Laying gradient tips....

There are several ways to do this.
If you know the grade(+1.10), enter that into the gradient box & click use gradient(K).
Position the track where you are looking forward down the line. Place the cursor just
ahead of the first spline point on the grade & left click...you will see the height of the next spline point change...if you hit just before that next spline point, the track behind you will rise, so hit just past the spline point.
On turnouts, the same is true, elevate the main line, then the turnout by moving right or left as needed.
I always place a spline point 10m before the turnout, to align the turnout track close to the main, for smoother ops. When you do this, any further edit of that junction becomes tedious & you may have to remove it temporarily.
If the needed grade is a uniform steady rise retaining the percentage for a distance & fairly straight, you can place a track beside the turnout spline point, then lay that track to the end of that particular rise. Go back to the starting point & use the apply gradient tool as mentioned.
The track will provide a uniform rise to the top of the grade...place spline points directly where your mainline track has them, even with the temp-track on the temp-track(equal distance from the beginning). You now have a template for setting the grades on the mainline, using the get height/apply height tool. This works right through turnouts,etc.
You may need to get very close-in to the track at almost level to see any annomallies that need to be fixed. Wireframe mode(F9) also helps with "line-sighting."
Using a long string of uniform height cars also can point out any "problems."
When finished, delete the template track section by section, the use the smooth tool.
Here are some very needed shortcuts to speed your work in Tracks Mode(F4). With as much work as is needed in Surveyor, you need both hands in action! :
- Spine mode....................T
- Object mode...................Y
- Trackmark mode..............V
- Add track.......................A
- Move track.....................M
- Rotate object/trackmark...R
- Get track.......................G
- Delete track...................S
- Straighten track..............B
- Toggle junction direction...J (in Tracks/Objects mode)
- Define name...................N
- Split spline.....................Q
- Spline height..................H
- Remove spline point.........X
- Insert spline point............I
- Get spline gradient...........J
- Apply spline gradient........K
There should be a TRS2006 Manual in you Auran\TRS2006\Docs\manuals_cd\manuals Folder, or TS2009\Extras\Documentation Folder for more shortcuts in Surveyor.
Happy Trainzing! :wave: