Hi, Can somebody help me with this progam ?

First I presume when doing layers I start from the bottom up.Is this done with the tabs on the bottom, ie 3 layers I would start 3 then 2 then Ground Plate?? How can I rearrange the layers, I started bottom layer on the ground plate and when I do the 2 nd layer it seems to go underneath the bottom layer. Also are the heights shown on the MM track plans in mm ? And how do I enter those numbers on my plan??

Any helpfull info would be greatly appreciated

Cheers Mike

Thank you for your help!! Do I work from the bottom up I presume layer 1 ground plate is the last top layer is that correct or am I missing something ???

Thank you for the reply mike

I'm not following you on the layers. I will only have 3 layers on my layout ie.bottom staging yard,2nd layer staging yard and then the top. How can I work on different layers when there are only 3 ?? I am copyng the track plan from

MM 05/12 but the height setting are not very detailed. Maybe I should just try and build from the magazine? Any more advice would be appreciated..

Hi Mike,

The "layer" concept in Wintrack, as in many CAD software, is a logical concept and is not related to the physical layers/levels of your layout (maybe except for layer 1 where you put your wood plates) .
Let's have an example: A physical layout with two physical levels, for instance level 1 is at 0 cm, and level 2 is 20 cm higher.

You may start your design of level 1 at "layer" 10 for the tracks, "layer" 11 for the signals or whatever you want, maybe layer "12" for having coordinates X & Y to transfer of the physical layout...and so on
Then you may follow by layer "20" for having elevations (and/or tracks) to level 2, "layer" 30 for tracks on level 2, layer "35" for wiring of level 2, layer "40" for scenery/landscaping etc...

In summary, a "layer" in Wintrack is an "incomplete" view of your full layout, but focused on a logical point of view (tracks, elevations, electricity, scenery, the whole for each physical level of your layout). You are totally free to decide what to put in each "layer". The idea behind is to have a plan easily understandable for various aspects, and not to have only one sheet of paper crowed with too much details which will render the plan difficult to understand...


HTH
Fabrice

XTrackCAD for MAC seems a bit "convoluted".
Have any MAC users had success with RailModeler?

I use Wintrack too. Layer 1 is for the ground plate and you shift select any layer to make it current.
Other than that the layers are what you make of it.
As a professional engineer, layers are great. The above suggestion to have each physical track layer in units of 10 Win track layers is good.
When you start adding trees and such, it get harder to select and move around. It also allows you to turn off layers to help with visualization too.
So put loks and rolling stock on the 11s, buildings on 12s, landscape features on 13s, wiring info on 14s and so on, depending how detailed you want to be.

Just keep remembering to change layers. If you put elements on the wrong layer, right click or select the element property and change the layer.
You can turn off layers to see what is mis placed too. Very handy when trying to lay a shattenbahnhoff under your main layout.