Continuous Running of a Layout?

[Ernest2d6]

I've been wondering how one go about running an continuous layout?

I made an copy of PO&N (speed tree version, to move the trees off the tracks :hehe and renamed it Port Vanden & Ogden (PV&O) A lot of detailing to be added to fit an 1957-67 era. I always wanted an layout since I was kid and being to poor then and space/time challenged now I decided to build off this layout.

Anyway I tried to run a session working my train around the set dodging the AI trains spitting out of the portals and I now I'm wondering after I park my local if there is some way to add cars to industry and still keep the cars I moved and the train I parked to pick up where I left off without having to build another session?

Ern.

 

[bulpup]

I've been wondering how one go about running an continuous layout?

I made an copy of PO&N (speed tree version, to move the trees off the tracks :hehe and renamed it Port Vanden & Ogden (PV&O) A lot of detailing to be added to fit an 1957-67 era. I always wanted an layout since I was kid and being to poor then and space/time challenged now I decided to build off this layout.

Anyway I tried to run a session working my train around the set dodging the AI trains spitting out of the portals and I now I'm wondering after I park my local if there is some way to add cars to industry and still keep the cars I moved and the train I parked to pick up where I left off without having to build another session?

Ern.

?Save the session in driver.

 

[sniper297]

You missed the "add cars to industry", I think what he's asking is if you can get new cars to switch around after you finish moving the existing ones. Some people do like marathons, after I created the first MSTS PO&N "open ended" or "freestyle" concept, one guy spent six hours collecting every loose consist on the route to stuff into the coal mine, wanted to know if it was possible to drive more than 24 hours? :hehe:

I'm new to Trainz, but I've heard you can order AI trains to pick up and set out cars - so my thinking would be every 30 minutes or hour spawn a light engine consist to pick up cars from a yard, take them into a portal and off the route. Another portal would spawn a complete freight train programmed to drive to a yard and drop off new cars, then exit light engine via another portal. The idea there would be the player moves cars from yard A to yard B, an AI train picks up the cars the player dropped off and removes them from the route, another AI appears and drops off a different set of cars for the player to move somewhere else - at which point another light engine AI would pick those up and remove them.

Great idea if it can be done, simulating realistic operations to run continuously (obviously you would need to save and reload occasionally so you don't fall asleep at the computer) by having the AI replace stuff that you moved and remove it from the place you moved it to.

Made a test route to try this out, but there's an order to couple, no order to uncouple? Or does the "couple" order MEAN uncouple if the train is already attached? Another snag, would it even be possible to order a light engine to navigate to West Yard track 2 and pick up whatever cars are there when you don't know which cars the player will be delivering there?

Sounds like a great idea if the method can be figured out.

 

[William0d0]

Made a test route to try this out, but there's an order to couple, no order to uncouple? Or does the "couple" order MEAN uncouple if the train is already attached? Another snag, would it even be possible to order a light engine to navigate to West Yard track 2 and pick up whatever cars are there when you don't know which cars the player will be delivering there?

Sounds like a great idea if the method can be figured out.

You have to edit "Driver Command" for it to show up.

 

[sniper297]

Thanks, that does give me "uncouplez" so I can add that. Dunno if it works yet or not, this is kinda like someone asking "will that Land Rover make it to the top of Kilimanjaro", I'm willing to give it a shot but need to learn the basics of how to drive a car first! (What's this "steering wheel" thing everyone keeps talking about?) :hehe:

 

[tommylee3010]

Try the Emit Trainz Now ruel you can get it here http://jointedrail.com/
And the Quick Drive ruel, but you need to creat a dozen consists and save them in the Consist section of your train section

 

[tommy2tap]

i downloaded the "uncouplz from" rule from the DLS. this allows to uncouple from a specific car in your consist. I have been playing around with making the "united central public" layout function completely under AI control. just want to make the trains run between industry pairs to load, the go to a portal and return empty to do it all again.

