Layout

The Layout screen is where you record the details of your layout and set the length unit and scale used for every length in the layout file. Open it by clicking Layout in the sidebar.

There's no Save button on this screen. Each text field saves when you click or tab out of it. Unit and scale changes are applied as soon as you choose them (or confirm them, when lengths need converting).

Screenshot needed

The Layout screen showing all four cards.

Layout Information

These fields describe and document the layout. None of the fields on the Layout screen are required.

Field	Description
Layout Name	The name of the layout. It prints at the top of every trainlist. If it's blank, trainlists print "Layout" instead.
Location	Where the layout is set up.
Organization	The organization hosting the layout.
Start Date / End Date	The dates of the setup or operating session. Click the field to pick a date from the calendar.

Length & Scale

Every length in ModuOps (equipment lengths, drop zone lengths, and train lengths) uses the unit and scale set here. Other screens label length fields with the unit, for example Length (ft) or Max Length (cm).

Field	Description
Length Unit	Feet, Centimeters, Meters, or Units (dimensionless).
Scale	The scale ratio of your layout. Hidden when the unit is Units (dimensionless).
Custom Ratio	Appears when you choose Custom... as the scale. Enter the number after "1:", for example 87.1. The value is applied when you leave the field.

The Scale list is grouped by size:

Group	Scales
Small	T (1:450), Z (1:220), N (1:160)
Medium	TT (1:120), HO (1:87.1), OO (1:76.2), S (1:64)
Large	O (NMRA) (1:48), O (NEM) (1:45.2), Gauge 1 (1:32), 1:29 (1:29)
Garden	G (1:22.5), F (1:20.3), 7/8" (1:13.7)
Real World	1:1 (Real World)
Other	Custom...

New layouts start with the default unit and scale from Preferences.

Convert All Lengths

When you change the unit or the scale, ModuOps offers to convert the lengths already in the layout. The Convert All Lengths? dialog explains: Changing the unit or scale will convert all existing length values in this layout (car types, drop zones, and trains). It also shows the change, for example Feet 1:87.1 → Centimeters 1:1.

• Click Convert to convert every equipment length, drop zone length, and train Max Length and Min Length to the new unit and scale.
• Click Cancel to leave the unit, scale, and all lengths unchanged.

Converted lengths are rounded to whole numbers, with a minimum of 1. For example, a 40 ft car in HO becomes 14 cm. Blank or zero lengths are left alone.

warning

Because converted lengths are rounded, converting back and forth can change them slightly. Pick your unit and scale before you enter lengths if you can.

Switching to or from Units (dimensionless) doesn't open the dialog and doesn't convert anything. The numbers stay the same; only the label changes.

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The Convert All Lengths? dialog showing a change from Feet 1:87.1 to Centimeters 1:1.

Trainlist Settings

These fields record the trainlist header and footer text for the layout.

Field	Description
Trainlist Header	Trainlist header text. Up to 80 characters; a counter shows how many you've used.
Trainlist Footer	Trainlist footer text. Up to 80 characters.

Crew Information

Record who is running the layout.

Field	Description
Run Chief	The person or people acting as Run Chief.
DCC Chief	The person or people acting as DCC Chief.
Operations Chief	The person or people acting as Operations Chief.

Real-World Measurement converter

Next to each length field in ModuOps there's a small ruler button (tooltip Enter real-world measurement). It turns a measurement from your tape measure into the layout's unit and scale, so you don't have to do the math. You'll find it on:

• the Length field of equipment in the Equipment Register
• the Length field of a Drop Zone
• the Max Length and Min Length fields of a Train

The button is hidden when the layout unit is Units (dimensionless).

To use it:

1. Click the ruler button next to the length field.
2. In the Real-World Measurement dialog, type the Measurement you took (required, and greater than 0). Decimals are fine. Apply stays greyed out until you do.
3. Choose its Unit: Inches, Feet, Millimeters, Centimeters, or Meters.
4. Check the Converts to box. It shows the result in your layout's unit and the scale being used, plus how it was worked out, for example 5.5 in → 13.97 cm real-world → 40 ft at 1:87.1.
5. Click Apply to put the result into the length field.
6. Save the form as usual.

Results are rounded to whole numbers, with a minimum of 1. ModuOps remembers the measuring unit you last used for this layout. The first time, it starts with Inches for Feet layouts and Centimeters for Centimeters or Meters layouts.

Screenshot needed

The Real-World Measurement dialog converting 5.5 inches to 40 ft at HO scale.

Changes from version 5

• "Layout/Railroad Name" is now Layout Name, and "Ops Chief" is now Operations Chief.
• The layout name is no longer shown at the top of every screen.
• The fields are grouped into cards, and each field saves when you leave it.
• New: the Length & Scale card. In version 5 lengths had no unit; now the layout has a unit and a scale, and lengths can be converted when you change them.
• New: the Real-World Measurement converter on length fields.