LARS, PROTOLARS & MIN

[philskene]

Hi Nix --

I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition. But then nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZQI0Xm29To

The Steel Works:

That power station building, "PowerHouseNS", never worked correctly for me. For some reason the coal always refused to unload properly.

So, I've provided two options for unloading iron ore, coal (actually, real blast furnaces use coke, but there is no room here for a coking plant) and limestone into the mixing area at the base of the conveyor feed into the blast furnaces:
Either at the the slightly raised level - ProtoLARS.
Or at ground level - LARS.

Take your choice, but if configuring the raised level make sure to mouse click the ProtoLARS, not the PowerHouseNS.

The large Conveyor Gantry is intended to serve the iron ore and limestone storage area.

Further along at both raised and ground level is another LARS and another ProtoLARS tracks for loading and unloading scrap.
_____

The way that I see the Steel Works operating is:

Trainz dump iron ore, coal and limestone into the mixing area (from the raised or ground level).

This is converted into liquid iron in the Blast Furnaces.

The liquid iron is taken to the Continuous Process Strip Mill (the Basic Oxygen Furnace), the upper level in those torpedo cars, together with scrap metal.

Here it is converted into steel slab (yes, for reasons unknown I know Maddy placed steel coil at the loading point).

The slab steel is taken to the Steel Mill and Long Products Mill, where it is milled into a range of products. And yes, the Long Products is tight - but that's part the challenge!

Scrap metal originates either from outside (the Armour transfer Yard), or Steptoe's at Port Ogden South.
_____

I've just tested the iron ore, coal and scrap LARS and ProtoLARS using Maddy's WL&G mill gondola, which is configured to carry all three.

It all works perfectly !~!

I could save and e-mail it to you if you wish?

Phil

Edit:
The trees? Well, in today's environment, one can never be too green.

 

[ish6]

Hi Phil,

I read your entire post and you have given me a couple of ideas for future visible product!!

Just a side note that wiley4 upload an entire industrial active with rolling stock as well that load and unloads of ore -- I've made the billboards and sign for it! (that was a few months back)

I've also made 5 different type of ore with the texture and rolling stocks that loads -- and I might release those in the end of the month!!

Just a few wild notes!
Sorry for the off topic guys!
Ishie

 

[Dap]

That sounds more like a track design or signalling issue (such as allowing sufficient distance between loaders/junctions/signals/portals) than a Industry/Portal specific problem.

If you're interested in a interchange setup, you can also try the "LARS Interchange IT" available at the TPR Download depot. I've tried it out and it can - and does - randomise loading/unloading so you can end up with some interesting situations. Because of the random "return" of wagons (not as in time, but as in which wagons, how many and their loading), user intervention would definitely be needed to sort things out.

Cheers,
Dreadnought1

Dreadnaught,

It is definately an AI problem. I have tweeked everything else, spend weeks on the forums getting input and changing things. I will probably have to switch to SCS2006 to get the reliability that I want. I know that is a steep learning curve project and I am putting it off 'till later.

I am using the LARS Interchange LT. I was not aware of an "IT" version. How is it different from "LT"?

 

[Midland]

Thank you very much for that Phil, it is completely clear and makes perfect sense and not only that but it works too. Yay!

I remember a session you did ages ago for the Industrail layout where that little diesel shunter supplied the oxygen furnace. Scrap metal and liquid iron was used in that session too.

What was mucking me up (my brain too) at VanDenH was that dratted NSPowerhouse which for me too completely failed to unload any kind of coal conveyance.

The only thing I missed picking up was that hot slab is taken to the Long Products Mill (which does makes sense after all) as well as the Steel Mill. I must arrange a switcher to do that.

Does the railroad deliver oxygen to the furnace? What do you use for that? I haven't really bothered with that so far but I'm open to it.

Anyway thanks for clearing that up and for the link. I haven't seen that sketch for yonks. :hehe:





Cheers

Nix


Edit:

I notice in the Steel Mill there is the ProtoLARS for unloading hot slab and loading whatever it produces but what is the adjacent LARS Aggregates for?

 

[Dap]

A very helpful thread this one!

I've read it through several times and I can't see my question anywhere so here it is:

With the three types of industry track is it possible to set up one of them to:

1/ Unload one type of product and load another?

2/ Unload two different products?
. . . .

Cheers

Nix

This brings up one other option. Load and unload the same product. For example, my railroad is a 1900 shortline that stops at every small town. Each station handles Baggage, Express Product, Mail Bags and, Milk Churns(which are improperly labeled, should be Milk Cans. A churn is used to make butter.).
I have each station set up for load and unload of each of these items. Is there a way to randomize the load and unload quantities? Or determine whether to load or unload based on train direction? This would be great for the Milk Cans. They all get picked up on the morning westbound and are set off empty on the evening eastbound.

