Lay out special track work, including turnouts and crossovers in Civil 3D.
Transcript
00:00
In this video, we will look at a few different methods for laying out special track work,
00:09
and we will take a detailed look at the turnout and crossover tools.
00:13
We'll also cover the platform, edge, and rail line tools.
00:17
To begin with, we want to look at a more manual or work intensive method for creating special track work in alignments.
00:24
So, to do this, we need to set up our drawing in the units, and our angles need to be set to degrees, minutes and seconds.
00:32
All these other settings look to be fine.
00:35
Now, we want to focus on the yard lead area to create part of our yard ladder.
00:40
So, we want to pick the point to start with so that we can draw out construction lines for our turnout.
00:46
And we'll start with the point of switch.
00:48
And our turnout is a number eight turn out.
00:50
And the distance from the point of switch to the PITO in this example is 31 1/2 feet.
00:55
We'll enter that distance here.
00:56
And now, we need to create a line that is at our required angle for this turnout.
01:01
To do that, we need to go up to the draw area and pick the drop-down menu and select Create Line by Angle.
01:09
Here we can pick our point, in this case our PITO location, or point of intersection.
01:14
And then we can pick the bearing based on our track lead.
01:17
And now we can input the frog angle.
01:19
And for this number 8 turn out, it’s 7 degrees, 9 minutes, 10 seconds.
01:23
And we input the desired distance, and we can pick an arbitrary distance of 80 feet.
01:28
Then, we can verify that measurement using the dimension tool to check the results, and it looks to be in good shape.
01:36
Now we want to layout our alignment based on these points as our PI locations.
01:41
We want our turnout to intersect with this construction line as this represents part of our alignment.
01:46
And we'll do that with a fill it command.
01:49
Now we can go through the layout steps from the rail ribbon.
01:52
We'll pick the creation tool, we'll name the alignment and set the station and the criteria, we'll pick OK.
01:58
So now, we'll lay this track out by our PI locations, and we'll snap to each point, starting at the point of switch.
02:04
That gives us our alignment that we can use for our design, for the reports and for any details.
02:13
But again, this is a very manual process.
02:16
We could use a block or other graphics to show the turnout angle and critical points.
02:23
We have a few blocks that represent a number 8 left-hand and right-hand turnout.
02:29
In this area, we need a left-hand turnout, so we can copy or move that block and place it at the point of switch,
02:38
and then rotate that into place.
02:40
Now, based on this intersection point, it should line up with the proposed track.
02:45
We need to follow the same steps to create the alignment.
02:48
Go to the rail ribbon, pick the name, the station, the criteria, and then we'll lay out the alignment by snapping to those critical points.
02:57
So, this gives us alignments that we can work with, but we don't have any profile data, and there is a much better way that we can do this.
03:05
So here we have an existing yard, and we have defined some of the tracks with existing alignments.
03:10
We want to create a yard turn out and the yard ladder that will connect to one of our alignments.
03:16
So, let's pick the create turn out tool.
03:19
And when we do that, we'll be asked to pick our main line alignment and the insertion station location.
03:24
So, let's pick this PITO location and then we will see a dialog box come up.
03:30
And here we can choose from several different country standards, or we can load local turnout standards if needed.
03:36
In this example, we'll use US metric and once we selected our catalog, we will determine the turn out type and angle.
03:44
When we select the angle, we'll see the model name show up below.
03:47
In this case, we need a number 9 turn out.
03:50
The direction is based on our stationing, so it's important to note our reference alignment layout.
03:55
The side is also based on the main line layout.
03:58
The insertion point can be based on several factors such as the rail joint, our point of switch,
04:04
or in our case, we're going to use the PTL location.
04:07
In the diverted alignment tab, we can pick if we want this alignment to merge with other alignments.
04:12
In our case we do, and we will use the selection tool to pick that alignment.
04:17
Then we can also determine the parent profile that we want to match.
04:22
Once we select OK, we will see our turnout appear.
04:24
Now we have control over a few of the view parameters.
04:27
We can select the turnout, right-click, then pick Edit turnout style.
04:31
In the display we can control what is displayed, our sleepers or our ties, the boundary, as well as the shape.
04:39
Using the right-click menu, we can also edit the turnout labels, and here we can specify any of the key parameters in the layout that we need.
04:48
Once we select OK, we can use the grips and adjust those labels however we need.
04:55
The turnout is dynamically connected to our reference alignment, so we can select our turnout
05:01
and use the Quadrant control grips to change the direction or the side of our turnout.
