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PostPosted: 28 Aug 2016 13:16 
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Thought Id share a little of what Im using TransDEM for. The route I got it for has expanded a little thanks to it... the tool is easy enough to plan for that I think I can make a bit more than I planned to!

I started out intending just to create the yards at Kewdale, Perth. Then I thought, this is easy enough... perhaps expand it to include Forrestfield as well (the two are about as close as two different yards can be and still be called two different yards).

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The vector data for the vertical upper section (Forrestfield, the horizontal lower part is Kewdale) is not yet complete, but already I think that is a lot of track. Is there a tool that can tell me the total length described by the polylines? I am curious as to how long it is... certainly tens of kilometers.

Anyway, this too has been pretty easy going, so I thought... why not make it from being just a yard, to be a route to a destination as well? First problem is, most of the traffic through here is going to Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne... and I dont think Trainz can handle 6,000 km of track in a route. As cool as that would be! But then I thought, Fremantle Port is nearby, and is also a common destination for 'hook and pull' from here. So the scope has expanded further:

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Laying some very basic vector data over the OSM raster, and pulling map tiles, I can get orthoimagery for the route as a base too:

Image

Probably the hardest part of the prep stage is going to be getting the LiDAR DEMs and stitching them together for the route, I guess. Will be great to see the output for getting started in Surveyor!


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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2016 01:58 
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Joined: 30 Jan 2011 13:03
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G'day Blu3wolf,

I've just 'checked in' with "Elvis" (yep, the ouija board got a good "workout") and you're very lucky that all of the area you need to cover, there, is available in the 5 meter data set. As you intimate, the fun will be stitching the individual sections of this data together in TransDEM, especially if you don't have heaps of memory to play with in a 64 bit system, otherwise, you should be able to get it in "one fell swoop?...

Jerker {:)}


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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2016 06:09 
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Only 12 gig, so it could be better - but it could also be much worse. I did try to get it in one go, but the subsequent 880 MB file was too big for TransDEM to handle. So Im going to make a series of small requests, and stitch them with TransDEM's Fill In tool.

Still not sure what to do about the gauge woes. These days pretty much all of both yards is SG, but the mainline through Forrestfield is DG, and most of the suburban network is NG(42"). Id like to get to Midland as well, but that line is also DG. Most of the port connection is SG, so thats no worries. Little bit of DG where it crosses over the transperth line, which I can probably handwave away if I decide to only do the SG parts. Its a shame Trainz doesnt seem to handle dual gauge in a sensible fashion, as otherwise this would be a really interesting area to operate.

Did the vector data for the route to the port. Its mostly two way track though, so Ive got to do it again in the other direction... The port area, I will need to make up another big geotiff for, as the map tile provider (MSVE) is a little out of date, and doesnt show the new quay extension. Once I have that data down, the DEM will be the last part of the core route area to do in TransDEM.

Which brings up the question, how difficult is it to add to a partially started route in Trainz? Say I set up the DEM for the southern route, export it into Trainz and start messing around in Surveyor to tidy the terrain, fix grades and add scenery - how hard is it to then decide Id really like to add the northern route as well?


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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2016 06:49 
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So I added the LiDAR data for the southern route, from a series of 7 smaller DEMs from ELVIS. Looks to have come out alright:

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In particular Im pleased to see the resolution is high enough to show off the shape of for instance, overpasses:

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Its possible I was a little cautious with my selection of areas to download. I may have to get some complementary data to make the covered area a little wider:

Image

To round it off I do have a section of the DEM-S 1 arc second data that covers the route area, which TransDEM will load happily enough. So I can just fill in using that, to get the rough area for distant areas.


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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2016 08:04 
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Filled in the gaps with the DEM-S... not anywhere near as high resolution, but its not exactly on top of the rail tracks, so it shouldnt be a big dea:

Image


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PostPosted: 29 Aug 2016 15:02 
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A little more path data for the yard laid down:

Image

One of the hardest parts from my first attempt at this area, a few years back, was trying to lay track onto a hazy, low resolution texture applied to a flat, 1km sq tile. Google earth open on another monitor, trying to work out where to place the spline control points. Its still a bit iffy, but much easier to layout using the TransDEM's built in tools, and much faster - no restarting surveyor once Ive finished the tile, to change its texture in photoshop with something cobbled together by GE and PS.

Of course, another thing that has changed is the satellite imagery, as the yard itself has been upgraded during the intervening years. Its actually a little simpler now I guess, but looking at diagrams from the seventies I think I liked the old layout better.


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PostPosted: 30 Aug 2016 05:07 
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Ive noticed that Kwinana is not really so far south of the Cockburn Triangle, which is the southernmost part of the rail route shown above. Scope creep strikes again!

Image

This will make a much wider variety of trains possible to run, as Kwinana has a bit more industrial an industrial area, than does Kewdale. Also means a greater variety of places to operate, and thus, more feasible sessions to create. And also makes it that much more work to finish the route.


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PostPosted: 30 Aug 2016 09:10 
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Joined: 05 Jan 2011 16:45
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Blu3wolf wrote:
Which brings up the question, how difficult is it to add to a partially started route in Trainz? Say I set up the DEM for the southern route, export it into Trainz and start messing around in Surveyor to tidy the terrain, fix grades and add scenery - how hard is it to then decide Id really like to add the northern route as well?


As long as both routes were originally created by TransDEM and used proper DEM and raster data it shouldn't be much of a problem:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=426
Most important: Both route modules must reside in the same (longitudinal) UTM zone, in your case zone 50. If, for some reasons, the next module would end up in zone 51, TransDEM has features to bring it back to zone 50.


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PostPosted: 30 Aug 2016 13:50 
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So far its all Zone 50 - some of it 50H, some of it 50J. I guess thats not an issue.

Its interesting to see how the yards have changed in the last few years - Google earth lists historic imagery for the sites for the last few years. A few changes stood out, on account of significant features in my first prototype having since been completely demolished - such as the storage tracks and wagon repair facilities in the south of Kewdale. Cant find any screenshots of what it looked like when I started laying track for that in Surveyor, which is a shame. Lost all the files of my original attempt in TS12, but I recall those storage tracks distinctly. A little disappointed to discover they have been entirely removed from the yard nowadays.


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PostPosted: 30 Aug 2016 15:49 
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SCT yard vector data is nearly done:

Image

Coming together slowly but surely. I guess the next stage I should be working on is the terminal at Fremantle North Quay. I still need to tidy up the track south of Cockburn Triangle, as the section down to Kwinana is very rough - just detailed enough to get high detail map tiles. First part to sort out is going to be the Kewdale to Fremantle part though.

If I want to export a non rectangular route to Trainz, but I want to select specific areas to do so, is there a way to select multiple areas, using add/subtract from the rectangular mask tool? Or do I have to export multiple adjacent areas, and merge them in Surveyor? Id like in particular to have only a few baseboards near the track, but I also want the hills a few kilometers inland of the yard featured so prominently a few posts above.


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