AnyRail 6 Tutorial Video Part 20: Fun, Easy, Easements

In this first video, I talk about what an easement is and why you would want to use them on your model railroad. I go over the parts of an easement and I provide a practical example of an easement and how it differs from track work that does not use easements. I also mention several sources that I used from the web. Here is a list of those sources and links to them.
Bob Fuller I Train Videos / @bobfuller
John Galt Line HO Railroad www.jglrr.com/... Links Directly to his calculator page
Ron’s Trains N Things Video on building easements on your railroad • Model Railroad Track L...
Model Railroader information on easements mrr.trains.com...
Steam Powered Radio - Takes you to my AnyRail tutorial prints page
steampoweredra...

[@hangarflying]

I don’t have logic behind why, other than a) I want easements, and b) I want to save space, but I decided that the total angle of the entry and exit easements should be about 1/3 of the total angle of the curve. Not sure how it’ll run, but it makes sense in my head.

[@caravancapers5091]

Loving the videos. They have really helped me. Easements are (as you mention) spirals. Different countries use different spiral formula (they even differ from rail to road). If you are running high speed trains then they will help keep your trains on track. Also on the easement is where the cant (super elevation) grows from 0 to max (max on the curve) max to 0. I think it is fair to say that an easement is used whenever there is a change in alignment (from a curve to another curve, not just a straight to a curve). The bigger issue for modellers is the compromise between space and authenticity...

[@steampoweredradio2981]

Hi, yeah easements are odd. Another subscriber who lives in England and I talked about how to do videos on this subject. He made a really nice one that he never posted and then I made mine. Super-elevation is out of my league so I didn't go into it. There are lots of good videos and articles on the subject so I figured who needs my input on it. Glad the videos are helpful and I have gotten back into making them again after a short time off. Take care, Dave

[@SFRATON]

Thank you for your videos and for the downloads. It is very much appreciated and will help me in understanding and developing my track plan. So thank you again. Kevin

[@steampoweredradio2981]

Kevin,
Thank you and you are very welcome. I'm glad to know that you are finding them useful in developing your trackplan. Now if I can only find the time to finish my design..... I hope to get the final design for mine soon and get the finishing touches posted.
Thanks for watching!
Dave

[@bobfuller]

Very nicely described, Dave. It's a daunting subject at first glance but once you break it down and get used to the terminology it becomes simpler. And as you have shown, there is no need for complex math, just adding and subtracting of angles or simply just winging it without any math if you prefer. The Anyrail tools do the hard work for you, as I am sure you will show later.

[@michaeldenoncourt1526]

Thanks for the enlightening tutorial. Looking forward to building those easements with some much improved insight.

[@steampoweredradio2981]

Michael,
Glad they helped. I tried printing out an easement that would fit on a 11x17 inch piece of paper. I was thinking there might be a way to change the radius and then use the print out to make a cardstock or foam core or something template. Just a random thought but I might play around with it in the future.
Dave

[@michaeldenoncourt1526]

@@steampoweredradio2981 I will stay tuned! And thank you for what you do>

[@MarkBreugelmans]

superb video in easements and how to use them in AnyRail. It sure makes a transition from a straight to a curve way more prototypical.
But what about the "smooth flex" function in AnyRail ... can we define the minimum radius AnyRail should use when you "smooth" a flex piece of track?

[@steampoweredradio2981]

Mark, Glad you like the videos. More will be coming after new granddaughter arrives and other things in life are taken care of. As far as I know there is no way to set a minimum radius when using smooth flex and it always doesn't quite give you the radius you want. Sometimes I think you just have to do a trial and error, cut here, connect the track, add smooth flex, see result, rinse and repeat. I will add this to my list and look into it more and maybe if I find an answer I'll include it in a video.
Dave

[@michaeldenoncourt1526]

Paul