Laying long straight track accuratly

[hefy_jefy]

The introduction of the Google Maps overlay is a great help when creating original routes. But I have found that its almost impossible to lay a long length of straight track accurately. Trying to adjust the bearing over say a 3 mile stretch is almost impossible, especially as there seems to be limit to length of a single section of track.
Has anybody found a trick to do this? I am currently about 2 miles into a 3 mile straight and the line has drifted about 20m off, the only way to correct is to try and introduce a very subtle bend but even at the maximum radius its still noticeably not dead straight.
A method of entering start/end coordinates would be a good solution...\
Geoff

[Chacal]

Do a search on the forums here at RWA.
I remember there was a thread on this very topic.

[Toripony]

I made an 8 mile tunnel once on Cajon and got it on target....

Go back to your first segment of track... move in close and select it... hold down Shift and rotate that segment the tiniest amount possible (for me, using the F & G keys works best). Then either use the Join tool to rejoin all the rest of the segments or re-lay it all (either method is about equal in speed). In a few tries you should find yourself on target.

[hertsbob]

I hardly dare post anything in here any more, otherwise I would offer up some suggestions.

[dick8299]

There was a spread sheet that was published as freeware in the early days of Rail Simulator that allowed you to lay straight track accurately over large distances, it is called Taking Aim. I am attaching a copy of it to this post. Read the instructions and see if this is what you are looking for.

[imnew]

I hardly dare post anything in here any more, otherwise I would offer up some suggestions.

No one here bites hertsbob, at least not that hard

[hertsbob]

Thanks. Unfortunately for you I wasn't all that serious.

Isn't that spreadsheet for MSTS? Makes things look really complicated! It's just about lobbing track about and hoping some goes in the right direction.

I'll knock up a couple of screenshots which may help.

[hertsbob]

Righty ho. Long straights using easement curves the Bob way...

I've done a quick test which was just a short straight followed by a random curve. Then I flew away for a random distance (which turned out to be 10 miles ) and stuck a chimney down along with another stretch of track so I can find it again in the map view.

StartPlan.jpg

At this stage I know that my chimney is roughly in the direction of the blue line. I've stuck an arrow on the most valuable aspect of this excercise, which is the length of the curved track before the lead-out easement into the straight. All that matters is getting the length of this curved section correct.

StartGuess.jpg

This is where I ended up after my first try. The length of the curve ended up being 291.6m, as you can see.

Attempt1.jpg

I always try to have the original curve longer than it needs to be, because in the early stages of this process it's easier to chop bits off it than it is to add length to it. Oh, and doing this is the only time I use fly with track, or whatever it's called. Makes things a bit more painless when you're repeatedly laying countless lengths of straight track.

For the first couple of attempts I also use the Undo function to get back to near the starting point, although I treat this with a great deal of caution as RW will inevitably fall over using it too much. I had three dump files when I was doing this tutorial, so there's no real getting away from it. Take it nice and slow and let the sim catch up with you before undoing the next section and with luck you'll be OK, but the second you forget and get carried away it will crash.

For the next attempt I usually cut off about a buffer length, as per the screenshot. I would tell you the distance of this curve but RW died before I got the chance. Needless to say, I chopped too much off so ended up way left of where I wanted to be.

Buffer.jpg

[hertsbob]

So. 291.6m is too long and the straight ends up too far to the right, and chopping off a buffer length is too short and the straight ends up too far to the left. (The outcomes are reversed if you start with a left-hand curve, of course)...

Next. I delete the original curve and relay it to a precise length. I chose 289m just because I did. This is one of the beauties of using easements for curves, by the way. You can lay the same thing over and over again with absolute precision. So in this case I know that I can always lay a curve with a 874.3m radius without having to give it any thought at all; just follow the white guides. Happy days!

Now I'm getting somewhere. It's still a bit long, because I'm still off to the right a tad.

Length1.jpg

Next up. Delete everything (again) and try that curve slightly shorter. Still marginally too long...

Length2.jpg

I then did another curve at 288.6m but I thought it might still be a bit long. So then I did it again at 288.5m and possibly it's too far left, but in the grand scheme of things either would be OK because nobody actually cares. But maybe if this was a double track main line I'd go for 288.4m because I am an exceptionally sad individual.

Length3.jpg

End result:

EndPlan.jpg

The moral of the story is don't ask a question about track laying without expecting to be bored to death.

I hope this will be of help anyway.

[Toripony]

The moral of the story is don't ask a question about track laying without expecting to be bored to death.

LOL... laughs and a good technique! That's exactly how I connect the curves now in WV track. On occasion I've ended up with an unweldable "run out" (what I call the length of transition from curve to straight) that required starting over, but with the measurement numbers in your head it's much easier to do the second time (sometimes get it on one try).

[hefy_jefy]

Folks, thank you - I had already used the easement idea for shorter lengths but never though of it as a way to orient a really long length of track...
Does anyone know the "resolution" (for want of a better word) of the rotator ring on the gizmo when the SHIFT key is held down?
Geoff

[hertsbob]

I think what you're possibly seeing there, Tori, is where the track ribbon becomes longer than the maximum 500m. Sounds screwy, but it happens.

Geoff - depends how far you're zoomed in, although it will also depend on the particular asset you're using it on. So in summary it has the same resolution as the length of a piece of string.

[fecrails]

Great tutorial hertsbob! Thanks for taking the time to do such a detailed tutorial with screenshots!

[hertsbob]

A very real pleasure. I hope it's been of use.

If I can ever help with any other track related questions then I'd be delighted to assist.

[Expressman]

I'm pretty new to TS but I've been laying a lot of straight track lately on the Google maps overlay.

A simpler but maybe less perfect method I've been using is to start my first full loft which will certainly be a little off. I'll gently curve it into place at the far end. Then I'll do the same with the next loft, again using just a touch of curve if I need to. Usually the third loft is dead on. I can then put a split in this perfect third loft, delete everything before it, and build back from it. That way the perfect segment becomes my guide for the whole thing.