Empire Express Deluxe 4+

Gets me in the game of designing my ideal train layout.

The Empire Express design tool is perfect for someone like me who is just beginning a return to the model railroading hobby. Its not perfect, but it inexpensively gets me in the game of designing my ideal train layout. One important element is that this is Mac compatible software and can be run on operating systems going all the way back to OS 10.9 (several pricier options out there are limited to 10.13+). For me, running OS 10.11 and 10.12, just nothing out there especially at this price. I have used several higher-end CAD and graphics design tools and could certainly adapt one to this application. However, starting with the Basic version (available for free) you quickly see how simple this sofware is to use. What could be more simple than grabbing a piece of track from an existing catalog of Manufacturer’s inventory, dragging and dropping it in my layout and have it automatically connect and orient itself within the existing plan. Fast and easy. Part of the design process is looking through the multitude of layout plans available in books, magazines and on the internet and “stealing" the aspects you like and trying to fit those into your own design. Try it, if it doesn’t fit, try something else. Tweek, re-tweek and re-tweek again. Perfect tool for this process.

I found some glitches and annoyances but nothing terrible: Options for line weights are currently limited to single and double. How about a dashed line option (who doesn’t have a tunnel on their layout depicted that way?). The designated shortcut keys for Zoom In/Out (Command </>) don’t work for me nor do the Mac standard (Command +/-) so must select from the menu for every in or out zoom. Planning could really benefit from an object alignment tool (designers like their layouts to appear perfect). The polygon tool is very useful but if you mess up the keystrokes on the last segment to close the polygon, I haven’t found a way to go back and complete the process of closing it. Not a big deal to redraw a 4, 5, 6-sided polygon but when modeling a water feature with 100+ segments, it would be nice to select a tool from the menu to close the polygon instead of redrawing the whole thing. Finally, for users with other capabilities, an Export As tool with some common options (pdf, dwg, jpg) could be helpful. But its certainly very useful as is.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your review. For dashed lines, you can choose a different pen pattern in the Appearance pane of the Inspector. Zoom In/Out require holding down both the Shift and Command keys while pressing the comma or period key (on US keyboards). Polygon editing improvements are on our todo list. To export a plan as PDF, choose Print and then the Save as PDF option in the Print window. You can also Copy items from a plan and Paste them into many other applications that accept PDF on the Clipboard.

Great and inexpensive!

I’ve been using Empire Express since version 1 in 2003. I have designed and built many layouts, ranging from small shelf switching layouts to multi-level basement filling empires using this software. It is fast to learn, easy to use and accurate! While it does not have the 3D rendering some of the more expensive programs have, I have never found that to be a hindrance. You can start from a blank canvas and quickly build up, re-work and modify benchwork and trackwork with speed and ease. Creating custom tools for trackwork and buildings is easy as well and I have built up my own library of tools to use along those that come with the software. If you need to design trackplans (or even draw a CAD plan of an existing layout), I highly recommend this program!

Inexpensive and limited

This is a very basic program do to limited track planning. Makes very poor use of MacOS functionality, being basically a drawing program with no CAD features. It does have libraries of various track and other placeable objects, but doing freeform track routing is painful. Does not have object filling that I could find, text is not rotatable, and other drawing features do not always do what you expect on the Mac.
For what it is, it's adequate, did the job I needed, and a simple learning curve, but would not use it for a large layout. Good for small, very basic planning.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your review. Empire Express was intentionally designed not to use the traditional CAD model, which can have a very steep learning curve and be very un-Mac like. Instead it uses a simpler, easier-to-learn drag and drop model. We always strive to follow Apple’s human interface guidelines and to use built-in Mac functionality in Empire Express. Please let us know the specific ways you think Empire Express could make better use of MacOS functionality. We welcome your suggestions.

Object filling, which uses the MacOS color picker, is available for rectangles, circles, arcs, and polygons. See Empire Express’s built-in help for more info.