Rail3D*

 

Fine Tuning the layout

Adding detail to the layout

Once the line - the straights, curves and gradients - is satisfactory, we can move on to the detail of adding switches, junctions and sidings etc.  In this tutorial I am going to use a scale plan to place the detail of one of the stations on my line - Evercreech Junction.

 

Scale Plan

I start by preparing a scale plan - I have one in a book - so I've scanned the plan to an image file:

 

This is just a thumbnail of the plan, the one I actually used is over 7000 pixels in size

To use the plan in Rail3D it needs to be north up - so I rotate it accordingly:

I also need to know the size of the plan, so I start from the scale in the book - 160ft to the inch - and from that I can calculate that my rotated image represents 615metres across and 930 metres north south.

I now open my layout, and goto Evercreech Jct - I've already used the digitiser to create the road that crosses the railway:

So I can use this a reference point.  The position of the crossing in my layout is 53929, 58487 so the centre of the plan will be approximatly at 53700 / 58800  (ie the position of the crossing, less half the size of the plan).  The elevation of the track at the crossing is 57 metres.

  • Select "Overlay plan" from the "Tools" menu:

  • Click the "Add" button to add an overlay plan to the layout (you can have more than one overlay plan in a layout, although only one can be visible at a time)
  • Click the "Browse" button to locate the overlay file - it should be in BMP or TGA format.
  • Set the position of the plan (x and y) and the elevation of the plan (El) - I have chosen an elevation of 55 to put the plan just below the track level.
  • Set the size of the plan (x size and y size).  All these are in metres
  • Tick "Show Overlay"

 

The plan should now be visible in Rail3D  (I've turned off the terrain in this view):

 

So here I can see the plan, but it's not quite in the right place.

Open the overlay plan dialog again and adjust the x and y position until satisfactory:

 

Hint: if you turn on track laying mode and drag to create a piece of track due east - west, the length of the piece you are creating is shown in the bottom left of the window.  This is an easy way to estimate how far the plan needs to be moved.  Similarly for north - south

Usually it will take a few attempts to get the plan in the right place.  Once the plan is in the right place, it should line up with the track and road:

 

Hint: check each end of the plan to make sure it lines up with the track at all points

I can now use the plan as a guide to know where to position switches, lay sidings, place signals etc.

MRG 14/02/2015 20:46:08