Portals and train limits

[WillPac]

As I get nearer to actually running trains, I am still trying to work out a few kinks in the layout design, and now with operation thoughts in the mix, I had a couple of questions:

1. Auran says a portal is like hidden staging, which is perfect for my bringing in a coal drag from the "hidden" east to my Pacific Northwest locale. But can it also be used to "squeeze" the distances between cities?

I am working up a long mainline stretch from Seattle, WA to Eugene, OR, which runs 283 miles. Since each Trainz baseboard is, in real distance, less than half a mile long or wide (.447387 mile), it would take 633 baseboards just to cover the length of the run!

I would like to GREATLY reduce the number of boards needed, as I fear that would be a real CPU taxer. So can a train say, enter portal South 1 just outside of Seattle and exit portal North 3 just outside of Vancouver, WA (thus eliminating 306 baseboards)? Since the only consist at this point that will be running north of Vancouver will be a through passenger train, these portals would be for just that one train.

The options only have a checkbox for a train "returning home" via a different portal. But I want to use them in pairs to shorten a route, kind of like a helix but without the track nightmares. Does this work?

With then leads me to question #2: The manual says Trainz has a limit of 7 AI trains. Does this mean it can run 7 via Trainz Drivers and still leave you to run an 8th, or maybe operate the yard switcher?

What counts against this limit? Is it only active trains? Trains with driver commands set up? What if only two or three are on the move? What about trains that leave the "layout" via a portal? Does it drop out of the 7-train limit until its return?

This kind of limit and what it really means will have a BIG impact on how I choose to operate this thing. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[ColPrice2002]

Hi Willpac,

Not sure which version of Trainz you are using - this may affect the answers...
1) Certainly. You set up four portals - call them Seattle Up, Seattle down, Eugene Up and Eugene down (I'm assuming a two track system.)

Set up Seattle Down to "consume" a train, then send it to Eugene Up where it will appear. Then Vice versa.
You should look out for the iPortal - that has the functionality as well.

Of course, you can combine these functions for single track working.

The AI limit isn't quite right. I think that it may be that if you put 7 trains on the route it will automatically allocate drivers - you may have to allocate the 8th driver manually (in Surveyor).

Certainly I've had routes in 2006, 2009, TC3 and 2010 with about 15 AI drivers.
Remember that you can also get a portal to create a train - you can allocate rolingstock, driver (name & icon) and instructions.

HTH

Colin

 

[stagecoach]

All portals can be used to shorten a route. Route is Up from A to Z but you dont want those inbetween letters so you place a portal (E) on the line from A to consume and another (T) on the line to Z. This results in drive from A to Portal E (E portal return consist to portal T) drive from portal T to Z. Use sdifferent portals for the opposite line Dn.
The limit of 7 was the number of drivers names that trainz had. You can use drivers over and over again. You can have 100 trains running if your computer can handle it

 

[ct_krogen]

mmm i have 15 trains running right now i have 4 iportals & two portals,,,
n ow i can run 77 cars trains into a ipotral

 

[WillPac]

Wow guys, thanks for the responses. I already knew I was going to have the one portal going east, with a Union Pacific Big Boy hauling empties into it and bringing loaded coal back.

I was pretty sure the portals could be used to compress a layout, but I wanted to be sure, since the options in setting them up aren't terribly self-explanatory. But they would probably be altered to less of a compression when I have time to "fill in" some of the area they will be hiding.

And yahoo to you guys for axing that 7-train limit I thought I had read (I am using TRS2006 by the way). I can see this fairly modest effort with a dozen trains on the move (this is assuming that Trainz treats double- and triple-headed trains as one).

 

[Paul_Bert]

I use portals a lot. I have one route that has about 100 baseboards and 10 emitting portals. After a period of time the portals populate my route with about 65 consists. I have experiencd no problems.

 

[JCitron]

I have found it useful to rename the drivers that are used in the portals so you can recognize them in the driver list. (Press F2 in Driver and click on the driver's picture).

I append a "P" to the end of the portal driver's names so I know that Fred-P came from a portal, for example, instead of being Fred the driver I assigned. This becomes particularly helpful when the portal driven trains begin to gather on the route, and there are more than one Freds.

