Making curves when laying track

[Iantha_Branch]

I'm building a custom route. It's the first route I'm making and I can't seem to be able to lay a smooth curve, I have to lay little sections to get a curve that wont derail a train. How do I lay a smooth curve?

 

[JohnnyC1]

Use the fixed track as templates, and lay your tracks over the fixed track, when satisfied, delete the fixed track template.

John

 

[sparky15]

Use the fixed track as templates, and lay your tracks over the fixed track, when satisfied, delete the fixed track template.

John

Beadyboy (I think that is how you spell it) has a whole set of templates on the DLS for laying curves. I use his 90 degree 100-400 template the most.

Dave......

 

[bigricho]

Also try radius objects similar to 'r100 r300' <kuid:69518:39002> by james73.

 

[bigricho]

And for straight lines, I often use things like magandy's '1 mile stick'. <kuid:68236:102>

 

[dricketts]

And for straight lines, I often use things like magandy's '1 mile stick'. <kuid:68236:102>

Why not use the straight straighten tool in surveyor?

 

[Narc]

The easiest way I've found to make beautifully smooth curves is to bracket (or anchor, if you prefer) them between straight tracks (the straighten track tool will do it to splines or else you can use fixed track for the same purpose). The important thing to keep in mind if you intend to use straightened spline track is to always keep at least one unstraightened track between two straight sections, otherwise you'll confuse the poor game instead of getting your desired result.

Another important point to keep in mind is not to try to make it look perfect. As long as it looks reasonable, it'll do, and trying to make perfectly parallel tracks or whatnot will usually just drive you crazy -- splines just don't work that way (and honestly, neither does real life). There are, of course, tricks to making things look better with less effort, but you'll learn them best by reading around a lot and by trial and error. Every tool has a purpose, so poke at them and learn what the purpose is.

 

[cascaderailroad]

If you are using flat baseboards, using the Trainz ruler from a cental radius point will give you almost a perfect circle (360 degrees) if you measure out 8 to 16 spokes of rulers ... and slide spline points at each ruler end.

I have ALMOST figured laying track out ... after 3 years ... I could teach it all in side of a week.

I will try to post some video links on tracklaying that are on YouTube.

 

[bwfeldsee]

The easiest way I've found to make beautifully smooth curves is to bracket (or anchor, if you prefer) them between straight tracks (the straighten track tool will do it to splines or else you can use fixed track for the same purpose). The important thing to keep in mind if you intend to use straightened spline track is to always keep at least one unstraightened track between two straight sections, otherwise you'll confuse the poor game instead of getting your desired result.

Another important point to keep in mind is not to try to make it look perfect. As long as it looks reasonable, it'll do, and trying to make perfectly parallel tracks or whatnot will usually just drive you crazy -- splines just don't work that way (and honestly, neither does real life). There are, of course, tricks to making things look better with less effort, but you'll learn them best by reading around a lot and by trial and error. Every tool has a purpose, so poke at them and learn what the purpose is.

There's a lot to be said for "if it looks good, it's OK" but it also has to feel right when you are driving the train. I'm a relative newcomer too so have a lot of sympathy with Iantha_Branch's original question. What you should try to avoid is going from dead straight to sharp curve all in one go - you'll soon know if you have done this when driving the route - your train comes down the straight all nice and steady and then suddenly lurches into the bend. If you are lucky, it stays on the track and all you suffer are a few bruises!!! If not - whoops!

Professional railway engineers use transition curves. The track gradually goes into the bend, tha radius tightening as it does so, then gradually comes out again. So the sharpest radius is in the middle of the curve.

This is tricky in Trainz but can be achieved with practice - well sometimes!!!

Good luck

Alan

 

[bl4882]

The most useful curve templates I have found are from Mr.Den and can be found on the DLS. Search for "Mr.Den" with all of the boxes checked. There are about 120 of them running from 1 degree down to 100 meters radius. Anything sharper can be done with a ruler such as can be found from Vulcan. Curves of less than 1 degree can be approximated by using one of the protractors available on the DLS and the formula that indicates the amount of curvature in 100 feet gives the degree of curvature. E.g., a 20 minute - 1/3 of a degree of curve, will deflect 20 minutes for each 100 feet of travel.

Once you have laid out the circular curve, you can give a reasonable approximation to the easement by measuring 20 to 120 feet, 6.1 to 36.6 or so meters, broader the curve the larger the easement, 40 feet measures best I have found for most, and extending the entry to and exit from the curve.

Here are a couple of examples

http://s340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/?action=view&current=bl4882_20111227_0002.jpg

And this giving an example of an Ess Curve

http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o323/bl4882/bl4882_20111227_0000.jpg

Hope this helps.

Bernie

 

[bigricho]

Why not use the straight straighten tool in surveyor?

With a stick or some other kind of ruler, you can get a very straight line out of multiple segments of track. Good for when you have a straight length of track with a bridge in the middle of it.