Measuring gradients

rwk

Active member
I tried Google Earth Pro to measure gradients between two points to determine which end is the higher gradient. This is for Chester, VT. On Google Earth it shows an elevation of 603 at the station but in Trainz 184.93 after I laid some track and used the smooth gradient tool. Why the difference in elevations? Is Trainz based on height from sea level but what about Google Earth? The crossing to the south less than a mile does show a lower elevation in Trainz and Google Earth but in Google Earth the elevation at the crossing to the south is 579, a 24 ft difference but in Trainz it's 184.93 at the station and 170.90 at the crossing to the south, a 14 ft difference. I'm using a HOG DEM in Trainz and the terrain is very uneven as it is not graded for a railroad.
 
You have two different measuring systems going on here.

603 feet = 183.79 meters, rounded up equals 184 meters.

Set your GE measurements to meters and it'll make your life easier. Trust me. :)

The HOG dem will always be highly inaccurate. First these are only 10 meters so there's also going to be a rounding error somewhere, and they are also based on the older SRTM data which is very bumpy because that is low res to start with. The TIGER map overlay is not always in the proper position, or even close in some cases, so that the roads, and a lot of times as always, the rails end up in the river bottom or riding up the side of a hill instead of on the grade where they're supposed to be. Since the resolution is pretty low, even if there is supposed to be an actual graded ROW, that too will be mushed into a blob so you'll ended up making things up anyway.

I recommend contacting Dr. Ziegler (Geophil) about your lost download and I'm sure he'll send you a link to a new copy. (Based on your other post about the DEM request).
 
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Is there a way to change Trainz height measurements to feet? You can for the ruler. If not, I’ll try changing the measurements in Google Earth to meters.
 
Is there a way to change Trainz height measurements to feet? You can for the ruler. If not, I’ll try changing the measurements in Google Earth to meters.

Unfortunately, no there is no way.

You change the setting in GE under the preferences.
 
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