Getting Started
Gauge Buddy plans model railway layouts in 2D. You work on a drawing of your baseboard, seen from above, and everything on it is at its true size: track comes from manufacturers' catalogues, scenery is sized for your scale, and measurements are in real millimetres or inches.
This section takes you from installing the app to a first layout:
- Install Gauge Buddy: get the app from the Mac App Store.
- Your First Layout: create a layout, lay and join track, add scenery, check it and print it.
- A Tour of Gauge Buddy: the catalogue, the canvas, the inspector and the issues list.
What you need
| You need | Why |
|---|---|
| A Mac running macOS 15 or later | Gauge Buddy is a Mac app. It is not available for iPad, iPhone or Windows. |
| The size of your baseboard | Or the space you have for one. You can change it at any time. |
| The scale you model in | Z, N, TT, HO, OO or O. |
You do not need an account, an internet connection or any track data. The track libraries are built in.
What Gauge Buddy does not do
It is worth knowing the limits before you start:
- It is a 2D planner. It does not model heights, gradients or 3D views.
- It checks geometry, not operation. A plan with no issues has pieces that join properly and curves that respect your minimum radius. It cannot account for how the layout is built, the tolerances of real track, or the rolling stock you run.
- It does not sell track. Product codes and quantities are there to help you buy; prices are the ones you enter yourself.
Where to go next
- Already comfortable with layout software? Skim A Tour of Gauge Buddy and go straight to the User Guide.
- Planning for a particular room? Read Rooms, Doors & Aisles and Reach Zones once your board is drawn.
- Your track is not one of the bundled systems? See Track Libraries.