New Driver....Lost in the world

[cj95]

Howdy from Texas,

Brand new rail enthusiast here who after much comparison shopping decided on TRAINZ vs the competition. So far I am impressed with the possibilities and with the sheer amount of content.

Unfortunately, I do have a few problems I need advice on.


First of all...driving.... I am so lost. I have gotten the hang of throttle and brake ok, and most of the time I obey the speed limits, but navigation bewilders me.
I grasp the concept of signals and such, but i still have no idea to tell where I am in the world, nor when and where i should be triggering turns.
Before I start a scenarios should I scout the entire route in free camera and pre-switch all the necessary signals ahead of time?

Should I do it on the fly? If so, how do I tell one turn from another?
How do you guys do it?

Also need some suggestions for possible scenarios or the like to help practice navigation and driving.
Thanks

 

[nicky9499]

Howdy from Singapore,

I know how you feel, especially on large or complex routes. That's just the nature of railroads. In the real world most of these switch switching things are controlled by dispatch. Additionally RW crew would have in-depth knowledge of the route and track diagrams to assist them. In Trainz free-roam, yes you would fly through and set your switches ahead for a smooth uninterrupted journey. You can also line switches ahead of your train on the fly (think it's the G key, I may be wrong) but I recommend against this for 3 reasons; signals ahead of switches may be inaccurate, you can't judge a spline switch's direction from the cab and you may set the wrong switch at complex crossovers or switch arrangements.

Apart from free roam you can set up sessions (and thus user path) using many methods ranging from Drive/Navigate, SetJunctions and Path rules.

Cheerio,
Nicholas

 

[KenGreen]

In driver press M to bring up the map this will give you an idea of where you are. The current consist will show up as green in colour with the driver's name. Do not try to rush the learning process it is quite complicated at first but very rewarding.
Pick a simple route with not many junctions to practice driving and frequently use the map to see where you are in relation to the next junction so you can switch it in time. When you gain practice you may want to look at path control so that by a system of triggers switch the junctions as you concentrate on driving.
If you just like watching trains ( I do) then use an AI driver where the switches are changed by the AI driver.

Have fun, it's a brilliant sim

Ken

 

[itareus]

I don't do much driving, mostly creation, but setting the route in advance is certainly one way of doing things. A handy keyboard shortcut key to know is 'J' to toggle the next junction.

Have you had a look at the manual that came with the game ? It's a .pdf file in the TS12 > Extras > Documentation folder and it has a list of keyboard controls at the back.

 

[RoysTrainz]

Howdy from Thailand,

well lost in this world means you need to take time first to understand the commands, shortcuts/keys what they do, test them and see what happens and most of all do not be scared to hit a key and see the result. this is the best and fastest way to learn to use any program.
You will love it but please take your time and do little steps before you go into the forest without a gps.:hehe:
Unless you know your way of course.

good luck and do not be afraid to ask when after trying things appear different than what you thought.

Roy:wave:

 

[philskene]

Hi cj95 --

Welcome to Trainz.

It can also help if you have a map of the actual route in front of you as you navigate the route.

For my routes I include a map in the folder containing the route and also an image of the map in the advice I give on these forums when I upload a new route. The map can then be printed out by those who need navigational help.

As an example, see my first post here:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/show...rainz-the-Port-Loleta-Railroad-Company-layout

and here:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/show...town-Traction-Co-quot-Interurban-quot-session

Phil

 

[chris2001trainz2010]

Hi cj95, welcome to the trainz forums!

there is one rule that comes to mind: Set Junctions. do you know how to set up a session using the Edit Session box?

If so, set all the junctions you want to their positions.

Happy Trainzing!

Chris s.

 

[cj95]

I appreciate the hints and pointers.
It seems I a going to have to dive into learning driver commands.
For now am I understanding that "navigate to" will set up the switched for me in advance but still let me drive and "drive to" will have the ai do all the driving while I just watch?

Beyond that I am still having fun although I still have a hard time knowing where or when to stop. For instance in most passenger scenarios I seem to overshoot station stops, or seem to skip them completely.



Its funny...Im a 10+ year veteran of Flight Simulator and can easily operate all the little dials and switches on a retro 707 while navigating it to any city in the world.....however following a straight line of steel rail....thats hard.

 

[nicky9499]

Most of the driver commands are for AI use only. For example, using the Drive or Navigate commands takes control away from you and lets the AI drive. If you want to have your paths automated you're going to have to look into Rules. These are set up in Surveyor via the session setup window.

