UK Screenshots for Pre BR Blue. High resolution warning.

Post #3179 - Thanks Annie. I've always stuck to BR Era material so anything earlier than 1948 is completely new to me. The idea of airships is something I haven't thought of yet. I was going to turn the museum into a RAF base so I could run WD stock but I haven't made a definite decision yet. I need to figure out how to shut down the AI portals first as they keep flowing BR era trains into the route randomly!

Post# 3180 - Another amazing screenshot Evilcrow! Trethvick looking beautiful glimmering in the sunlight! I'm glad Camscott got around to putting it up on the freeware drive.

Post #3182 - Excellent post Heinrich! I am a firm believer in using storytelling to enhance your screenshots and the way you set this one up is marvelous! We'll done!!

Heinrich,

Stories of D&D! Do more, especially about the railway workers and their behavioural quirks.

Did you know that it's possible to make session stories/tasks that include verbal interchanges between the railway personnel? I haven't done one myself but N3V made the "Newcastle Shunter" session for the ECML route, which has radio messages between the yard controller and drivers, chosen and played according to events in the session shunting task. I've often thought of looking at the config and session set up data to see how they did it. It could be improved, not least by removing the Aussie accents and substituting ripe Geordie yatter. (It isn't Newcastle, New South Wales, after all).

Lataxe, a very ripe Geordie.

It's all about the storytelling in my opinion, especially this thread. Great work guys!

There's been some top notch screenshots posted here recently, - well done all! And I completely agree about storytelling being a part of the Trainz experience.

I've not been doing much lately since I've been a lot more sleepy than usual.

Tanker46, Lataxe, HotshotJimmy, and KotangaGirl,
Thanks so much for the kind words. Some screenshots are so compelling that a story needs to be attached. Some just suddenly come to me as I look at the scene, but others form in my mind before any shots are taken. I've a few more stories brewing.

Dearnby is such an amazing route. Lataxe, your session for the Winter version is a lot of fun, and I find myself holding my breath when trying to dash across 4 lines of heavily used rails to get train cars from the opposite yards. I sent Neville a PM about the routes and how much I was enjoying the route. Thinking about it now, I should have sent you a PM too, thanking you for your work on the route.

Oddly enough, when running the large Dearnby route V2 in TRS19, once it gets fully populated, it starts to freeze the engines in place for long periods, before releasing them, turning things into a slide show. I'm thinking there is just too much going on for my computer to keep up. That starts to happen after anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. I'm wondering if there are tweaks to the graphics that might help. I've tried lowering the draw distance and post processing, but that doesn't seem to help.

As for the Newcastle Shunter, that session was brutal. You get even the slightest bit behind and the drivers really let you have it. I found that the verbal comments from the other drivers really increased the pressure and stress to hurry, and it was extremely realistic, in my opinion. I concur on the yatter. :hehe: It does need to be changed from Aussie to Geordie.

Dearnby is just so magical. I find myself wandering the streets and wondering how life must have been back then. Thanks again.

Heinrich505

I have had the same problem Heinrich.

I think it has to do with the storage space on your computer and the power of your video processor. I purposely didn't download the bulk of the payware content that is offered when TRS19 first installs and only downloaded the UK Content leaving out the US built-in routes and my version runs better without it.

I planned on getting a Desktop computer for my Trainz Modelling Projects but the arrival of my son changed my plans a bit.

Heinrich505 said:

Tanker46, Lataxe, HotshotJimmy, and KotangaGirl,

(snip)

Oddly enough, when running the large Dearnby route V2 in TRS19, once it gets fully populated, it starts to freeze the engines in place for long periods, before releasing them, turning things into a slide show. I'm thinking there is just too much going on for my computer to keep up. That starts to happen after anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. I'm wondering if there are tweaks to the graphics that might help. I've tried lowering the draw distance and post processing, but that doesn't seem to help.

(snip)
Heinrich505

Click to expand...

Dearnby & District is a heavily populated route. The sessions also see a lot of traffic as the portals spit out their various AI-governed consists. Most consists do eventually disappear back into a consuming portal, so there is a moment when the route is as populated as it's going to get with AI-driven trains. When that is I'm not sure.

