Newbie Building a Route Please Help.

[Steve7112004]

Ok I recently got into trainz and I have loved trains since I was a little boy. I just didn't know there was simulators for trains. I have drove and modded truck sims since 1999 and I could make you anything you could ever want or need for a trucking simulator. I went to bestbuy 3 years ago was going to go get rail simulator but it wasn't there so I got this instead. I played through it and got bored and stoped for a while. A few days ago I picked it up again and started driving it. I have done finished everything again. I tryed downloading a route and well I geuss I done some stuff wrong anyway I couldn't figure it out so I just drove what I could on the game. I went into surveyor and started building my own. I worked 12 hours yesterday on it straight and will be doing more tonight. I have a few questions about how some stuff works though. I would like to know how to make the coal mine produce coal over and over again and the power plant take it. I want to know how to make a working waybill for the driver part of the game. I need to know how do you assign speed limits to parts of the tracks. The speed on the entire route right now is 40 and that's no where near what I want. I also want to know how do you give switches there names like switch 0001 or 0002 or 0003 so on. I tryed to add the switch lights to the sides of the tracks but the surveyor part want let me so I have no lights on the side of my tracks. I have tryed all different types of the lights and all but it just want let me add signal lights. And for now that's about it. I would like these in step by step instructions and I don't want to haft to upload nor buy anything cause I have not got the space on my computer or the money right now. Step by step cause i'm new to this and if not it will just go right over my head. So if anyone will Please help I will be Very Grateful. Thank You in advance. Oh and this is for TRS2004.

 

[amrail2000]

Steve,
First and foremost, welcome to the wonderful world trainz. Now get ready to pull your hair out

. Let me first give you a dose of reality, you'll scrap this route your working on. Don't beleive me, how scale train layouts have you built.

Now all that aside,let's have some fun. I'll do my best to walk you through step by step using stock equipment. To make my coal mines work and load a full size train ( for me thats 65 cars), I set the industry to load the max it can. Then I cycle the time from 30 min, down to 15 min. I then do same at the power plant, except there I set it to unload. I also make extensive use of the multiple industry track. When using that, I set it to load, 1904500 tons of coal, or wood chips. If you max that out, let me know.

As for the waybill, That should be at the bottom your driver screen. If not please let me know and I'll some looking. Also anyone reading this feel free to jump in and help.

Setting the speed: Oh yes, lets highball through a yard.
1}look on your track menu, and go to lineside objects. This should be the middle tab. You'll find speed signs in more langauges than I can speek. They are there for american speeds. Just place whatever speed you want on the track and in the direction you want. If it pops up facing say North and you want it Facing south,, then just click on the rotate button. (on my CSX S-LINE I have one peice of track with two different track speeds)

Naming those nameless signals: AND THEY SHALL BE CALLED 01,02,: OK this part is fun, I personaly love it. In the same menu where you got the track speed signs, there is also a Question mark at the bottom of the slide out screen. Guess what, you can name signals to. Just click on the question mark (?),and then click on the switch lever. You'll then see a short menu with something like "junction 142735353". Just click on that, it should turn blue.
Then just give what ever name you want.Then when your done, just click the check mark . Guess what, you have just named your switch.

Setting up signals. WHEN I STOP TRAIN, I MEAN STOPPP.
I'm assuming that your using american signal. It realy doesn't matter. But here goes.
Do the exact same thing you did for placing speed signs. It works the same. Now wait till you realize that you change out switch levers( except on Fixed Track switches).

Now as for my experince. I have been with trainz for several years now. I am currently working on my own route. I'm running 25 actual miles so far. I switchout an auto terminal, Kodak chemical plant, quarry,have two yards ,run two railroads, and all this is done in 1:1 scale. So on my route 1 mile is realy 1 mile. When complete my route will be in excess of 175 miles and go from Eastover Sc to Savannah Ga.

Steve I hope that this helps. If you have any trouble please feel free to contact me, and I'll do what I can. Let me leave you with this thought. Don't be affraid to just go in play around. That's the best thing you can do to learn what does what.Good luck and let me know how it goes.
Run Eight
Sam
P.S. If anyone else has any more suggestions that I might have overlooked please help Steve out.

