Portal crash

[handlaidtrack]

Has anyone seen this before?

A train was heading into a portal quite happily; just a few more cars to go, when boom, the following happened (see picture)...
The whole train jumped out through the roof of the portal and lay strewn all over the landscape.

The train in question is about 50 cars long, and the locomotive would have already got well beyond the far end when this happened. The train had already started to slow down, proving this. This portal does not spawn any trains (it consumes only). I don't believe the problem is related to train length, as the same portal had already successfully consumed a 75-car train a few minutes earlier in the session.

http://i920.photobucket.com/albums/ad47/mpeterll/Trainz Screenshots/PortalCrash.jpg?t=1302703529

 

[ct_krogen]

it just happens,,,,,, it a bugi guess.

 

[airtime]

Hello Handlaidtrack,

Your portals are too close to the edge of the map, adding another baseboard to the edge of your route will solve this problem.

Beyond the portal, the bit you cannot see underground, is more invisible portal, it goes on for a little bit of a distance, this is were the trains are taken into storage, in case it is needed for re-deployment through another portal at a later time, you need to keep the portals away from the edge of the map, as this can cause either a train crash, which is shown in your message, or a complete failure of the portal which is unable to respend.

Hope this helps

Joe Airtime

 

[ct_krogen]

that just not hold ,, my portals are right next to the edge of teh board and i don't have any crashed\

 

[airtime]

that just not hold ,, my portals are right next to the edge of teh board and i don't have any crashed\

Maybe it's just luck you have, or maybe the length of the trains you are sending into the portal, are not long enough to cause you a problem, in most cases where the portal ends are next to the edge of the baseboard, this can cause a number of various crashes with trains, or stack dump error portal messages.

Adding and extra baseboard away from the portal ends will in most cases fix the problem, along with reducing speed before entering a portal with speed markers or restrictions, the track speed signs must be placed at enough distance away from the portals, so that the last car in the consist has passed, and gives enough time for the train to reduce it's speed, before entering the portal.

Hope this helps

Joe Airtime

 

[handlaidtrack]

Hmmm, this is starting to look like an interesting debate as to what might have caused the crash.
Thank-you for the suggestions.
I hope I don't sound rude when I say that I don't accept any of the reasons offered so far as being likely.

As I already mentioned, the portal in question had successfully consumed a much longer train (75 cars, double-headed) a few minutes beforehand. In an earlier session, it successfully consumed three 100+ car trains in quick succession, at least one of them with 6 locomotives. Since I posted the query, I checked the consist of the train that crashed, and it was only 41 cars, with a single 4-8-2 locomotive.

I am aware that the portal extends a few blocks underground, beyond what can be seen if placed on a flat board, but these extensions are well within the boundary of the route. I just think it looks really odd to have them stick out, even though I've run a couple other routes where the builder has hung them on the very edge, with the whole length of the portal protruding (yet I've never seen this crash before).

I always suspected that the locomotive was well past the end of the portal when the crash occurred, as evidenced by the fact that the train had already slowed down dramatically (something that happens when the locomotive gets removed). I have just placed a portal alongside the consist in question, and yes, the locomotive and first car would already have got beyond the far end.

This portal was not set to re-spawn any trains, but instead to consume them all.

There is something I want to try, just to see if I can recreate the crash. When the 75-car train entered earlier, most of its length trundled in very slowly, and the following (17-car) train caught it up. I wonder if this could have been a contributing factor. I will have to try to duplicate this situation and see what happens...

 

[handlaidtrack]

Bingo!
That seems to have been it...

I managed to recreate the same crash again, after a second train joined up with a very long preceding train as it drifted slowly into the portal. Once this happens, every train sent into that portal thereafter, will crash.

Then, just to be certain, I ran the three exact same consists that crashed the first time. Timing them to run into the portal in quick succession but without joining up, they all went in successfully.

 

[airtime]

Hello handlaidtrack,

I am happy that you solved your problem, I gave you my own portal problem experience to you, in case it was the same problem you were having as I did...

Good to know you have fixed it.

Joe Airtime