05:06
We can also use the grips to edit the location based on key insertion points.
05:11
Our labels would also update automatically when we move the turnout.
05:16
To connect the turn out with the rest of the alignment, we can just create a curve between the yard lead and the tangent section.
05:23
We could do that with a spiral curve or a simple curve.
05:26
And here in the yard, we'll just use a simple curve and if we need to modify the turnout location,
05:32
the alignment will adjust and update automatically.
05:36
In our profile view, we can see the portion that was based on the parent alignment, and we can use the grips to finish the rest of the profile.
05:46
To view the turnout labels in profile view, we can choose Draw Turnout in profile.
05:52
From the rail ribbon, select our turnout and pick the profile view window.
05:58
We can also choose which critical points we want to display in profile view, Similar to our plan view,
06:05
If we need to change the turnout angle, we can select our turnout and, in the properties dialog, we can adjust the parameters here.
06:13
And we can see the different parameters that we had specified earlier and we can change those as we need.
06:19
We can also see how those fit and display once we made those modifications.
06:23
So, this really becomes a powerful tool and a simple way to create special track work in an efficient manner.
06:30
One of the last items of note for turnouts, when we adjust the locations of our turnouts,
06:36
they will adjust according to the bending rules of our country kit.
06:39
When we adjust the location, we can see the configuration changed based on the location relative to the curve.
06:48
So now let's look at the crossover tool and it functions in a very similar way.
06:52
In this case, we'll look at this for parallel tracks and non-parallel tracks.
06:57
So, we pick the crossover tool, pick the alignment, pick our insertion point and pick the connecting alignment.
07:04
Again, we pick our catalog and here, we'll pick the French catalog.
07:09
Once our window comes up, we'll see the preview of the solved crossover based on the current parameters,
07:16
and we can change the direction if we like.
07:19
And our profile will be based on both of those alignments that we selected earlier.
07:24
The crossover is dynamically connected to the alignment.
07:27
We can adjust that location based on our insertion grip points.
07:32
And here we have the same level of control for the turn out angles in the properties window
07:36
and the connection between the turnouts automatically adjust based on those turnout angles and the geometry.
07:44
And we can do the same thing on the other side.
07:47
Again, the profile is based on the profile details that we specified earlier.
07:52
And if we need to, we can always add profile labels, and we'll do that here.
07:57
For non-parallel tracks, it works very much the same way.
08:01
We pick the main line alignment, pick the location and the connecting alignment,
08:05
and we can specify the angles for either side and those can be different if we need them to be.
08:10
So, even when those angles don't match, we will see the solve segment of our alignment.
08:15
And here, we can see the cardinal points identified in our alignment labels.
08:20
And we have the same dynamic editing capabilities in either case.
08:26
So, let's look at a few of the other rail tools.
08:29
On this side of our alignment, we'll create a platform edge line.
08:33
So, we can pick the tool, pick our alignment, and we'll see the platform edge dialog box come up.
08:38
We select our location and the platform link, and the side of our platform, and we can specify the basis for our platform offset.
08:49
We can do that by picking a country catalog, or we can base those on parameters.
08:53
We'll stay with the French standard.
08:55
The type will determine our method of calculation.
08:58
Once we select OK, we'll see our platform edge line appear as a feature line in this drawing, and so this is linked to the parent alignment.
09:06
So, if I make changes to the alignment, the platform edge lines will update automatically with it.
09:12
We can edit any of the parameters within the dialog box using the edit function,
09:20
and if we choose the export tool, we can view the platform edge line report.
09:29
The last item that we will cover is the rail line tool.
09:32
It works in a similar way as the platform edge line.
09:35
We pick our alignment; we can identify which lines to show.
09:39
In this case, we'll just show the left and the right, and we can determine the object type.
09:44
Let's pick a 3D line for now.
09:46
So, this line will be based on our alignment and our profile, and then we can pick our gauge width for the distance.
09:52
And let's pick the station begin and end location with the selection tool.
09:58
Since we have that, we can control the accuracy of the line with our tolerance value.
10:03
To begin, let's choose a large value so that we can tell the difference.
10:08
So those rail lines appear, and we can see how corded they are.
10:12
So, let's go in. We'll edit those.
10:14
This time, we'll make this a feature line, and we'll use a much higher tolerance, so we'll provide a much tighter value.
10:22
Now, when these lines appear, we can see that they are much more accurate.
10:25
In fact, they're within a fraction of a millimeter for accuracy.
10:29
And the export tool allows us to view the detailed report of our rails.
10:34
So, these tools and function make creating special track work and rail feature lines much easier and much more accurate.
