Track Libraries
A track library is a catalogue of one manufacturer's track system: every piece, with its product code and published dimensions.
Bundled libraries
Gauge Buddy includes thirteen libraries, and every supported scale has at least one. They are listed in Scales & Bundled Track.
The figures come from the manufacturers' published specifications. They are nominal catalogue figures, so check a current catalogue before placing an order.
Some ranges contain flexible track and turnouts but no fixed-length pieces. That is because it is what the manufacturer makes for that gauge, not because anything is missing.
Importing a library
If your track is not bundled, you can import a library from a file. Nothing is downloaded: libraries only ever come from files you provide.
Choose Libraries → Import Track Library….
From a library file
Click Choose a JSON library… and select a .railtracklib.json file. This is the format to use if someone has shared a library with you.
From a spreadsheet
For a simple system you can type the pieces into a spreadsheet and save it as CSV.
- Click Choose a CSV file….
- Enter the library's name, manufacturer and Scale, and choose what units the numbers in this file are in. A CSV cannot carry these itself.
- Click Read File.
The first row of the file names the columns. id and type are required; fill in the others that apply to each kind of piece.
| Column | Used for |
|---|---|
id | A short unique identifier for the piece. |
productCode | The manufacturer's product code. |
name | The name shown in the catalogue. |
type | straight, curve, turnout, crossing or flex. |
length | Straights and crossings: the length. |
radius, sweepDegrees, handedness | Curves: the radius, the angle, and left or right. |
straightLength, divergingRadius, divergingSweepDegrees, divergingStraightLength, handedness | Turnouts. |
crossingAngleDegrees | Crossings: the angle between the two roads. |
standardLength | Flexible track: the length it is sold in. |
trackWidth, minimumRadius, notes | Optional. |
A small example:
csv
id,productCode,name,type,length,radius,sweepDegrees,handedness,standardLength
s1,S-1,Straight 100,straight,100,,,,
c1,C-1,Curve R400 22.5°,curve,,400,22.5,left,
f1,F-1,Flexible track,flex,,,,,914If some rows cannot be read, the sheet lists them by line and column. You can correct the file and import again, or choose to import only the usable rows. Gauge Buddy never quietly imports part of a file.
The system report
Before a library is installed, Gauge Buddy analyses it and reports, in plain terms, whether the pieces fit together:
- whether the straight lengths combine with one another;
- whether the curves divide evenly into a circle;
- whether the radii step evenly for parallel tracks;
- whether a turnout followed by its matching curve lands on the parallel track.
Where something does not close exactly, the report says by how much. Real track systems often carry small compromises and are perfectly usable. The point is to know about them before you plan around them.
Click Install to add the library to your catalogue.
Get the figures from the manufacturer
Enter dimensions from the manufacturer's published data, not from memory or from measuring a piece. A fraction of a millimetre repeated around a circuit is the difference between a plan that closes and one that does not.
Libraries and layouts
A layout refers to the libraries its track came from. When you open it on another Mac that does not have one of them, that track cannot be drawn and the issues list reports a missing track library.
To prevent that, embed the library in the layout. Choose Libraries → Libraries in This Document… to see every library the layout uses, then:
- Embed a copy in this document stores the library inside the layout file, so it opens correctly anywhere.
- Remove the embedded copy takes it out again.
- Import the missing library… fixes a layout whose library is not available.
When you import a library you can tick Also embed a copy in this document to do both at once.
Bundled libraries are present on every Mac with Gauge Buddy and do not need embedding.