TransDEM Forum

I have had some early success creating a DEM for T2010. I didn't care for the raster maps I got from the USGS because they were too new. Thanks to reading the forum I found the Liber Map Project. Although the map I was really hoping for was still "newer" but it showed abandoned tracks I needed.

The problem I am having is I downloaded the TIFF maps and open them with the open raster map. I've resized the to under 32 m pix but I am not able to save them. Can someone walk me through this? I tried doing tutorial #8 but no luck

Thanks for your help as I love this program and I'm looking forward to making phase one of my railroad empire.

Apparently you are working on a US route.

Did you check the WMS operated by Microsoft Research Maps? They have an older series of the famous 1:24k USGS raster maps available for automatic download, with complete client support by TransDEM. See the Durango & Silverton tutorial in the TransDEM main manual for details on how to use such a service.

The maps made available by the Lbre Map Project could be the very same series, with the disadvantage on manual download and manual georeferencing.

The Libre Map maps are plain TIFF files, not GeoTIFF. They have a "world file" accompanying them (TFW) which provides some georeferencing information. I can explain how to use the world file for corner georeferencing in TransDEM but would like you to try WMS first - where it's all automatic. If that doesn't work for you - maps too recent - we come back to the world file.

I tried the Microsoft site but when I get the map I like and start the download the file wants to save as a "ASHX" file. Is this compatible with TransDEM? I read the help screen at the site and here is the FAQ.

Instructions:

Position your mouse pointer over the image.
Click the right mouse button.
Select the "Save Picture As" or the "Save Image As" menu item.
Enter the directory and name of the file to create.
Need a World file?

Click the "World File" link located above the image on the right to obtain the geographic reference coordinates of the above image. Use your browser's File.SaveAs menu option to save the World File to the same directory where you saved the image. Make sure World File extension is ".jpgw".

I should I do?

Ah. Looks like a wrong turn. It's not a problem.

Let me explain about WMS in more detail:

Microsoft Research Maps, formerly TerraServer USA, operates a "Web Mapping Service" (WMS). This is a service tailored for automatic download by a dedicated client application and includes automatic georeferencing, which is part of the WMS communication protocol.

It's quite a different procedure to a standard download where you select a file from a remote site in your web browser and then use the browser's download capability to acquire the file.

WMS cannot be used with a standard web browser, it requires a dedicated client. TransDEM offers such a client, as a built-in feature. With WMS you do not select a file, but a geographic position and a size of a map image in pixels. You also provide the geo coordinate system (which must be supported by the WMS). All these parameters require some math, hence the computation being delegated to the client application.

There is a step by step tutorial on using the Microsoft Research Maps WMS in the TransDEM documentation. It's called "Tutorial 4: Web Mapping Services 2, MSR Maps, USA" and you'll find in on page 113 in the TransDEM main manual (current edition).

The tutorial also explains how to deal with the ashx "file".

There is a shortcut for step 1 in the tutorial. If you import the TransDEM WMS Sample Settings package, this WMS will be registered automatically.

G'day Thai1on,

You should not be anywhere near the Microsoft website, if you atre following Geophil's instructions, above. Roland has advised you (and I wholeheartedly agree with him) that you should use the built WMS facility available with TransDEM (as per Tutorial No. 8, as already noted). The WMS offers the capability to download ALL of the topographic maps you want AUTOMATICALLY, already correctly georefrenced, with minimal input from you...

...exactly as Geophil has explained above, which he did whilst I was 'distracted' elsewhere before I could finished my response...

Jerker {:)}

Success! Thank you both for your help as I followed your instructions and then exported my finished map to Trainz. Upon opening it in Trainz, TransDEM had found a few details I had forgotten about the geography around the railroad station I'm modeling. I am so very pleased with the results; again thank you! Now work can begin on phase one of my railroad