00:00
In this video, we will look at a few different methods for laying out special track work,
00:09
and we will take a detailed look at the turnout and crossover tools.
00:13
We'll also cover the platform, edge, and rail line tools.
00:17
To begin with, we want to look at a more manual or work intensive method for creating special track work in alignments.
00:24
So, to do this, we need to set up our drawing in the units, and our angles need to be set to degrees, minutes and seconds.
00:32
All these other settings look to be fine.
00:35
Now, we want to focus on the yard lead area to create part of our yard ladder.
00:40
So, we want to pick the point to start with so that we can draw out construction lines for our turnout.
00:46
And we'll start with the point of switch.
00:48
And our turnout is a number eight turn out.
00:50
And the distance from the point of switch to the PITO in this example is 31 1/2 feet.
00:55
We'll enter that distance here.
00:56
And now, we need to create a line that is at our required angle for this turnout.
01:01
To do that, we need to go up to the draw area and pick the drop-down menu and select Create Line by Angle.
01:09
Here we can pick our point, in this case our PITO location, or point of intersection.
01:14
And then we can pick the bearing based on our track lead.
01:17
And now we can input the frog angle.
01:19
And for this number 8 turn out, it’s 7 degrees, 9 minutes, 10 seconds.
01:23
And we input the desired distance, and we can pick an arbitrary distance of 80 feet.
01:28
Then, we can verify that measurement using the dimension tool to check the results, and it looks to be in good shape.
01:36
Now we want to layout our alignment based on these points as our PI locations.
01:41
We want our turnout to intersect with this construction line as this represents part of our alignment.
01:46
And we'll do that with a fill it command.
01:49
Now we can go through the layout steps from the rail ribbon.
01:52
We'll pick the creation tool, we'll name the alignment and set the station and the criteria, we'll pick OK.
01:58
So now, we'll lay this track out by our PI locations, and we'll snap to each point, starting at the point of switch.
02:04
That gives us our alignment that we can use for our design, for the reports and for any details.
02:13
But again, this is a very manual process.
02:16
We could use a block or other graphics to show the turnout angle and critical points.
02:23
We have a few blocks that represent a number 8 left-hand and right-hand turnout.
02:29
In this area, we need a left-hand turnout, so we can copy or move that block and place it at the point of switch,
02:38
and then rotate that into place.
02:40
Now, based on this intersection point, it should line up with the proposed track.
02:45
We need to follow the same steps to create the alignment.
02:48
Go to the rail ribbon, pick the name, the station, the criteria, and then we'll lay out the alignment by snapping to those critical points.
02:57
So, this gives us alignments that we can work with, but we don't have any profile data, and there is a much better way that we can do this.
03:05
So here we have an existing yard, and we have defined some of the tracks with existing alignments.
03:10
We want to create a yard turn out and the yard ladder that will connect to one of our alignments.
03:16
So, let's pick the create turn out tool.
03:19
And when we do that, we'll be asked to pick our main line alignment and the insertion station location.
03:24
So, let's pick this PITO location and then we will see a dialog box come up.
03:30
And here we can choose from several different country standards, or we can load local turnout standards if needed.
03:36
In this example, we'll use US metric and once we selected our catalog, we will determine the turn out type and angle.
03:44
When we select the angle, we'll see the model name show up below.
03:47
In this case, we need a number 9 turn out.
03:50
The direction is based on our stationing, so it's important to note our reference alignment layout.
03:55
The side is also based on the main line layout.
03:58
The insertion point can be based on several factors such as the rail joint, our point of switch,
04:04
or in our case, we're going to use the PTL location.
04:07
In the diverted alignment tab, we can pick if we want this alignment to merge with other alignments.
04:12
In our case we do, and we will use the selection tool to pick that alignment.
04:17
Then we can also determine the parent profile that we want to match.
04:22
Once we select OK, we will see our turnout appear.
04:24
Now we have control over a few of the view parameters.
04:27
We can select the turnout, right-click, then pick Edit turnout style.
04:31
In the display we can control what is displayed, our sleepers or our ties, the boundary, as well as the shape.
04:39
Using the right-click menu, we can also edit the turnout labels, and here we can specify any of the key parameters in the layout that we need.
04:48
Once we select OK, we can use the grips and adjust those labels however we need.
04:55
The turnout is dynamically connected to our reference alignment, so we can select our turnout
05:01
and use the Quadrant control grips to change the direction or the side of our turnout.
05:06
We can also use the grips to edit the location based on key insertion points.
