place city names in their geographical position

[belgian46]

Hello everybody,

I started the building of two routes in trainz 2010.

First route is a tramroute going from De Panne to Knokke ( Belgian coast ), second route is a trainroute of West-Vlaanderen ( province in Belgium ).

I would like to add the cities in their geographical position to my routes - preferable all at once automatically, one by one if automatically is not possible.

I have done a search on the forum, but couldn't find any solutions. It's possible that I'm using the wrong keywords ( within search ).

Is their a solution for this thread?

Thank you

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[ray_whiley]

Hello Kurt

I'm sorry I can't answer your question but I'm really pleased to hear that you are going ahead with this project and I look forward to learning of your progress and perhaps see some screenshots.

Best wishes.

Ray

 

[belgian46]

Hello Ray,

Thank you for your reply. The routes are both in a premature state. I will try to make the routes as realistic as possible with the objects available in trainz2010 and within the DLS. As the tramroute follows a major part of the Belgian coastline, I'm would like to add some shipsscenery to this route.
Above sealevel I will also add some helicopters, especially Vulcan's beauties.

Finally, as the tramroute has a length of 65km and trainroute approx 70 km, I don't know what will be the final size of the routes, but I would like to keep the routes within uploadable limits.

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[ray_whiley]

Hello Kurt

As each Trainz board is 720 x 720 metres, a 70km length would equal 90 boards by my calculation!

You could scale the distance like I did (accidentally at first) on my West Norfolk Railway (unfinished) which would have been about 35 boards in length. This avoids having too much time 'driving' between areas of interest through the countryside - although this would probably not be so important on a seaside route.

Another suggestion, to get things moving, would be to start from the middle somewhere with a portal or temporary terminus at each end. This would enable you to test as you make progress.

Ray

 

[belgian46]

Hello Ray,

Thank you for your suggestions :Y:.

I have already the sea in front of the Belgian coast, but I still have to do the ships and heloscenery. Beaches between Oostende and Knokke are nearly ready. When the beaches between Oostende and De Panne are ready, then I will start making the dunes.
You could say that my hometown Oostende is the starting point, because Oostende lays approximately in the middle of the route.


I have also the tramtracks and roads available, but I must make some changes because trams are also running in the centre of the cities. This means tramtracks within roads, but I already found a solution for it.
My biggest challenge will probably be the making of the Atlantic wall ( now a historical museum ) in Raversijde and the making of own trams ( modern and perhaps older version ).

For this route I'm using Topograhical cards.

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[itareus]

...I would like to add the cities in their geographical position to my routes - preferable all at once automatically, one by one if automatically is not possible...

Hi Kurt,

I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to do, but if you want the cities to appear in Driver commands like "Drive To" or "Drive to Trackmark" in a sensible geographical order then there is no automatic way to do this.

I use a prefix letter for geograhical area on my routes and assign this to the names of trackmarks, platorms etc.

So the format of the objects name is:

Key Letter - Rest of name Local Destination e.g "Platform 1"

A - DP Platform 1 (For De Panne)
B - Mk Platform 1 (For Middelkerke)
B - Mk Platform 2 (For Middelkerke)
C - Os "what you like" (For Oostende)
D - KN "what you like" (For Knokke)

This will give you listings in a crude geograpical order and carful naming within the letter categories "A", "B" etc. will give you better still.

If this is not what you are trying to do then please ignore me !

Chris

 

[belgian46]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply . Your answer is a possible solution.

But, let me try to explain what I would like to achieve.

When you first start a route, you have the possibility in enviroment to change the world origin. So I changed the world origin for my tramroute to Oostende ( with the geographical positions ).

I was looking for a tool within trainz which would give me the option to jump to a geographical position.
From the moment I was in that position I could place a renameable placename object and put for example Oostende on the placenameboard, then move to another geographical position and put Bredene, etc etc.

I could even use renameable placename objects for the places where the tram stops.

Even better, would be a tool wherein you can put all geographical positions and placenames and when clicking on a button, all placenames ( geographical correct ) become available within your route.

I have all the placenames ( stop places ) available as a Google Earth kml file and I even have all Belgian trainstation positions in kml, gpx, gdb, shp but I cannot get the positions into my route, because the positions are points and not lines.

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[itareus]

Kurt,

In route building the only thing I can think of that might help with geographical positioniing is TransDEM Trainz Edition, if you do a Google search on this you will get lots of information. I can't help you further with this as I have never used it.

Built into surveyor there is the "Find Object" menu option, but it is very limited and you have the mini map but, as far as I'm aware, nothing that will help with georeferencing.

Chris

 

[belgian46]

Hello Chris,

I already use Transdem ( great tool , and already asked Geophil for his advice.

I will try your previous solution and will see where it takes me.

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[ray_whiley]

Hello Kurt

As a matter of interest to me, what gauge are your tram tracks? When I began a small Belgian tram route (which I have completely lost) I used metre gauge to suit my models of 1930s-1950s trams.

Ray

 

[belgian46]

Hello Kurt

As a matter of interest to me, what gauge are your tram tracks? When I began a small Belgian tram route (which I have completely lost) I used metre gauge to suit my models of 1930s-1950s trams.

Ray

Hello Ray,

This evening, I will send you some screenshots in a personal mail.

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[ray_whiley]

Hello Kurt

Many thanks - I look forward to receiving your screenshots.

