Laying track

[Keefumz]

Whats the best way to lay track so its flat and not have slight rises and drops when in cab view, i mean i kinda like the uniform level track instead of the minor fluctuations in height... i just think it looks better.

[Autocoach]

When you place a bit of track that the game says is near flat , you will get a flat slope icon at the end - if you click on it it will make the track completely flat , may result in cuttings and embankments at this stage.

[Keefumz]

ok cheers ill look for this when im in game next

[Kedryn]

The longer the sections you lay down, the flatter it is. It tries to make it an even grade so if you're laying it down in little sections at a time it'll be wavy.

[Brad]

Originally posted by Keefus:

Whats the best way to lay track so its flat and not have slight rises and drops when in cab view, i mean i kinda like the uniform level track instead of the minor fluctuations in height... i just think it looks better.

I was looking for the same information just now. I was hoping there was more information on the best way to do this.

I've watched a few youtube videos from the engineers cab, and I was amazed at how level and smooth the track is.

Check this one:
4K CABVIEW Bar - Bijelo Polje -102 tunnels -96 bridges -1029m altitude change from Sea to Mountains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zomZywCAPTA

I watched most of it and I never saw any obvious gradation changes! Pretty amazing once you realize that much of that route is through stone!

In game I usually end up having to re-lay large swaths of track in order to get a smoother ride. I lay the route down normally, and then ride the train to find bad spots and re-lay them as single large sections. This gives an even gradation between the two endpoints and looks much better.

Still haven't found a fix for the wonky road/railway crossings. The track should remain smooth. The road should adjust to meet the track. TF seems to adjust them both, and you get a rollercoaster ride at the crossings.

And one more gripe, I would like to see smaller increments on the up/down arrows. If you have your track flat, and then click the up arrow just once, it looks far to steep to me.

[joeball123]

Originally posted by Brad:

Still haven't found a fix for the wonky road/railway crossings. The track should remain smooth. The road should adjust to meet the track. TF seems to adjust them both, and you get a rollercoaster ride at the crossings.

Force the track flat, connect one side of the road to the track, then finish the road connection. Not perfect, but usually works better than dragging the road across if the terrain's uneven. Might also look alright with a low grade on the track.

Originally posted by Brad:

And one more gripe, I would like to see smaller increments on the up/down arrows. If you have your track flat, and then click the up arrow just once, it looks far to steep to me.

Holding Shift while clicking the up/down arrows will give you smaller increments, if you're not already aware of that. If you were already aware of that, I don't know a way to get smaller increments.

[General Tso]

When you are in track laying mode. Just click on the little white box and make the up/down arrows appear. As long as the arrow indicator is in the centered position then you are laying level track.

You can also do this with roads.

[Gregorovitch]

I think in general the game is very good at laying flat track/optimal gradients were necessary so long as you give it a fair distance to work with, i.e. lay long expensive sections. Dippy humpy stuff over short distances is dealt with easily using this tactic. However there are some foibles and glitches that take experience to get round and a few situational issues.

One is when taking branches off a line. The game will often raise or lower the spur in compliance with the immediately surrounding terrrain such that the points look awful pointing either up or down and also cause big problems (like huge humps or virtual tunnels) when you want to extend then track to it's destination. Two ways to try to fix this are starting the spur off directly against the original line so it's dead flat with it and then curve it off a ways further on. Another is to use the gradient arrows tool (using the shift key for small increments) and eyeball the spur flat with the original line. Once you get the spur flat then you can stretch your branch off pretty much perfectly smooth.

Another issue is when an obstruction (such as a factory) is in the way so the game's track laying algorithm can't work properly. In this case it can be very difficult to get a smooth track with optimal gradients between two distant points. It can be difficult to get a bridge or tunnel in the right place, for example, if the terrain rises or dips in the middle without laying in short sections and that of course gives rise to the dippy humpy thing.

The way I try to deal with this is to eyeball where the best place for a bridge/tunnel is to minimise gradients be with the help of the contour map and build that first. Then when I get it right, or at least when I feel I can put up with it, I join it to the two end points dragging a single section. I think it's largely a matter of trial and error assisted by experience. And copious use of the bulldozer.