05:11
Our labels would also update automatically when we move the turnout.
05:16
To connect the turn out with the rest of the alignment, we can just create a curve between the yard lead and the tangent section.
05:23
We could do that with a spiral curve or a simple curve.
05:26
And here in the yard, we'll just use a simple curve and if we need to modify the turnout location,
05:32
the alignment will adjust and update automatically.
05:36
In our profile view, we can see the portion that was based on the parent alignment, and we can use the grips to finish the rest of the profile.
05:46
To view the turnout labels in profile view, we can choose Draw Turnout in profile.
05:52
From the rail ribbon, select our turnout and pick the profile view window.
05:58
We can also choose which critical points we want to display in profile view, Similar to our plan view,
06:05
If we need to change the turnout angle, we can select our turnout and, in the properties dialog, we can adjust the parameters here.
06:13
And we can see the different parameters that we had specified earlier and we can change those as we need.
06:19
We can also see how those fit and display once we made those modifications.
06:23
So, this really becomes a powerful tool and a simple way to create special track work in an efficient manner.
06:30
One of the last items of note for turnouts, when we adjust the locations of our turnouts,
06:36
they will adjust according to the bending rules of our country kit.
06:39
When we adjust the location, we can see the configuration changed based on the location relative to the curve.
06:48
So now let's look at the crossover tool and it functions in a very similar way.
06:52
In this case, we'll look at this for parallel tracks and non-parallel tracks.
06:57
So, we pick the crossover tool, pick the alignment, pick our insertion point and pick the connecting alignment.
07:04
Again, we pick our catalog and here, we'll pick the French catalog.
07:09
Once our window comes up, we'll see the preview of the solved crossover based on the current parameters,
07:16
and we can change the direction if we like.
07:19
And our profile will be based on both of those alignments that we selected earlier.
07:24
The crossover is dynamically connected to the alignment.
07:27
We can adjust that location based on our insertion grip points.
07:32
And here we have the same level of control for the turn out angles in the properties window
07:36
and the connection between the turnouts automatically adjust based on those turnout angles and the geometry.
07:44
And we can do the same thing on the other side.
07:47
Again, the profile is based on the profile details that we specified earlier.
07:52
And if we need to, we can always add profile labels, and we'll do that here.
07:57
For non-parallel tracks, it works very much the same way.
08:01
We pick the main line alignment, pick the location and the connecting alignment,
08:05
and we can specify the angles for either side and those can be different if we need them to be.
08:10
So, even when those angles don't match, we will see the solve segment of our alignment.
08:15
And here, we can see the cardinal points identified in our alignment labels.
08:20
And we have the same dynamic editing capabilities in either case.
08:26
So, let's look at a few of the other rail tools.
08:29
On this side of our alignment, we'll create a platform edge line.
08:33
So, we can pick the tool, pick our alignment, and we'll see the platform edge dialog box come up.
08:38
We select our location and the platform link, and the side of our platform, and we can specify the basis for our platform offset.
08:49
We can do that by picking a country catalog, or we can base those on parameters.
08:53
We'll stay with the French standard.
08:55
The type will determine our method of calculation.
08:58
Once we select OK, we'll see our platform edge line appear as a feature line in this drawing, and so this is linked to the parent alignment.
09:06
So, if I make changes to the alignment, the platform edge lines will update automatically with it.
09:12
We can edit any of the parameters within the dialog box using the edit function,
09:20
and if we choose the export tool, we can view the platform edge line report.
09:29
The last item that we will cover is the rail line tool.
09:32
It works in a similar way as the platform edge line.
09:35
We pick our alignment; we can identify which lines to show.
09:39
In this case, we'll just show the left and the right, and we can determine the object type.
09:44
Let's pick a 3D line for now.
09:46
So, this line will be based on our alignment and our profile, and then we can pick our gauge width for the distance.
09:52
And let's pick the station begin and end location with the selection tool.
09:58
Since we have that, we can control the accuracy of the line with our tolerance value.
10:03
To begin, let's choose a large value so that we can tell the difference.
10:08
So those rail lines appear, and we can see how corded they are.
10:12
So, let's go in. We'll edit those.
10:14
This time, we'll make this a feature line, and we'll use a much higher tolerance, so we'll provide a much tighter value.
10:22
Now, when these lines appear, we can see that they are much more accurate.
10:25
In fact, they're within a fraction of a millimeter for accuracy.
10:29
And the export tool allows us to view the detailed report of our rails.
10:34
So, these tools and function make creating special track work and rail feature lines much easier and much more accurate.