Ray

 

[belgian46]

Hello,

As I only have the Trainz versions 2009 and 2010, which both have very limited manuals, I went for the search of the Trainz 2006 manual.

I found a manual in Dutch and English.

In the manual I found an option to have the geographical position of a point within your route

Here is the text in English

World Origin Management Tools

The World Origin is a marker that you place anywhere on your route to set the
latitude, longitude and altitude of the Origin Marker.
You can then place Trig Stations (found in the Objects Menu) anywhere on
your route to identify the exact lat/long and altitude of the Trig Station.

Zoom in close to a Trig Station and rotate to see the digital readout of lat and long.

Tip: Use the '?' icon to name the Trig Station using the format "xx
xxx.xxx N/S xxx xx.xxx W/E" and then use Ctrl F to bring up a list of all
named objects. Click on the lat/long you are looking for from the list
and you effectively have an unlimited number of bookmarks.
The placing of a World Origin marker adjusts the sun position (the higher the
latitude, the lower the sun position). We don't currently model seasons, so the
sun position is approximated for a typical 12-hour length daylight cycle.

Add/Move World Origin

To add a World Origin and then move it if you wish, Click LMB on
Add/Move World Origin (O) and then Click LMB anywhere on your
world to add the World Origin or Click LMB+H to move it around. Having
added the World Origin, the next two commands below will become available
to you as well

Find World Origin
To find the World Origin in your world, Click on Find World Origin (F)
and the view will be centered on the World Origin.

Edit World Origin
To edit the properties of the World Origin, Click LMB on Edit World
Origin (E) and you can set up the latitude (setting it north or south of the
equator), longitude (setting it East or West of the Greenwich Mean Time line),
and altitude.

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[mezzoprezzo]

The World Origin marker (aka the “Birdbath”) is a very powerful tool for route building when used in conjunction with Trig Stations.

I’ve set mine up under the entrance to a tunnel. Here I’ve raised it above the terrain so that you can see it position. I’ve also placed a couple of Trig Stations as an example to show how subtle the measurements are. Although they are very close together, you can see that the Lat/Long is different, correctly reflecting the position of the tracks on this prototypical part of one of my routes.

These tools were a great help in marking up some key landmarks from Google Earth coordinates.

The other great thing which can be achieved by placing the Birdbath in the right place is the correction for the lighting. My Mediterranean imagery was transformed once I had adjusted it for the proper latitude. By moving it further south, the sun position was placed more overhead and the scenery became much brighter. This resulted in a much more accurate rendering of colours and shading.

Cheers
Casper

 

[belgian46]

The World Origin marker (aka the “Birdbath”) is a very powerful tool for route building when used in conjunction with Trig Stations.


These tools were a great help in marking up some key landmarks from Google Earth coordinates.


Cheers
Casper

Hello Casper,

Thank you for your information.

Would you mind giving me a description how you used the Trig stations? Did you place the trig stations before, during or after routebuilding?



Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[itareus]

It never ceases to amaze me just how little about Trainz is documented and thus known only to a few who have discovered it by one means or another.

If only there was a decent User Manual or a complete Wiki... If only...In my dreams I think .

Thank you belgian46 and mezzoprezzo for the information.

Chris

 

[belgian46]

It never ceases to amaze me just how little about Trainz is documented and thus known only to a few who have discovered it by one means or another.

If only there was a decent User Manual or a complete Wiki... If only...In my dreams I think .

Thank you belgian46 and mezzoprezzo for the information.

Chris

Hello Chris,

The text I placed within this thread about World origin managment tools is the only information you will find in the Trainz 2006 manual ( page 118 to 121 ).

Luckily there are routebuilders like Casper ( Mezzoprezzo ) who can tell us more about some features .

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Hi again Guys.

You can set the Trig Station/s at any time after putting down the World Origin "Birdbath" and setting your required coordinates.

Once set you can leave the Birdbath as an ornament, hide it under a feature building or bury it in the ground.

I don't know if there is any limit to how many Trig Stations you can lay. I don't believe there is. They get deleted on my route once they have been used anyway.

I tend to use one at a time only. You can move it around and see the numbers change as you pull it across the landscape. It takes a bit of practice, but after a while it becomes fairly easy to shift it to your required position.

Cheers
Casper

 

[belgian46]

Hello Casper,

Thank for the extra information.

I have been busy locating the positions ( in Google Earth ) of the places the tram stops ( at least 68 stops on the complete track De Panne - Knokke.

The tram goes also through 15 cities/villages. So in total, if possible I will use at least 83 Trig Station.

As the track, using Transdem, is already in my route, I think it should be easy placing the Trig stations

Best regards

Kurt :wave:

 

[mezzoprezzo]

Trig Stations

I’ve just realised that I didn’t fully answer belgian46’s question on how to use them. Sorry!

Right. I’ve just opened my Route and Google Earth and taken a couple of screenshots.

I’ve circled five areas where I placed Trig Stations before building some key areas of Camogli in Northern Italy. It was important to get the position of the rail tunnel entrances at each end of the station. I got the coordinates from GE and moved the tripods until the correct Lat/Long showed up. That gave me two key positions onto which to place the track.

I also set three to correctly place the harbour wall. There is a lighthouse at the end, so that was an easy one. The elbow in the centre of the harbour wall was another. The last was the tower of the church which sits by the beach below the station.

The rest I did by eye from photos and GE.

Cheers
Casper