 

[Dreadnought1]

Dreadnaught,

It is definately an AI problem. I have tweeked everything else, spend weeks on the forums getting input and changing things. I will probably have to switch to SCS2006 to get the reliability that I want. I know that is a steep learning curve project and I am putting it off 'till later.

I am using the LARS Interchange LT. I was not aware of an "IT" version. How is it different from "LT"?

A typo on my part is the difference, my bad!

Cheers,
Dreadnought1

 

[Midland]

I notice in LARS there are a number of fields to be filled in:

Amount, which I guess means the total amount of a product to be produced/consumed.

Initial, which I guess means the amount of a product already in the area to be produced/consumed.

Rate. What is this one please?




Cheers

Nix

 

[AHSAN]

Hi Ahsan,

Not as yet, have not had a real call for it as PDF, but can be done if wanted...

Hello AussieNightcrawler

It will be very appreciated if you can do one in PDF format.

@philskene I have downloaded a number of your routes in the past, I must say the work is outstanding. what is your latest and most updated industrial route on the DLS? and are all dependencies for the route on the DLS?

Regards

Ahsan
NAT Team

 

[philskene]

Nix --

"I remember a session you did ages ago for the Industrail layout where that little diesel shunter supplied the oxygen furnace."

Yes that was one of the earlier versions of IndustRail. From memory that little diesel shunter was very, very skittish.

"Does the railroad deliver oxygen to the furnace? What do you use for that? I haven't really bothered with that so far but I'm open to it."

In real life I'm not sure. I do recall reading somewhere that with the closure of the Newcastle (New South Wales) steel works, the plant that produced oxygen was dismantled and moved to the steel works at Whyalla (South Australia). So my guess is that most oxygen plants would be very close to the steel works, and the oxygen trucked in by road.

I'm not sure how it's done, but I would imagine that by compressing and chilling air, the oxygen, nitrogen and trace gases are distilled out.

"I notice in the Steel Mill there is the ProtoLARS for unloading hot slab and loading whatever it produces but what is the adjacent LARS Aggregates for?"

The LARS Aggregates is a mistake. It should have been LARS IndustRail. There's a couple of other niggling little errors too, but in a route this size I find it very difficult to make it perfect. If there ever is version 2 ... .

Dap --

"Load and unload the same product."

The difficulty here is that the same freight car will load/unload, then immediately unload/load. I'm not sure if there is a way around this.

"Or determine whether to load or unload based on train direction?"

As long as you are not using AI control, you can always designate the freight car to be interactive or not (on page whatever it was in my tutorial).

AHSAN --

"I have downloaded a number of your routes in the past, I must say the work is outstanding."

Many thanks. Appreciated.

"What is your latest and most updated industrial route on the DLS? and are all dependencies for the route on the DLS?"

IndustRail 1b is the latest. A revised version of a structure caused an error message with the earlier version of the same structure that was used in 1a. I thought it best to release an update before Nix got too carried away making sessions for 1a. But now he's abandoned it for Port Ogden & Northern ... .

Yes, all the dependencies for the route are on the Download Station. Guaranteed.

Phil

 

[Midland]

Thanks Phil; I have had enough issues with sessions to understand that things sometimes slip by! :hehe:

Out of general interest chasps, I have programmed cars to deliver double stacked 40' containers to a ProtoLARS to be unloaded and for those same cars to be reloaded with 20' tank containers at the same ProtoLARS track.

1 Programme the ProtoLARS to consume 40' containers.

2 Programme the ProtoLARS to produce 20' tank containers.

3 Programme the econo car (just happened to be the one I was using but any car would work) to be loaded with double stacked 40' containers.

4 Programme the econo car to accept 20' tank containers.


Bingo!

I made a rake of four of them, drove them up to the ProtoLARS, waited the one minute delay and then one by one the cars unloaded. After the last car was unloaded the first car loaded with the tank containers and so on until they were all loaded. It's brilliant. I haven't tried it with other products (yet) but I have no reason to think that they won't work.

This is so cool!

The reason I asked what Rate meant was because I was wondering if there was a way to tinker with the product production so that it would generate product slowly thus loading cars in a way similar to how the ProtoLARS does. Apart from rapid loading/unloading of aggregates I don't like the idea of 20 cars being driven to a container terminal and all being loaded in the blink of an eye! In real life there is often a time consuming wait while cars are loaded.



Cheers

Nix