You find planes easy to navigate because you already have charts and navaids beforehand in the FMC, on your iPad, on your second monitor and so on. You would have no problem navigating a railroad if you also had the appropriate maps and track diagrams.

Cheerio,
Nicholas

 

[Stagefright]

A hearty welcome from Utah! I've been with Trainz for over a decade and it NEVER grows old! I consider myself a 'casual' operator; I almost always use the simplified DCC controls. Perhaps that would simplify your life until you become accustomed to Trainz's behaviors and idiosyncrasies. Above all, have fun!!!

Darrel

 

[Railwayz]

I appreciate the hints and pointers.

Beyond that I am still having fun although I still have a hard time knowing where or when to stop. For instance in most passenger scenarios I seem to overshoot station stops, or seem to skip them completely.



Its funny...Im a 10+ year veteran of Flight Simulator and can easily operate all the little dials and switches on a retro 707 while navigating it to any city in the world.....however following a straight line of steel rail....thats hard.

When commissioning a new rail line in real life nobody really knows where to put the brakes on to stop at a station so overshoots are common. When the correct techniques are worked out by trial and error (using empty test trains before the track is opened) those now experienced drivers teach the next lot and so on. Unfortunately you do not have an experienced driver to help you so trial and error it will have to be until you become familiar with the "road". This is called route knowledge and is only gained over time so don't feel bad or frustrated if you don't hit the mark first time. Try and note a terrain feature or "landmark" to use as a braking point. Even experienced IRL drivers have the odd overshoot or missed station. Also studying the map of the route in advance helps to at least learn the order and layout of signals, stations and yards.

Railwayz

 

[JCitron]

Welcome from New England, CJ!

You'll find that driving a train requires less effort than you think unlike that which is needed to get an automobile or truck in motion. This is due to the tractive effort and the use of steel wheels on steel rails. I'm not sure if you are familiar with physics but once a body (object) is in motion, it likes to stay in motion, to paraphrase the law. By using the steel wheels on steel rails, this makes moving the objects easier since there is less friction which adds resistance to the moving object, thus slowing down the object's movement.

One of the things I suggest is to take some cab rides. You can do this often using YouTube. You'll see how slowly a train starts, however, you'll also see how quickly it moves once in motion, and how soon it starts to slow down prior to the destination to ensure it stops in the right place. The finesse behind all this is the abilities, and experience of the driver. In the real world, as Railwayz has mentioned here, the train crew is qualified on a route. This means they are given trial runs with experienced drivers who already know the line and can point out the quirks, when to slow down, how much throttle to use, etc. Once the drivers are qualified, they will then be able to drive the train properly along the route just like they learned from one of their peers.

John

 

[mjolnir]

cj95, welcome, from DFW

One thing I would note, in the real world, before any train service employee (engineers and conductors, and in the olden days, switchmen and firemen) could be assigned to a train operating over a given section of the railroad, the employee was required to be qualified on that section. In order to be qualified, the employee made a several of runs on a train over the section, initially observing employees already qualified on that section, and after a few runs, doing the operating himself under the supervision of a qualified employee or supervisor.

But there is a rule governing railroad operations which covers the circumstance of someone being required to operate a train over a section on which they were not qualified. In this case, the train was to be operated at restricted speed, one definition of which is

"A speed that will permit stopping within one half the range of vision; short of train, engine, railroad car, stop signal, derail or switch not properly lined, looking out for broken rail, not exceeding 20 MPH."

So, don't be too hard on yourself if it takes you multiple trips to be able operate at the posted speeds; this would be what would happen in the real world.

ns

 

[JCitron]

I forgot to mention in my post that I use landmarks to know when I need to start braking and slowing down or even accelerating. Some routes have little line-side markers and posts which are used for this. They include specific signals, such as a home or repeater signal which tells the driver to start slowing down for an upcoming station stop. I've seen these in real life as well as on some Trainz routes which of course I can't think of which ones now. If the route doesn't have any specific markers or signals, I look for line side objects to work such as a house or pole in a specific spot and use that as a queue to know when to start the deceleration for a station or siding.

One of the things that helps is to assign an AI driver to the route and observe where they start to slow down. This would be akin to qualifying the line with an experienced driver.

As we've been saying, don't be so hard on yourself. Like anything else, this is going to take a bit of practice.

John

 

[cj95]

Again, thanks for the tips.

Practice practice practice......

Good thing the practice is fun.