Sessions for Santa Fe, Needles District

All,
Here are a couple of sessions for Jointed Rail’s Santa Fe, Needles District model railroad route. The sessions are now available on the DLS. The sessions were developed with T:ANE Build 90955.

<kuid:417385:101617> Santa Fe: Needles 1.1
<kuid:417385:101616> Santa Fa: Needles 2.1

You can either search for those kuid’s or use my username, DWBennett55, to find them on the DLS.

Nothing very special here with switching the main activity and a little (very little) mainline running. The first session involves switching a couple of industries in Needles and making up a train for Barstow. The second session involves some more switching and then gets the train on the way to Barstow. Several AI trains add to the flavor of the first session and I couldn’t resist adding a Santa Fe passenger train in the second session.

I’ve tried to make sure the only payware locos and rolling stock are the ones included in the T:ANE package (famous last words). From my filtering in the Content Manager, the SD45, Ce-11 Caboose and, JRPX ACF covered hopper cars are included in T:ANE as they, for example, have as a dependant Kickstarter Country’s Fossil Fuel session which is in both the standard and deluxe editions. The gondola cars and the F7A&B units are on Jointed Rail’s site in the freeware section. The rest of the cars are either built-in or on the DLS. I am rather mystified with the Tank Train C being a dependency (<kuid2:45324:300001:3> TankTrain C) because I don’t use the train in my sessions. It must be one it’s dependencies that make it included; not sure. Anyway, let me know of any missing dependencies and I’ll try to figure out what they are. I have not change the route whatsoever; all that’s been added are the loco’s and rolling stock (plus the rules, etc. for the sessions).

As a personal comment on the route, it is very well done and I’m guessing faithfully follows the MR plans. However, I found that the switching activities to make a train up without going out of the main area (i.e., no switching junctions on the back side of the screens) created plenty of back and forth moves to get the cars into position to add to a train. You’ll find out what I mean when you work the sessions. When I was first playing around with the route in the Needles area I was trying to build a train using the “back side” switches and found it rather difficult to be sure I was really making the switch changes I wanted. That was when I decided to go with the switch work in the main area of Needles and all that entailed.

The speed limits are what make the first session so long (lots of 5 mph sections); not complaining just explaining. I’m one who does complain that most route developers don’t put realistic speed limits in their routes; they just leave the default 40 mph alone. 40 mph in a yard or shop area? Nope. You will notice in the second session a common problem (not the author’s fault) that the speed limit for the SW1500 at the start of the session and the SD45 pair right after you switch to those loco’s is 40 mph for the first little stretch of track. The only way to change that is put a speed limit (invisible) right in front of the loco to get things under control right away. I’ve done this before in my sessions (I believe the start of the second LotBN vol. 2 session has such a speed limit). Why didn’t I put one before SF5332 this time? Don’t know. Maybe it was to be able to make this point.

You will also notice that the route is not set up for passenger service with right-hand running on the mainlines and clockwise running on the route. Because of the way I made up the train in Needles and gathering the cars at Cemex with right-hand running and wanting the train to meet the passenger train (i.e., the freight meets the passenger train; the passenger does not follow the freight), the passenger train had to be running in a clockwise direction.



S
tarting in Barstow, the passenger train had to crossover to the right-hand track and stay there for right-hand running on the trip to Needles. To get to the Needles passenger station while traveling clockwise on the route, the train would have had to forego right-hand running from Barstow to Needles for one trip using the left-hand track on the mainline. This would have potentially created a conflict with our train so there is no “station to station” trip for the passenger train in the second session. Since the passenger train was mostly an after thought during the session development, it is what it is.

Additionally, I would have preferred that no trackmarks been included in the base route. This is just a personal preference and not a criticism.

Anyway, enjoy the session. Thanks,
 
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I could find session 1.1 but not session 2.1.

Edit: Never mind. I found with the search term “Needle.”

Further edit: There are a set of eight unknown assets in both sessions, all but one of them with the author kuid2:56063

<kuid2:56063:700038:2>
<kuid2:56063:700014:2>
<kuid2:56063:700034:2>
<kuid2:56063:700039:2>
<kuid2:56063:700040:2>
<kuid2:45324:300016:1>
<kuid2:56063:700016:2>
<kuid2:56063:700035:2>
 
Last edited:
I could find session 1.1 but not session 2.1.

Edit: Never mind. I found with the search term “Needle.”

Further edit: There are a set of eight unknown assets in both sessions, all but one of them with the author kuid2:56063

<kuid2:56063:700038:2>
<kuid2:56063:700014:2>
<kuid2:56063:700034:2>
<kuid2:56063:700039:2>
<kuid2:56063:700040:2>
<kuid2:45324:300016:1>
<kuid2:56063:700016:2>
<kuid2:56063:700035:2>

All these are commodities by majekear for the flatcars (probably <kuid2:56063:180798:2> Flatcar50ft ATSF s#) in the sessions. The commodities have a Status of "Built-in" in my Content Manager expect the 16:1 commodity whicih is "Obsolete".