My own PC is nearly a decade old now, with an Intel i5 2550K, a Nvidia GTX970 with Trainz and its data hosted on a dedicated SSD. It manages (forced) 30 frames per second with Dearnby, even fully populated with those AI trains. One or two heavily detailed areas will briefly drop the frame rate to the mid 20s but otherwise it's very steady. There's no freezing of any kind - although TRS19 does do crashes to the desktop occasionally whereas TANE never did. This is on a 2560X1600 monitor with all the resolution Trainz will allow, which seems to be 2560 X 1440 with TRS19.

I do make sure other stuff that doesn't need to run all the time isn't running when Trainz is going. But all the usual Windows (7) services are still running, as well as various low-overhead utility software programs.

Some programs that can hang about in the background doing gawd-knows-what can slow Trainz sessions down a lot. In blighty, having BBC iPlayer open in the background, even if not downloading or playing a TV program, slows Trainz dramatically. I suspect there are other such programs, not fully shutting down when you cease using them and sucking at your PC resources. Have a look in Task Manager at the programs, processes and services that are running to see if there are any such resource suckers interfering with your D&D session.

*********

Would you like to make or amend a D&D session? You can depopulate the portals, if necessary, by right clicking on them in Surveyor then taking out whatever appears in the generation list. Alternatively, if Central Portal Control is being used, depopulate that. If you put in enough directions to AI-directed consists placed into a session, all the signals and points should operate automatically to let you through. (Avoid "navigate to/via though). Sometimes the signals and points are slow to react to a consist if your chosen path involves switching points from their default settings; and there are some places where double tracks cross so that one train can "ghost" through another. I'm trying to fix that sort of thing with AI instructions that set points and signals to prevent it, rather than having to learn the whole interlocking towers thing, which has driven me doolally in the past trying to grasp the thing.

Lataxe

Is that how you stop portal traffic from entering the route?

I would love to take the BR era consists from spawning out of the portal randomly. It wasn't a problem until the other day when my Drummond C8 was stopped at a station with a goods train and it got rear-ended by a Standard Class 4MT!

D & D Version 2 has the portals populated in the route layer instead of in a separate session layer. The aircraft are also in the route layer rather than a session layer. To stop the portals issuing their lists of consists, the route needs to be opened as the route only (not via opening the Trainspotter session) and the portals de-consisted by left-clicking on them from the "objects" O-mode with the "properties" (question mark) button highlighted then deleting the lists of consists for each emitting portal that shows up in the resultant dialogue box.

Neville included AI-guided portal emissions as part of the general background to the route, rather than as a separate session. Ditto the aircraft (they too are meant as general background in the route). The idea was that any sessions made would then have all that portal-generated AI traffic, as well as the aircraft, automatically present, with the session builder needing to take into account "trains from elsewhere" and perhaps issuing aircraft flight paths or just leaving them parked as scenery.

So, if you don't want to have such AI traffic, or you want to have different portal-generated consists, it would be best to take it all out of the route layer and save the amended route locally as your own, to then establish sessions for that which have either zero portal consists, or portal consists of your own selection. The latter would need you to populate the portals with new consists with AI instructions for each one.

On balance, I think it best to put all traffic - including portal-generated AI-guided traffic - in a session layer, so that people wanting to make their own session can either amend the existing DLS session or ignore that and build their own session.

Lataxe

Lataxe,
Yikes, that sounds a bit more complicated than I'm accustomed to, as I'm only just getting my feet wet with Trainz. The concept of layers still has me baffled, and what little I've done in surveyor has been done all in the same layer.

I love all the portal traffic as that really makes the route come alive. I'm wondering if just thinning it out a little would ease up the processing a bit. I'm guessing that I would have to save the route under a different name, and then somehow thin out some of the randomly generated traffic for that different named route.

Or...I could get a bigger and faster computer, haha. I'm sure the wife would take a dim view of that.

I might have to PM you on the finer details of how to make this happen.

None-the-less, the route is simply amazing and I've been having a wonderful time just riding footplates.

Heinrich505

re post #3183 Tanker46
Thanks for the compliment Tanker46. The N15X, a fine addition to the SR stable and I presume one of your commissions, if so many thanks.



