Derail that can switch On or Off

[radionut44]

I want to add a derail that can be manually switched between On and Off positions. I have downloaded several from DLS, but found no property or way to change between Off and On positions/functions. I am trying to emulate an HO Model Railroad.

 

[JCitron]

A derail in Trainz is actually a switch lever.

Place the derail at a spline point and then add a very short piece of invisible track for the derail position.

With the short stub of invisible track, you'll have a green and red arrow you can switch back and forth as needed.

 

[TSwenson]

And John beat me to it.... A junction with the diverging route as a invisible track and the derail as the lever.
Most routes don't have the right amount of derails (or in the right places) because of the extra work they are. In modern practice there should be one protecting the main line at each siding unless there is no way something could roll out on the main (and definitely if the industry has a internal switcher).

 

[radionut44]

Thank you both for your responses. I have a solution working and I am completely happy with the result. I wish that assets on the DLS that need other items to enable them to function had information in their description to guide you. Some do, but many don’t. The wiki had no information about derails as far as I could tell.

 

[TSwenson]

Yes, the lack of information in the description is one of my pet peeves in Trainz, doesn't mater, DLS, CM, or other sites, better descriptions please (end rant).

The whole no derails thing is a different thing, most Trainzers don't deal with railroads on a professional basis and it is designed to be a fun game... meaning that the detail of derails is often overlooked, or ignored in preference of expediency. There are lots of reasons that they weren't put in, but it more or less boils down to the two reasons; didn't know, or to much work. Essentially derails are put in to protect either the mainline or personnel working on equipment (such as a shop or unloading cars in an industry). In Trainz we don't have some of the same concerns operationally as a real railroad because the game isn't set up to have accidents (such as a car getting away), this does change how we build route and sessions. It may be a carryover from earlier versions of Trainz, or just one of those "real" things that got dropped in favor of being a fun sim. Trust me, trying to find that rusty old derail in the weeds at the wee hours of the morning on some old industrial track is a pain in the ahh... you know what; and missing that derail has earned many a trainman some time off.

 

[radionut44]

Yes, the lack of information in the description is one of my pet peeves in Trainz, doesn't mater, DLS, CM, or other sites, better descriptions please (end rant).

The whole no derails thing is a different thing, most Trainzers don't deal with railroads on a professional basis and it is designed to be a fun game... meaning that the detail of derails is often overlooked, or ignored in preference of expediency. There are lots of reasons that they weren't put in, but it more or less boils down to the two reasons; didn't know, or to much work. Essentially derails are put in to protect either the mainline or personnel working on equipment (such as a shop or unloading cars in an industry). In Trainz we don't have some of the same concerns operationally as a real railroad because the game isn't set up to have accidents (such as a car getting away), this does change how we build route and sessions. It may be a carryover from earlier versions of Trainz, or just one of those "real" things that got dropped in favor of being a fun sim. Trust me, trying to find that rusty old derail in the weeds at the wee hours of the morning on some old industrial track is a pain in the ahh... you know what; and missing that derail has earned many a trainman some time off.

The model rr I am attempting to emulate is by a working NS engineer, and in his videos he tries to model and operate in a prototypical manner. Thus, I wanted a derail to not just be visually there, but to be switchable and when on, to derail anything moving across it. With the help I got, mine does that! I understand that not everyone who uses Trainz cares, but obviously those who created animated assets did a good job! Someone with knowledge and know how should add the subject to the wiki.

 

[JCitron]

Derails do work. Back in the 1990s, Guilford served a warehouse located upgrade off of the B&M mainline just north of Wilmington Jct. One of the crew members neglected to lock the padlock on a derail put in place to prevent boxcars from rolling away and they did right on to the mainline fouling the tracks and delaying commuter rail service.

Since this stretch was single-tracked back in the 1970s, there was no way for a switcher to come down from Lawrence to couple on to the cars because some were still sitting on the switch blocking the line. After a few hours, a switcher came down from Lowell Metacross Street yard via the Boston to Lowell line then across the Wildcat branch and then back up towards Lawrence to couple on to the boxcars on the mainline and pull them out of the way.

 

[TSwenson]

The model rr I am attempting to emulate is by a working NS engineer, and in his videos he tries to model and operate in a prototypical manner. Thus, I wanted a derail to not just be visually there, but to be switchable and when on, to derail anything moving across it. With the help I got, mine does that! I understand that not everyone who uses Trainz cares, but obviously those who created animated assets did a good job! Someone with knowledge and know how should add the subject to the wiki.

Sounds like fun... getting things prototypically right can be a pain in the backside, but can be well worth it.
I think that derails might not be in the Wiki because of the global nature of Trainz and the myriad of ways they are done across the world, or perhaps nobody has gotten around to it, I'd bet on the latter.
If you want a route with good derails try "Emily Bay Branch" by "felix_g" which is a small MRR route. Try https://forums.auran.com/threads/emily-bay-branch-model-rr-layout-release.110624/ for the route and subsequent discussions on the water splines as the original "water" was broken by a Trainz patch update.

 

[HiBaller]

Jumping in here from a position of near-ignorance, isn't there a rule like "control next switch" or "toggle the next switch?" If there was, then might that work to move the points of a derail to ON and OFF? Or, am I off base here? (I usually am.)

Bill