All About SCARM Base Boards

Many layouts start with the Base Board, as this gives an idea of the space available for the important bits - track, scenery, accessories, and so on. Now, SCARM has a base board editor, and it's a join the points affair.

The user clicks the corner points of the base board (or bounding space, come to that) on the main screen, and, presto, the base board is drawn.

These steps can be seen here, and the system is, for most cases, perfectly adequate. However, it can be a little time-consuming if the user needs to create a complex base board.

Of course, if mistakes are made, they can be rectified by clicking on one of the lines, to select the shape in red, and then click-dragging the corners to make a new shape.

However, something that poses a problem is the lack of a function to split a line (i.e. insert another moveable point on a line.) So, if the user is three quarters of the way through a complex shape, it becomes irritating not to be able to do it in stages.

Typical layouts include those which have some kind of gap, or even a hole in the middle, such as the U-shape shown here. Creating such a shape is well defined on the SCARM forum entry relating to baseboards, but it is a bit clunky (or should that be tricky?)

There is, however, an easier way, and all it takes is a simple edit of the .scarm file in a text editor to define any shape of baseboard that the user requires.

The baseboard shown here has the following entry in the .scarm file:

BB|[0;0][2300;0][2300;300][300;300][300;0][300;1000][1300;1000][1300;1300][300;1300][300;1000][300;1300][0;1300][0;0]

Now, this might look a bit confusing, but all that the user needs to remember is that the co-ordinate list consists of absolute [X;Y] positions (as opposed to relative [Y;X] positions used by Accessory entries) and that the shape must be closed.

So, a 100 unit (usually mm) square, would need 4 co-ordinates:

BB|[0;0][100;0][100;100][0;100][0;0]

From here, most users will be able to create their own base boards, but if anything is unclear, it can be discussed in the comments thread!

What is SCARM, the Simple Computer Aided Railway Modeller?

SCARM is an incredibly easy to use, intuitive, extensible, piece of software (for Windows), used to design model railway layouts of all sizes. If, by some twist of fate, a particular set of rails doesn't exist, it can be added as a (text editable) library, auto-loaded at run time.

The result can even be displayed in 3D, and the package allows tunnels, bridges, and graduated heights. If that wasn't enough, there are special features for a helix (continuous spiral track) and turntables.

SCARM is also free, stable, and available from the official SCARM Web Site. There is also a (reasonably active) user community on the SCARM Facebook page. The aim of this blog is to group together posts relating to various tips and tricks that should make SCARM even more useful for beginner, intermediate and advanced users.

Eventually the blog posts, examples, comments, feedback and ideas will end up in an eBook "Unofficial SCARM". Until then, download the software, and join the ranks of happy SCARM users.