Cheers, a grateful evilcrow.

Evilcrow,
Another wonderful shot! The action in the yard is composed so nicely, but of course, the star is in the foreground.

Black and White shots are conveyed so well in snowy conditions.

Heinrich505

evilcrow said:

re post #3183 Tanker46
Thanks for the compliment Tanker46. The N15X, a fine addition to the SR stable and I presume one of your commissions, if so many thanks.

Cheers, a grateful evilcrow.

Click to expand...

Dear Mr Crow,

In full gimme pig mode I hereby request that you issue us all with another route like your "Somewhere in Scotland" one. This got the highest possible accolade in the form of praise from Neville!

I have added an old Eso route - Glen Foloy - to one end of your Scotty, to nearly double its length;also a bit of signal rework. One can now hurl large express trains up and down the line, sitting aboard and gazing out at the wild Scottish fell sides.

Perhaps you might like to "do a Dearnby" and redo that Scotty to add & extend, with a little help from your friends, naturally....?

Lataxe

We are held up at the crossover to the Hunstone Coal Mine, due to oncoming traffic.

My fireman has an excellent view of a King George V pulling a fast through express past the crossover and into the 30 mph zone, the reason for us holding. He gives a friendly wave but gets none in return. "Snobs," he grumbles. "Can't acknowledge the little people, eh? Oooh La La!" He throws another shovelful of coal into the firebox to hide his anger.

One almost gets the feeling that the through express is annoyed at the inconvenience of having to slow down to 30 mph - they are, after all, the through express.

As the express starts to recede in the distance, our signal snaps clear to cross, and I let out the cutoff and ease up the regulator. Us little people continue on our run.

Later on, at the engine shed, the fireman will still regale any who can hear him about the matter. "Couldn't even deign to wave!"

re post #3194 Heinrich505
Thanks for the compliment Heinrich.
re post #3195 Lataxe
The route is very much a WIP, I'm attempting to make it as fully seasonal as I can. I regret it will not be possible to release it as it has many payware seasonal textures. Being TANE it's also no doubt becoming outdated. Many thanks for the kind compliments and if you wish to incorporate my " Somewhere in Scotland" into your route please feel free to so and if you wish up load the composite route to the DLS I will have no problem with that.
It will be some time before I attempt another route for the DLS, I still have to purchase TRS19
Many thanks once again.



Cheers, evilcrow

Hold on... Is that a B4? Is that my B4?! I'm extremely honored that you would include it in one of your wonderful screenshots Evilcrow! You really have made it look so much more beautiful with your lighting magic!


One more from me before I head off to bed.

Dearnby and District - Taking the 2600 Aberdare out for a stroll! Many thanks to new content creator Pilotwoo!!

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re post #3198 Tanker46

Here you go Tanker46, another shot of your excellent B4, I hope you don't mind that I've added a 71A shed plate and changed the lamps to SR discs.





Cheers, evilcrow

The Coal Run

It was only a little after 6:00 AM, and driver Patrick Thornton was thoroughly annoyed. He’d been assigned a bloody puppy for the morning coal run. Dash my stinking luck, he thought to himself. He had Mickey Parmenter, age 19, trailing on behind him as they moved towards their engine, old reliable 5138. She was a 5100 Class and a good engine.

The Shedmaster took Thornton aside as soon as he arrived at the engine shed. Patrick knew something was up, as the old man rarely expressed any friendly familiarity with his drivers, but here he was now, with his arm around Patrick’s shoulder. Patrick knew this was going to be bad.

The Shedmaster explained that they’d gotten a new fireman, transferred over from an eastern railroad while Patrick was off for a few days, and the new lad was rubbing everyone wrong, so he was being assigned to Patrick on an easy coal run, because Patrick had the reputation of getting on right with just about anyone. Just be gentle with the lad, he counseled. The assignment was obviously not a request.

Patrick recognized this for what it was – the old man was blowing smoke up his skirt all right. He knew that all the other drivers had refused, one after the other, to work with the lad any further, as he would have done too, but he was off for a few days, making him odd man out when he showed up this morning. Well, that will teach me for taking some time off, he mused angrily to himself.



