Hello Ticketpile,
My understanding of your request is that you want to know how to either measure or lay out a curve 170 meters long of 300 meter radius. I know of no way to measure the length of curve directly in Tranz. You can do it indirectly, however. Try this. There is probably some trigonometric equation you can use, but the following will work with a basic calculator rathern than an expensive scientific calculator.
300m X 2 = 600m -- the diameter of a 300m circle
600m X 3.1416 (pi) = 1884.96 -- the circumference of a circle of track of 300m radius
1884.96 / 360deg. = 5.326m -- the length of track equalling one degree of curvature
170m / 5.326 = 32.467 -- the number of degrees of curvature in your curve
Using one of the protractors available on the DLS, measure an angle of 32.467 degrees (or as close to it as you can get) using two radii of 300m. Making a smooth curve, the result should be a 300m radius curve of 170m track length, or close enough for government work.
You can also use this method in reverse to find the length of a curved track of constant radius.
Bernie
