TransDEM Forum

G'day jnpenley,

Jeremy, Global Mapper is an excellent alternative to TransDEM, I used it exclusively before 'discovering' TranzDEM), which will do everything that TranzDEM can do (and some things not otherwise specifically railway related) except export directly into Trainz, for you (to do that, you need to use HOG, as well). I can't seem to tell if the version I am using (v8.0) does have the required features to do that which you want but since this option isn't a major priority or requirement of my work (most of the railways with which I deal have the data you need publicly available), I've not really bothered to notice, so I'm quite happy using V8.0 (when and/or if the need arises). You should be able to export the polyline data to and from GM and TranzDEM with *.dxf format, without loss...

...I'm glad to see that the issue has been resolved...

...have fun...

Jerker {:)}

I would also like to give thanks for the information.

T8DaGr8,
I am glad this information has been useful to someone else. I have found that this method actually produces fairly decent track geometry. It is a bit time consuming, but no where near as time consuming as trying to fix the roller coaster track in surveyor after everything is exported to Trainz (at least for me, I'm not too proficient with surveyor yet).

Yes, I have found Global mapper to be all it's built up to be. With a solution, comes another problem. I have tried to export my route which was imported from transdem, then tried to convert and export back into Transdem but I now run into the error message "route lies outside of dem, and will be ignored. I have tried the formats I know Transdem can read, but I still run into the error. I originally imported the route from Transdem to make sure it's within the dem I'm working on but it's on conversion and reimport that my problems start. Any ideas on where to start? I've gone thru the manuals and google, and I'm currently stuck.

I haven't had any problems exported from one to the other myself, but I normally keep with my starting vector format and don't actually import the routes into TransDEM until I am sure that I am done editing them.

What format did you export your route from TransDEM? When you imported it into Global Mapper did it ask you any questions about the projection, file structure, etc... Did you have to define the format structure? If so you may have gotten something incorrect causing your route to located at inverted coordinates, swapped X and Y values, etc...

If you are working on the route in GM it is possible to move a feature (route) in Global Mapper when using the digitizer tool and when editing vertices positions. I load both the routes and the DEMs into Global Mapper while I'm working to help keep everything aligned properly. To check where your route as compared to the DEM, try loading both into Global Mapper and see how far your route is off. If it is close then you probably accidentally moved it. If you know where it should be within the DEM it may be easy enough to move it back into position (although you will lose accuracy this way). If it will not load then it is too far off for GM to load. In this case you can open the Vector file into any editor and inspect the format to ensure that it is formated correctly and that nothing is out of place or inverted. Compare positions to an earlier version of the route. You may be able to spot a problem and be able to fix it. I hope you figure it out.

I hope all that made sense!

Which format did you use for export/import?

Good morning all, and thank you for your responses. It seems when I try to export the route file as .dxf that it usually won't load. I have been able to export into .gpx format, but I do not get the prompts and 3d features. Yes, I import the DEM into Global Mapper as well. When I do import the route, it tells me projection data is not supplied, and the the list of ways to project come up. I have tried projecting as UTM, geograph, w/ lat/long, and as NAD83 (choosing Pennsylvania's region, as this is the DEM I'm working on). Yesterday, I was unable to export and get a route to open in ANY format aside from .shp in Transdem. Later yesterday, I was able to get a grid to show on screen, which I was then able to export in .gpx . I am still seeking the 3d track geometry. I have downloaded my vector data from PASDA with the entire PA rail map in .shp format, which I can open immediately in Transdem. I am trying to convert the 2d into 3d data via Global mapper. Thank you again for your responses, and I look forward to more suggestions.

Update: I am able to import the 3d data as a gpx extension. I didn't think that was a successful format because when I tried to export the data to Transdem, none of the 3d data boxes were able to be checked. I have since played around quite a bit with the data in Global Mapper, and was able to convert the data to 3d, which I was then able to import into Transdem, and Trainz with no problem at all. I thank you all for your help and patience.

.gpx has two sub-formats: Route and Track. Route is purely 2D, Track has an (optional) 3rd dimension for elevation.