 

[Steve7112004]

Thank You Very Much. I want to run your route HAHAHAHA! I got my coal mine to produce a 100 car loads of coal (AWESOME). I will try the rest of what you said later tonight. I really need to know one thing though how do you add the base board I mean I know how to add base board but for some reason if I add anything over 16 blocks it deletes what I have already made. If this could be answered I will be Very Grateful. Oh and since i'm using real scale how many miles is each block? Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[joe091]

Hi Sam,
I also am looking at editing some basic routes to learn the ropes myself and you give some handy tips but going by the one below how exactly do you alter your industries production and how do you make them active and rename them?

"I set the industry to load the max it can. Then I cycle the time from 30 min, down to 15 min. I then do same at the power plant, except there I set it to unload. I also make extensive use of the multiple industry track. When using that, I set it to load, 1904500 tons of coal, or wood chips"

Also with tunnels how do you make them without the landfill covering them when you raise or lower to make hills so it dont cover the tunnels
Cheers
Joe

 

[BLACKWATCH]

There's a whole bunch of very useful tutorials on here ..............
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=3345&highlight=tutorials

 

[amrail2000]

Joe this is so easy your going to scream.
When you place an industry just click on the question mark at the bottom of the objects slide out. This will bring up the current industry name i-e COAL MINE 2. click on the industy name and once it turns blue, you change it to what you want.

Here's one example for my CSX Dixiana Auto terminal. This site has six tracks each able to hold and unload around six cars at a time. I use Multible Industry Tracks exclusively for this(36 MIT's total). Now to keep things straight, I call them all Dixiana Auto Terminal. Then starting from track 1 I give them BAY numbers. So it looks like this when done: Dixiana Auto Terminal Track 1 Bay 1, Track 1 Bay 2 etc.I consider each M I T to be a bay.

Now as for scenery vs tunnel. I hope that I understand you . I just slowly work my scenery down or up (depending on desired elevation) at the tunnel entrance and exit. This will clear any scenery from the mouth of the tunnel. Now if you run through the tunnel and find yourself hitting trees, etc just raise that item abit.

If you want to see examples of my own work then just search my screen name and go into CSX Columbia to Savannah. My current pics are the last posts. I hope this helps. As I told Steve, feel free to contact me anytime. I'll be more than happy to help. I'm no expert, I just dove in blind way back and threw caution to the wind. I intentionaly derailed trains to learn braking distances. Then as time went on I learned at what speed I could safely back a train up. Now I run trains acording to CSX rules and this includes signal rules. I don't out to derail trains, but from time to time it does happen. So let me offer this one peice of advice to every one. Follow Norfolk Southern's Practice, --don't move that train until you double check your switches-- Last
just have fun.
Stay safe and Run Eight
Sam
P.S. The gentleman that posted right below you Joe hit the nail on the head. The tutorals give a wealth of info. But on the flip side, it can be easier to just ask.

 

[Steve7112004]

Thank You I figured everything out that I wanted know except for that base board problem. So Thank You Very Much For Your Help. Now I got to go to bed I'm working on one track and I see three. HAHAHAHA. Time to go.

 

[joe091]

Thanx Sam, yes it seems the simplest of things do make you scream, now i know that the ? names all your items, but the tunnel thing is a bugger.
What i mean is if i make a hill and get out a tunnel and stretch it to run through it, its got land fill in it as the hill is not hollow so in essence you have an entrance with a hill inside it.

Thanx for your insight these basic rules are a further step forward.
Also i read that there is an engineers handbook as the manual is really of no use and it has nothing to explain ingame requirements is that true?

Also is it so that all objects that have a green tick with IND in the pics is an active item and others are for show, but they have other icons also which i have no clue to what they mean.

