Hi Sid.
Well. at least one person has read my blog and thanks for your comments. That's the problem with having the photographs separate from the text. People will look at the pictures without reading the story and won't really know what they're looking at. To be honest, with the way this is set up on this forum, I may not bother continuing with the blog.
As regards Winrail. I've been using it for over 10 years now and I think it's about the best layout design software out there apart from those which are aimed more at those who build their own track. I find it does everything I want and is very intuitive to use, particularly the flexitrack shaping tool which tells you what the minimum radius is on any given piece of track. You can then re-shape it to avoid having too tight curves. It comes with a library of all of the well known tracks (Peco, Kato, Bachman, Fleischman etc.) in all of the scales from Z to 0 and also has libraries of many of the well known manufacturers buildings so you can place them and get an accurate idea of the space they will take up.
One useful function it has is to check clearances between lines. You just input the length and wheelbase of your longest carriage and let it 'run' around your track design. It traces the outer extremities of your chosen carriage and shows where track spacing need to be increased, such as on curves, to avoid clashes.
It also has a 3D modelling feature so you can see how your trackwork blends in with the intended landscaping.
A 'cut down' trial version of Winrail is available for download FOC on line at
http://www.winrail.com/ where you can also see many of its capabilities.
Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog.
Regards,