Portal Questions

[Apogee10]

I have not used Portals and have a couple of dumb questions. Do Portals have only one entrance and exit point or does it have two-one at each end?
Can two portals be placed back-to-back such that they can act like a tunnel? For example, could you have a diesel enter a portal and a steam train exit a portal as if they passed through a tunnel and some magic science fiction action transformed the train?

I'm asking these questions for the route I'm building called "The World By Train" (discussed in a separate thread).

Earl

 

[dougtrain]

Portal transportal

Hi Earl. I will try to answer your questions for you. A portal has an entrance and the train will go through hyperspace and return back via another portal. Setting up a portal is sometimes a complicated but not impossible task. You will need to state what trains can be accepted by this portal, if they are loaded or unloaded (in the portal) and how long before they will re-appear from another portal.

There is no point in putting two portals back to back to act as a tunnel as your train will "vanish" (for the moment) Try the portal basic, which is a length of track. Drive a consist onto the portal with (say) loaded coal wagons. You will see the consist disappear one item at a time. The same will work in reverse where the engine will appear followed by the wagons. The wagons will be empty and fill with coal as they emerge.

An advantage to putting two portals back to back would be to create a long tunnel and be able to drive your consist into the portal, hold it there for a predetermined amount of time and then let it emerge from the second portal.

To be able to to create the effect you wanted then you will need three portals and we will call them A-B-C. Diesel engine will enter portal A and be "consumed". Steam engine will enter portal B and be allowed to exit from Portal C. I would suggest you set this up on a couple of base boards just to get the hang of getting it all working as you would like. You can fiddle with all the settings until you get what you want without all the scenery clutter.

Hope this helps but if you need more then come back and we can see what we can do.

Regards Doug

 

[Apogee10]

Thanks Doug

You have been a big help. Maybe you can direct me to a tutorial or some info on portals and how they work.

Earl

Edit: I found a good tutorial by US Railroad Works with a Forum search.

 

[WillPac]

open loads to/from portals

I was curious if anyone has seen how open load cars operate thru portals. Since I am modeling the Pacific Northwest, we have no coal mines, but we DO have need of coal at a number of large industries.

So I have set up a portal heading east. It is set to consume trains, accept all trains, load empties and unload fulls. At this point, the only train I have planned to use this portal is a coal run, heading east empty and back west full.

I know that Auran designed Illinois Central hopper has both an empty and a loaded version, but those I've downloaded are only empties. Will they actually show loaded coming back to my "layout"? And to you portal experts, are my settings correct for what I said I want it to do?

 

[builder300544]

Hi,

I,m sure there is a Driver Command/Rule which if placed next to the portal instantly loaded up the train, but for the life of me I cannot seem to find it now.

Cheers, John

 

[hert]

Hi,

I,m sure there is a Driver Command/Rule which if placed next to the portal instantly loaded up the train, but for the life of me I cannot seem to find it now.

Cheers, John

Its called Instant Load.
It loads all cars with the first product in their config.
If you search portals in the forums there are many topics on this subject.
hth,herts:wave:

 

[jkinzel]

I was curious if anyone has seen how open load cars operate thru portals. Since I am modeling the Pacific Northwest, we have no coal mines, but we DO have need of coal at a number of large industries.

So I have set up a portal heading east. It is set to consume trains, accept all trains, load empties and unload fulls. At this point, the only train I have planned to use this portal is a coal run, heading east empty and back west full.

I know that Auran designed Illinois Central hopper has both an empty and a loaded version, but those I've downloaded are only empties. Will they actually show loaded coming back to my "layout"? And to you portal experts, are my settings correct for what I said I want it to do?

There are several BNSF and UP, and other open hoppers that will load/unload in a portal or industry. I don’t have Trainz on this computer and can’t look up the kuids, but look in content manager and you will find them.

 

[itareus]

Maybe you can direct me to a tutorial or some info on portals and how they work.

Try here as well:

http://trains.0catch.com/tutorial.html

(Part 7 for portals, but all tutorials worth a look)