Creating own topography map with GPS?

[olavsu1]

Hello there,

I wonder, whether to buy Trainz 12 or not.

Can I add markers and modify map relief in Trainz Surveyor with using an GPS measured data from Garmin Montana 650?

I wonder, it will be better whit a smartphone or a TabletPC, what have the gps. Can measure topo and add rails, textures too...

 

[Ricke82]

By itself, Trainz won’t do what you describe. There are two third-party utilities that will allow you to generate terrain and assist in the placement of track, roads, etc. This data can then be imported into Trainz as the starting point for building a route.

One utility is HOG (you can find a discussion of its capabilities and links to the software you need here http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry....rrainGeneration/Computer-generatedTerrain.htm). HOG is free and has no provision for GPS data.

The other program is TransDEM (http://www.rolandziegler.de/StreckeUndLandschaft/startseiteEngl.htm). The cost for it is EUR 22.90 and it will make use of GPS data. I’ve never used that feature so I don’t know if it will do what you want or not. Take a look at the GPS tab at the link above for a discussion of those capabilities and requirements.

 

[geophil]

Hello there,

I wonder, whether to buy Trainz 12 or not.

Can I add markers and modify map relief in Trainz Surveyor with using an GPS measured data from Garmin Montana 650?

I wonder, it will be better whit a smartphone or a TabletPC, what have the gps. Can measure topo and add rails, textures too...

Oh, TransDEM certainly supports the Montana 650 and its GPX files, and also as a live feed, connected to your laptop running TransDEM, via USB. The Montana is my test device . Theoretically, you can convert your 3D GPX tracklog directly into Trainz track splines. You still need the terrain and probably some raster maps for a ground texture, but with the help of TransDEM those are easily acquired and processed.

 

[olavsu1]

I was trying these freely available utilities. The result is like the moon or the mars not the Earth.

Do Transdem are in another place available? Transdem website does not want to deal with me.