From info in my Content Manager, the Status of the car is "Modified".

I'm thinking this car is an update to the car with update commodities that came with one of the routes (the Canadian ones?) I've purchased.

I'll bet you can fix the session, if you don't want in any "red" in your Manager, by editing it and substuting one of your flatcars in your installation. Otherwise, I think the session will actually run just fine because the commodities are not "used" in the sessions. Let me know what happens.

Sorry, not much help. Take care,
 
As I said, let me know how it goes. If you have trouble and can't figure out how to change out the flatcars, I'll see what I can do to replace them and upload the new sessions.

If you're scared of working on the sessions; don't be. Just clone the sessions and work on the clones. That way you've always have a base session (the original) to fall back on if you end up with something unworkable. Remember that there is a manual for the game and starting on page 181 it will guide you through the basics. If you clone the session I'd definitely recommend you change it's name (top line in "Edit Session") so you'll know which session you've been editing when you save it and leave Surveyor.

Actually, you shouldn't have many problems changing out the flatcars since I don't have any of the switching moves coupling to or uncoupling from the flats. Simply deleting the original flats and replacing them with ones you have is pretty easy. Just make sure that any cars that were coupled to the original cars are coupled to the new ones to make sure things will continue to work correctly in the sessions. I just checked the session and there are three flatcars in the string of cars at Needles which will need to changed; on Great Northern and two ATSF. These three cars are in the middle of the train that is being made up for the train to Barstow so the new ones will have to be couple to the rest of the train. The same set of cars are in the Barstow yard and can be replaced or just deleted as they are not used in the session; they're just scenery.

Ha! I'll get you to be a session author yet!

Take care,
 
I never did learn how to do “scenarios” in TS. But there were so many good ones once they opened Steam Workshop for the sim, it didn’t matter. I guess I really need to learn how to do sessions, since there are so few for this sim, and I have several payware locos already, and would like to do more than just free roam in them.

Thanks for your help! Manual is open to p. 181 and I’ll give it a whirl!
 
10-4. Get back with me if you have problems. I think we can work through anything you'll come up with the simple replace car procedure.

Also, just look through what I've done with the session rules in the bottom part of the Edit Session Rules. Not every rule in that section is needed for a session to run but a lot of them are. Look through them and you'll slowly learn what each one does and a little thought will make it apparent which ones are needed and make the session "work" like it does.

Take care,
 
Thanks for these sessions. I am having a problem in 1.1. There is only one scrap gondola showing up and when I couple to it it will not move.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
 
Sorry, the scrap gondolas also show up as faulty. Do not know if that has anything to do with my problem.
Thanks again.
 
Yeah, that's probably your problem.

From my Content Manager, here are the gondolas I have for the session (and there are no errors for them):

<kuid2:175455:100177:3> 52ft Gondola GONX 1
<kuid2:175455:100181:3> 52ft Gondola GONX 2
<kuid2:334896:200058:3> 52ft Gondola HBRX 1
<kuid2:175455:100168:3> 52ft Gondola HBRX 2
<kuid2:175455:100175:3> 52ft Gondola NOKL 1

If your gondola match the above and are faulty, check why they're faulty. You'll probably have to reinstall them if there are problems.

The gondolas are from Jointed Rail and are, I believe, found here: http://jointedrail.com/product/gondola-packs-updated-4-11-13/

Let me know if that helps.

Take care,
 
Thank you that worked.
In 2.1 I am showing the following kuids as unknown:
46075:10100:3
45324:110003:1
45324:110002:1
Would you might know where I could find them?
Thanks again.
 
Thank you that worked.
In 2.1 I am showing the following kuids as unknown:
46075:10100:3
45324:110003:1
45324:110002:1
Would you might know where I could find them?
Thanks again.

The first one is a Driver (which is shown as Built-in in my Content Manager): <kuid2:46075:10100:3> Willie G and isn't important as he's a Driver for a loco that isn't used.

However, if you want to fix the session so it isn't faulty, clone it in Content Manager. To clone it, select the session, click Content at the top and select "Clone". The new session will then be "Open for Edit". Filter the Content Manager for "Open for Edit" and select the new asset, then right click and select "Submit Edits". Then open the new session in the session editor and save it as "Santa Fe: Needles 2.2" (Main Menu, Save, Save Session "Santa Fe: Needles 2.2").

NOTE: Only save the session; NOT the Route.

As I've said before, it's better to clone a session and work on the clone than to work on the original one. When I upload sessions, I always clone it before upload so I have a copy of the session that I don't edit so that I can understand any questions that come up.