[genemead]

One little detail:
The "arrows"raise and lower the end of the track you're laying.
The M & N keys raise and lower the middle of the track.

[Brad]

Originally posted by joeball123:

Holding Shift while clicking the up/down arrows will give you smaller increments, if you're not already aware of that. If you were already aware of that, I don't know a way to get smaller increments.

Originally posted by genemead:

One little detail:
The "arrows"raise and lower the end of the track you're laying.
The M & N keys raise and lower the middle of the track.

Thanks guys!

Is this documented anywhere? That is extremely helpful information that is completely hidden/not obvious. It's not even evident from looking at key bindings.

[Vimpster]

Also the , and . keys raise and lower the start point of the track, as well as other things.

[Keefumz]

Thanks for all the Info and tips guys.

[lemming3k]

Sorry to bump an old thread but didn't see the point create a new one for the same thing - is there any better way to get a flat track than clicking the arrow icon?
I've always taken as read that this creates a flat track and not worried, but when you look closely it seems to often create a gentle gradient rather than perfectly flat track and you end up with an undulating route. I know broadly speaking (and probably functionally) it is considered 'flat'; but it looks really odd to see a line that is 2 metres at both ends, but for some reason the middle section goes far below sea level in a tunnel, or creates huge banks 8 metres high, even with no obstructions or crossings - I'd expect flat to mean 2 metres all the way through.
I know there are keys to raise/lower the middle, but since it doesn't tell you the middle height before building, that isn't too helpful. What method are you using to get flat track, or are you accepting it as near enough flat but not perfect?

[Huperspace]

you get only flat track if you start flat, if you have a gradient at the end of the last section your next one, while set flat, will only be from gradient to flat.

[lemming3k]

Originally posted by Huperspace:

you get only flat track if you start flat, if you have a gradient at the end of the last section your next one, while set flat, will only be from gradient to flat.

The results seem quite excessive though. I'd understand if it was a single slope from 4 metres down to 2 metres for example, but why drop to -8 metres in the middle then come back up to 2 metres? That's an extra slope and quite a hefty looking one, even if it is deemed as 'flat'.
Sometimes the gradient is even counter to the initial track, where the initial portion gains barely a metre over an unremarkable distance, but yet when you draw the next section the middle inexplicably tunnels to -8 metres then comes back up. That's counter intuitive and far beyond what's needed (maybe that result is a bug?).

Laying perfectly flat track isn't easy to begin with as there always seems to be a minor grade, even if just .1 of a metre, so does that mean getting a perfectly flat track is unachievable when joining to an existing track? I'll try a few standalone tracks and see if they have the same problem.

[Vimpster]

Originally posted by lemming3k:

Sometimes the gradient is even counter to the initial track, where the initial portion gains barely a metre over an unremarkable distance, but yet when you draw the next section the middle inexplicably tunnels to -8 metres then comes back up. That's counter intuitive and far beyond what's needed (maybe that result is a bug?).

Laying perfectly flat track isn't easy to begin with as there always seems to be a minor grade, even if just .1 of a metre, so does that mean getting a perfectly flat track is unachievable when joining to an existing track? I'll try a few standalone tracks and see if they have the same problem.

I can't say I have seen it go both up and down if one end is flat. I would only expect to see that if each end had an opposing grade on them.

It is actually very easy to get perfectly flat track. And if a pre-existing track is perfectly flat than you can safely continue from that track and continue being perfectly flat. As Huperspace alluded to, it takes two steps to make a piece of track perfectly flat. The first step is to make a section, even just a 10 meter long section, of track with the forced flat grade turned on. Then you continue a new section from the end point (not from the start point) of the first section. The new section will be perfectly flat, as will any that you make off of that section if you continue to have the forced flat grade turned on, but the first section will not be flat and you can bulldoze it.

Only on perfectly flat graded track can you make a level crossing that does not cause distortion to the track. Level crossings force a perfectly flat grade so if you see the track get distorted when you lay a road over it than it was not perfectly flat.

The two step rule also applies to slopes. If you want a perfectly consistent slope you have to force the slope angle you want on the first piece and then continue the forced grade on a second piece and only on that second piece and any you continue to make off of it will you have that consistent grade. Consistent grades are important if you want to make diamond switches on a slope between tracks without any distortions occurring.