Railworks America

So, was just sitting here contemplating if a loft item could be developed to space milemarkers out along a ribbon of track? While ideally it would be nice if such a loft could be made to have it start numbering up/down from a starting number, but perhaps they could just be individually selected and numbered like a normal milemarker is.

Does this sound doable at all?

Trevor

I'd have to say no as they are a mile apart. How can you allow for curves and such?

Besides which, break the ribbon and the MP starts from the beginning. FWIW, Railworks automatically breaks (weld triangle) any loft longer than 1000m (or thereabouts).

Someone told me there is a tool where you can mark down your first milepost and the tool will space the mileposts automatically every 1 mile along your laid track. Where is this tool? Should come in pretty handy in the near future!

Haven't seen that tool, but it would be great.

If no such tool exists, then how does one accurately place mileposts?

5292nate wrote:If no such tool exists, then how does one accurately place mileposts?

Same as when plotting series markers - you do so in Google Earth (using the path tool) based on your chosen track profile. For each mile, create a marker and then move to the next.

Even with the utmost care, it's easy to have mile post markers out by hundreds of metres once you've placed a dozen or two. Therefore I usually start in one place and place a few markers in one direction using Google Earth as an aid, then move 6-10 miles down the track and work towards the ones I've just placed. That way, you know you're not far off the mark.

Kilometre/Mile markers are useful when laying long sections straight track, as it greatly assists with getting accurate gradients. If your chart says for example that you're meant to have 400 metres of 1 in 69, you can work between the markers to be sure you've laid it correctly, rather than relying on the start and finishing point of each curve as a guide. These could be 6 miles apart.

I use the tape measure in the editor.

artimrj wrote:I use the tape measure in the editor.

Well there you go, thanks Bob! You learn something new everyday, will have to try that.

Trevor

I've been using the select track tool to lay out my mile markers. 1609.34 meters = 1 mile

I use the measuring path tool in Google Earth - starting from a known location and not stopping until done (setting a marker at each mile). That's about as accurate as anyone's gonna' get without taking a tape measure to the prototype.

My scenario is approx. 19 miles long, curves and all) and I use an engine to go from the beginning to the end of the line where I placed a destination marker.
At starting point the distance reads 19.3 miles and when driving forward I stop when the distance reads 18.3, go into world editor and place a milepost #1, repeating this every mile. It is a slow process, not precisely accurate. Speed is about 20 mph but when I did this, I could check on any mistakes I made with the scenery.

While on this subject : on imaginary scenery Google Earth can not be used. Correct?

Hack wrote:I use the measuring path tool in Google Earth - starting from a known location and not stopping until done (setting a marker at each mile). That's about as accurate as anyone's gonna' get without taking a tape measure to the prototype.

Yeah that bit me right in the butt. I started from the middle of the yard was milepost 203 (I eye balled it) well I was off about 320 meters After I found out something was wrong I went and looked at the track profile found a good reference location (a overpass) and then started to re-laying my posts. So far I'm up to 27 of 120.

By the way I'm splitting ties on my mile markers. That's pretty accurate too