New to procedural?

Hi! I have just started work on a new route in TRS2019 SP3. I am using <kuid2:661281:44099:9> TRS19 Trk Jarrah Procedural - Seasonal, but when I form a junction either by drawing a new spline out of the current track, or joining a second track into the existing track, I do not see a switch being automagically created? I am used to that happening in T:ANE so I am wondering if that no longer happens? Do they need to be created manually?

EDIT: Either that or the pieces aren't joining in order to form a switch? That used to be automatic as well, but am I missing something trying to create the junction?

EDIT2: I am also trying to use this: <kuid:101046:105062> Asphalt and Steel Railroad Crossing DES for a road crossing, but it won't attach to the track splines. If I try it throws an error abut being not compatible, but if I attach it to road it is the wrong way round. I tried the old trick of putting the road over the track and then sinking it just enough so the rails showed, but that is not working, it shows the baseboard too much on the road.

Junctions are formed using procedural track in exactly the same way that all junctions have been formed in Trainz. Simply joining a track spline to a mid spline point on an existing track will create a junction using your predefined junction switch.

Procedural track junctions are more "fussy" than non-procedural junctions in that the spline circle will turn red if the junction is incorrectly made (curve radius too steep, gradient too steep, etc) but the junction with its switch is always made.

pware said:

Junctions are formed using procedural track in exactly the same way that all junctions have been formed in Trainz. Simply joining a track spline to a mid spline point on an existing track will create a junction using your predefined junction switch.

Procedural track junctions are more "fussy" than non-procedural junctions in that the spline circle will turn red if the junction is incorrectly made (curve radius too steep, gradient too steep, etc) but the junction with its switch is always made.

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Yes, the exit spline points must be at approximately the same elevation for the junction to form correctly. It's safest to make the two elevations equal to start, then you can fiddle them a bit. If you exceed the permitted limits, however, the junction will turn red again.

I'm having difficulty with one turnout (in HO scale) which looks right in Surveyor, but in driver the outside point rail is invisible. It's still there and trains run over it OK, you just can't see it.

:B~)

RHKluckhohn said:

I'm having difficulty with one turnout (in HO scale) which looks right in Surveyor, but in driver the outside point rail is invisible. It's still there and trains run over it OK, you just can't see it.

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I have had similar experiences. Try deleting or moving one of the spline points before or after the junction. It worked for me. Another part of the Dark Arts of Trainz.

OK. I will keep working with it, but I am on fairly flat ground and I have been careful to make sure the rails are lining up and merging at a very shallow angle. Not a single junction out of several I have done has worked. If no luck I will go non procedural. I am not going to spend my time fighting "fussy" assets. Thanks for the tips folks!

Is it only that one track that doesn't add junction levers or all tracks? Adding junctions automatically is controlled by the region associated with the route. Does it work in an other routes with the same region?

Haven't had a chance to do much, with a meeting this morning, and I have a funeral to attend this afternoon, but I plan on trying several things. The far distant north end of the route was done with T:ANE, and the junctions there worked as expected, so I am not sure what is happening with the south end. I may try a global replacement of the T:ANE track and see if I lose the switches in the process.

Trying in a blank spot with some T:ANE Trk Jarrah track, but getting the same results. No switches, but I am getting red circles. But what do red circles mean? Is there somewhere to look up the error? Otherwise, what good is a red circle? Maybe it is a message that I should go back to doing my route in T:ANE SP3.

Red circle means you haven't set up the junction correctly, normally you need to move the spline points slight further away or reduce the angle of the junction, best thing it to go and practice on a blank board until you master the technique.

Need to attach the track to the crossing not the crossing to the track, so put the crossing in the gap you have presumably created, then drag the actual track spline points to the ones on the crossing. Just tested it here.

You can't connect roads to it as it's a spline and you can't add attachment points required to splines, so you are just going to have join the roads using an invisible road spline if you want traffic to go over it.

Forester1 said:

Trying in a blank spot with some T:ANE Trk Jarrah track, but getting the same results. No switches, but I am getting red circles. But what do red circles mean?

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See posts #2 and #3 above.

Thanks Malc, yeah, the crossing is even of the kind "Bridge", so I did realize I have to attach it as you say, since that's how bridges work. Still yet to successfully make a junction with a switch though. Hi Pware, yeah, I did read those, but I am coming in at very shallow angles, and the ground is relatively flat, so I don't really know what to adjust. All I can do is move it up and back and hope something happens? It will take me a long time to do much if I have to do that all the time. But I am experimenting on a blank place on the board so maybe I will learn something.

EDIT: so here is what I have found:
- If I use T:ANE track in T:ANE SP4, and I create a junction, I immediately get the switch lever and green and red arrows, even if I get a red circle. I can manouver the new track spline to turn the circle white, and all is good
- If I try the same thing in TRS19, I get no switch lever and no arrows. I can create a junction with a white circle, but there is no way to switch it. I can drive over it and back with a loco without derailing, but I cannot switch it to go down the other spline.

So I am stuck. No clue what to do. I cannot seem to get a switch lever or arrows no matter what I do, even though I can get a white circle.

Make sure you have "Automatic Junction Placement" checked in settings. After hitting starting trainz got to the upper left corner and hit the =. Go to interface settings. Check the second item from the bottom.

Aha! I think that was it! Thanks Lewiscc65! I will test it after my appointment this morning. Funny that would not be set by default.

Glad I could be of some Help.

Forester1 said:

Funny that would not be set by default.

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I think it is set by default, in that I have never had to set it to ON.

Hmmmm... I did check it, because it was unchecked (dunno why), but it has not made any difference. I have closed Trainz out completely and come back in to edit in Surveyor, and I still don't get any switch levers or arrows when I create junctions. Is there some other setting? Someone mentioned the switch lever of choice, is there a selection somewhere that I don't see? Maybe I don't have something selected somewhere else. This seems like something that would be so very basic to Surveyor, it really has me stumped.

EDIT: Well now here is a strange. This route I am working on is made up of three sets of old UTC DEMs:
<kuid:2300:211120> INPR UTC 1
<kuid:2300:211121> INPR UTC 2
<kuid:2300:211122> INPR UTC 3

The third one, UTC 3, has a north end just above Cascade, Idaho. I started working on it a long time ago in T:ANE, and did not have any issues with the tracks. I just recently started working on UTC 1, which includes Boise, Idaho and the Treasure Valley area.
Today, I tried UTC3 in TRS2019, and I was able to easily create junctions using both T:ANE Jarrah track and TRS19 Jarrah



But working in UTC 1, I am just not getting the same results. Could there be something different in the two routes?:

The map must have a region assigned, and the region must have a defaultjunction defined.

Peter

THAT was it! I'm a dunce for not checking the config.txt file, because region was actually set to NULL. Now set to United States. Working perfectly now. Thank you p-dehnert!

In what Trainz version can I have both procedural track and pofig trees? Pofig trees do not work in TANE and up, and procedural track is only TANE and up. I guess none?

rwk said:

Pofig trees do not work in TANE and up, and procedural track is only TANE and up. I guess none?

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Well done, you have asked and answered a question in the one post.