External CAD tool help

[T8DaGr8]

Good morning all. I have been looking into CAD tools, and wanted to know if anyone could share which tool you are using, if any. I have downloaded Grassdata, and also Bryce 7.1. I have also downloaded 3dem. Are any of these what I need? My goal is to give a better representation of track geometry, as explained in the Transdem manual. I have been trying to design my tri state area (Philadelphia, Jersey, and Delaware) railroad network and I have all of the UTM tiles needed, but before I start my track work, I wanted to do it as best as I can. Thank you in advance, and thank you all for your previous help.

[geophil]

In another thread here I said:

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).

[T8DaGr8]

Thank you for your response. The question I have now is, will I need to purchase a license for Zusi to obtain Absteckrechner, or is it freeware? I tried to click the links and google translate, but none led to download or purchase. Thank you again for your response.

[geophil]

Absteckrechner is not a standalone product. It comes bundled with Zusi 2: http://www.zusi.de/pages/dehaupt/zusi-2/bestellen.php

Obstacles:

• It's all in German. There is a tutorial in English (somewhere) but it focuses on route building for Zusi 2, not on adding proper elevations (and radii) to 2D vectors.
• You will need to learn to use two new tools: Absteckrechner and the Zusi 2 Route Editor. The Route Editor in Zusi 2 is not user friendly either, but it's required for navigation, to position your vector data for Absteckrechner

That's why I say it's not really a workable approach.