Trainz Tutorial: Yard Ladders

[@BCSJRR]

AM - you said you don't know what the frog numbers were in the 8 degree ladder. The easy way is to count squares. From where it starts count 1 square to the right. Then count the squares from there until you cross the ladder track. In this case about 8. That means with straight leg turnouts you have #8 frogs. The 11 degree ladder had about #5 frogs. On a model railroad, a #8 frog is general considered quite smooth, but on the prototype, such turnouts would only be found in extremely tight quarters and then they would be accompanied by strict speed limits. I think the ladder you built first has #4 frogs. For prototype railroads, only traction would have such sharp turnouts. For prototype railroads another consideration is the S-curve you get when going from the yard lead into the next yard track. To avoid excess overhang (and major stress on couplers) there should be a piece of straight track between the two curves that is at least as long as the longest equipment that will traverse it. This applies also to model railroads.

[@alonespirit9923]

Remember reading a few decades back that while modelers typically use number 4, 5, 6, turnouts/switches/points, actual standard gauge railways use from number 8 to 20, with the larger the better. Years ago had a couple MoPac civil engineering notebooks which covered that kind of thing but eventually gave them to a friend who was a big MoP fan and modeler.

[@billdeloach5868]

Totally the best ladder work ever. Thanks for the tips.

[@AlexanderSkinnerVids]

On the point of eyeballing and judgement of where to attach the switch track and the start of the yard track, I like to set up a piece of scenery spline that is exactly parallel to the tangent track. That way, there’s no question on where to put the junction, or in this case, the start of the yard track. Helpful when making a yard ladder connecting to twenty or more tracks.

[@groggers]

Thank you for this valuable info! Very useful! I sort of picked it up from your timelapses but thanks for explaining in detail. I like the short tutorial style focusing on a particular area. I would like to see more! Maybe you could do a quick five minute vid on blending ground textures because I'm sure others as well as myself struggle to produce a decent if not good ground texture blend. Looking forward to your next video whatever it is!

[@Chasingrail]

Gregory Larkman 5646 yes!

[@70skid33]

Yes blending textures please

[@NJP76]

When laying the ladder track itself, I usually like to count the grid squares as I put it down. Usually in (toward the yard tracks) one square, and over four squares....or sometimes more, depending on rolling stock and available space. I don't generally like to go less than four squares, since it tends to make the radius look too tight.

[@BenandMylesMom]

NJP Vlogs -N- Stuff I’ve just started using the yard ladder technique it’s on my route that I’ve currently stopped working on

[@NJP76]

I remember when we talked about switches and yards on Skype. Glad you decided to use this technique.

[@70skid33]

Thank you thank you thank you. Watched this yesterday and went home and built a awesome yard. Now my only problem is I have to do some rearranging of my layout so I can put a few more yards in. Thanks for sharing

[@victortinmouth1283]

P.S. I am gradually downloading all of your videos, so I can watch them online on my laptop, while working in TANE on my desktop, with a 27" 1080p HD monitor.

[@victortinmouth1283]

I meant OFFLINE. My fingers sometimes have a mind of their own. lol

[@XBGamerX20]

like how as on og player I remember in 2012 I was building random worlds with trees and rivers and now I'm literally trying to replicate real life railways

[@SergeantC2]

Thanks for t his great video. I've built a number of routes in Trainz 12, but I've never managed to build good-looking yard tracks. This technique will help.

[@deatheater2447]

Great techniques on how to make a yard ladder. Will definitely utilize this if I ever decide to make a yard or route myself .

[@svargo1912]

awesome technique. I do the similar found that out by mistake haha. keep it up I love your tutorials and building methods you pay a lot of attention to detail.

[@barryrayner]

What I use is 5m between lanes. This puts the centre of the rails on the line. The tangent line I use a 1 x 4 system (10m x 40m), this usually makes it look okay and is easy to remember. You also have a bit of leeway from the main line to ladder.

[@jessicatimm559]

Great tips thank You!

[@BNSF_7777_Productions]

Thanks for this, I put your Allegheny Yard video in slow motion and taught myself but this was still useful

[@victortinmouth1283]

I have had the problem with arches like you mentioned, so thanks for the trick. Can you make another tutorial on adding the frogs, etc. I always have the switches appear automatically, because I have been building my yards one track at a time, then trying to move switches to straighten that (tangent) track. Is it because you are using a certain type of track, or what?

[@CoSpringer]

Bro your so genius

[@Shaun.Khatch1]

Where did you download those yard tracks from? Do you happen to have a link please? :)

[@scotabot7826]

So what are you doing here? Is this so that you can print a plan that's used as a guideline for track and ladder laying? Great video BTW!!! Thanks

[@RECHARGED77]

Holy mother of god this is great

[@ultimategaming1503]

Your the best Mr Approach thanks for doing want you are doing keep up the great work love it!:)

[@isaiahdowns863]

How do you get them to not to connect

[@robbleeker4777]

Hi. This "map editor"... Is this a standard thing in the game or do you need to up load your map from a different program? ALSO....... Like transport fever or Cities Skylines.... You can do some building and place assets while you are playing a game..... Is TRAINZ allow you to to this too? Why I am asking.... I have seen game play but all of these only show missions.....you got to finish

[@ApproachMedium]

The map editor does come with the game and no you can't run the simulation and build at the same time. They're two different modes. There's build mode and driver mode which allows you to operate a train through the world you've been building.

