Odd Level Crossing problem

[rjhowie]

I am presently building a reproduction of an actual UK network line which had several level crossings. They seemed to work fine when I did a short test line so duly put them inton my route. Again no probs the lights flashed and barriers came down until last night. Now at every one of the crossings no lights flashing the barriers don't come down but the cars duly stop and then start again when the train is clear?? The item is "UK Skirted Full Barrier Level Crossing 2:608502:60001:2.

Rather frustrating as they all previously operated. I am on TRS2006. This is really annoying as I need to have level crossings.

 

[rjhowie]

This is really weird. After going baqck into my route several times in the last 24 hours the same reaction of nothing was happening on the lowering and lights front. Then 10 minutes ago when I went back into it yet again to do some building the crossings all worked again!

 

[chsmt]

I also had this problem with this level crossing. I'd been editing the config file to increase the trigger distance (trains running at over about 50mph are on the crossing before the barriers are fully down). After editing the barriers and lights no longer worked. I've had to uninstall then reinstall the cdp for the crossing to get it back to how it was originally. This of course doesn't explain why yours have started working again, but try a reinstall.

 

[stagecoach]

Alternative is to look at the ATLS crossings much more flexible.

 

[rjhowie]

Yoyu are right about the distance matter chsmt. A train even at a moderate speed is passing the crossing as the barriers start to come down which looks decidely odd and if a fast train looks comletely odd going down and back up again right away! This really is a strange sydrome I had and will be back doing some more buiklding on Thursday will see if aim still in a normal situation or whatever!

Will look at what you say Stagecoach as long as it is a straightforward crossing and not something I have to footer about to build. Didn't want to use gated crossings on the lines as I know they are all barriers now on the system I am now on. Itis one of 6 lines of the company I amd doing here in the UK and an area mostly ignored except ffor one builder here. Might however have switched to them for practicality though. But will see what I can see in your suggestion.

 

[paulzmay]

Unfortunately, level crossing trigger distances in Trainz are hard-coded. Bloodnok said at the time of releasing these crossings that he would rather have barriers that came down at a sensible (slow) speed, and risk them being apparently open on high speed lines when a train passes, rather than having them drop like a guillotine.

ATLS is the best bet for complete flexibility, and it should be possible to use Bloodnok's crossings with ATLS triggers - there's a tutorial on the forum somewhere...

Paul

 

[rjhowie]

They seem to be American but that would be okay for me to have a shifty at if someone could point me to that tutorial Paul mentioned?

 

[paulzmay]

This is the one: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=36561&highlight=ATLS

The UK (and French) style barriers are by adrian19 on the DLS...

Paul

 

[stagecoach]

You have two ways to make the crossings, 1) use an existing crossing but detached from the running track or 2) use the individual assets to build your own crossing. In your case i would try the existing crossing first.
You only need the ATLS controller and ATLS slave plus the ATLS trigger.

Break the track from the crossing and move the crossing out of the way. Join the track ends to complete the track route. Connect the slave to the crossing with invisible track and move the crossing back to its position under the newly laid track. Place triggers either side of the crossing as far away as needed to open and close the crossing. Follow the tutorial for setting up the properties of the assets

 

[angelah]

Sounds a good idea

You have two ways to make the crossings, 1) use an existing crossing but detached from the running track or 2) use the individual assets to build your own crossing. In your case i would try the existing crossing first.
You only need the ATLS controller and ATLS slave plus the ATLS trigger.

Break the track from the crossing and move the crossing out of the way. Join the track ends to complete the track route. Connect the slave to the crossing with invisible track and move the crossing back to its position under the newly laid track. Place triggers either side of the crossing as far away as needed to open and close the crossing. Follow the tutorial for setting up the properties of the assets

Hello all,
That sounds like a good idea. By taking the default trigger distance out the crossings will behave more naturally. In the UK they drop quite a while before a train appears.
Also, would this work with lift bridges?

Angela

 

[angelah]

Controller

How does one get the Controller to change from SPL to LCM please, anybody??
I tried clicking on it in the Setup Menu but it only changes from green to red... a bit puzzling. I can't find LCM anywhere, yet it's probably staring me straight in the eyes somewhere.

Got a rail line set up but the gates reain closed to traffic all the time.

Angela

 

[paulzmay]

Angela - I seem to remember that LCM mode is reached by trying to set a route or phase to less than zero somewhere in the properties boxes (yes I know it's vague, but it's late here). Opening bridges could also be done this way, depending on how they are designed. Ligning up invisible track on these would be more of a fiddle though...

Paul

 

[boat]

How does one get the Controller to change from SPL to LCM please, anybody??
I tried clicking on it in the Setup Menu but it only changes from green to red... a bit puzzling. I can't find LCM anywhere, yet it's probably staring me straight in the eyes somewhere.

Got a rail line set up but the gates reain closed to traffic all the time.

Angela

Hi Angela,

There is some confusion about SPL and LCM. ATLS was originally developed to control complicated traffic junctions. Most of what the Controller does is for that purpose. When I noticed people were using it to control level crossings, I released V2 which added some functions to make it simpler to do that. Therefore if you only want to use ATLS to control Level Crossings, you can ignore most of the Controller settings.

