Any ideas for placing railway tracks?

[h4ns3n]

Hi,

I am using Trainz12.

I just wondering does anyone know which rail tracks are good for crossing railway, turnouts, catenary, bridge and tunnels?
because every time I start placing the track, it cannot fit on either the bridge or tunnels.
I am also thinking to place catenary and turnouts but some tracks does not have those.
And also for the railway station, does it cause any problems from the selection of the rail track?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

h4n53n

 

[Vern]

Open the built in routes and see what assets the authors have used to good effect. The Russian and Hungarian routes will demonstrate how to place catenary.

For bridges, there are some US girder and trestle sections with track ready built in (look for CO type). May not quite match the track type you're using but better than trying to fit separate viaduct splines under curved track on a 3% gradient (I know, I've been there). For tunnels, do a search for MILW on the DLS, these are the tunnel sections from Avery-Drexel in TS2010. They can be straightened or curved, have built in walls but need to be overlaid with a suitable portal at either end and a dighole placed to pierce the terrain membrane.

Above all, you're not going to get a blow by blow tutorial - most route builders learnt their craft over the years, painfully, slowly and through many mistakes. Trial, error and the ability to self teach along with a huge dose of patience are the key here.

 

[SharkNose]

Trial, error and the ability to self teach along with a huge dose of patience are the key here.

++1!

So True!

 

[JCitron]

Also check the tips and tricks sticky located at the top of the page. This has all kinds of neat things in it for laying track, texturing, smoothing terrain, and lots of other goodies.

The best thing to learn is to open someone else's routes whether that's one that has been downloaded from the DLS, or a built-in one.

John

 

[martinvk]

As has been mentioned, nothing like trial and error to learn. Plus seeing how others have done the same thing you want to do.

Hi,

I am using Trainz12.

I just wondering does anyone know which rail tracks are good for crossing railway, turnouts, catenary, bridge and tunnels?

whatever looks good to you.

because every time I start placing the track, it cannot fit on either the bridge or tunnels.

You mean physically doesn't fit? Some track have a large ballast section, most of which is underground so that they only show when needed. They would be revealed on bridges. There are tracks without any ballast made for just such areas.

I am also thinking to place catenary and turnouts but some tracks does not have those.

These are separate splines and objects in TS12. The new TANE is scheduled to have procedural turnouts so that will be a moot point in the future. I have made a few tracks with built-in catenary but that only works well in long sections without any turnouts. As soon as you have complex track configurations, you are back to manually placing the catenary.

And also for the railway station, does it cause any problems from the selection of the rail track?

Many station or platform objects that have their own tracks also have the ability to automatically change their tracks to whatever track is attached to them.

 

[stagecoach]

Only single track will connect to bridges and tunnels and likewise for all stations etc that have more than a single track. Quad track to Quad track is fine but Double track to Quad track is not, you need to connect with single track. Turnouts are again only single track but can connect to/or from double or more tracks. Catenary can be place as spline objects like you would a fence or wall. Place spline points the same distance apart as the track spline points.

 

[cascaderailroad]

Use Quad tracks, and Double tracks, for straights only ... using them as a track spacing guide ... all curves should be single track ... and all multi-track splines should be eventually replaced with single tracks on your final route.

The "Hold Shift"/"Don't Hold" Shift, KB key, is the most invaluable tracklaying tool, as it stops tracks from clicking together like maganets' !

 

[JCitron]

You may also find this helpful for your track laying needs.

http://trains.0catch.com/tutorial.html

John