Should DEM from DLS or Checkrail be able to be used in T:ANE

I recently downloaded Cane creek 2010 from Checkrail.com and Boulder Creek from DLS to play around with and learn a bit about DEM. Cane Creek was Ok the first time I opened it and showed all of the detail, roads, tracks, rivers etc. Now all I get is a 1 board base map for Cane Creek and Boulder Creek is just a dazzling white blur with no detail at all, not even a base board. I am using T:ANE 80230 and was wondering what the problem might be. Am I doing something wrong perhaps? T:ANE has a very steep learning curve, but it's good for exercising the grey matter. Hoping someone on here may be able to help.
Cheers, Graeme.

If these are HOG-generated then there appears to be a problem with them. I just went through the same exercise myself with the Greater Boston route, which dates back to TRS2004 days. I ended up cranking up TS12 to have a look at it. As it turned out I couldn't use it anyway. The problem maybe due to the textures, but I'm not sure and I have to look at this in detail.

There are also some issues in general with HOG-generated routes due to the methods and data used to generate them. The most notable of the issues is the inaccuracy of the maps because they use TIGER maps. TIGER is part of a program from the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) and means Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. These are maps of roads, rails, and other infrastructure which is available as layers for various GIS programs so they can be manipulated for various purposes.

Anyway the problem is the maps are not totally accurate and end up being offset sometimes on the underlying DEM data. The end result is rivers in where the roads are supposed to be and railroad lines climbing up and over the side of a hill. You have to use a bit of Imagineering to get everything to come together the way you would think things will work. Now, there's nothing wrong with these maps if you want to fool around and have fun with them, but don't try to do any accurate work, or even merge them together with other DEM-generated maps because they don't line up. I found this out the hard way.

If you are really interested in created DEM routes, you may want to look at TransDEM. For about $35 (roughly) you can generate highly accurate maps and even place real topographic maps on them from nearly every area of the world.

http://www.rolandziegler.de/StreckeUndLandschaft/transdemTrainz_Engl.htm

There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of this, you'll never go back. The images and route below were generated using TransDEM. Both of these routes were generated from the same underlying DEM data. They are the Hoosac Tunnel East Portal yard by Steamboateng, and the connecting HT&W which I just started without any trees and just track in place. If at any time we decide to, we can actually connect these routes together seamlessly, which is something that is impossible with the HOG-generated maps.

Thanks very much for your reply. I am really just trying to get used to surveyor and wanted to see if there was anything easier than elevations from scratch. Transdem looks like it will be the answer, but I may wait for a bit and get it once I am a bit more proficient with surveyor.

grazlash said:

Thanks very much for your reply. I am really just trying to get used to surveyor and wanted to see if there was anything easier than elevations from scratch. Transdem looks like it will be the answer, but I may wait for a bit and get it once I am a bit more proficient with surveyor.

Click to expand...

Yup... The alternative to HOG and TransDEM for what you want to do is displacement maps since TransDEM is quite complex, but it is the bees' knees when you use it.

In Surveyor click on the Topology tool - the one where you sculpt land.

Click on Advanced and you will see a blank window and "none" below that.

Move the arrow, or click on the word none and the list will display, or change to the next on.

Pick one that you may want to use...

Select an area, or even multiple baseboards, which can be done by zooming way out in T:ANE. In previous versions this was a painful process...

Once selected click on the Fill button - it looks like a beaker with liquid dumped into it.

When done click the X.

If you don't like it, click the Undo (arrow) and try again.

If you want to adjust the height, turn the threshold dial and see what it does.

You can create your own displacement maps by cloning old ones and replacing the images with one of your own. All you do is name things the same in the clone so the program isn't confused. We can get there at another point. Anyway, with the displaced landscape, you can then add trees, buildings, track, etc., and by the time you're done no one will know...

These two views of my "big" route are 100% displacement map.

Thank you for that tip, I hadnt got as far as the advanced tools yet. I'm probably a bit old school in thinking "basic for beginners, advanced for experts", but can see that is not so much the case with surveyor. A slope which I spent an hour of frustration trying to build took literally 20 seconds and was a breeze. Using that method will be perfect for the route I am planning, which has much gently sloping terrain with a few small hills and valleys. (Gippsland region in Victoria, my local area). Transdem would be better in the long run, but this way I can learn surveyor tools with less frustration, before making a masterpiece with Transdem further down the track.
Thank you again for your assistance.
Graeme.