Second stage is the plan view:
Here we add curves from the map, along with cuttings, under-bridges, and crossings.

Please remember NOT to add any tunnels at this stage. That includes bridges over the railway which are a single tunnel element.

Starting out:
We shall still create a double track route from Start Station to End Station... changing the number of tracks comes in the following step.

Here we shall also add cuttings and bridges where roads and rivers pass under the railway.

We shall also add Level Crossings.

Let us therefore load our newly started railway. We click on the editor's start button and this time select [L] for Load. Immediately the screen changes to the first track directory which as you can see here is quite full.

Pick the one you previously saved and the editor will open with it loaded.

In this view we show not the starting station (which is where the editor defaults on opening), but a location en route in acompletely constructed route, because it is perhaps more interesting.

It tells us we are located at 20.84 miles from the start, on a descending grade of 2% (1 in 50) and the maximum permitted speed on this section of track is 50mph.

We are at a station platform at a location called Madurta, whose timetable code is Mad.

The K -8 at the extreme left means there is a curve to the LEFT with a degree of of tightness 8 units - the larger the number, the tighter the curve. Remember that the program is German in origin, and Kurve is German for curve.

Immediately the other side of the platform is a level crossing and a facing switch protected by an absolute (home) signal - if it were a permissive it would have a yellow dot instead of a red one - and the double track section leads into a station called Aldgate whose timetable code is Ald.

The top of the screen also has a status bar, and apart from the help legends in white, we can read that the editor is set to either insert or delete a Siding.

Changing track direction
This done using a choice of three Function keys (with the option of shift- or alt- as well, to vary the radius of curvature).

The length of the curve is determined by how many editor position movements - described later on this page - are made before straightening or reversing the curve.

The program places transitions automatically,so you do not need to adjust the radius of curvature manually as you start and finish a curved section.

F6 is for straight ahead.

F5 is for a left-hand curve of maximum sharpness (minimum radius).

F7 is for a right-hand curve of maximum sharpness (minimum radius).

Alt-F5 and Alt-F7 give a slightly larger radius (less sharp curve).

Shift-F5 and Shift-F7 give a much larger radius (far less sharp curve).

Other Edit Commands
As mentioned before, the cusor left and right keys control what lineside feature is to be added or removed.

The choice using the cursor right key is...
Nothing - End-station - station - siding - Stop - HOME-Signal - APPR.Signal - tunnel - bridge - road X - Nothing

The choice using the cursor left key is the reverse...
Nothing - road X - bridge - tunnel - APPR.Signal - HOME-Signal - Stop - siding - station - End-station - Nothing

Editor Position
The cursor up and down keys move the editor position by 164 feet or 1/32 mile.

The page up and down keys move the editor position by 1/4 mile.

The home and end keys move the editor position to start-station or end-station.

At any time while you are in the editor you may press F9 to see a profile of your route,

or F10 to see a plan (map) view. In both cases, the editor position is shown clearly. Pressing the key again - or indeed any key - will restore you to the editor.

These two captures were from the Port Augusta to Quorn route of the Pichi Richi Railway during construction

Insertion points
In all cases except two, you see the object inserted at the insertion point. The exceptions are road-X and bridge. In those cases, the object is inserted one position below the bottom line on the editor. Here is an illustration using a road crossing...

In the case of a bridge, it is less noticeable, because a bridge is longer...

Bridges over a road or river
Bridges over something are treated in a special way. If you want to show them as being a bridge over water, the track has to be level over the bridge. If the track is either rising or falling, no water is shown.

In the case illustrated, the line is actually climbing out of Stirling North towards the Pichi Richi Pass, where the track encounters the normally dry creek-bed of the Saltia Creek. In order to show the "water", the grade was dropped to zero immediately before the bridge, and then increased again the other side.

Care has to be taken because the program will place a transition at both ends of the level track, and often several attempts need to be made to end up with a level grade on the bridge.

Long Bridges
Several sections of bridge may be placed next to each other as shown here to make a bridge longer than the standard unit.

We are five miles further on, and in the pass, where the railway line again crosses the same creek, but this time in a small gorge with steep sides, and a road and the creek both run parallel to each other under the bridge sections...

Another point - in the capture above, we are on a slope (actually a rising grade of 0.8%) - and that is why there is no blue colour under the bridge.

Station Positioning
Stations and Sidings may not be less than 1-1/2 miles apart. Stops may be as little as half a mile from each other, or from Stations and Sidings.

Stops may not be placed on Sidings.

Signal placement restrictions are discussed on the page about signals.

Cuttings and Embankments
An embankment is where the track is raised above the surrounding countryside... often in the approach to a bridge. Unfortunately embankments are not a feature in RailSim.

A Cutting is where the track runs through a hillside, but is not totally buried in it as in a tunnel.

Frequently gradients on a real railway are evened out - or perhaps are reduced to zero (level) - through the placing of soil removed from a cutting and used as an embankment nearby. Here is an example...

Here we have a cutting reducing from height=2 to no cutting, then further on increasing steadily to a height=3 and reducing to a height=2.

Each unit of height corresponds to approximately 6ft 6ins (2 metres), so the maximum height represented is about sixty feet.

In real life there would probably be a short section of embankment between the two cuttings.

Setting of Cutting height
We use Ctl+Right Cursor and Ctl+Left Cursor for setting cutting levels on the right and left hand side of the track, where they are not symmetrical.

The keys - + and = are used for continuing the cutting along the track.

pressing the = key will cause the cutting depth at the editor point to be equal to the previous section.

pressing the - key will cause the cutting depth at the editor point to reduce by 1 unit from the previous section.

pressing the + key will cause the cutting depth at the editor point to increase by 1 unit from the previous section.

Tunnels and Bridges over the railway
While you are not going to place these in the track file at this stage, you do need to prepare for them.

Make a note of the MP of tunnel portals and bridges over the railway line. In most cases there will need to be a section of cutting leading up to, and leaving these features. They can be constructed as shown in the previous section.

To pin-point the tunnel portals (and bridges) you can place a level crossing at those points as an alternative; you might also like to place a signal at each end as well, as frequently they will have been placed there in real life.

Here is a capture of a tunnel that has been constructed in this way - first the advance preparation, and then below it, the intermediate version with the portals created with level crossings, and below that, the completed job.

Note what the insertion of the level crossing did to the cutting in the middle picture, and how easy it is to repair it later when actually converting it to a tunnel.

However... Please do not place the tunnel sections yet... Please be patient!