Right Track Software

[Yampa Bob]

Is anyone here a "Right Track" expert?  I have used the program for a year and like it except for one thing. 

Adding small pieces of flex track is not too difficult as long as you figure out the angle of divergence.  But when you try to connect long stretches around a curve, you get what looks like a pretzel.  The help file isn't much help either.  It just says if you don't like the transition curves, you have to program your own custom DLL  with Delphi.

I'm afraid my programming didn't get much past Visual Windows Basic.

It's no big deal to me, just curious if anyone else has figured it out.  There is also a bug in the program.   After a standard turnout divergence, 2 - 1/3 - 18" will return to parallel, however in the program it does not parallel.  For a #4 or #6 you have to use flex as there is no standard return piece in the track library. 

I guess you get what you pay for, but it is a good learning tool.

Also, can any track or geometry expert explain why the numbered turnouts have 12 degree 50 minutes , and 9 degrees 30 minutes, etc?  Yeah yeah I know, use flex and forget why they did it that way,  but I am a curious sort.   Might have killed the cat, but I'm still kicking.

Yampa Bob

[pdlethbridge]

Under the button that installs the flex track is a button that opens a window to adjust the flex track. If I'm doing small sections I get the pretzel effect too. At the top of the window that opens are 2 sliders, move them to the left and the optimize. That should do it, or you could just get there latest version 8

[Yampa Bob]

Paul
I didn't know thay had a version 8.  It took me about 4 hours to d/l version 7, and my puter locked up several times.  Dialup is no fun.

If you can get version 8 and burn a cd, (CDR only) please send it to me.  I don't really need the program that badly now, but like to keep up to speed on all this stuff, if only to help others.  I've probably only scratched the surface of its potential.

Bob

[pdlethbridge]

7 is actually easier to work with and I may go back to it. You know like Vista, some people prefer XP

[taz-of-boyds]

There is a user group in Yahoo for WinRail (the for sale name of the product with more features at version 9, Atlas licenses the older version for RTS).

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WinRailUserGroup/

When someone asks Gunnar Blumert (the developer) a question like why is it so-and-so degrees it does not really fit.  The answer always seems to be "that is how it is actually manufactured."

One of the ways to get flex track to go over longer distances and curves is to use the shape flex track (fixed radius for some angle or straight for some length).  The transition curve function works without additional programming, it works two ways, it either creats a transition section that goes from straight at one end to a fixed radius on the other, or a complete curve with two transition sections with a fixed radius between them.  In another place I posted an image showing the collection of flex track functions and some notes:

http://www.nscale.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=49579&g2_GALLERYSID=5938a5d76cba4fdb27484973c0d5763f
-or-
http://www.nscale.net/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=49579

Help any?
Charles

[Yampa Bob]

Thanks Charles.  I bookmarked the site and will study it later.

I have a CDR coming with the RTS 8.0.

Bob

[pdlethbridge]

Oh, Do they sell them at Atlas?

[Yampa Bob]

A friend with broadband who d/l the program is burning a CDR for me.

Bob

[WoundedBear]

Bob....

I had the same trouble with flex track when I first tried RTS7.0

My solution was to set the properties of the flex track from the default 36" lengths to 24".

Sid

[Yampa Bob]

Thanks Sid, I will try that. I don't use flex, but would like to learn the program better, if only to break the current boredom.

Bob

[taz-of-boyds]

Bob,

I learned a lot about flex track in RTS 7.0 by using transition curves a for duplicating the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad yard in Mt. Savage, Maryland from around 1910.  I can't build the whole thing, but I hope it will help me narrow it down to something I can build.  It was a small yard for a small coal railroad.

Charles