Trainz not saving correctly but I saved it over 4 times

The most bizarre thing keeps happening to me. I will get a lot of work done, add buildings textures track, the usual, but when I save (now I'm saving like, 3 times) and come back to the game later, everything is gone! But it gets weirder: the textures I put down last time I played, will be there! Just the textures and nothing else. Yesterday I made an entire factory complex, I put down an asphalt texture to the left of my yard and built the loading docks, junk in the back, the whole nine yards. Before I saved, I remembered all the times Trainz didn't save right to me in the past, so yesterday I saved the game (ctrl+s) about 4-5 times in a row. I made sure it was saved. Today, I opened the game and the entire factory was gone! the fence splines, the building, the spur track and the switches. But the asphalt texter I put down last time I played was there. Perfectly. What is happening and how do I fix it?

My first most obvious thought is that you are placing all those structures (factory complex, fence splines, tracks and switches, etc) in Session Layers which have to be saved as part of a Session but you are only loading the Route (not the Route and the Session) each time you reload. The textures are always saved in the Route (no matter where you think you are placing them) so that is why they still appear when you reload.

Routes and Sessions, and Layers, are complete and sometimes complex topics in themselves.

My I suggest as a starting point the following Trainz Wiki page - https://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/Route_and_Session_Basics and, for a more advanced topic, the Wiki page on Layers at https://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php/How_to_Use_Layers

hi kaw,
Using a quite rigid protocol for myself here with trainz (since forever)
-If work on the route, I only work on the route and on route layers only
-after 30minutes editing, i save
-after the last editing done for the day again a save, but never the second save


-If work on a session, I never change anything in the base route
-work only on the session layers and add trains there only
-again after 30 min a save but only the session
-and always with name <routename-sessionname>, never default


I don't use UDS (don't have it) or F2 (it does not work with scripts well)


hope it helps

Above SPAM post removed so this notice is now irrelevant.

pware said:

Above reported as SPAM

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Same.

I'll look to make sure I'm on the route layer next time.

And while we're on the topic of layers, how do I correctly lock a big building down on its own layer so I can edit in it? (Without the game giving me a message saying I can't, which is what I keep getting.)

The link I gave on Layers in post #2 above covers locking layers, and other things.

There are a couple of options.

1. Create a layer specifically for that building, make it the active layer and place the building in the layout. Then lock the layer. Unlock it when you need to move, rotate or change the building. Or
2. Create an empty layer called "Locked" and lock it. For any object that you want to temporarily lock from editing open its property window and set its Bound Layer to the layer you named "Locked". This will prevent it from being moved, altered etc but other objects in that same original layer can still be edited, deleted, etc. To reverse this simply open its properties window and change its Bound Layer back to "none".

Both work. The use of the Bound Layer is also explained in the link.

Oh, ok I was just doing it in the wrong order. Thanks!