[@RAULAIRSOFT1974]

awesome you've stoned me !!! thaaaaaaaaaaaanks !!!

[@fostoriadistrictrailfan3907]

Thank. You. So. Much.

[@DoubleSpikeProductions]

Very helpful!! Thank you.

[@DevonLMS]

I am just trying to find railends and can not find them?

[@CodysTrainz]

How do you make grades and keep them the same, and level things out at the top?

[@floridageorgiarailfan]

Hey I am making a route that is in the forest and I used a small yard and it took to hours to do could you make a video on how do a small yard

[@Boxcar_Productions]

Thanks for a good video

[@ronaldfrench5138]

what and where can I find ‘the straight tool’?

[@aydendean]

I couldn't find any settings for it but I can't put my parallel tracks at the same distance because they keep automatically connecting to each other making a very disorientated curve at the end of the tracks

[@ApproachMedium]

Hold shift and they won't connect.

[@aydendean]

Thank you I've been getting so angry at that

[@timday5483]

Hey approach :) Thank you for the vid.. Is there any chance you can upload a quick clip showing your settings or how you recommend to optimise the settings.. Because i seem to get a ugly stutter every know and again and it gets irritating and your gameplay looks fairly smooth :)

[@groggers]

FreakyFast 86 maybe try reading the articles linked on the graphics settings if you haven't already. It explains to some extent the different settings and performance tuning relating to the capabilities. I recommend having a look if you haven't already. Trainz start > settings > performance > (link on performance tuning at bottom of window)

[@timday5483]

I decided to just re-install after watching this and approach's last clip :P But this time i did not install beta updates just public releases and it seems to be running good for now :) I would still like to see approach;s settings if possible but :)

[@groggers]

FreakyFast 86 I think he showed them in a live stream scenery detail, tree detail and post processing are all ultra and process objects behind camera is enabled and maximum draw distance is at 6000m.

[@ApproachMedium]

My rig is a beast so I have just about everything fully maxed out. You really just need to mess around with the settings to see what works best for your machine. That's what I did for my old rig. Start the game, adjust some settings on the launcher then in game, run the game and see how it performs (preferably with an fps monitor), rinse and repeat while adjusting one setting or one group of settings at a time. There's really no perfect configuration since everyone's rigs will be different. Your mileage may vary ;-) I also get some occasional stutters and I believe it's due to the game just not being optimized for asset streaming. Hopefully they'll fix it one day.

[@NJP76]

I concur with A.M. Even on my 12 thread Ryzen machine running just the OS and Trainz, I still get an occasional stutter. Trainz has never been very well optimized. The older versions (like 2006-2010) wouldn't run well at all on the higher graphics settings unless you had a top-shelf ($$$$) gaming rig...and even then it would still have issues. The optimization has gotten better over the past few releases, but in my opinion, there is still a long way to go. At any rate, as Joe said above, there really is no "one size fits all" solution. The best advice I can give is to start at medium setting for all sliders. Then slowly work your way to higher settings one at a time until you reach the proverbial breaking point. Don't try to adjust all of them at once or you may never find out which one is causing the issues. We can all hope that N3V fixes the optimization, along with several other annoying issues. Until then, all we can do is work with what they provide to us. Best luck to you.

[@PRR-Fan]

How do you get the parallel tracks laid out? I am trying to set up a yard and every time I create a parallel track, it wants to automatically connect to the track next to it.

[@ApproachMedium]

Hold down shift when placing track close together to prevent it from connecting.

[@trs-no8lm]

I use th j turnouts. There 3 sizes turn out. I wish there was curved ones

[@DCxViper]

i've been building in trainz for almost 10 years now. and this always used to bother me. i always did trail and error for most of it

[@alonespirit9923]

Sometimes for me laying track in Trainz feels less like trial and error and more like error and trial.

[@thecyancolor2116]

Good times when i was a kid and i wanted to play this :) i am now 11.

[@AtlanticBoii]

The Cyan Color you are still a kid

[@kaseyleitchnextgen3281]

Sadly, unlike the previous game (TS12), they didn’t have a railyard.

[@chrisscott3078]

@Approach medium that looks very hard to me

[@NJP76]

At first it can be a bit tricky, but once you have done it a few times, it is not really that difficult. Set up a practice area and give it a go. Don't be afraid to ask if you have questions. there are a lot of really good people who hang out on this channel and are willing to share ideas and help.

[@SpheroJr3289]

There are no straitened tools in trainz 2 mobile soo I need to eyeball

[@floridageorgiarailfan]

5

[@justinbricker9491]

I only have Trainz 2

[@justinbricker9491]

or trainz 3

[@temppp6235]

Lol I watched the LEGO movie

[@chihebzidi1720]

Ykooooooooooooop

[@bobbymccullough6246]

First comment

[@groggers]

Bobby McCullough wow nobody cares pretty much

[@bobbymccullough6246]

Gregory Larkman 5646 haha your stupid

[@groggers]

Bobby McCullough why thank you how nice of you to show your real emotions. And btw it's *You're not your