Car Movement System

[Dap]

I have been knocking around some ideas for a system that will give each car a series of specific destinations that will simulate prototype operations. After much cussing and discussing, I have put together a set of specifications that describes what I think is a very doable system. It is not the ultimate solution - it does not create switch lists, it does not track car movements nor does it whistle Dixie in the dark, BUT - it does give a destination to every car that is on the map and every car that arrives on the map via a portal. The rest is up to you, the player. Consider the possibilities.

I tried to post the specs on this website, but there are 12 pages and it will not fit. So, you can find it at http://forum.gaurc.us/index.php?topic=208.0

I would appreciate any and all comments that are specific to this proposal. If you have a different idea, please post it on another thread. If you haven't read the proposal, you probably won't have a valid comment to make. I'm not trying to be nasty, I'd just like to have a serious, focused discussion concerning this proposal.

What do you like about the proposed system?
What do you not like about the proposed system?
What would you add and how would it be implemented?
What would you subract and why?
Would you use this system on your railroads?

Let the discussions begin.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Dap]

Well, no one volunteered to write code so I tought myself with the help of the great guys that monitor the Trainz Devepolment website forum. I have just put the finishing touches on the first working draft of my system and have it available for beta testing. I am quite pleased with the results. There may be another bug, but so far it seems to be pretty solid. One drawback is that the data from a session cannot be saved. Just a quirk of the software, but then Trainz is only a $39.95 piece of software.

Here is what the system looks like. I call it the Car Movement and Traffic Management System or CMTM for short. There are three assets that make up the system. Fist is the CMTM Portal which is Chris Margetts' Re-Rail Portal with a simple addition to make it work with the CMTM system. This portal will emit a string of cars without a locomotive - a very necessary component to simulate interchange traffic with another railroad. (One feature that makes it fun it that when you deliver cars to this interchange portal, you have to "drop kick" them into the portal so you don't loose your locomotive. I take a 20mph run at the portal track, uncouple the enigne at that speed then cut the throttle. The cars roll smoothly into the portal and you still have your locomotive. Most protoype railrods discourage this manuver but it works in Trains. The alternate would be to put the portal on a down grade and let gravity take the cars to the portal.)

These Portals also function as a regular portal. Each freight car in every train that is emitted by these portals has a series of destinations assigned to it. The second asset that is added to the route in Surveyor is the CMTM Anchor. This is a simple scenery asset that instantiates a Library Class script which is the third component - the heart of the system.

To impliment this System on a specific route, one must do a lot of operations and traffic flow planning. These movements are then entered into a spreadsheet in a specific format. This data is then exported as a comma delimited text file (.cvs format) and inbedded in the string table of CMTMSystem's config.txt file.

Implimenting this system takes a lot of work, but if you are into prototype operations the pay-off is worth it. There are some assets that will need to be "fixed" to work with this system. It relies on all freight vehicles to have in their config.txt files the correct "catagory class". Not all content from the DLS have all the correct data in their config.txt files so if you want to use that vehicle, it must be fixed.

Now, in Driver, there will be a small pop-up window in the upper left corner of the screen. This window states the name and destination of the last vehicle upon which you have done a left mouse button click. This window also allows you to notify the system when a car has been delivered. This begins a clock that will keep track of the amount of time left before the car will be loaded or unloaded. So, you have delivered a freight car and clicked on the delivered button. The next ime you click on that car, the window will tell you how much time is left before the load/unload will be finished. You determine this number when you enter data in the spreadsheet. If the time has already expired, the next destination is displayed.

If you are interested in beta testing this system, PM me your email address.

 

[wreeder]

David,

I would be interested in testing your system. I will pm you.

William