Accurate track measurement

[Pencil42]

I just checked the metric conversion in TS10 and get very very nearly exact conversion over a 720m board (2361.5 feet). I stand by my statement that it has traditionally been wrong, certainly it was wrong in TRS04 where they roughed it out to 40" to a metre instead of the correct 39 and a bit.

In TRS04 a board is about 2403' across (40" = 1 metre), in TS10 it is about 2361.5 which is near enough 39.37" = 1 metre. The difference doesn't look like much till you are putting mile posts on a 200 mile route, but then TRS04 was still more or less seen as a 'Model' Railway Simulator and folks were just starting to realise what was possible.....

Apologies to whoever fixed it whenever it was fixed - I hadn't realised!

I believe the rulers were fixed in TC3, with some other fixes (some of the HUDs, maybe?) in TS 2009.

Curtis

 

[llebrez]

So, the last question is : How accurate is the height seen at spline or tracks points? In my lines I like to put a plaque at stations depicting altitude over "sea" level, but it could be wrong. Further, if you set a spline height, and look at the height of a near-by track spline, they don't match ??? Anyone knows about this?

 

[BD1]

placemarker

 

[davidbird]

Hi all, I've downloaded the track scanner as recommended by Davebird ( thanks Dave)....

Keith

Thanks, but actually I wasn't particularly recommending it, just letting you know it was there. I've also subsequently found it to be a bit inconsistent with its distance measurements. I've gone to simply measuring with the ruler, even if it is straight on a curved track, its usually close enough for what I need it - and also I always build and measure in metric ( as thats what the topo maps are) and drive in imperial.

 

[Pencil42]

I used the Imperial Ruler to measure my turnouts, and distances, but now that I know that the Metric Ruler is true to scale, I will be using Metric, and using a Metric Conversion webpage to convert Imperial to Metric.

I'm not sure what version of Trainz you are running (you don't have anything listed on your track above), but in TC3 and later, the Imperial rulers are just fine. In TC 1&2 and before (like TRS2004 and 2006), they were off by about 3% or so. While that doesn't sound like a whole lot, after a 5 mile run, I was finding the DEM terrain and maps wasn't matching my track maps - I was off by hundreds of feet.

Curtis

 

[JackDownUnder]

I noted that the Ruler actually follows the contours.
I put all my maps onto Google Earth before and after exporting images and importing into Trainz, using TranzDEM, I currently measure in Google with Imperial and have my route set to Imperial, was the other way round but it does not matter, you can change the Route measurements any time.
I have been through the frustration of trying to have the Route as accurate as possible, now settle for the main lines to be placed correctly and stations/yards as I construct them from measurements in Google Earth.
Because of the Era my Route is in, I am concentration on the railway system, goods and passenger movements, pre Beeching. Scenery will be generally ficticious due to the lack of correctly modeled scenery objects. Also because the Route is large.

 

[tonytony]

I had some of the same trouble as you but eventually found that 20 of the BR Mk1 Passenger Coaches measure 1/4 mile almost perfectly

I measure out the first 1/4 mile, drop a 1/4 Milepost - then move the train forward another 1/4 mile, drop a 1/2 milepost - more the train forward and drop a 3/4 milepost - move the train again and drop in a 1 mile milepost.

This is OK if the lines are already laid of course and you will get accurate distances along the track, not so good if the track still has to be laid. I have not found a simple way to measure round bends yet before laying track.

I have recently laid out 18 miles with this method and found it to be pretty sound and I am only a relative starter with Trainz.

Hope this helps.

Tony

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Like you Tony, I’ve made up a string of coaches for quarter, half and one mile lengths and saved them as consists for future use.

I’ve also done the same for bespoke distances to get the range for changes in gradient profiles.

For each consist I placed a unique wagon at each end. The “one miler” has a brake van, “half miler” a tanker etc. This system helps avoid mistakes when adding several together. An added advantage, if you want to be really precise, is that by carefully selecting the correct length of " end marker" wagon, any error in the cumulative length of the carriage consists can be made up to make the measures pretty well spot on.

~ I have not found a simple way to measure round bends yet before laying track. ~

I’ve not often needed to do this, but I have found a way with prototypical layouts.

I use the Google Earth ruler tool, (select the “path” tab). This allows you to trace a meandering line in any direction you want. It’s pretty easy to scribe the yellow line along the railway track using the measurement unit of your choice. It helps if you press the ‘r’ key before starting to force the satellite image north-up and to get a perfectly vertical view.

Cheers
Casper

 

[BuilderBob]

It's a TrackSide object - middle icon under the Tracks tab.