I spent the bulk of my time with the first import. Once you know what's going on, it's a much quicker process. What I learned so far:
1) make sure you read and follow the directions concerning importing the transdem map textures into trainz
2) exporting the dem and the raster map is done in one step
3) UTM tile objects do not conform to the landscape in trainz (by design). They either float above or below the land (can be seen in grid view). I do not use them, but your mileage may vary.
4) Do some internet searches on "colorado ogc wms" and you're likely to find some state-level web mapping services
5) you can add this link as a new server in your web mapping services dialog- has a ton of wms data:
http://dmap.nrlssc.navy.mil/ogcwms/servlet/WMSServlet?
you can see that list of servers via a standard webpage by visiting:
http://dmap.nrlssc.navy.mil/ogcwms/servlet/WMSServlet?REQUEST=
6) if you're modeling a current railroad, there is a very good chance that one of your state wms servers will have a railroads "layer" somewhere. Get your dem and overlay that railroad map, then use the route builder in transdem to lay out the line. Transdem lets you pick the track you want to use during export
7) Use the "get maps along route" to fill up your dem easily. I laid out a grid of straight lines to accomplish this. Make sure you often save "list of georeferenced maps." This allows you to open many raster maps at once, rather than one at a time
8) the PUCO servers I used were finicky and would often time out. If this happens while you're getting maps along a route, you'll notice that your other maps that were open have now been closed. Provided you've frequently saved your "list of georeferenced maps," you can open that list up while your new "maps along a route" are opened, then just resave your georeferenced list
9) I found that the seamless server (
http://seamless.usgs.gov/), while a great place to get geotiffs, offers a rather poor user experience. You can get 1/3" geotiffs by changing your preferences at the download dialog. The request summary page comes up and you click on "modify data request." A new dialog pops up, and you can place a tick in the 1/3" NED AND you'll need to change the file type to geotiff (arcmis or some such thing is the default). Geotiffs are directly readable by transdem.
10) if you're working with a large dem and lots of raster maps, give the program time to do it's work during export
11) I'm using trainz 2010, so I can get the output dems/rasters/routes easily through the "import content" command and selecting the folder where the exported maps are. I believe I can get all in one step- you may have to also import the "scenery" sub-folder as a separate step, but I really don't think so...
