Tunnels anyone

[Rik81]

One of the things that I like about TRAINZ, in all its versions over the years, is there are so many different ways to enjoy it. I imagine there are a great many of you out there that start at the bare baseboard, and go all the way up to realistically driving your own sessions on your own route. I learned a long time back that I wasn't very good at route building, or driving "realistically." What I like to do is make session, that have a bunch of AI trains running around doing their thing.

Now to my subject--I've forgotten how to build a TUNNEL! Did a clone of KSC2 and am trying to take advantage of some of those extra baseboards they've given us. Would like to tunnel through some of the area. Where are those little tunnel entrances hiding?

 

[JCitron]

There are two kinds of tunnels. The first kind are the original with the tunnel entrance stuck on the ends that also align themselves with the grid. These are really annoying and don't always work well due to how they align with the grid, and therefore, don't ever seem to end up facing the tracks as we want them.

The other kind of tunnels are basically track with a dark cover surrounding them so they appear as tunnels from the inside. These pseudo-tunnels, as the name is appropriate, require two additional parts. You first need to use dig-holes. Dig-holes are small objects, usually red triangles, that will punch a hole in the side of the hill or mountain you want to put your tunnel through. They do their job, but the opening needs to be covered up using the other parts, the tunnel portals. There are various portals available on the DLS and elsewhere, in fact too many to mention here, but look on the DLS for starters.

To place a tunnel, no matter what kind, start your track where you want it and set the height. Tunnels tend to behave like bridges so you may need to place another spline point in the middle or elsewhere to bend it. Remember to adjust the height for that one too, then adjust the height for your other portal.

Either kind of tunnel works, and it depends upon the situation and how well they line up with the terrain. If they line up well, use the kind with the portal already attached - be warned though some of the old ones are pretty ugly! If they don't align, you'll need to do the custom kind with separate tunnel tracks, dig-holes, and portals.

 

[Vern]

Whichever method you use, the tunnel building system in Trainz is still pretty poor and something that needs to move from the wish list across to the to do list ASAP.

 

[Rik81]

Thanks for the info. Just reading John's outline causes me to agree completely with Vern!

 

[JCitron]

Whichever method you use, the tunnel building system in Trainz is still pretty poor and something that needs to move from the wish list across to the to do list ASAP.

Yes, YES, and YES!!!

I dread using tunnels and avoid them as much as I can for the very reasons I mentioned.

 

[cascaderailroad]

Never had any problems using tunnels, I usually disable the dighole in the config file, so snap to grid tunnels go straight (I place my own dighole)

 

[Jayco-man]

I need tunnels that curve, so what would be the best ones to use, and ones that look like N&W tunnels.

 

[gch]

Whichever method you use, the tunnel building system in Trainz is still pretty poor and something that needs to move from the wish list across to the to do list ASAP.

Bang on, chaps. You might have hoped that N3V had set up proper tunnel templates years ago and put a dozen or so on the DLS.

I keep referring to the new generation of TRS 19 Users who will rightly expect a great deal for their money with pre-prepared basic stuffready to go.

There are so many but I would love to see a new stand alone reference for TRS19 19 on the DLS, a numeric rather than hue based system for environments as as a nice perk, a separate marker for animations which are light years behind the curve.

A nice debate on whether N3V should be supplying this sort of stuff or leaving it entirely to the loyal customer base to provide..
B

 

[Vern]

I need tunnels that curve, so what would be the best ones to use, and ones that look like N&W tunnels.

There is a single track type prefixed CN NK which are normal track splines with a tunnel wall built in - similar to the TUME Milw ones but without the weird looking track. However you still need to use digholes with it and find a suitable portal.

 

[gdimanzo]

I keep referring to the new generation of TRS 19 Users who will rightly expect a great deal for their money with pre-prepared basic stuffready to go.

B

Thank you! I just came on-board with TRS19 with the interest of building my own routes. I saw a couple of YouTube videos showing how you do tunnels and now, thanks to your post, I confirm that basic objects like fences or bridges and tunnels do not come 'out of the box'.

Time to explore DLS...