 

[sparky15]

http://trainzproroutes.com/downloads/index.php?act=view&id=1515

All I did with this route was to set portals to emit trains every ten or fifteen minutes. Each had a certain consist and drive to a trackmark and wait for one minute. You have to take control of those AI trains to set out or pick up from the small yard. Then, click continue schedule and they will go their own way to the other portal.

A simple route I did to play with the AI and signaling a bit, nothing special. I had it run for several hours with no problems at all. It can be done pretty easily. I didn't set up the AI to pick up or set out automatically. I did it this way so you can control what's in the small interchange yard easier. If you're off working the mine and a coal drag emits, you can ignore it for instance, another will be along shortly.

Dave.....

 

[sniper297]

Well, I got tangled up with other stuff, but finally got around to trying this - no joy. I set up a double ended yard with two portals at the north end and one at the south. The south portal spawns an AI train every 10 minutes which pulls onto track 7 and uncoupled the back of the train, then drives off to portal 2 north, The player grabs the dropped off cars from track 7 and switches them to track 8. North portal 2 spawns a light engine consist every 25 minutes with orders to couple onto GATX tanker #1 on track 8, and since the car that the dropoff trains uncouple from is GATX tanker #1, that becomes the lead car. Theoretically the light engine consist should be happy to pick up any GATX tanker #1 sitting on the track he expects it to be on, along with any other cars coupled to the back of that, but it don't work that way. He expects to pick up the cars that were in place when the session started, and won't do it any other way.

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi sniper297

Have a look at this thread regarding the Couple at Trackmark rule

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=25439

I don't know if will work in 2010 but if it does it could be just what you need.

Regards

Brian

 

[sniper297]

Thanks, got sidetracked by other things, but I downloaded the rule and I'm trying it out now. Looks good so far.

 

[sniper297]

Try this;

For TS2010, might work in TS2009.

http://www.humyo.com/FChMvwQ/yardwork.cdp?a=BqD12oJ4mUU

Right click, save link as, then import yardwork.cdp. Check in content manager and download whatever's missing, IIRC that's only the "couple at trackmark" rule. Read the instructions, see if you can keep it going for 96 hours. I would advise saving occasionally. :wave:

 

[sniper297]

And furthermore;

That previous one required player involvement, this does not;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbK0M3XCMPQ

Took a few tries to set that up, the first test they all went psycho on me. Biggest problems are (1) apparently none of the dwarf signals are permissive since the pickup AI is reluctant to enter the track occupied by the cars he's supposed to couple to. Got around that by using signal bridges with permissive gantry signals. (2) AI has a hard time figuring out a path thru a yard ladder, often sitting for several minutes throwing switches in a random order. Setting the default position for the switches in surveyor helps.

So the above is if the player does nothing but sit and watch, or drives off somewhere else on the route, that sequence will continue until the player quits the session. How about interaction for the marathon idea? Unlike the previous experiment with the player being required to move cars out of the way for the next dropoff and set them where the next pickup expects to find them, this is completely optional;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=optJinMu9aw

That's a 30 minute cycle, the player has the option to add more cars to the consist being removed so they're no longer on the route, or stealing all but one car between dropoff and pickup to add more cars during the session. If you were crazy enough and had nothing better to do you could spend half a day filling up the yard with new cars, then empty it out by adding cars to the pickup.

 

[JohnnyC1]

Try using the invisible signal right before the end of the ladder, in 2009/10 the loco will stop then proceed to make the joint.

Johnny

 

[sniper297]

Yeah, I'm trying to avoid using invisible signals if possible, but unless I can come up with a surefire method to help the AI navigate yard ladders I might have to use some directly on the switches. It looks to me as if the AI stops at a red signal, then starts throwing switches in an attempt to find a clear path to the next signal, too many switches in between signals gets the poor little beastie all flummoxed. :hehe:

 

[tommylee3010]

Don't know if this has been mentionned, but your also gonn'a want to have trains leave the layout, I don't know if it is a major issue with you, but to manny trains on such a big layout will cause lag, alot of it but it is 100% posible to run continuessly in TS2010, as you can clone trains, and add trains and delete trains all with one easy rule, forgette the name though , but you never have to worry about Portals sending 10 to many trains.