Patent ID: 7212957

Claim:
A software program stored on a computer-readable medium for monitoring and controlling a model railroad, said software program operable to perform the steps of: displaying a representation of said model railroad layout on a display wherein a first portion of said model railroad layout is displayed using a first visual characteristic and a second portion of said model railroad layout is displayed using a second visual characteristic, wherein said first portion is selected to allow train movement thereon, and wherein said second portion is deselected to prevent train movement thereon; and editing said representation of said model railroad layout, wherein editing comprises the steps of: identifying a graphic type associated with a type of model railroad track to be edited; and providing a list of editing functions based on the type of track to be edited, wherein said list includes a joining function if said track to be edited is a turnout section, a change length function if said track to be edited is a straight section and a trim function if said track to be edited is a curved section.