Midwest Terrain And Also Crossing Points

Hi,

What is the best way to create the rolling terrain of the midwest on a fictional route please?

I've never been to the US, never mind the Midwest, but I'm pretty sure its not completely flat.

And how far apart are crossing points usually?

Thanks

Marcus
 
He, he, that's pretty cool :cool:

Back to my original point. I've seen plenty of photos of trains passing over ridges etc. Are they exaggerated by telephoto lenses perhaps?

Also, by crossing point, I mean crossovers where trains with between tracks, not grade crossings.
 
He, he, that's pretty cool :cool:

Back to my original point. I've seen plenty of photos of trains passing over ridges etc. Are they exaggerated by telephoto lenses perhaps?

Also, by crossing point, I mean crossovers where trains with between tracks, not grade crossings.

The Midwest is not flat as a pancake as they say and has rolling hills. Areas such as northern Nebraska, up on the South Dakota border, for example, is in what is called the Sand Hills. These are huge rolling hills where the railroads snake in between below in the valleys or go across the top of them.

My recommendation is to take a look at Google Earth and pick an area such as North Platte Nebraska, Valentine, Nebraska, Mobridge, South Dakota, Bizmark, North Dakota, Rapid City, South Dakota, and take view from the various highways and back roads and you'll see what I mean.

There are going to be some areas that do flatten out as you head into southwestern Texas down past the panhandle on the New Mexico border, although, there are some steep hills and mountains there too, and there are some very flat areas like that in eastern Colorado on the Oklahoma and Kansas borders, but for the most part, areas roll along with some steeper than others.

Yes cities are quite spread apart and so are towns. The landscape is covered with what is called prairie grasslands and very large farms for wheat, corn, and cattle as well as soybeans. You'll find the railroads have lots of elevators located along various sidings along the way. In some places, the once longer mainlines are now spurs serving a grain elevator or ethanol plant.
 
OP could always invest in Transdem. That gives the option to import terrain data from just about anywhere in the world, that might be suitable. You don't even need to follow a real railroad. Heck you could even take a southern UK DEM and lay a railroad along the course of the M4 motorway from London to Bristol, which would give a route through plains then gentle rolling hills.
 
JCitron said:
My recommendation is to take a look at Google Earth and pick an area such as North Platte Nebraska, Valentine, Nebraska, Mobridge, South Dakota, Bizmark, North Dakota, Rapid City, South Dakota, and take view from the various highways and back roads and you'll see what I mean.
I'd like to suggest Open Topo Map instead. It may provide a better visual impression of hilliness than Google Earth / Streetview, albeit the view from above. (My preferred perspective. But I'm a map man, as many will know. Even on the SatNav in my car it's always the 2D view from above, and North up, of course :D.)
 
I'd like to suggest Open Topo Map instead. It may provide a better visual impression of hilliness than Google Earth / Streetview, albeit the view from above. (My preferred perspective. But I'm a map man, as many will know. Even on the SatNav in my car it's always the 2D view from above, and North up, of course :D.)

HA!

I use the Open Topo Map as well as the NSGS map server all the time, although, the street view is important in this case. I love maps as well. When I was a teenager, I spent a lot of money on paper 1:24000 topographic maps of my area. I would visit the local camping and hiking store and buy maps after I saved up some cash delivering newspapers, or cutting grass for various neighbors. My goal was to collect all the maps for my state. Today those maps are probably worth some money, and there's no need to purchase any maps. With the maps now online and readily available from the NSGS server, and other places such as open topo, I no longer need the paper ones and I can look anywhere I wish.
 
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