It would be very useful to have a way of bringing geometry including turnouts between models i.e. as in the .alg files. Rather than having to use a dgn.
With large alignment files, they are a lot more manageable/faster when split into smaller sections so being able to separate alignments into multiple strings including turnouts and then combining at the end would be a massive time saver.
Currently, LandXML provides a useful method for transferring horizontal and vertical alignment geometry between OpenRail DGN files. However, there does not appear to be an equivalent workflow for transferring OpenRail turnout objects while preserving their associated rail-specific intelligence and relationships.
Turnouts contain more information than standard civil geometry, including the turnout definition/catalog information, mainline association, branch/diverging alignment geometry, placement information, and other rail-specific properties and relationships. Because this information is not preserved through a standard LandXML export/import, users transferring rail designs between DGN files may need to import the alignments and then manually re-place and re-associate the turnouts.
It would be beneficial to provide an import/export or transfer workflow specifically for OpenRail rail objects that allows users to:
Export selected alignments and their associated turnouts from one DGN.
Import them into another DGN while maintaining the turnout as an intelligent OpenRail object.
Preserve mainline and diverging alignment relationships.
Preserve turnout definition/catalog information and relevant properties.
Maintain horizontal and vertical alignment information associated with the transferred geometry.
Support transferring multiple alignments and turnouts together without requiring the user to manually reconstruct the turnout relationships.
Business/User Value
This would significantly improve workflows where large rail projects are split between multiple design files, disciplines, project segments, or consultants. Users could develop rail geometry in one file and reliably transfer portions of the design to other files without rebuilding turnouts or losing OpenRail intelligence.
This would also reduce manual rework and the potential for errors caused by having to recreate turnout placements and associations after transferring alignment geometry.
It would usefull have tool for export and import turnouts. When DGN file become corrupted, it would be helpfull to recreate project.