As for adding baseboards Steve if you go into topology (top tab) in surveyor and click on the left, Section, add ground icon, which is half (green/white) and left click on the honeycomb edge of an empty space on your grid a base will appear.
Cheers all
Joe

 

[amrail2000]

Joe,
yes if they have a green "IND" they are an interactive industry.The others can either be icons of the creator or that they handle differtent types of loads loads or cars. It never hurts to put on a board and open it up via ye-ol question mark.
I have heard of the engineers handbook, but I have not seen it. Mainly because I haven't looked. Might want to search the forums here. Or even google or bing the thing.

Now as for your tunnels, if im not mistaken you want this.

But you are dealing with this

Well you going to think Im crazy but the solution is easy. Raise the scenery at the tunnel end . trust me your tunnel will stay put. what you'll get is a clear entrance/exit.
From the overhead it will look this

The tunnel entrance is clear. and if you encounter terrain any in your tunnel, just raise that section up as well. Let me know if that helps.
Sam
P.S. Sorry about the pics being so big. I wanted you to see what I was refering to

 

[Steve7112004]

I got it all figured out Thank You To: amrail2000, joe091 and BLACKWATCH. Now if the tracks will stop being a problem. HAHAHA.

 

[joe091]

Sam,
Yes thats exactly how it is, but now that you explained by pics, which is so much easier as i was using the height up instead of adjusting height, how do you copy and paste pics on here off the game and get a banner wiv your name next to it? I know you can print screen but it dont seem to want to paste, im sure im doin somethin wrong. Still a work in progress as to much time fiddling with that alone does my head in and i may b using just a basic tunnel to start with as it is very short, i have others but they are big double tunnels, just a matter of finding everything.

The library really needs an overhaul as finding something is so difficult with numbers in front, each common items should b categorised like a folder with subs, so locos in one, trees in another machinery in another and so on.

Less than a week using this games software let alone playing it is alot to absorb as it really allows ones creative ability to shine which is what i find fascintating about it.
Thanx for your help and those links are a real bonus so thanx guys, so much to learn, so little time
Joe

 

[amrail2000]

Joe ,
No problem, I don't mind helping. The first year I had that I had trainz, I was on my own. We didn't have the internet. So I had to figure everything out myself. Trust me when I say, Take your time.

You asked about adding screen shots here. this is what you need to do.
Get a online account with a photo-sharing site. The two I use are flickr which can be found at http://www.flickr.com/. If you have a yahoo account than you have a flikr account. The other one I use is snapfish, which is at http://snapfish.com

Once you get your account set up, you can upload your pics to either one, then you can bounce them over here.Let me know when you get set-up and I'll walk you through.

As for the name thing, I have to be honest and say I don't know, but it's well worth me looking into. I'll Let you know what I find.
Run Eight
Sam

 

[lewisner]

If you use Flick for screenshots all you do is click on the "All Sizes" tab above your Flickr photo then copy the bottom of the 2 links (the http link).Then when you have composed a rely here, click on the "Insert Image" tab above the reply and in the box which opens delete the "http" and paste the link you copied from Flickr and then click OK. Then select Preview Post to make sure it has worked and finally Submit Reply. Remember that large screenies are only allowed in the Screenshots forum - elsewhere they have to be no bigger than 800 x 600.

 

[ray_whiley]

Re tunnels: raising the surface over the tunnel entrance is fine with the Auran style which snap to baseboard grids (I'm talking TRS2004) but some can be freely placed and need a) a dighole to remove the baseboard surface from within the tunnel and b) something like a terrain object or spline to hide the resulting hole. My Metro tunnels are of this sort - it was the only way I could think of to keep the conductor rail on the correct side of each track - and I made a separate tunnel entrance which has the hole disguise built in.

Ray

 

[kwally]

I have heard of the engineers handbook, but I have not seen it.

I own the boxed version of the TS2010 and there is a tutorial, where a "Engineers Handbook" is mentioned. But I cannot find it. Even google does not give any hint.
Any idea where to search?
Klaus

 

[EdrickV]

Are you talking about an in-game tutorial? Because there's no mention of a handbook in the manual. More info on where exactly you saw that could help identify what it's referring to.