Real Cant Engineering

Real cant (superelevation) for railway curves in Transport Fever 3, worked out like on a real line. Tracks bank in their curves, trains lean with them, canted curves can be taken faster, and the overhead line follows the leaning trains.

How to use

• Open the track building tool: a Cant switch On / Off sits in the left toolbar, for every track type.
• On: the tracks you draw bank in their curves. Off: they stay flat, as in the base game.
• Leave the box above the switch empty for automatic cant, or type your own value in mm or degrees, then press Enter.
• Replace Track with Cant On adds the cant to existing tracks; with Cant Off, it removes it.

Real railway maths

• Equilibrium cant = 11.8 × V² / R, minus a cant deficiency of 90 mm, like real lines (or Comfort: 80 % of the equilibrium cant).
• Never more than 160 mm (180 mm on high-speed lines, 230 km/h and more): the French railway (SNCF) limits.
• Smooth transitions in and out of every curve; S-curves pass through 0.
• Switches, stations, level crossings and track ends stay flat.

Faster curves

• A canted curve can be taken faster than the same curve laid flat. Curve speeds come from the real SNCF cant formula, and you choose the gain in the settings: Realistic (×1.5 at 160 mm, as on a real line), Normal (×1.25, default) or Off.
• The track tool shows the canted speed while you draw.
• Near switches and level crossings, where the cant goes back to 0, trains slow down.

Trains and trams lean

• Every rail vehicle leans with the track under it: base-game trains, wagons, trams, and trains and trams from other mods.
• Vehicles from other mods keep their own animations (pantographs, doors...): their own script runs first, then the lean.
• Each car and each bogie leans on its own, smoothly, at x1 and x4.
• Trains stand upright over switches and level crossings.

Catenary that follows the cant

• The contact wire moves to the inside of the curve, so it stays above the pantograph of leaning trains.
• Masts move with the wire, on a concrete footing. On double track, the outer mast keeps its place with a longer arm.
• No mast in the way of another track or in the middle of a switch, and the wire stays continuous over switches.

The track itself

• Rails, sleepers and ballast tilted around the inner rail, with rounded ballast shoulders and no gaps.
• The ground rises against the raised side of the ballast (paid like a normal embankment).
• Smooth join with the game's own ballast next to stations and plain tracks; parallel tracks share one ballast bed.
• Bridges and tunnels handled.
• Ballast and catenary can't be bulldozed on their own: bulldoze the track and they go with it.
• Track types from other mods (like Track Speeds) get canted versions too.

Track info

• While you draw a track, next to the cursor: height above the ground, altitude and slope.
• With Cant On, also the cant the curve will get: in mm and degrees, with its tightest radius (or your manual cant).
• The Incline slider is always shown under Height, in steps of 0.25 % (0.05 % with the fine step).
• Both can be turned off in the settings. If you also use Better Track Tool, only one of the two shows them.

Big maps

Building something only updates what changed around it, not the whole network. Roads, buildings and trees that don't touch a track don't start any update.

Coming from Real Track Cant ?

Set Switch from Real Track Cant to Yes in the mod settings and load your save. Every Real Track Cant track becomes a canted track of this mod, its drawings are removed, and the leftover placeholders (the pink and white checkered blocks a removed mod leaves behind) are cleaned up. Tracks from other track mods are handled too. Keep a backup of your save first, then save once it's done.

Settings (mod list)

• Cant calculation: Real railway (default) works like real lines, slow curves bank a bit less. Comfort uses 80 % of the ideal cant, so every curve banks a bit more.
• Cant transition: how long the cant takes to build up where a curve starts and ends. Fast, Normal (default) or Realistic (longest, like a modern main line).
• Cant intensity: how much the track leans on screen. Realistic (x1) or Marked (x1.25, default, easier to see). Speeds always use the real cant.
• Curve speed gain on canted track: Realistic (x1.5 at 160 mm, like a real line), Normal (x1.25, default) or Off (trains still lean, curve speeds stay the same as on flat track).
• Catenary follows the cant: Yes (default) or No. Choose No if another mod changes the catenary or its poles.
• Track info and Incline slider: the helpers of the track tool. Yes by default.
• Switch from Real Track Cant: No (default) or Yes, see above.
• Prepare removal: No (default) or Yes, see below.

Removing the mod from a save

This is not a cosmetic mod: trains run faster in canted curves, and canted tracks are track types of the mod, so a save with canted tracks needs it. Try it on a copy of your save first. To remove it:

1. Set Prepare removal to Yes and load the save.

2. Wait a few seconds: every canted track becomes a normal track again.

3. Save, then remove the mod.

Known limits

• Tested on Windows and console. Mac and Linux feedback is welcome.
• Some steam locomotives stay upright in canted curves (the wagons behind them still lean).
• With a manual cant, trains do not slow down near switches.
• Don't use this mod and Real Track Cant at the same time: use Switch from Real Track Cant instead.

About

Real Cant Engineering is a separate mod, with its own calculation, catenary, train lean and track tool. It is not affiliated with Real Track Cant.

Bug report

Tell me in the comments or on Discord (Cayde_Off), with a screenshot and the file crash_dump/stdout.txt (lines starting with [cayde_cant]). If a train or tram doesn't lean, the lines starting with [cayde_cant] train lean say which one and why.

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