As he stalked across the tracks towards 5138, one of the drivers, old Bodger, eased over and intercepted him, grinning mischievously. Bodger leaned in and in a lowered voice, said, “Try not to kill Icky, eh Patrick? It won’t look good for his first run out for the day.” He did this so Patrick’s new fireman couldn’t overhear.

In response to Pat’s momentarily confused look, Bodger said conspiratorially, “He has a heavy eastern accent, so instead of Mickey, we all call ‘im Icky behind his back, on account as ‘es pretty icky.” With that, he roared with laughter and trotted off to his Class 45.

Patrick stopped and lowered his head, sighing heavily. “What was that all about?” asked Mickey. Patrick just shook his head and walked to the engine. As they climbed up into the cab, Mickey loudly exclaimed, “Wot’s this? Driver controls on the right side? A right-sider? Come on, I’m a lefty. I’ll be shoveling right hand and I’ll be doing double duty watching the signals for you! That’s right messed, it is!” Pat shut him down when he suggested Mickey go complain to the shedmaster and demand a left side engine.

Despite the fact that Mickey was predictably turning out to be a frightful pain in the backside, he was efficient, and they quickly had the engine warmed up and impatiently pawing the rails, ready to head out. Pat pulled off with a roar of the whistle, a small show of how annoyed he was, and then he backed across the mainlines to pick up a rake of empty coal wagons. The run was to the coal yard in Dearne-On- Sea, where they would leave the empties in the yard and pick up loaded coal wagons. They’d bring them back to Dearnby and then the wagons would be delivered to local yards as assigned.

Patrick brought his train to a smooth stop at the stop signal for Lammas Junction. He checked the signal box platform and saw Maggie Roberts, in full control as always. Mickey noticed his driver’s attention was focused on the signal box and crowded in to have a look see.

“Wot’s that? A bird? What’s she doing in the box? Visiting?” he said.

Patrick turned on his fireman in fully fury mode. “That is Margaret Roberts, wife and widow of one of our drivers, Roger Roberts. She is the signalman for Lammas Junction. You will be respectful to her at all times, calling her Mrs. Roberts. You will wave cordially to her when you pass. Do you understand?”

Mickey was taken aback by Patrick’s outburst. He actually stepped back a bit, but then a cruel smile spread across his face and he remarked, “Ah, okay, I see, so you fancy her, eh?”

“Mrs. Roberts was working the railroad before you were knee-high in knickers. When Roger was working the Lammas Junction, after moving off of engines, she would spend her days with him in the signal box, helping out. She learned the times and routes and sometimes worked the cranky levers, helping Roger out. They made a perfect team.

“One day Roger was hustling down the stairs to try and smooth out one of the switches that was acting up – some debris had gotten caught in it and it wasn’t working quite right. He fell down the stairs, was knocked unconscious, and lay there, bleeding and badly injured. This was right around the busy time when noon traffic picks up.

“Maggie had to keep working the switches, as the trains kept coming on. Finally, she caught the attention of a fireman on one of the freights that had stopped for signals. The fireman managed to get Roger onto the floorplate of their engine and they rushed him to hospital in Dearnby. Meanwhile, in all the excitement, everyone forgot about Lammas Junction, and Maggie worked the shift out, worried sick about Roger but unable to leave the post unattended.

“The railroad commissioner came down to give Mrs. Roberts some kind of award, but she would have none of it. She said that Lammas Junction was her signal box now, until Roger recovered. She’s worked it ever since, even after Roger passed. He never did quite recover from his injuries. Our suspicions that she was related to the railroad commissioner were pretty much confirmed at that. There had never been a woman signal box operator before then. The commissioner officially assigned her to Lammas.

“She deserves respect. If I hear you failed to wave to her or speak ill of her, I’ll shove you off my train at speed, and say you lost your balance and fell. She’s more railroad than you’ll ever be.” With that, he turned back to look forward.

Mickey was dead silent, and then managed to stammer out, “Signal’s clear.” Patrick let off a whistle blast and started up. As he eased the cutoff open, he leaned out and waved vigorously, calling out Maggie’s name. She waved back, a broad smile on her face. She looked so at home in the early morning sunlight. She was all railroad.