Switches on grades

[cnwfan]

Hello,

I am a newbie to route building, and have run into an issue that I haven't been able to figure out. How can I lay a switch on a grade so the main track and diverging track are at the same level? I've tried laying the diverging track into the main track (using the same ascending grade percentage as the main track. I've tried laying the diverging track from the main track, however I can't get the grade percentage field to accept a negative value (-1.1). To lay the switch on zero grade, I would either have to lower the terrain, causing a cut in the scenary (in the middle of a town), or increase the grade percentage up to the switch... causing a fill in the scenary.

As an FYI, the route I'm building is based on the Chicago Great Western right-of-way in Eastern Iowa. Using 3D Trains ScaleRail for the track, terrain derived from 1/3 dem data and ReDem, decals from RWDecals, and general tools from RWTools (all great products... and all worth the money).

Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Howard
Oakley, CA

[Bananarama]

The easiest way is to start from a point on the mainline toward the diverging line. So long as the grade for both are equal, you shouldn't run into any issues. An important factor when building a route is to keep notes on grades used and where. This will help a great deal if you need to go back a previous location to lay track, else you'll always be hunting for a gradient to match the mainline.

[Toripony]

I usually connect them the opposite way... from diverging line into the mainline. Having run the diverging track up within a few feet of connecting with the mainline, I use the Gradient Tool to reveal the yellow gradient marker pin on the end of my track. When I select that pin, the exact elevation is revealed at the bottom of the screen (very tiny font). Move the mouse over (no need to click) the mainline track right beside the end of your diverging track and the elevation of that spot of track will be revealed. Zoom in VERY close to the pin at the end of your diverging track and adjust it up/down to match the mainline elevation. Finish by drawing your track to create the junction.

This requires more steps but sometimes is the easier way to make a junction in certain situations. You should be able to enter a negative (-) grade percentage if you are using a US track rule. Btw, the most important thing about track laying is choosing/creating your track rule.

Tori

[cnwfan]

Thank you Marc and Tori for the replies. I took your suggestions, and was finally able to get switch installed last night. Thank you again!

Howard
Oakley, CA

[micaelcorleone]

An important factor when building a route is to keep notes on grades used and where. This will help a great deal if you need to go back a previous location to lay track, else you'll always be hunting for a gradient to match the mainline.

Why this?
You can easily hover your mouse over a track section in track editing mode and the grade will be shown in the bar at the bottom of your screen.

[Bananarama]

You can easily hover your mouse over a track section in track editing mode and the grade will be shown in the bar at the bottom of your screen.

You'll find that the value displayed can be off as much as 0.03 percentage points. It's a known issue that never been addressed. Not bad operationally, but it looks terrible with a huge gap through the frog.