand corner in blue.

 

The third  picture shows the layout after the roundhouse was added in the upper right hand corner.  This was done by using the figures option from the library; the polygon was selected and the border of 6 of the tracks  extending from the turntable were traced. When the desired polygon shape was complete, a right click on the mouse allowed for color and height to be selected and saved.  The result was a 6-stall roundhouse image.
The image on the right was selected and copied and then pasted to a new start.  From that location is was moved and rotated in to position on the left side and aligned with the turntable.

The fourth picture shows the layout after streets, roads and alley ways were added to the design.  I elected to use the figures option from the library; the rectangle was selected and the length street, road or alley way was created in the desired width using the calibration marks as a guide.  After the rectangle was completed right click of the mouse causes the system dialog box to appear where a height of 2 inches and color, either dark red for brick paving, black for asphalt and dark grey for alley ways was chosen.   On the right side of the layout where the village of Beecher City, Illinois is located, the roads, highway and alley ways were created using the rectangle option with in figures. After the desired length was created, the height of 2 inches and color, concrete for highway, black for asphalt and dark grey for alley ways was chosen. The individual sections were selected with a left click of the mouse and then using right click, the section was turn with the rotate feature.  This allowed for the main street [Charles Street] to be oriented at a 30 degree angle with the track.