TransDEM Forum

Hello all,

I have had Transdem (Trainz edition) sitting on my computer now for ages but I've never managed to get the hang of using it - I managed the supplied tutorial but only because all the necessary files were to hand.

I want to create a DEM of the line between Hereford and Birmingham: with accurate terrain and also satellite imagery/OS maps so I can build the track and scenery accurately. Would anyone be able to assist me in finding the sources for the correct files and also help in the process of making the DEM?

I downloaded some files off the OS Open Space ages ago in the hope I could work it out, but I just get confused all the time when no valid files can be opened etc. I have the Landform panorama (panorama_gb) and also OS VectorMap District (Vector) SO and SP grids. If it helps I have version 2.1.2 though I can update it to 2.1.3.1

Here is a rough map of the line I intend to do:


Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Dan

The task is not as daunting as you think.

Very simply, without going into lots of detail here:

1) Connect to the server where your DEM files are located and download those.
2) Go to the web mapping server and download a base image.
3) Download tile images based on the area covered by the web server image

The images will be placed on top of the DEM.

4) Trace the route
5) Trim out the area
6) Go through the Trainz export functions, choosing the options you need.
7) Open up Content Manager and import into Trainz.

John

Oh, that's parallel to the Birmingham and Worcester Canal for quite a long stretch. Been there.

The only obstacle with LandForm Panorama and its successor OS Terrain 50 and also VectorMap District is the coordinate system and the O/S grid squares. Fortunately, TransDEM can display the O/S grid square in the status line.

Start with an overview map, like Open Street Map (Transport) . Get it with the TransDEM map tile client. Then move the cursor around and note the grid square codes.

Open each of the LandForm Panorama or OS Terrain 50 DEM grid square DEM files individually, and save in default .dem format. Finally, merge them together, using the TransDEM "Add DEM" function.

G'day class172 & jcitron,

...unfortunately, John, it isn't quite that simple for someone on the "other side of the pond" from where you are. Firstly, the source of the 'best' DEM for England is still the 1 arcsec (30 meter) resolution data available from the former GDEM website (which is still free), available, now, from the LPDAAC (although you do HAVE to register to download any of it). If you want 'better' resolution than that, you pay big 'bickies' for it (and I mean BIG 'bickies')...

...secondly, there is NO WMS source for any of the Topographical data for the UK. There is, however an excellent Tile Map Server (already installed in TransDEM) for the "Historic UK" maps (which, are, effectively, the old, original paper OS maps that were published prior to them going 'digital/vector ' based). To access these in TransDEM, Dan, you must first open the Raster Maps Menu, then select "Map Tile Servers" and from the options in the dialogue box, click on the Drop Down List in the "Map Source" Panel, under the heading "Provider", choose MS Virtual Maps (the first option) and then select "Map" from the Drop Down List in the File Type Text Box. Using the slider below that, now set the "Zoom" level to about 5 and find the point where you want your route to start (Birmingham or Hereford). You can then, when the low scale map appears in the window, use the cursor to zoom in on the map to a point where the "Zoom" level reaches 15, noting that as you click on the map, that point is centred in the window. When you have reached the desired zoom level, the scale of the map should be very close to the required 1:25,000 scale that is best suited to our purposes. At this point, you can now change the setting in the Provider Text Box to utilise the "Historic UK" maps, at the same time, making sure to select the "Other 1" option in the File Type Text Box. If all is well, you should have a 'copy' of the selected area in glorious OS data showing in the window. You can then set the map size (if it isn't already set) to 2048, which is my usual setting (but you can experiment with this to determine the largest map you can obtain from the server - the larger any individual tile, the fewer will be needed to cover the desired area) and then, you must click on the large right hand facing arrow button (below the slider) to the right of the main window, which will place the co-ordinates of the centre of the map into the co-ordinate Text Box, without which, the "Get Map" button remains greyed out. Once you have the "Get Map" button available, Dan, you can click on it and TransDEM will download the map you see in the window (with, possibly, some extra around the outside depending upon the File Size setting), automatically offering to save the file (for which I accept the "tile-map" 'suggested' name) and georeferencing it before displaying it in the main window of TransDEM. You may need to move the Dialogue Box 'out of the way to see the results of this in the main TransDEM window. Having obtained this first 'map', the rest are relatively easy. All you need to do is zoom in (press the [F2] key) into the main window, with the cursor located over the point near the edge of the map where you would like the centre of the next map to be (which provides some overlap) - for this, I usually locate the centre dot on the rail line I am "following" - and then when you are happy with the location of the dot, return the Tile Map Server Dialogue Box to a more convenient location (if you have moved it off the screen) and click on the Left Hand Arrow (below the one you previously clicked to the right of the window) and that will transfer the co-ordinates of the centre dot from the TransDEM main window to the Tile Map Server and the Server should automatically update the display. Once this is done, just click on the "Get Map" button again and repeat this process (accepting the automatic accumulation of the number of the saved file) following the railway line of your choice, until you get to the other end of the route...

...once you have done this a couple of times, the process will become almost second nature and the whole 'route' will be downloaded in no time, at all...

...or you could do it as geophil has suggested (having 'beaten me' "to the gun", whilst I was writing out the process)...

...if you run into any problems, we are here to help, ALL you have to do is yell...

Jerker {:)}

Garry, comparing (orbital) ASTER GDEM and (terrestrial) O/S Landform Panorama or Terrain 50, my points will always go to the O/S products, even if at nominally lower resolution.

G'day geophil,

...in this case, Roland, my reference to 'best' was, indeed, to the "resolution" ONLY and since I have never used the OS Landform Panorama or Terrain 50 'products', I shall have to take your word on their quality (I had basically ignored them based on the resolution). Perhaps it is time I sought them out (I am well aware of the 'shortcomings' in the "quality" of the orbital GDEM data)...

Jerker {:)}

Thank you all for your quick responses; I've been a bit distracted the past day or so with the model railway I'm building!

I have managed to open the .asc files in Tranzdem but I have no idea which ones I need (all I can work out is so00.asc is of the Welsh Valleys!). I hear you mention this is done by loading an overview map, but I don't seem to have any providers in the map server screen.

Import the Map Tile Settings.xml file. You can download it from my web page (Sample settings).

I'm not sure about your version of TransDEM, but the more recent editions have a step-by-step map tile tutorial in the TransDEM main manual. Once you have the overview map, identify the O/S grid squares needed with the help of the TransDEM status line (after switching the coordinate system to OSGB36).

I've now managed to import those settings, thanks.

I've switched the coordinate system to OSGB36, but I still get lat-long in the map screen, or am I looking at the wrong thing.

EDIT: I might be onto something, I managed to get a map with a DEM section on top of it.

So, you probably figured it out by now: You were looking at the preview map in the Map Tile client. Clicking "Get Map" will download the map and show it in the TransDEM main window.