I was tinkering around today trying to figure out the grade of an interesting track arangement that I want to model. But I had no idea what the grade was, and measuring it by zooming out and using the scale in the bottom right corner didn't help.
Then I realized that when you click anywere, a little marker pops up and gives you a set of co-ordinates. The second number I figured out seemed to pertain to horizantal distance, which makes sense (x,y). So I wrote the last number down of two different co-ordinate point and calculated the difference. Viola! To measure vertical distance, measure the length on the screen using a ruler, flip it horizontally, and find out the co-ordinates from point A on the ruler to point B (if that makes sense). I inputted these differences in the appropriate boxes of this website:
http://www.modelbuildings.org/free-track-grade-calculator.html
and it gave me the grade estimate. This works with the google maps numbers because the website doesn't need a specific measuring system, just two numbers from the same system. Now if only I could figure out what each decimal place of a google maps stood for in imperial or metric units...
Feel free to comment!
I'm beginning to realize that Windows 10 and sound decoders have a lot in common. There are so many things you have to change in order to get them to work the way you want.
I do not think this means what you think it means. The two numbers you get when you click and hold on Google Maps are the latitude and longitude. Here's an explanation. The distance of the second number per unit (degree of longitude) varies substantially due to the curvature of the earth (from nearly 70 miles at the Equator to 0 at the poles), so they're not very useful for measuring distance.
On the other hand, it’s easy to roughly measure distance on Google Earth. There is a handy ruler tool that allows one to measure a path in feet, miles, etc. It’s also easy to see the elevation of any point on Google Earth by hovering over that point and reading the elevation in the lower-right-hand-corner.
From that, one could roughly measure the end-to-end grade. But in real life, there are ups and downs along the way, so the steepest (“ruling”) grade often occurs in a particular location along the way – and will usually be steeper than the overall grade between the end points.
From a practical standpoint, the grades on our layouts are most often determined by the practical matters of how far we can run to reach a specific elevation.
Byron
P.S. In fact, it's even more helpful than I thought. The Google Earth Pro (free) ruler tool now even includes an elevation profile which is only approximate, but interesting.
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
BNSF UP and others modelerI was tinkering around today trying to figure out the grade of an interesting track arangement that I want to model....
As Byron has noted, the space available for your layout, along with your trackplan, will determine what your grades will be, and in some cases, will also determine what your trackplan will not be.
I had a trackplan (just a rough sketch, really) but lost about 2/3 of my layout room space to "other uses".As a result, I discarded the original plan, built benchwork to fit the oddly-shaped "new" space. while leaving adequate room for aisleways, then placed the widest curves possible at each of the ten corners of that room.All that was left was to join those curves with straight-ish track, then add risers to support the cookie-cutter style roadbed to appropriate heights that would allow a partial second level, and grades which were manageable. Turned out that 2.8%, uncompensated for curves, is manageable, but it wouldn't be a number popular with most real railroads.
Wayne
cuyama I do not think this means what you think it means. The two numbers you get when you click and hold on Google Maps are the latitude and longitude. Here's an explanation. The distance of the second number per unit (degree of longitude) varies substantially due to the curvature of the earth (from nearly 70 miles at the Equator to 0 at the poles), so they're not very useful for measuring distance.
I understand that. Thats why the method I outlined for using these numbers works for rough grade measuring. The number I got was a 2.10% grade, which is a very plausible number, considering how steep it appears. Because what I was measuring was only a few 1000 feet long, I don't think curvature would cause a problem. However, you make a good poin if someone is trying to model anentire trackplan or other massive prototype construction...
And to correct any notions, I am just modeling a small section of track on the BNSF main line. The grade will work fine for what I have. I like 'em steep.
BNSF UP and others modelerThats why the method I outlined for using these numbers works for rough grade measuring.
Not really. You can do whatever you like and call it good, of course, but others may be misled by your incorrect assumptions.
What the OPs website is doing is just the slope formula, that is m=(y2-y1)/(x2-x1) were m=slope (grade for railroaders), and the two coordinates are (x1,y1) and (x2,y2). The answer would be expressed as a decimal, so to convert it to the percent we are firmiliar with you need to multiply it by 100%.
If you understand unit cancelation that if both the Ys and the Xs have the same units, they will cancel out and the result in a value without units, which gain the % units when you multiply by 100%. Hence irregardless of the unit the answer will always be a percent.
Hope you found that interesting!
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
SPSOT fan What the OPs website is doing is just the slope formula, that is m=(y2-y1)/(x2-x1) were m=slope (grade for railroaders), and the two coordinates are (x1,y1) and (x2,y2). The answer would be expressed as a decimal, so to convert it to the percent we are firmiliar with you need to multiply it by 100%. If you understand unit cancelation that if both the Ys and the Xs have the same units, they will cancel out and the result in a value without units, which gain the % units when you multiply by 100%. Hence irregardless of the unit the answer will always be a percent. Hope you found that interesting!
Thanks!
SPSOT fanf you understand unit cancelation that if both the Ys and the Xs have the same units
They don't, in this case. Degrees of latitude and degrees of longitude represent different distances in the real world nearly everywhere around the globe.
how is altitude being determined, in addition to lat and long?
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
there is an elevation finder page that reports altitude
gregc how is altitude being determined, in addition to lat and long?
It's not really. I just tried to figure out a way to measure the height of "small" objects in google maps to calculate grades.
In plain vanilla Google Maps, you can get horizontal distance between point A and point B by right-clicking at point A and selecting "Measure Distance". A small black circle goes down on the map, and then left-click at point B and a black line with tick marks at various intervals and the total distance is overlaid. You can continue to left click at other locations to get a running total. Left click on one of the circles to remove it and right click and select "Clear Measurement" to, well, you can figure that out.Also, here's a Google labs page where you can zoom into a location and click on the map to get an elevation above sea level: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/examples/elevation-simple