Replacing track section

[longbow]

I have discovered a track section with the wrong gradient that I need to replace. To avoid relaying everything that follows, I have tried pulling apart the ensuing track piece by piece and re-welding it, but I'm finding that once separated from the ribbon the track sections do not always retain their assigned gradient. Any suggestions please?

[RobertM]

Cant you manually adjust the gradient? Left click and hold the yellow markers in the gradient tool and adjust accordingly. Backup first is strongly advised.

[longbow]

Robert - thanks. That tool would probably work but it's calibrated with heights rather than gradients, so for each track piece one would have to calculate the height differential then manipulate the ends to get the required gradient. I suspect it would take longer than relaying the track from scratch.

[longbow]

As I suspected, using the gradient tool you cannot adjust the gradient with any precision, especially on a short section of track. I have since found that the gradients are preserved if you separate the track pieces using the cut tool rather than by dragging them apart, as I was doing previously. But cutting and rejoining in this way is still pretty time consuming, especially with double track.

[brysonman46]

Cant you manually adjust the gradient? Left click and hold the yellow markers in the gradient tool and adjust accordingly. Backup first is strongly advised.

Word of warning - DO NOT USE THIS METHOD. It may have repercussions further along the track ribbon. Raising/lowering at one point can be matched by a similar lowering/raising further down the line. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions. In the first instance, I had to go back a couple of weeks to get an unaffected tracks.bin (and so had lost 2 weeks of track building). Fortunately, I always keep a good backlog of backups.

[RobertM]

Cant you manually adjust the gradient? Left click and hold the yellow markers in the gradient tool and adjust accordingly. Backup first is strongly advised.

Word of warning - DO NOT USE THIS METHOD. It may have repercussions further along the track ribbon. Raising/lowering at one point can be matched by a similar lowering/raising further down the line. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions. In the first instance, I had to go back a couple of weeks to get an unaffected tracks.bin (and so had lost 2 weeks of track building). Fortunately, I always keep a good backlog of backups.

Hence the suggestion to backup before hand You can also break the track either side of the area you are working on, alter the gradient then re-weld the sections or just place additional gradient points either side.

[brysonman46]

Cant you manually adjust the gradient? Left click and hold the yellow markers in the gradient tool and adjust accordingly. Backup first is strongly advised.

Word of warning - DO NOT USE THIS METHOD. It may have repercussions further along the track ribbon. Raising/lowering at one point can be matched by a similar lowering/raising further down the line. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions. In the first instance, I had to go back a couple of weeks to get an unaffected tracks.bin (and so had lost 2 weeks of track building). Fortunately, I always keep a good backlog of backups.

Hence the suggestion to backup before hand You can also break the track either side of the area you are working on, alter the gradient then re-weld the sections or just place additional gradient points either side.

Yes, cut out the rogue section, and rebuild (easier said than done). You cannot weld 2 sections that have different gradients. Start at one end, create the track, and then "snap to track", removing the excess created. Surprisingly, harder to do with a straight section than a curved. Remember to "smooth" the gradient changes (use the selection tool from a few metres one side to the other side of the gradient point, and click the last icon on the loft menu- the longer the selection, the smoother the change.)

[RobertM]

You cannot weld 2 sections that have different gradients.

Yes you can

[brysonman46]

I bow to superior knowledge