Help with laying Track.

[Jayco-man]

Ok, I'm having trouble and really fighting this and what I'm saying is once I get my height from google earth and set the spline points of the track and them smooth under the track, but it completely covers over the track again and if I move it up back on top then my setting is not right. What is the best way to have my track stay where I put it? Add info. I use google and say if it is a piece of straight than I get the two ends in meters and if the next is a curve, then I get end point of that in meters and so on and so on. hope that helps.

 

[pware]

What is the best way to have my track stay where I put it?

You do not mention which version of Trainz you are using.

Also are you doing this one track segment at a time? That may explain why "it (the terrain) completely covers over the track again" although I am not exactly certain what you mean. Laying out a sequence of joined track segments with their segment endpoint heights correctly set works best.

If you are using Surveyor 2.0 in Trainz Plus and TRS22PE then the technique that I use is explained in the link below. I usually use track splines but any spline assets can be used.

From the Trainz Wiki at Terrain_Forming_Tips use the steps listed in the second tip.

 

[Jayco-man]

You do not mention which version of Trainz you are using.

Also are you doing this one track segment at a time? That may explain why "it (the terrain) completely covers over the track again" although I am not exactly certain what you mean. Laying out a sequence of joined track segments with their segment endpoint heights correctly set works best.

If you are using Surveyor 2.0 in Trainz Plus and TRS22PE then the technique that I use is explained in the link below. I usually use track splines but any spline assets can be used.

From the Trainz Wiki at Terrain_Forming_Tips use the steps listed in the second tip.

Yeah, I'm bad, using Traniz 2022 2.0 build 132284. Thanks ill check the link and ill add some more info in my post.

 

[OddRails]

Are you using the Surveyor smoothing tool applied to a segment of track?

That tool smoothes too wide a corridor along the track. Which will cover or undercut a neighboring track. I often save the route before using that tool as the results are often disappointing. Then one can go back to the previous save of the route.

Years ago, a forum member suggested that using a narrower track, perhaps one of the colored wire invisible track assets, could restrain the smoothing tool's resulting width somewhat. I tried it a few times but didn't stick with it.

One can use the other terrain tools with the tool radius set near the minimum. It's tedious as one has to frequently adjust the height as you work along the track. It has limitations as well, even a 5 meter grid can produce sawtooth edges along the ROW if there's much height difference.

I don't know if any of the above is useful. Good luck.

 

[pware]

That tool smoothes too wide a corridor along the track. Which will cover or undercut a neighboring track.

To a point that is correct. The smoothing radius when using the Smooth Under Selected item in the tracks context menu has an effect radius that depends on the track radius setting which depends on the baseboard resolution - either 10m or 5m (for HD resolution it is also 5m). I use this technique for most track lengths.

For really tight track environments, such as in a narrow cutting, I use your alternative method with the terrain height brush tool set to a minimum radius and, where the track is on a gradient, I use small height increments as I move along the track. It is tedious and I would not use it for long stretches of track, but it does work.