When a train exists a portal, they are running 'blind'. In other words they are coming out, but there are no commands assigned to the driver yet until the whole train has come out of the portal. The train is also barreling out at 40mph, and if there are any junctions, the train will take the default setting of the turnout lever. To avoid this, give the AI drivers plenty of track to "come to", read their commands, and come up or down to speed. I either place the portals at an angle to get as much track as possible, or I use a seperate baseboard to hold the portal. Some people have had the portal hang off the baseboard, but I've never tried that.


John

 

[SuperFudd]

Hmmm...

So a train could be held in a portal for a period of time before exiting another portal, right?
What if instead a train enters a portal and quickly exits at another portal into a holding yard on an otherwise bare board where it waits the right length of time before leaving that board via portal to another board? A not unheard of concept in model railroading.

 

[ColPrice2002]

Hi,

So a train could be held in a portal for a period of time before exiting another portal, right?

Yes, the return time is set up in the protal - but it's the same for every train entering - you can't have a variable or random time....

[QUOTEWhat if instead a train enters a portal and quickly exits at another portal into a holding yard on an otherwise bare board where it waits the right length of time before leaving that board via portal to another board? A not unheard of concept in model railroading[/QUOTE]

provided there's sufficient track for the train to completely exit the portal (as per JCitron) so it can act on the commands given.
make sure 1 branch per train (reduces rear-end collisions!)

then add a "Wait" command tot he driver's instruction set. The standard (built-in) is wait for "n" minutes - you'll find that the DLS hsa:-
"Wait for trigger" command - very useful as you can wait for any train to reach a trigger - or a specific one. This gives the opportunity to run trains with the correct spacing between them.
Wait for "hour" and wait for "minute" are also useful in this context.

If you're sufficiently artistic, you can use a backdrop to mask the fiddle yard as well.

Colin

 

[Mouse84]

I use the "Portal Timetable Rule" to set up my portals. I can select with consist it emits, the time it emits, the driver and the commands that each train uses. Using the stock portal choices, you get the train that is selected randomly and you can only choose who much time between trains. Using the "return train feature" I can have a loaded coal train leave the layout and return as an empty train in a time that I select.

The "Emit Train Now" rule is also a great tool.

 

[amigacooke]

If memory serves me correctly, there was once a limit of 7 AI drivers, but I think that applied only to TRS04 and the restriction was removed by one of the later SPs.

 

[stagecoach]

If memory serves me correctly, there was once a limit of 7 AI drivers, but I think that applied only to TRS04 and the restriction was removed by one of the later SPs.

2004 had no limit, it came with 7 drivers who were automaticaly assigned to consists placed in surveyor. If you placed more than 7 consists the other consists would be driverless until you selected one of the drivers and may be gave him a different name.

 

[SuperFudd]

A base board does not have to be attached to the other boards in a layout. I have done it before but I am not sure how I did it.

 

[stagecoach]

A base board does not have to be attached to the other boards in a layout. I have done it before but I am not sure how I did it.

If you can zoom out far enough and click in the distance when adding a board a new board will appear or add new boards as you go outwards then delete the ones you dont want. You can also merge a base board any distance away from the main boards.

 

[ish6]

Wow ... I see lots of trainz on layouts ... I'm just curious, guys, what's your PC spec?

I ask because then I can match it to my own and just experiment!

Thanks
Ish

 

[ColPrice2002]

Hi -

You did ask!
AMD X2 4100 (dual core processor)
Gigabyte M/board
nVidia 6600GT (AGP) graphics
2Gb Ram
Fortissimo Sound card (that does make a difference to some games - CPU doesn't "do" the sound as well)
Win XP SP3
and 2 SATS hard discs...

Colin

 

[n8phu]

Alienware M17X laptop, 4 gig memory, dual SLI cards, 2 500 gig hard drives, 17 inch display.

I have hung Tunnel style portals off the edge of a route and they work just fine. You can also use a backdrop to hide them.

I have used portals to forward trains from one part of a route to another, it works fine

 

[ct_krogen]

my poor system is slow, it is a amd 2600 1.83 ghz with 2 gig of ram and 256 meg video card