Problems with a cutting.

[dangavel]

No this isn't related to gardening. In the last two prototypical DEM's I've been using, I've had the misfortune to encounter a section where a very small part of the route ( in both cases near the join between boards) has a problem with the terrain where it will not manipulate correctly and of course, the bloody track just happens to run right through it. The terrain is almost jelly like , it will move to some extent, but it cannot be finely manipulated, it buckles uncontrollably and cannot be gradually moved up and down. As a result I have an appalling looking cutting with gaps under the track and spots where the cutting sides are very irregular. Ive labored over this issue for about 30 hours in total and I just cannot get it to work, its on a grade as well just to make things more tricky and its just where a bridge has to cross the line. I have even tried deleting the boards in question and rebuilding, bu the issue persists.

the problematic section

ballast on the left will not move lower, the section in the middle has a hole, that has been patched by one of clam 52s ground spline planes but its not a solution i am happy with . if i raise the track there are gaps all along, there is no track with a built in fill underneath that i can find to use in this section. unfortunately the angle, width and grade combination of the cutting and ground mesh has given me the worst terrain situation I've ever encountered and there are soem issues along most of the length of the cut. .

I can't delete and then rebuild the boards as the problem persists so I need something like a cutting spline or a standard gauge fill section that I can use to bodge this section ( or quite possibly both ) , I've looked around and cannot find any recent cutting splines , the ones that exist are just a handful and are exceedingly old and also wont fit into this scenario. even reversing pencils -40degree cliff splines won't work as they are too irregular. I suspect i will have to ask around and see if anyone will have a go at making assets that will solve this , but before I do that I am open to suggestions as to fixes ......and yes i know lots of you have never encountered this but for some reason I've encountered it twice . it might be a trainz 2019 sp4 problem, but whatever the cause its a pain in the posterior.

 

[grazlash]

Hmm, the first thing that comes to mind is to check that 5 metre boards are being used in that spot. If it is, you could try changing to 10m then back to 5 m boards.
If you dont have any luck with that, beneath the track you could try <kuid:1030505:100021> j_embankment NSW GG_2_YS_Grass 1/1.5 0-5m 1t It is a bit wider on top than the other embankment splines.
Another alternative is to possibly alter the angle on one of your cliff splines, matching the cutting texture and required angle. I don't know if that one is doable as I have never made an asset, I'm just a lowly route builder who uses creative solutions to Trainz limitations.
Hope that helps a bit,
cheers, Graeme

 

[dangavel]

Hmm, the first thing that comes to mind is to check that 5 metre boards are being used in that spot. If it is, you could try changing to 10m then back to 5 m boards.
If you dont have any luck with that, beneath the track you could try <kuid:1030505:100021> j_embankment NSW GG_2_YS_Grass 1/1.5 0-5m 1t It is a bit wider on top than the other embankment splines.
Another alternative is to possibly alter the angle on one of your cliff splines, matching the cutting texture and required angle. I don't know if that one is doable as I have never made an asset, I'm just a lowly route builder who uses creative solutions to Trainz limitations.
Hope that helps a bit,
cheers, Graeme

Thanks for the suggestions but I've tried all of that, I always work in 5m in cuttings. Other than upgrading to 2022 gold so I could use HD terrain ( which would be no guarantee to fix it ) I cant see any way to get round the terrain glitch. The terrain tools in 2019 wont work as designed. it think it has to be DEM related. I will try the embankment you suggest and see if it helps as I dont have it installed . Cheers BTW tried the asset and it does work, but will need to see if the license allows changes in texture or not.

 

[grazlash]

I searched through all the enbankments I have installed and found <kuid:211147:37128> GV_j_embankment GG_2_GG 1/1.5 0-5m 1t which is the closest match for track and ballast texture. It also saves having to search config files for a non existant license.

 

[dangavel]

I searched through all the enbankments I have installed and found <kuid:211147:37128> GV_j_embankment GG_2_GG 1/1.5 0-5m 1t which is the closest match for track and ballast texture. It also saves having to search config files for a non existant license.

thanks, that was the only one I didn't actually have installed !

 

[stagecoach]

That looks like a texture problem with PBR and non PBR.

 

[dangavel]

That looks like a texture problem with PBR and non PBR.

Nah, it might look like it, but i think not, unless mixing pbr and non pbr textures cause cause holes in the terrain that are about 4 meters deep. Anyway, all these textures are PBR , and the section acted like this when there are no textures applied other then the Transdem textures, this is the size of the hole under the track, its almost like a dighole. it can swallow items, this is the gravel pile before its over the area with the manipulation problems.

this is the size of the same asset when placed over the problematic terrain. There is a giant hole under the track which refuses to cooperate with the texture tools. it behaves rather like the areas around digholes too.

Inserting a tree into the hole might give a better indication of its depth.
anyway, its now more acceptable, this section is having new ballast applied to fill up the holes that I cannot get to cooperate. Its very annoying that this has occurred on two separate routes, in Alpine tunnel it was where I added on new boards to the DEM, but in this case, it has occurred right in the middle of the route. I've not seen this happen anywhere else , including where I've mixed non pbr and pbr textures (so far I've never observed any adverse affects when i have done that. . Anyway, big thanks to grazlash for his help.

its impossible to raise the gap on the left hand side near the bridge also, I'm having to fill them up with gravel piles

 

[grazlash]

Nice creative solution Dan, gangers do sometimes leave ballast by the tracks and that embankment looks like it was made for the job, or near enough anyway.

 

[JCitron]

That does look good, Dan. Throw in some tall weeds around the ballast piles to finish them off. The area may not have a lot of grass but water will collect near the ballast piles and grass and weeds will grow there.

 

[dangavel]

Yes good suggestions guys, I can throw in quite a lot of vegetation, the route even had small bushes growing in some cuttings, traffic was low and they didn't spend that much time on keeping it pristine . Ironically just before they closed the line they completely updated the track, new ballast and ties, lunatic, there's planning for you ! By that time passenger service had ceased and there were just one or two trains a week.

 

[lewisner]

When I have a problem like this I normally lower the terrain under the track then use a Ballast Spline under the track.