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"Terrain Elevation, track placement"

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landnrailroader (8 posts)
Aug-20-01, 04:32 PM (EST) "Terrain Elevation, track placement" My first question, and the most vexing to me, so far, is this.
I have set up a selection of 21 tiles which cover the area around Dante, Va. The maximum elevation in this area is 2600 ft., about 825 meters. I would like to set the elevation of all tiles to 825 meters, and then adjust terrain downward from there to sculpt the valleys etc. after the track is placed. There is one tunnel (Sandy Ridge, 7854'), one small yard (Dante), and the route will be about 7 miles in length. If it is successful, I can build on it, as I would like to recreate the Clinchfield line. I have tried everything indicated in the instructions but cannot get the elevation to change from 63 meters.Second Question. I can set the camera to the correct lat/long, no sweat. Then I rotate the view to the compass bearing (216 degrees). Then I tried to place the first tangent, which would be from Dante, about 1/2 mile on the 216 degree bearing. When I place the track piece, it seems to have a mind of it's own, and when I rotate it, it seems to be rotating in a vertical plane, rather than horizontal.Anyone have any ideas.
If anyone has been successful getting the details worked out, I am sure everyone else would benefit from a dissertation on the subject. Is there any benefit to the Sybex book on these points - having actually run trains in my career (34 years on the RR), I don't need a book to tell me how to do that.J. H. Sullivan, P.E. (retired from CSX and proud of it) Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: Terrain Elevation, track placem... suckow Aug-20-01 1 RE: Terrain Elevation, track placem... landnrailroader Aug-20-01 2

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suckow (8 posts)
Aug-20-01, 04:55 PM (EST) 1. "RE: Terrain Elevation, track placement" Well, for your terrain, I would download JohnCS's DEM extractor, and download the appropriate DEM's (digital elevation model) from http://www.gisdatadepot.com/dem/. This will sculpt most of the terrain for you. Believe me it's much easier than doing it by hand.As for the track placement. Try holding the "Ctrl" key while you rotate. This will confine rotation to the horizontal plane. You can also use the number pad keys for rotation (instead of the mouse) if you prefer. Also, if you hold down the "End" key, the rotation will be really (really) slow for those fine adjustments.As for a write up of route editor tips, you should look through the downloads section. I believe that there's a couple of FAQ's that you can download that will answer many questions you may have. The download section (http://www.train-sim.com/login.htm) is also where you'll find the DEM extractor. There's also a great utility for doing track markers.Good Luck with your route.Steve Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
landnrailroader (8 posts)
Aug-20-01, 05:58 PM (EST) 2. "RE: Terrain Elevation, track placement" Thanks, I'll try that. The Clinchfield is one of my favorite routes, and one I am very familiar with. There are two or three other CSX routes that interest me as well, but it seemed reasonable to start with a very small piece and go from there.J. H. Sullivan Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

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