SPL = ‘special’. It was the original function to give trams special priority at junctions. It is also used by the Trigger to control level crossings.

LCM = ‘level crossing mode’. This is the shortcut for those who just want the system to do only that.

To set up the Controller for LCM if you only want it to control level crossings….
1) Place a new Controller on you map and open the dialogue box.
2) Set the Channel Number to the one required
3) Set the ‘Route’ Box to -1

That’s it. All other settings in the Controller are for traffic junctions. Now set up the Triggers and Slave to the same Channel.

The Slave set up is identical to the Controller. Just set the Channel to the same as the Controller and Route to -1 for LCM Mode. Again, all other Slave settings are for traffic light junctions.

The Trigger also only needs the ‘Channel’ and ‘Route’ to be set, but with the Trigger the setting for level Crossing Control is called ‘SPL’ rather than LCM. This is because in the Trigger’s case SPL and LCM do the same thing….. and it was called SPL before LCM was invented. Trigger placement is critical though. See the Tutorials.

For all the info go to www.boatztrainz.co.uk. You will need to download the 2nd and 3rd pdf. If you only want to control level crossings you can ignore the first pdf which deals with traffic light control.

Hope this helps.

Boat

PS - Sorry, the pdfs still havn't been updated for V2.1 but there is extra info in the assets dialogue box!

 

[angelah]

Boat

Dear Boat,
Thank you very much for coming in on this 'conversation' and trying to explain these assets to a technical dumbo.
I did get one of the tutorials, can't remember which, so I may need to go back and get the others.
In the meantime I will fiddle, but not this evening, I want to watch the rest of the Open Golf.

Bless you,

Angela

 

[Deano5]

The UK Full skirted barrier crossings do not work even with the ATLS on my routes, only the Half Barrier.They have never worked right in 06, and as I re-call, Bloodnok said he had no intention of ever fixing them for a version of Trainz (06) that did not function correctly. They were made for 04 but CMP and 06 did'nt like them and thier buggy scripts.

 

[angelah]

04

The UK Full skirted barrier crossings do not work even with the ATLS on my routes, only the Half Barrier.They have never worked right in 06, and as I re-call, Bloodnok said he had no intention of ever fixing them for a version of Trainz (06) that did not function correctly. They were made for 04 but CMP and 06 did'nt like them and thier buggy scripts.

Hello Deano5,
I use 2004 so they should work okay. You are right, they are the ones I tried.
I had TC3 but couldn't get on with CM2 or whatever it is, it nearly drove me nuts, so I closed it down and went back to 04.

Angela

 

[stagecoach]

In which case Deano5 look for the uk ATLS barriers by adrian19 on the DLS and build the crossings with separate assets. Once youve done one then the rest are easy. Any angle, any number of tracks and even at ends of platforms. A sample of the ATLS crossing set up can be had HERE

 

[rjhowie]

Must go further into this one although getting slightly confused for my simple mind! They certainly don't look right in 06 when the train is passing and the barriers move and less like real practice.

 

[Approach_Medium]

I have found that after you have installed some ATLS controllers, slaves, and triggers, you MUST save your session files, or the info you entered (channel #, etc) will be gone when you re-start your route.

Just keep saving the session when you save the route, as this is the default anyway.
Be sure to back up both route and the session files that go with them.
I've also found that using Junction Controller v2 is the same way with sessions.

FW

 

[stagecoach]

Check out Boats tutorial, I think he stated in it that you can save the set up into the map so avoiding saving the session for it. Ive not done it my self.

edit

SAVING TO THE MAP (if required)​

All the settings you make in the ATLS will be saved to a Soup, so if you are running a Session that's all you need to do. In most cases you​

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may name an asset to your choice and it will have no impact on its working, settings still being saved to a Soup. However, if you are saving purely for identification purposes, then you must avoid using the Control Characters. These characters are [ ] ( ).
If you want to save the settings you have made to a map, (if you are a Scenario script writer for example), then this may be done by saving the name of the asset as follows, using those Control Characters.
Open the Properties Dialogue Box of the ATLS asset you want to save and set it up as required. Then, look in the top left corner and you will see something like 'ATLS1[65,E,O]'.
This is an encoded representation of all the settings you have made to the asset. If you save the name of this asset EXACTLY as shown, the settings will be retained and recovered when you re-load the map. They will also work in a Scenario.​

It’s important to keep the format exactly, including the square brackets and commas or it will either just not work, or may cause errors.​

On occasions you may encounter the '​

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That Name Is Already In Use' message. If you do, don't save it but add '(A)' to the name you are saving. So you will save: 'ATLS 1[65,E,O](A)'. Use the letter (B), (C) etc., for subsequent clashes. The brackets are important.
If you want to change the 'saved name' or delete it, its always best to save the map and re-load afterwards. Otherwise errors may occur.
Remember, you don't need to save if you are just running normal Sessions.​

(Special warning for the Controller asset. The generated name in this asset will get very long if you have lots of Routes and Phases. Note also that the Phase Timing durations are 'rounded' when saving to a map.)