EL Over Road Turns/Connections

[Naufragus]

I have usually just used subways and monorail but I'm building a city whose theme calls for EL.

The problem I have is when the track needs to curve or it intersects another EL line.  There is NO PUZZLE PIECE for these situations . Who ever did the GLR did a great job and ther is a peice for every situation!  A curved El puzzle piece is really needed. I either end up with streets that have a block or so of wasted space and dead end roads because I have to sink it into the subway and connect the lines or I end up with a pretty funky and wasted piece of real estate around the curve.

Any tips on connecting networks?

[DFire870]

The reason why there isn't one for el-rail is it's unrealistic for there to be a 90-degree turn (and yes, the GLR has that, but I'm not sure why it has that).

Honestly, it doesn't waste THAT much space.

[Naufragus]

The reason why there isn't one for el-rail is it's unrealistic for there to be a 90-degree turn (and yes, the GLR has that, but I'm not sure why it has that).

Honestly, it doesn't waste THAT much space.

It isnt really a space issue -- thats just annoying.  The problem is the connecting either the rail or the road.  One of them is going to end up with a dead-end.  Even without a 90 degree turn peice there is no El crossing peice either. 

I am just missing the practicality of this paticular NAM I guess.   

[vester]

Maybe you could draw us a picture of what it is that you are missing ?

[Naufragus]

I think the issue is one of realism.  i understand that shrap 90 degree turns are actually possible in reality.  The problem is that in real life there would be a switch.  The art we have to work with doesnt move the pylons so we are stuck with straight EL pieces.  A puzzle piece that even took up 2 tiles and offered a Y spilt would be great. 

If you curve the rail going E or W instead of N or S the pylons prevent the Road from connecting to the Road under the rail.  If you use the subway connector instead you end up with about 6 tiles that the road doesnt connect.

If you have 2 RoR lines, one going N/S and another going E/W you cant intersect them beacuse there is no + puzzle piece.  The GLR and regular Rail have puzzle pieces that the EL set is missing. 

The El over road just seems to be good for long straight streches of road and not compact inner city downtown areas.  It just seems more practical and feasable to run normal El beside a road and you dont have any of these issues.

[Andreas]

Well, the El-Rail over Road puzzle piece collection is by no means finished yet - there are a lot more pieces to do, but as far as I know it's quite a complicated task, esp. when it involves switches and things like this. Maybe it's even not possible to create Y pieces and stuff like this - my knowledge in this field is next to zero. For more details about this, you should ask in the NAM forum.