Now open up the "Edit Session Rules" (second button from the left on top), in the new window scroll down to the second "Driver Setup" Rule, select it and then click on "Edit" at the bottom left. You can now edit the Drivers assigned to the locomotives. Scroll down to ATSF 8032. The Driver will probably be in red or whatever to show that something is wrong. Click on the Driver picture on the left and from the list of Drivers displayed select a new one. When you're satisfied, click on the checkmark at the lower right (that saves your changes; if you don't want to save, click on the "X") and your back in the main Edit Session Rules screen.

In the upper section of the screen you'll see the Session Description box. In that box, you'll want to detail what changes you've made to the session so that you'll have a reminder for later (i.e., new Driver, etc.) Also, make sure the "Name" says "Santa Fe: Needles 2.2" (the 2.2 helps you locate it on the session screen). Changing the session description might not be that important with this simple change but it's a darn good habit to get into when you start designing sessions. Exit out of "Edit Session Rules" by clicking the checkmark (again, that saves your changes) and then save the session (Main Menu, Save) and then leave the editor. Your new session should then reflect your changes.

All this might sound complicated but it becomes second nature with practice. Don't be scared to try it as all you can do is break it. Just download the session again and work on it again. Probably the biggest mistake you can make is saving to the Route and not the Session. ALWAYS be careful to work in the Session and save only to the Session.

The the orther ones are the passenger locos:

<kuid2:45324:110003:1> ATSF F7B
<kuid2:45324:110002:1> ATSF F7A

You can find them here: http://jointedrail.com/product/emd-f7a-b-atsf



 
Man I am being a pain. How do I get the switches on the main line to work?

First off, in the session make sure that you have the junction (switch) overlays visible, i.e. you can see the red and green (left and right) arrows above the switch. If the arrows are not visible all the time (i.e., only visible when you hover the mouse pointer over them), click on the wrench with a plus sign beside it located in the upper right of the screen. (Hovering the mouse over the button brings up the tip "Additional tools menu".) A whole bunch of options show up in the list. About half way down is "Hide junction overlays" if they are presently shown or "Show junction overlays" if they are are not presently visible. If the junction arrows are not presently visible, click on "Show junction overlays" and, bingo, they appear.

With the junction overlay always present, it's way easier to find the switch you want and also tell the throw direction; i.e., the direction is shown by the brightest arrow. I generally run the sessions with the overlays on and only turn them off when I want to do a screenshot.

Sorry if you've already done all this but this is the only thing I can think off why you can't get any switches to work; i.e. you don't have the mouse pointer over the switch to change it. I have had no problems whatsoever with any switch or track for that matter in the route. Let me know if that doesn't work. Maybe someone else will have an idea.

While you're in the Additional tools menu, check out the rest of the options you can change. I generally run with all the navigation points shown but, again, will turn then off for a screenshot. I also have the the message overlay visible and run with the commodity overlays visible only with a change. Also, at the top of the list is a toggle for session instructions. That's helpful if you want to review what you're to do next. I use it to make sure check the text, etc. while testing the sessions.

No, you're not a pain. If you're having problems enjoy the game (no, it's a simulation) then that's not good. Oh, you can be frustrated that you're not throwing the switches correctly (ha! I have that problem!) but if you can't even get the switches to work, well, that's way different.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Take care,
 
Thanks Don
I do get all the siding switches but none on the mainline tracks is my issue. Any ideas?
Thanks again.

As a matter of fact, I don't have any ideas. If you could post a screenshot of what you're seeing with the switches then maybe me or the rest of the guys can figure out what's going on.

I think the community is using Imgur as a posting site: https://imgur.com/ , however, I haven't used it yet.

I usually just take a screenshot in the session (upper right, the film strip) and then post it with a quick explanation. I then go on Trainz Portal, http://www.trainzportal.com/mytrainz/index , and add more to the description. When I'm done on Trainz Portal, I'll copy the address and put it in the post; just like I did in the first post of this thread.

As a note, you'll probably want to make sure you don't automatically upload a screen shot once it's taken. To make sure, click on the Main Menu (upper right of the screen) and select Settings.
In settings, select General Settings. In the right panel make sure "Automatically upload all screeshots to my feed" is unchecked. You can do the same thing in the session by selecting Screenshot settings.

I just uploaded a screenshot of the mainline and the Citgo terminal will the switch overlays shown. See it here:
http://www.trainzportal.com/mytrainz/view_media_post?media_post_id=58298

Take care,






 
Don,
I looked at the route kuids and the only thing I see is Kuid:336419:1091 that says "not active"
It is for a black switch machine, could this be my issue?
On session 1.1 i have all the yard switchs but when I move out to the mainline to couple the gondolas to the train
there are not switch signals showing and I derail everytime.
Regards Kent
 
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