 Okay, let's talk about easements. They can be a mysterious subject and many seem unsure how to apply them to their layout. I'm going to show you how you can easily determine the proper easement for any curve. First let's explain what an easement is. In simple terms, instead of going abruptly from a straight track to a full curve, an easement eases you into the curve with the curve radius going slowly from infinity or straight track to the desired curve radius gradually. This not only makes entering the curve less jarring, it also creates a very pleasing, smooth, flowing look to the track on curves. Here's a diagram showing how adding an easement changes the curve. The red track shows the easement added. Notice on the left, you can start the curve a lot sooner on the straight track on each end, but that offsets the curve inward dramatically, or you can offset the tangent or straight track outward, which leaves the inside curve location at basically the same place. Most of the time on the prototype it's easier to move the tangent track outward than it is to move the curve inward. Think of a curve along a canyon wall, and you can see how moving the curve inward would require removing a lot more rock, making the line a lot more expensive.