Aussie DEM's Question..

[seeseeme]

Could somebody answer this question at all, thanks.
just want to know if they are available,
and how do i obtain them?

Cheers,
Torana.

Hi Torana, I have not seen any DEM files for the area you mention. In fact I have not seen many for any of Australia. I know a few people have created there own and then uploaded them to the DLS but these have been for NSW.

Craig

 

[TORANA]

Thanks Seeseeme,

I guess it was another pipe dream of mine.

oh well, would have been nice.

If anybody makes these
please let me know.

Cheers,
Torana.

 

[Jerker]

G'day Torana,

Your ideas are no pipe dream! I am quite capable of creating the route you wish and making it available to you. You may have noticed that my 'avatar notice' reads "Australian DEM creator" - it does this for a very good reason. The only 'obstacle' to any project associated with Queensland's railways is the shear distances involved as espoused above with the route being sought by alco-power. I have not looked at the scope of your request yet (having only just 'found' your addition to this thread. Give me a chance to do that and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Craig and Noel,

I can do anything that geophil describes above using TranDEM (now that I am the proud owner of a full working copy, myself), although it may take me some time to do so, as I still have the 'learning curve' to transcend).

Jerker {}

 

[nbrettoner]

Hi Jerker,

Thank you for your contagious optimism!
I believe you can too.

Craig & I have heaps yet to do, so while your learning
the 'advanced ins & outs' etc, we can busy ourselves with all sorts.

It will be great to finally have the DEM data sorted, & be able to
get into the 'meaty-bits' of the route itself.
However it's important for the route to be right.
So I don't mind waiting a bit longer.

Thanks Jerker, & Geophil, for making all this possible.

 

[TORANA]

G'day Jerker,

Thanks, that's great news

I mainly would like The Burdekin Sugarcane railways.
This is alot of rail, 4 Sugarcane mills, Ayr, Home hill, Brandon & Giru
all the way up river to Millaroo & Dalbeg,
from south of Home Hill to north of Giru.

I think Bowen to Townsville would be to much.
it would have to to be in at least 3 or 4 stages
I'm all ready making the route not to scale & still a long way off.
Up to you mate.

Cheers,
Torana.

 

[seeseeme]

G'day alco_power,

If you wish to cover the entire distance between Murwillumbah and Newcastle, then doing it in sections is the best way to do so. I have successfully recreated the distance between Brisbane and Toowoomba, this way. It has to be kept in mind that limitations still apply (the Toowoomba route came in six parts) and that TransDEM has a limit of 32 MBytes for any files that must be georeferenced, over and above this.

As geophil (the creator of TransDEM suggests, read through the freely available TransDEM manual (and look at the tutorial on how to create a route for an English layout) and it should all come together. Between the two of us (geophil and myself), we should be able to steer you in the right direction..

Jerker {}

Hi Jerker and geophil, I am almost finished colouring in the required files or removing the unwanted colours that are not needed.

I am curious about the mention of the file size. I have 2 files for you Jerker and in there Paint Shop Pro formate they are well over the 32MB size you mention. Will this then be a problem and should I try to break it down. This may only be due to the format I have saved them in as well, I do not know what format is required by TransDEM.

Craig

 

[geophil]

For DEMs TransDEM doesn't need any manual data preparation. Simply download the SRTM zips from the NASA ftp site and open them in TransDEM. You can directly create Trainz terrain from that - just a few mouse clicks -, if you don't want to overlay any topographical maps.

For the Darjeeling project, a few months ago I have posted some links to older US military maps of India (1:250000, IIRC). These can be used as a ground texture for some very basic orientation.

For details of the Darjeeling area Google Earth seems to provide adequate information indeed. As said above, Google Earth screenshots, accompanied by the appropriate Google Earth placemark, can be processed by TransDEM semi-automatically. TransDEM then can create and place UTM tiles (aka Base Maps) into your Trainz map, right on the spot, with 5 - 10 metres accuracy in the ideal case.

The 32 MPixel limit in TransDEM applies to an individual raster image (topo map or orthophoto) and has to do with TransDEM internal image processing. Google Earth screenshots are the 1 - 2 MPixel region.

For alco_power's project in NSW, TransDEM can download topo map clippings 1:50000 from the NSW WMS server (WMS = Web Mapping Service). There is a detailed tutorial for this server in the TransDEM manual.

geophil

 

[nbrettoner]

Hi Geophil & Jerker,

My apologies alco_power for perhaps being a bit off-topic on your thread.

Geophil thanks for the info & reassurance that TransDEM will do all that we ask of it.
I've used GE extensively on my section of the DHR Project, applying GE screen-grabs to 1km basemaps.
These basemaps have proven to be invaluable to me, & I look forward to using ones created with the help of TransDEM; for our Narrandera_Tocumwal Project.

 

[geophil]

These basemaps have proven to be invaluable to me, & I look forward to using ones created with the help of TransDEM; for our Narrandera_Tocumwal Project.

For a project in New South Wales you presumably don't need Google Earth-based UTM tiles (Base Maps) that much. WMS is much quicker. You connect to the NSW WMS server, set up the parameters (all explained in a tutorial), then start downloading map clippings. Once you have sketched the course of the route on an overview map, downloading (and georeferencing) the detailed map-clippings along this route is an automated process. Sit back, have a coffee or a beer and relax.

geophil

 

[nbrettoner]

For a project in New South Wales you presumably don't need Google Earth-based UTM tiles (Base Maps) that much. WMS is much quicker. You connect to the NSW WMS server, set up the parameters (all explained in a tutorial), then start downloading map clippings. Once you have sketched the course of the route on an overview map, downloading (and georeferencing) the detailed map-clippings along this route is an automated process. Sit back, have a coffee or a beer and relax.

geophil

Hi Geophil,

The WMS data gives the same/better satellite imaging as GE then?.

This all sounds better the more I learn of it!.

 

[geophil]

WMS for NSW is based on a vector map data base. Topographic details are dependent on scale. Setting the scale to 1:50000 reveals most details.

If Google Earth covers your project region with 50cm per pixel images you will be better off with GE (scale would be something like 1:5000). But it's a lot of work for a route length of more than a 100 mi. If GE only offers low-res coverage of the area, the 1:50000 topogr. map will be the superior source anyway.

Hence, I would start with WMS, analyse the result and decide later, if and which areas need more detail. Not incorporating WMS would seem like ignoring an easy accessible and valuable data resource.

The "Zig-Zag" at Lithgow (not all layers activated), as seen through the eyes of WMS, painted on top of SRTM DEM, 1000m UTM grid lines

geophil

 

[nbrettoner]

Thanks GeoPhil,

We'll follow your valued & generous advice, & as Jerker to do it this way.