Hi tomurban,
A bit more to add to the advice from the others, for what it's worth.
As far as I know
almost all invisible tracks should be viewable in Surveyor.
However, the spline point circles (of the ones I use) will disappear if the spline point height is lowered below surface water level. Its easy to think you have lost them, but they should be there. To see them, simply lower the water level.
Another thought. The circles on track splines will often disappear when you select another flyout tab in Surveyor - like when you go to rolling stock to find a loco, or ship, to place on your track for example. My version will restore or hide the circles if you Alt "O" (that's letter O, not zero). Might be different in TRS2009 - if so, I'm sure someone will advise.
I use this toggle function a lot. It works in all of the Surveyor function flyouts. (It will also hide/restore the overhead red/green rolling stock directional arrows).
You might find using different coloured versions of invisible track will have advantages if you are running more than one boat or helicopter (or the tent!). It's easier to keep track of what is going where.
The three I use are by Vulcan. They are thinner than track – more like coloured wire. They all have the circles. All on the DLS:
Track Blue Invisible in Driver - KUID:60238:37037:1
Track Green Invisible in Driver - KUID:60238:37038:1
Track Red Invisible in Driver - KUID:60238:37039:1
They don’t show up on the Map Display though, which is a shame. Map Display would be a useful way to locate them when they are submerged - (either because they have to be, or to find the ones which I've drowned!).
There is one track I have which
does not show up in either Surveyor or Driver which is:
Invisible track - KUID: 9000:38001
Now this one is really useful if you take screenshots in Surveyor and don’t want the lines to show.
It should come with a health warning though. It’s hard to find the correct spline points when you need to make tricky adjustments and have a lot close together. I’ve used it to place trackside objects between visible rails, and in some other tricks.
It can be hard to work out which ones are connected to where, and they will snap together easily (and unseen) if you don’t use the Shift key when needed.
However, this one, strangely, does show up in Map Display. That really does help to find where it has been placed, and to check for any misplaced in error.
Suggest you stick with the "Surveyor visible" versions for now.
Just one further tip. When you set your invisible track up for boats, bear in mind that everything will be at sea level. This makes life easier.
Lay one spline only say double the length of your boat. Use spline height adjustment to roughly get the level you need. Then lay a second spline near to the first - not connected. Make sure they are the same height and the circles have gone yellow (fixed height). Get height & Apply height tools are useful here.
Now you can make final height adjustments - dragging the vessel from one spline to the other while you fine tune the heights.
When you're happy that she's floating to her lines, you can extend the track.
Insert more spline points
between the two ends, which will automatically be set at the same height as the end ones. Then you can drag the track around by the spline points to where you want to sail.
Try not to extend out from the ends though. If you do, the track will sink and follow the underwater contours - just like surface track does.
Hope at least part of this rambling tome is useful.
Happy sailing!
Cheers
Casper
