In another thread here I said:
geophil wrote:
For the German "Zusi" simulator I created a tool named "
Absteckrechner" for track laying that produces accurate geometry, adhering to the standards of German Federal Railways (DB), presumably not much different to other railways' standards.
Disadvantage with the tool is that it has a cumbersome user interface, numerical only, requiring quite a bit of expertise. And documentation is available in German only. Therefore I guess it's impracticable. Theoretically, however, it would do the trick.
The
Absteckrechner/Zusi 2 environment is also the one I used for my tests when implementing 3D vector support in TransDEM.
Zusi 3 will come with a much more powerful
CAD tool, and will have integrated the aforementioned
Absteckrechner with a more user friendly (less numerical) interface:
However, it is still unclear whether the tool may be used externally. Furthermore, Zusi 3 is not yet available to the general public. Nevertheless, the Zusi 3 track laying CAD tool has already proven its capabilities for professional use as you may conclude from this advertisement:
Cab Simulator FH Aachen (University of Applied Sciences).