Something really weird----

[landnrailroader]

Colleagues,

I thought I had the fine art of track laying down pretty well, but then I ran into an insurmountable problem, and since I had not done much, I just deleted the route, using Simpsons tools, and regenned.

While laying a third track, parallel to a set of double tracks which are dead level, I bumped something and wound up with a piece of straight track standing straight up in the air to at least 500 meters if not more. It would not select, and "undo" had no effect on it, so I just totally undid what I had at that point and started over.

I need to go back into the nearly finished MSTS route and get it done and unleashed on the unsuspecting before I get too serious about this new item.

However, I don't plan any serious routes with it until I see what MSTS-X looks like. I find that sculpting terrain to the track is tedious and slow, and I see occasional references to using this key or that key for some purpose, but I have yet to see a comprehensive list of what the various commands are supposed to do in the editor. Track laying is much easier than MSTS, but the lack of "fixed junctions", i.e. numbered turnouts, makes this a less than desirable sim, if the aim is to produce an authentic reproduction. If not, then it is superior to MSTS basically because it is easier to use and the editor seems quite stable. I raised these issues to Kuju and have put them in another thread as information to the group.

landnrailroader

[Craig H]

Is it possible that you entered a number in the gradient field of the lower left tool window, That will produce precisely the effect you describe if the number is too large.

[dick8299]

I have done the same thing. (see attached screen shots) I am modeling my HO Railroad Layout as a means of learning the different route making techniques of RS. I was laying extraneous track in the area that I wanted to elevate my mountain area so I could bring the terrain up to the track level, and was actually working from a viewpoint somewhat distant from where I was laying the track. I did this with the mouse - not by picking any gradient value in the flyout menu. Actually I am not sure how it happened.

I can not pick the track to delete. I can use the elevate track function to produce an elevate arrow on one end of the track (but nowhere in the middle of the track) and move that one end up and down, but that doesn't do anything for me.

If someone knows how to select this aberrant track in the bin file and delete it that way that would be great. Failing that, I am continuing to model the route, and will eventually put up signage for the "Sky Rail Mining Company" or the "Railway to Heaven Mining Company".

[zbobg]

I think that effect is cause by the 'snap to terrain' control. For whatever reason the editor finds a piece of terrain (or just an attachment point) up in the air and snaps the piece of track from the ground up into the air.

I've had this happen once or twice but I've always been able to delete the track. Try a vertical camera view down on the track and look very carefully for the yellow hightlight marking the track when you mouseover it.

An immediate un-do should have deleted the track if you see it happen soon enough.

[dick8299]

Actually, you can not look down the track, you can only look at it horizontally or look up it. The second that you move the camera angle below horizontal, the track disappears. I have not been able to get the track to hi-light looking at it upwards or horizontally.

[zbobg]

Well, I tried, anyway.

I know what you're talking about. I have noticed alot of visibility problems since the patch. Gizmos disappear at some view angles and I've had some disappearing objects as well, moving the camera usually pops them back into view.

[sniper297]

Click an empty spot on the terrain and drag, you get a circle drawn on the ground. Anything within that circle will be selected including invisible track or them oddballs you sometimes get that stick straight up. Once selected, hit the delete key.

http://forums.flightsim.com/vbts/showpost.php?p=1342523&postcount=12

"I find that sculpting terrain to the track is tedious and slow", you using the "snap terrain to track" magnet tool? Set for about 20 to 50 brush size depending on grades and grade separation, then just slide it along the track with the left mouse button held down. BTW, just the opposite, if you select the gradient tool, hold down the L key and click every few meters, that snaps the track to the terrain, which is how I did that silly roller coaster route. :D

[dick8299]

Well that did it - Thanks! I used the "L" key to snap the vertical track piece to the surface. It was still vertical mind you but at least now it was attached to a piece of terrain, so I was able to lasso it with the circle and finally delete it.